The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-10-16
Tricks that are Vain. /

Tricks that are Vain.
amgiad 10 say that IL does not
occur as frequently as some people
might believe; but il ia fact that oc-
casionally q dishonest f6rmer will Try
to cheat the cotton buyer With load
ed or plated bale Of cotton
This remark was made few S2ys
ago by o well-known cotton buyer who
had just received from MILL to which
he had sold lot Of cotton, o letter
claiming that certain bale indicated
BY marks, was plated; aud that it was
not worth as much as had been paid
for it by something like $500.
Yes," the buyer went on, sit does
not occur often, and it seems to me
that if the cotton seller who is dis.
honest enough TO resort to such tricks
was only little shrewder, he would
,:s.s-s1T atsttoiupt such q thing. Now,
for instance, take this case. I have
only to refer to my book here to see
where it camo from. Hers is the
whole record. Ibought bale No. -
from Mr. He is a pretty
good man. You would not have
thought that he. would be guilty Of
such a thing, would you? Well, may
be it was . mistake, and I will say
nothing to him about it; but next time
1 will be more careful"
DO they ever put rocks or any
thing Of that kind in cotton?" the re-
porter asked.
yes, that occurs occasionally. I
here known it to OCCUR on this mar
ket but tits always caught up with.
l could tell you Of oeveral instances
that have come under my observation
here during the last few years; but
perhapsit it is just as we'll not to men,
.tion names. Did you ever hear Of
that case down at Camden? Il is
funny. Some years ego e cotton buy
.er received notice from Liverpool to
the effect that a rs pound grindstone
had been found in certain bale of
cotton that had been bought from
him. The buyer. who also ran large
supply concern, looked on his books
and found that he had bought the cot
ton from q. certain large aud well-to-
do farmer, who lived in the vicinity
of Wateree. He had to make good
the Liverpool claim, Of course; and
after studying over the situation, he
ordered the return of the grindstone
to Camden. In due time it arrived
the cotton buyer all the while care
fully keeping his own counsel. Be-
fore agreat while the farmer who had
sold the bale Of cotton came to Cam
den for supplies and among other
things he bought barrel of sugar,
and went out to return for the goods
later. The cotton buyer took the
head out Of the sugar barrel, removed
7b pounds of sugar, put the grindstone
in place of it and headed up the bar
rel again, turning it over to the far
mer as If it had never been opener"
''That was pretty good. Whist did
the fellow say'when he found it out?'
He has never said word te ..k.::s
day, and: had the merchant been able
to keep such good story it would
never have been known. But it is
true, everysword Of il, end esq: e.. :: Il .a s
you not only the name Of the cotton
buyer aud the supply concern, but the
farmer. who sold and bought the grind
stone as well.''
II sould nes hs7s you shhink,''' con-
tinued the buyer, "that these things
occur frequently in this market; but
there is no use in trying to conceal
the fact that they do occur occasion
ally. / have known Of more than one
man who has been caught up with and
who was glad to settle by paying ac-
tual expenses, while protesting his
:nncocnco, ssS.''- ii,JristUi,lc Enquirer.
An ear will be handed down, so