The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-12
PAID THE FREIGHT BUT GOT NJ GOODS A Prosperous Negro Farmer Ouped by Alleged Drummers.s GAME WAS A SMOOTH ONE As Result Grocery Concern of Memphis Is on the Lookout for Men Using
 Firms Name for Fraudu-
 lent Purposes.
GAME WAS A SMOOTH ONE

Selma, February 10.-(Special.)- )-J. H. Brown, prosperous and well-to-do negro farmer of Kings Landing was in the city today and made public how he and a number of neighbors had been duped about January 26 last by two we'll groomed and respectable looking white men.
 Brown states that the men came to his place near Kings Landing on the day given above and represented themselves to be drummers selling direct to con- sumers. They were sleek looking. busi- ness-like men. both being of large sature one being unmistakably a German. the other an American. They produced sam ples and offered to sell them groceries at prices greatly under what they could be purchased elsewhere.
 Brown gave them an order for about Ss5 worth of goods. They sold him meat for 71a cents, when 1t could not be bought for less than 10, sugar for when 51k was asked in town, and meal for 40 cents a bushel when 60 cents would have been a low price. Other goods were in propor- ton, and Brown and his neighbors, who had a little ready money on hand thought they saw an opportunity of sav- ing a considerable sum.
 The alleged drummers stated that all they asked was that the amount neces- sary to pay the freight should be ad- vanced. The freight in Browns case was $20, and they gave him a receipt signed Consumers Wholesale Grocery Co. of Mem nhis for that amount RroWn sfateS that he knows of $160 they collected in freight from his immediate neighbors They claimed that Loverine & Brown of Chicago was the headquarters, and that the Consumers Grocery Co., of Memphis was the branch house.
 On January 27 Brown came to town for the purpose of raising some money and paying the men cash for the goods in or der to gain an alleged 10 per cent dis count. He went over to the St. James hotel about noon and the two men were at dinner. After dinner they took him to their room, and he told them he had decided not to take advantage of the dis count, but would pay for the groceries when they arrived. This wa. said to be perfectly satisfactory, the men saying the goods would be shipped ''order notify"
 Some time elapsing and nothing being heard from the goods or the $40 paid for the freight CD by Brown, he wrote the Consumers Grocery company in Mem phis, and the following Is the letter he received In reply:
 Memphis, Tenn, February 5, 1903. MT. J. H. Brown, Kings Landing, Ala:
 Dear Sir-Yo our letter just at hand In re- gard to the bill ordered from man said to be representing us, and will say that we have no man at present in Alabama, nor have we had heretofore. Those parties are frauds and we have been on the look out for them. If you will find out just where they and write us we will have them arrested We had two men that worked for us while. and they collected money and never sent any orders, and we fired them, and the last we heard of them they were in Louisiana
 Please give us all the information you can. and at once, and we will go after them. Yours very respectfully,
 CONSUMERS WHOLESALE GRO. CO, G. w. M. Fitzgerald Manager. 59 Vance
 Street.