1878.1 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
127 
■“plug hat” on his head any more liable to a “ plugged- 
mp head” than another? We read that: “The head is 
ihe seat of life, also the seat of death,” which makes it 
anther hard on the head. But what can one do with a 
•“ plugged-up head ? ”—Ah, here we have it. 
“ THE METAPHYSICAL DISCOVERY 
■courses through the head and trunk of the body as the 
irivers of the Sea course through the earth.” And when 
we read below that “Language Fails to unfold the 
Treasure contained in the Metaphysical Discovery',” 
we find the first statement with which we can agree— 
just'so .. .Mrs. Brown has got this disease business down 
to a dot. She starts with asking us to “ Consider that the 
Body is the Earth.”—Well, we have seen some bodies 
where that consideration was not a difficult one. — “ The 
hair is a field of grass,” (that, probably, is the reason 
why some people have “ hay-seed ” in their hair.) “ The 
eyes and ears are plants.” This “ Discovery ” doesn’t go 
around the body sort of promiscuous like, but it finds its 
way in through the eyes, ears, and scalp. So, to carry 
out the agricultural similies, she has “ dew ” for the eyes, 
and “rain” for the ears, and some stuff for the scalp 
ranalagous to “ frost and snow,” and we should judge by 
the venerable gentleman she uses so freely for a “ figger- 
head,” whose scalp is as bare as an egg-shell, that he has 
been subjected to pretty hard treatment, which is not sur¬ 
prising when we are told that the “Scalp-Renovator” is 
the “most thorough, logical and gentle cathartic in the 
world,” and that it “ enters the system through the 
•canals of the head, and works wonders.” Besides this 
Temarkable paper, there is a large pamphlet of over 80 
pages, filled with such farrago. A remarkable thing 
■about, it, is the way in which Scripture is quoted ; some 
of the alltvsions bordering closely upon profanity. 
THE SAME OLD TUNE TO NEW WORDS. 
There came to us a few days ago, a letter from a cor¬ 
respondent in Wisconsin, which enclosed a written cir¬ 
cular, with the printed heading: 
“CLARK & CO., ADJUSTERS OP CLAIMS IN THE U. S. AND 
EUROPE. 
1,267 Broadway, New York, / 
22d February, 1878. ) 
IV. S. T.. Esq. : 
Dear Sir.—Is this your signature on the inclosed slip 
of paper? II' so, you are entitled to a certificate of gold¬ 
mining stock valued at five hundred dollars. The money 
you sent in the letter, from which the inclosed slip was 
clipped, was invested on the general margin principle, 
which resulted in lawfully securing for you the certificate 
of stock referred to above. Now. if you will write to us, 
and return the inclosed slip, so we can compare it with 
your signature, we shall be sure the proper party will 
receive the stock. Respectfully, Clark & Co. 
P. S.—State whether you wish the stock sent by regis¬ 
tered letter or by express. C. & Co.” 
Within this letter was a small “ slip of paper,” which 
had evidently been cut from a letter to which it was the 
signature, on which was 
“Respectfully, &c.. N. S. T - . 
Box 97.” 
This our correspondent admitted to be his genuine 
•signature, but how it came into the possession of the 
^few Yorker, was more than he knew, but being con- 
winced that the whole thing was a “ humbug,” he left 
it with us to do with as we pleased. As the matter 
■seemed worth looking up, we called upon Special Agent 
Sherrett, who has a sharp scent for frauds, and a most 
decided method of dealing with them when found. We 
•saluted him with the information that we had a new 
scheme. “ So have I,” he promptly replied; “ I was just 
•thinking of you. as I have a bran new one.” — We gave 
him our documents, and he had not read two lines aloud, 
before he placed his hand upon a letter upon the desk 
before him, and handed it to us, with a “look at that! ” 
and as he read the letter we had brought, we followed 
the lines, upon the one that had just been received by 
him, and, with the exception of the name of the person 
addressed, the two were the same, word for word. He 
informed us that he had been to the place, a building far 
nip Broadway, in which offices are rented, but could 
find no one in. “I’ll tell you what it is,” said this 
shrewd officer; “this is another development of that old 
silver mining scheme, Russell & Co., and all the rest of 
it, and you’ll find Elias at the bottom of it.” _ We be¬ 
came interested in the matter, and had one of the dis¬ 
creet and confidential young men in our office, try to 
find Clark & Co., and learn about the “ stock.” He had 
to make several visits before he could find any one in the 
building who knew of such firm; but at last ascertained 
the room occupied by these “ adjusters of claims,” and 
by going out of business hours, caught some one “ at 
home.” A very barren office had a fewchromos setting 
upon the floor against the wall, there was a most vener¬ 
able desk, and a stove, which, with a well-to-do-looking 
person with a gray beard, (and whose identity is more 
than suspected), mainly completed the furnishing of a 
most desolate place of business for parties engaged in 
adjusting “claims in the U. S. and Europe.” The cor- 
vespondent bad sent us an order to get the money for 
fthat §500 worth of stock, and our representative made 
known his business. Immediately the venerable indi¬ 
vidual became a “ known-nothing; ” he wasn’t “ Clark 
& Co.” at all; he only “ represented” them. Eis busi¬ 
ness was selling chromos and jewelry, though there was 
nary a jewel visible. But he did know enough about 
“ Clark & Co.” to be sure that in the press of their “ im¬ 
mense business,” this letter was all wrong. It was mis¬ 
directed in the burry of their overwhelming biz. That 
letter was not intended for that particular man—a likely 
story, as the enclosed signature clipped from some letter 
exactly corresponded with the direction on the outside 
of the envelope. Not a blessed word of information as 
to stock, or anything else, could be extracted from their 
representative, concerning “ Clark & Co.” He was drier 
than a cod-fish — and our representative came away, leav¬ 
ing him with his chromos, his very rickety desk, and his 
stove, to report progress. But other parties had an in¬ 
terest in “Clark & Co.” A gentleman in Missouri had 
received a letter, word for word like that of our Wiscon¬ 
sin friend—and another in Fall River, Mass., had been 
similarly favored, and both of these sent their documents 
to Superintendent of Police, Walling, who put the case 
into the hands of Capt. Williams to “work up.” Capt. 
W. visited the business place of “Clark & Co.” several 
times, but no one was in. Knowing that these chaps— 
whose doings are entirely by mail—would be likely to be 
“at homo” to the letter carrier,awaited his time; the letter 
carrier appeared, the door was opened at his knock, and 
Capt. W. nabbed tbe young man who opened it, (not the 
venerable citizen of the day before), and marched him 
and his bundle of letters to the station house. The 
young man convinced the officers that he knew nothing 
of the business of “ Clark & Co.”—audhc was discharged 
to appear when required. That this firm—which has no 
real existence—was doing a flourishing business, is 
shown by the fact that,at this haul, fifty-seven letters were 
taken, which were turned over to Postmaster James, to 
be sent to the Dead-Letter Office, where all letters ad¬ 
dressed to “ Ciark & Co.” will bring up. It seems that 
those silly enough to catch at the bait, and say that tho 
enclosed “signature” (sec letter above) was theirs, were 
served with certificates of stock—very pretty certificates 
they are said to be—and with these a bill of charges for 
“ commissions and expenses." Here is where the profits 
came from. As it would be some time before the fraud 
would be found out, “ Clark & to.” were doing a flour¬ 
ishing business—as the fools are by no manner of means 
anything like all dead yet. Indeed, worse than fools— 
for there wore a most lamentably large number, one 
mail brought 57 of their letters, who, in the hope of get¬ 
ting “ a certificate of gold mining stock,” were willing 
to admit the statement to be true, that they had sent 
money “in the letter from which the enclosed slip was 
clipped,” and thus acted upon what they knew to be a 
lie, because they expected to mala something by it. These 
persons are not one whit less dishonest than “Clark & 
Co.,” and we think ita great pity that their names could 
not be made public—though this punishment could hard¬ 
ly be equal to that which each one must receive, when 
he thoroughly despises himself, for having admitted a 
lie, in order to_allow a gang of scoundrels to swindle 
him 1 But, tlie question will be asked: 
HOW DID “ CLARK ” & CO. GET THE SIGNATURES. 
The police authorities think they were procured 
through tho dishonesty of some postmaster. It could 
hardly be practicable to purloin many thousands of let¬ 
ters from any one Post-office. We think it more likely that 
they were picked up in junk shops, where the “ waste” 
of hundreds of large establishments is gathered. Unim¬ 
portant letters are thrown into the waste-basket entire, 
without even being torn across. A junk-shop is often a 
well-worked mine for dealers in signatures. As we have 
stated that there is no such concern as “ Clark & Co.,” 
the question will be asked 
WHOSE FUNERAL IS THIS ? 
The young man arrested with the letters, by Captain 
Williams, said that he ivas employed by “Elias Broth¬ 
ers.”—“ Here we are again.”—“ Now you see it, and now 
you don’t.”—It showed the shrewdness of our friend tho 
Postal officer, who, with the same acuteness that allows 
an Indian to tell the tribe to which another belongs by 
the prints of his moccasin, saw in the letters and ivays, 
as the frontiersmen say, “fresh sign ” enough to induce 
him to conclude that the tracks of “ Clark & Co.” were 
made by the tribe of Elias. And the man that our repre¬ 
sentative found “representing Clark & Co.” at the office, 
but who did not “represent” worth a cent? Parnobile 
fratrum— they could not be long separated, and wherever 
the Eliases are, he will not be found far away. He was 
then “representing Clark & Co.” No doubt he had 
rather have been at home, teaching his children, if that 
breed is allowed to be perpetuated, that charming nur¬ 
sery song, “Pat-tee cake, pat-tee cake, baker’s man.” 
We have given more space than usual to this one swin¬ 
dle, as it shows how deep-laid and well-guarded are these 
schemes; and will show those good people who freely 
3 *k us to “please investigate, and reply by return mail,” 
that these investigations are not so easy as they seem at 
a distance. Some may wonder why the Elias Brothers 
were not arrested. Simply because no citizen of the 
State of New York has made a complaint against them. 
-——*- r - - <l>-- 
'l'S»e Ailnnlhus him! its Uses.— Prof. 
Chas. S. Sargent, Director of the Arnold Aboretum of 
Harvard University, and also a member of the Mass. State 
Board of Agriculture,has contributed to the Annual Report 
of the Secretary of that Board, some most useful “Notes 
on Tree Planting.” The portion of these notes which we 
have read with the most interest, is that relating to the 
economical value of the Ailanthus. The American Agri¬ 
culturist,, in spite of much ridicule, long ago recommended 
this tree as one, that for its rapid growth, and its useful¬ 
ness for fuel and timber, was well deserving the attention 
of tree-planters. It is true that the tree has one, easily 
avoided fault, which cannot, in the mind of any sensible 
person, offset its usefulness. We know of no work in 
which the reasons for planting the Ailanthus are stated 
more in full, and forcibly, the opposite side having a fair 
showing, than in this paper. Prof. S. quotes an example 
which we some years ago referred to, of a sot of furniture 
made of Ailanthus wood, which can not fail to convince 
any one of its utility for such work. The paper is by no 
means devoted exclusively to the Ailanthus ; he gives 
ol her matters that will be of great use to the increasing 
numbers of tree-planters in Mass., and of equal value in 
other parts of New England—indeed we may say to the 
country at large—for all earnest workers, like Prof. S., 
“ build stronger than they” know. 
EleelbBien-’s Herd Trend. Morse- 
Power,— A horse-tread power, made by Heebner & 
Sons, of Lansdale, Pa., possesses a very notable improve¬ 
ment. It is in the raised position of the lower edges of 
the treads or lags upon which horses move, that this im¬ 
provement consists. This brings the tread planks in a 
very easy position for the horses, so that there is little or 
no strain upon the muscles or tendons, and less fatigue to 
the animals. This peculiarity belongs specially to this 
machine, and gives it a prominence amongst other ma¬ 
chines, which renders it worthy of more than usual notice. 
H*ressnre sat !®siras.— The Boomer & Bos- 
chcrt Press Co., of Syracuse, N. Y., whose remarkably 
powerful presses attracted so much attention at the Cen¬ 
tennial, have sent a specimen press, which will no doubt 
astonish the wine growers, to the Paris Exposition. 
“ BMnusJs” is the title of a 
work by I. F. Tillingliast, of Tillinghast Bros., Factory- 
villc, Pa. In this work, they give the methods which 
they have found successful, especially with late cabbages. 
It has received the commendations of a number of prac¬ 
tical growers. The terms on which it may be obtained 
arc given in the advertising columns. 
Tl*e TTresiassiojit of gids Cattle.— 
Probably one half of the letters addressed to the editors, 
relate to trouble with domestic animals. The present 
season is one when the greatest care is required to pre¬ 
vent disease in our cattle and other live stock. To pre¬ 
vent, is much better than to cure; and in general it is 
vastly easier. To prevent disease, it is necessary to know 
the cause of it, what it is, what symptoms are to be looked 
for at the outset, and the best method of treating disorder 
at the very start. A trustworthy hand-book giving the 
proper care of cattle, and the treatment of their diseases, is 
indispensable to every farmer; yet,a very small proportion 
of the owners of animals possess any book of the kind. 
The cost of one of the best of these books would be repaid 
by the prevention of the loss of one week’s milk of a sick 
cow, the saving of a lamb or young pig, to say nothing of 
the avoidance of more serious losses. Dadd’s “Ameri¬ 
can Cattle Doctor,” is a standard work of this kind, 
and will be found of the greatest value in every farm¬ 
house. It is published in two forms; one at $1.50, and 
one at $2.50, sent by mail, by the Orange Judd Co. 
Just si Mere Mention. —Pamphlets and 
other publications of minor size, but of great instrinsic 
value, come to us, and we put them aside, hoping for the 
space in which to give them proper notice,but which never 
comes. We find, awaiting notice, numerous documents 
which we must now acknowledge merely by title, or not 
at all_ The Sugar Beet in North Carolina, by Prof. A. 
Ledoux, chemist to the Department of Agriculture of that 
State. A valuable contribution to our knowledge on 'an 
industry which must ultimately become of great impor¬ 
tance in every State.... The Menhaden Fishery of 
Maine, with reference to its relations to Agriculture, and 
also as a source of human food. A valuable contribution 
to all who live on the coast, and fully illustrated by en¬ 
gravings and maps. ...“A List of TnE Fungi found in 
the vicinity of Boston,” by Prof. W. G. Farlow, is not 
merely of interest to botanists, but to those who would in- 
. vestigate the attacks of fungi upon useful plants_A 
