The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1912-07-26
The BUYING PUBLIC
Is Often an Innocent Victim
Of the "Box.car Man" and
Swindlers
some EXPENSIVE BARGAINS
Are Purchased Of the Travelling
Specialists, Such al Groceries,
Jewelry, Pianos, etc.

most picturesque and also the most
difficult to convict is the ''box- car
man."
| The box car man turns up in the
country usually and tells farmers that
they are making mistake when they
buy groceries of the local store. keepers.
The box-car man can get staple articles
very cheap, because he arranges to
have a carload delivered in one place.
As proof of quality he sells small trial
offers of coffee, tea, canned goods, and
80 on. His coffee at IL cents a pound
is as good as people have been Getting
at the grocer's for 30 cents, and other
samples in keeping-the box car plants
good seed. Buyers tell neighbors about
it; 30, few weeks later, when the box
car man comes back, people are ready
to buy groceries for months ahead at
his attractive prices. On an appointed
day the car arrives. Customers nave
been warned that they must be on hand
promptly. as the car cannot be held and
the local grocers have been making
trouble. SO there is rush. Purchases
are loaded into the farmers wagons,
and the box.csr man hurriedly collects
his money and disappears. When the
boxes and packages are opened the stuff
is found to be stale, damaged grocery
stock-dear at any price.
The box car specialist is difficult to
catch because he has come and gone
usually before the fraud can be ex-
posed. In one case state food-law Of
ficers kept track of such swindler for
nearly five years without being able to
get evidence against him. Some of the
stuff he sold would have been viola
ton of the law had he not protected
himself by shrewd device. When a
customer ordered coffee at 10 cents q
pound the box-car entered the order
for so many pounds of "XOOO," and
nothing but that number appeared on
the label of the package, with no refer
ence to coffee.
The jewelry business has always been
attractive to swindlers, because the
amount of the average customers pur.
chase is large enough to make the
wooden nutmeg pay well. Much un
righteous profit has been extracted
from falsely stamped jewelY, for in.
stance. The innocent victim, passing
jewelry auction room, pauses out OF
curiosity to hear the auctioneer. The
proprietor asks him if he would like to
see something in the shape of a gold
locket that is really bargain-an
article too choice to be offered at auc-
ton. The ornament is shown, a price
below normal quoted and any sort of
plausible story told to account for it.
Plainly stamped inside is the mark:
Eighteen karat" The victim buys.
An assay would show that the metal is
only ten-karat gold. For years this
form of swindle was not preventable
but now state and federal laws prohibit
false stamping, and an association of
manufacturing jewellers is active in
securing convictions.
Another business full of pos sibilities
for the swindler is the piano trade. At
its best the piano is an instrument Of
artistic quality, backed by the reputa-
ton of we'll known house. At its
worst it is the stencil piano, turned
out cheaply and ready to receive any
name the dealer wishes to stencil on the
fall board-hence the trade term. If
such product can be bought at $50
and sold for $500, obviously there is a
profit Here is situation that has
long stimulated the faker in invention.
One typical figure of what might be
the underground piano trade" is the
widow who is forced to sell the fittings
of her once happy home. She adver-
tises her fine upright piano, almost new
at a bargain. Thousands upon thou
sands Of cheap stencil pianos have been
foisted on unsupported bargain hunters
by this familiar character.
A more aggressive piano swindle is
that of the sale concern that suddenly
comes to town with a stock of pianos
which are to be closed out Immediately
at unheard-of prices. An empty store
Is rented, the pianos moved in and
line of price-paralyzing advertising be-
begun. These instruments have con g,
as usual, from the Eastern market
that place of wonderful possibilities,
where the best manufacturers are con.
stantly going bankrupt and the biggest
buildings falling down; and most of the
attention of the business world seems
to be conferred upon getting goods ship
ped away to distant places for sale at
ridiculous prices, so that the already
shaky situation may not be further dis
turbed. This sale concern has its win.
dow bait, too, in the shape of half
dozen pianos of the most desirable
standard makes. These head the ad-
vertisements, at prices far below whole
sale price. The purchaser comes to see
fba,,-opI tbaxy are thara orra