The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1924-06-05
L. - e - -.
Various Means by Which To- TuSiic
Are Deceived.

dealer In second hand tOmbstones--
not tombstones that have been taken
from one grave to be sold for use on
another, but stones which have been
ordered and seulptured and letterea
and then left on the original dealers
hands by reason of the inability or
unwillingness of the persons who Or
dered them to pay for the work These
stones are bought by the second hand
tombstone dealer. The lettering is
chiselled out, but the design is LETT
intact All that the second hand man
has to do la to cut new lettering.
In the early spring the ire faKir
is thriving upon the fad for foreign
trees and shrubs. About the time
the snow disappears in early spring
the tree fakir takes his grubbing hoe,
his pruning shears and ball Of Irvine
and goes into the woods. There he
grubs up tree sprouts -sumach, oak,
ailanthus, hickory, beech, poplar,
chestnut or almost anything else will
serve his purpose. These b trims
and prunes and ties up in bundles for
removal to the place where they are
to be stored.
When the spring tidying up of the
home garden commences the tree falIir
makes his appearance in public. He
will show pictures of rare Japanese
or Chinese or Mexican or East In
dian shrub trees and offer to supply
you sprouts at a figure that is most
inviting. You see an opportunity to
get plant worth $40 for 50. and then
you think of the envy that queer, red
leafed, wide spreading bush viii excite
I'm the breast of your neighbor-and
you buy.
By and by you shout with joy and
call your wife out to see the tiny
leaves and then you begin to brag
and look down upon your neighbors.
You invite them in to see the wonder,
and you talk learnedly Of horticul
ture in Japan or the East Indies.
And then your glorious tree bursts
into leaf-when you discover that you
have bought an ordinary common,
everyday sumach or q maple, or per-
haps a scrawny little peach tree. Then
you lie in wait for that tree fakir. to
do things to him, and you meet with
another Disappointment. He doesn't
come around any more.
Few people are familiar with the
professional pigeon thief. He is an
other oddity who seldom Is heard Of
He is known to the caterers of cheap
table d'hote restaurants, because it
Is to them that he sells the product
OF his thievery; but, while they buy
Of him, few If any, among them know
how he gets his birds, much less that
they are stolen. Like the street fakdr,
the professional pigeon thief often
makes change of quarters-not how
ever, so much because he fears detec-
ton as to get around to those places
where pigeons are most plentiful.
Unlike the tree fakir, he can go
over the same route year after year
with little fear of detection. Ordi-
narily the pigeon thief rents quar-
ters on the top floor in a section where
pigeons are plentiful. That gives him
access to the roof, and on the roof
he sets up pigeon cote for his pet
tumblers. His cote is like any other,
except that it is provided with spring
doors. The tumbler pigeons are his
decoys. He anoints the tips of their
wings and tails with aniseed oil, and
when the pigeons from other cotes are
swarming he throws his pets unto the
air, and they soar aloft to mingle with
the stranger birds.
The scent of the aniseed attracts the
strangers, and they follow the decoys.
BY and by the tumblers sail home 10
their cote with a flock Of strange
pigeons In their wake. The decoys
enter the cote. After chattering
consultation one Of the strangers gets
as far as the door.
The side jambs Of this have been
anointed with anise also, and the pi-
oneer stops to rufie his feathers and
rub them against the anointed spots.
Then the other strangers see what
the first is doing and crowd up. There
is a stronger scent of anise from in
side the cote, and they scramble in.
one after another, pell-mell.
Then the spring Is touched, the
door flies shut and they are prison
ers. AT his leisure the pigeon thief
kills and plucks them, and takes them
to market. This operation is repeat
ed as long as there are any stranger
pigeons In the neighborhood to fol-
low the decoys home.
There are men who, after weeks
observation, will undertake to rear
rage the most complex Office systems
"for a consideration" and give you
advice free, gratis, for nothing"
As drowning men catch at straws,
so do men whose affairs are hopeless
ly an inextrieably muddled grasp at
the chance these gentlemen hold out
to them. The professional business
adviser has plenty Of clients, and
nine times out of ten his advice to his
employer is to make assignment for
the benefit of your creditors" 1t is
the safest counsel he can give.
~ Curious Customs In Scotland.
In the western highlands Of Scot