THE HAT SWINDLE. 107 



quence of the vast quantities being bought by Govern- 

 ment and shipped to the Crimea, that the swindle was 

 extensively carried on. In the centre of the load of 

 hay was left a hole sufficiently large to hold the body of 

 an extra-sized man, who ensconced himself therein until 

 the hay was sold and weighed ; the trusses being so 

 arranged that the man could breathe freely, and yet no 

 person could, by the appearance of the load, ever sus- 

 pect that a man was concealed among the trusses. 



In this instance, the man weighed upwards of 

 eighteen stone, being 2 cwt., which, at 10 per ton, 

 made the swindle amount to 22s. 6d. the load, as the 

 consumption was two loads, of about a ton, each week. 



The hay being always bought by the single load, so 

 as to give them the opportunity of weighing the same 

 man in each, the proprietor, by these means alone, was 

 swindled out of 2 5s. every week. The man weighed 

 with the hay used to get down from the load between 

 the weighing machine and the stable, at a signal from 

 the driver, when the course was clear ; and so this little 

 game was carried on for a long time, until one day the 

 man never answered to the signal, and it being known 

 that he was in liquor in fact, drunk when he went 

 on duty, it was feared that he had fallen asleep, and 

 might be suffocated among the hay. 



The driver mounted the load and cleared away the 

 trusses, when the man was discovered black in the face, 

 and all but dead; he was sent to the hospital, and 

 fearing death, confessed all, and implicated many others 



