Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1904-05-28


When Charles Kingsley referred to
America as that happy nation of com.
mon swindlers" the phrase merely pro.
voked a goOd-natured smile. for the fe-
licity Of expression robbed the epithet
Of Its sting. When 4. T. Barnum de-
clared that "the American people like
to be humbugged" the declaration was
In no wise resented, but, Oh the con-
trary. the people went in increased
numbers to see Mr.. Barnum's "white
elephant" ''hairless horse" and
bearded lady," knowing full well that
the elephant was painted, that the
horse had been dermatOlOgically treat.
ed and that the bearded lady was a
soprano voiced man In feminine attire.
In those days the dominant type In
this country was the Yankee and he
was supreme In minor mercantile pur.
suits. His chief characteristic was to
drive sharp bargain In trade and bar.
ter and to get the better Of any one
with whom he dealt. When fair means
failed lie did not hesitate to resort to
certain forms Of deception. compre.
hendcd In the term yankee tricks"
His chief accomplishment was In the
line of inventions, with which he flood.
ed the country. They We're classified
generally as yankee notions" and In.
cluded various glmcrucks and clever
limitations of staple articles. Among
the latter was the wooden nutmeg,
which could not be detected from the
original except by its lack of flavor.
or all the shrewd Sam Sticks Of Yam.
keedom the inventor Of the wooden
nutmeg stands out In inglOriOus prOmi.
nence. He was, SO to speak, the fa.
tner of original commercial sin In this
country. As the human race suffers
for the sin Of Adam. SO does CONNER.
cial America suffer for the sin of the
anonymous Yankee that invented the
wooden nutmeg. With the expansion
OF trade and commerce accompanying
territorial development and increased
population the perniclous influence Of
the wooden nutmeg precedent has
spread far and wide and Is encounter.
cd on every hand In commercial trans.
actions. In the daily purchase of
household staples the average citizen
buys many wooden nutmegs. His
Mocha ana Java coffee has a flavor of
the Brazilian product rather than of
any berry known in Arabia or Java,
ana the cheaper grades give forth the
smell of parched beans instead Of the
aroma OF Rio. The specific gravity OF
his sugar Is doubled by a mixture with
the heavy insOluble mineral known as
barite. his butter Is innocent Of cream,
his olive oil Is made of cotton seed,
his honey of glucose incased In pnraftin
cens. He wears shoes with paper sOles
ana Panama hat made In Connecticut
out of Cuban grasses. The number of
similar illustrations that might be cited
to show the prevalent deception and
humbuggery In commercial life Is le.
giOn. all OF which may be traced to the
perniciOus precedent established by the
wooden nutmeg men.
~6
Steel fishing rods are becoming pop.
ular with the angler. While some dO
not take kindly to the new idea, claim.
ing that men who are true sportsmen
will give the fish every chance to get
away, the rods are fast becoming used
more extensively than the wooden
ones. Anglers Claim that the steel
rods are handler to carry and that they
are better balanced. Moreover, there
Is no danger Of the rod breaking.
These steel rods are made Of the
finest tempered steel tubing and japan.
ned. The eyelets are OF German sil.
Yer, fastened to the rod with fine wire.
The handle, Of course, Is of cork,
mounted with nickel, as Is all of the
mounting of cork handles ON the wood
ell rods. The joints are long-that Ia
to say, nearly three inches of the finer
section Is inserted In the larger. which
makes 1t practically impossible for
the piece to become disj0lnted when
bent, owing to the pliability OF the
metal. The rod can be made to suit
a fisherman better as to the balanc.
fuO No tho xpoityhf ~ tho nnlo cov, Ia