Year: 1859

lrfoh tue Albany journal i 10 -f-sss,
A few weeks since rather seedy yIookins
msn dropped into q tavern on Washington
avenue and asked for lodgings The prour,enr
OF the house being in attendance, and not
reiishlng the appearance and address Of the
msn, he taking him to be thief in dIsopise on
psuper, demsnded the price of his 1o,iei nm
in advance. This brought out the financial
condition Of the applicant, who replied that he
nsd nary cent, much less fffy He was
directed to the station house, but not relisbing
the thought Of being booked in that place as n
lodger. he set bis wits TO work to obtain a few
shtfitngs- He was not long making an his
mind what course to pursue for In a few mo-
ments after leaving the tavern he was seen to
enter grocery store on the opposite side of
the street with NIL the confidence of a shrewd
knaye. he. did not ask the storekeeper for
charity, but seeing ON the counter some heavy
brown, tarred wrapping paper, he asked for
three sheets VI II to put over some choice wares
he had in his wagon. Taking the paper, he
next visited dry goods store where he OBJ
tsined the loan Of pair Of scissors, when he
cut the paper into strips an inch and half
VIDE and two feet long. He thon carefully
folded them up, one by one, all the same
length, and having concluded his work. he
asked the proprietor for an empty paper box
To put them in TO protect them from the
weather.


Having obtained the box, he sailed out 10
catch greenhorn. and it was not long before
he caught one in the person of a barber. The
strips Of paper he represented as being fiy
catehers--new article just discovered, and Just
the thing wanted in every store In the city
All that was necessary, he said, was to place a
little mOlasses on the prepared paper for the
purpose Of attracting the flies and then suspend
1t from the ceiling. This, he said, was all that
was required, and be warranted that every fjy
that lit upon il ''would die" He demanded
for this important discovery only twenty-five
cents, but the barber being rather short Of
funds, he was finally induced to take eighteen
pence for one Of the fly destroyers Leaving
the barber, and being somewhat elated at the
success he had met with, he visited several
stores on the avenue, but failed to induce auy
one to try bis new discovery. He had almost
become disheartened when he reached Con-
gress Hali, SERVING himself up, he entered and
there exhibited his patent right hy-killers
Being much annoyed by flies in the bar room.
some sttache at the Hall was induced to try
what virtue there was in the new invention.
and Tor the purpose Of testing them, made a
purchase Of three. 's.I - &


The seller was a shrewd chap, for the mo-
ment he obtained the three sbllings from the till
of the Colonel, he left. He was then four and
sixpence in pocket by the new invention,
enough TO pay for his lodgings and a glass of
rum. He afterwards told the landlord how he
obtained the money, and being told that he
bad committed fraud, replied that he could
prove that every word he had uttered he could
snow to the satisfaction OF any unbiased per-
son. He said he had simply asserted that they
were new invention that he had discovered
and that every fly that lighted upon them
would die He did not promise that they would
kill flies, but that every fly would die By this
he meant that some time or other they would
die; but when or where, the purchasers will at
some future day discover. This is the last sci
Of the season, and the chap who got it up is
deserving Of better fate.