Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1906-10-04
MISSED A
GOOD THING

A stranger appeared in Danville yes
terday for the purpose of installing a
phOnOgraph in the rooms of one Of our
well known organizations free of cost
On its face the scheme seemed piausi-
bic enough, but the stranger was sad
ly embarrassed and prevented from do
ing business by telegram from Pit
man, n. j., which appeared in the
Philadelphia Ledger yesterday morn
ing.
The telegram in effect stated that d
we'll dressed man giving his name as
j. L. Fehr. of Harrisburg, Pa, APP
peared in Pitman and asked to be in
troduced to club officer as he wished
to present fifty dollar outfit to the
organization. The president of the
club introduced the stranger to the
principal business men of the town,
many OF whom paid three dollars for
an advertisement that was to go on the
lid of the machine.
On Monday night, the telegram
states, box came by express. 9. o.
ID. Seeing that it was a big box the
members of the club thought they had
big bargain. but after paying the bill
they found small phonograph of the
toy type with three records. One Of
the tunes was entitled "A Slow Old
Town" and another Remember Me
When 1 Am Gone.
The Ledger article states that it has
been learned that the man is not rep
resentative of the phonograph COM
pany.
The stranger, who appeared in Dan
vile yesterday, was likewise we'll
dressed. He gave his name as Fehr,
while to add still more to the coincid-
ence, nearly simultaneously with the
man S arrival in town a good sized
box, some thirty inches in length and
fifteen inches in height and width, ar
rived at one of our express offices. The
box was sent G. O. d. the amount in
volved being So 5S. 1t was from the
Harrisburg Phone company" and
was addressed to "J. L. Fehr, Mana
ger.
The stranger Immediately selected
one of the most prominent organiza
tions in town and, seeking its secre
tary. made known his plan. The org
anization was to have the phonograph,
valued at fifty dollars, free of cost,
the only return the Harrisburg Phone
company asked being the proceeds from
six advertisements at three dollars
each, which were to be placed on the
lid At the first stage of the game the
representatives of the organization
were unsuspicious and the man began
to hustle for advertisements
The stranger, however, was a man
of generous physical proportions with
a countenance that was beaming full
of smiles and when he got busy he
presented a figure OH the streets that
was sure to attract notice. He had net
tisements when our townsman, W. b.
Rhodes, who had perused the columns
of the morning papers with his wontad
are and interest, noted the similarltcy
between the strangers proposition
and the phonograph game worked ON
the Pitman people. He communicated
IL, iai oil
who had been approached for an ad,
and who was already little dubious
about the matter
The long and short of it was that
the paper with the telegram from Pit
man was produced and handed over to
the stranger. He declared the whole
affair as very unfortunate He admit
ted that his name was John" Fehr,
but said that some one over i'll Jersey
must be impeIsonating him, as his
phonograph and entire scheme was a
perfectly Legitimate" one.
Danville men, however, have
wholesome aversion to being regarded
as easy marks and the parties he had
in tow became very wary. They
wanted the man to open the box at the
express office and show what kind OF
a phonograph he had. This the IMAM
ager" of the Harrisburg Phone COM
pany declined to do, as it was sent Q.
O. ID. and would have to be released
by the company first He tried in eV-
cry way to reassure the organization,
but he finally concluded that he was
up against a bad thing. On the 1910
PENNSYLVANIA train John. still
wreathed in smiles, left for Sunbury.
During the afternoon the box remained
at the express office. As to its real
contents there is much curiosity. 1t
is hoped that none of the tunes were
entitled "A Slow Old Town" for in
the present instance Danville was any
thing but slow.
Evan K. Evans Laid to Rest.