The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1900-02-15
CANNY SCOT With SECRET
New Swindle on Rubber Men Who ne
sire to Make Golf Balls.

In my business" said the rubber man
we have to deal with about dozen diff
ferent kinds of swindlers in year. ! don't
think that swindlers devote as much time
to any other industry in the world as they
do i'll the rubber business You probab,
don't know it, but there is fortune In
store for the man who can secure the Sc
cret process by which the Scotch and En-
gilsh rubber men manufacture golf balls
The growth of the game in this country has
made the demand for golf balls greater than
it has ever been for baseballs. Golf balls
sell for a good price, too, the best of the
imported bringing 30 cents apiece. We
know that once the machinery Is purchased
and paid for, the profit in golf balls must be
something enormous, and we are not at ali
pleased to have to acknowledge that we can
not begin to make them in competition with
the foreigners. The golf ball made here is
really mighty poor article compared to
the imported ones despite what you hear
to the contrary, and the best evidence OF
that is the fact that no one ever uses one
except maybe for a short time in the way
OF experiment, If he can get the Others
Well, you can imagine that l was very
much pleased about six months ago when a
man came In here and addressing me in a
decidedly Scotch accent, told me that he
had been the foreman in the factory in a
certain Scotch city where the finest golf
ball in the world is made He told me
eAoS AC Woo well dC4udluIOO VIII the process
by which the Blank golf ball was made and
that if ! would give him a place as fore
man In our factory and purchase the neces-
sary machinery he would give me the Sc
cret. Strange as it may seem, the idea that
the man was an impostor never occurred
to me. Maybe 1t was my delight at getting
hold of a secret for which would have been
willing to pay big money that blinded me.
but, anyway, it fell to the man at once.
turned MIN over to my head man and sent
the two to my factory with instructions
to my man not to let the golf ball maker
stances and to keep the object of his visit
to the factory secret from everybody.
We'll, sir, that golf ball maker with the
valuable secret began to touch my man as
soon as they got on the train, and in two
days he was into me for $3.50. My repre-
sentative wired nae that the man was ask
ing for money all the time, and wanted in
structions what to do. 1 wired back to give
the fellow everything he asked for and
mat idiot or representative of mine obeyed
me to the letter. l call him an idiot be-
cause l can see no reason why he should
nave oeen blind just because I was. At the
END OF the first week the golf ball man was
In my debt some $500. Then he very con-
veniently disappeared, and l haven't seen
hide nor hair of him since. won't 20 into
details about my sensations when 1 found
out how l had been roped in, but there IA
- oONuoA " lAc StOIy tu6C Will tell YOU.
Every year lot of us rubber men who
have known one another for a long time
have little dinner, and while there are
no set toasts each Of us usually finds some
thing interesting to tell the others before
he goes home 1 made up my mind that INV
experience with golf balls was too rood to
Keep, so when it came around to me to sav
few words started to tell about the se.
cret process l had negotiated for. I noticed
that all the others looked kind Of nmasr
while talked. and when was all through
was surprised that there was not a parfect
storm OF laughs at my expense. But thers
wasn't. Instead. my friends all looked Find
Of FOOLISH and some of them seemed to he
trying to forget what had said by discuss
Ing other things. For a moment 7 NO.
oased by this reception Of my story: then
like flash the truth dawned on me nvorv
last one OF them had been roped in nv the
same golf ball maker that had xuiled mo
accused them of it on the spot. hut not
until one man came out and frankiv aIN
mitted 1t would the others confess. T. sn
wound up with laugh, of course. hut aftar
each man had been made to tell his stn,.,
1t was comforting for me to know that
ALL" VI ene"