1861 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
365 
Humbugs in the City—Warning to 
Strangers. 
A. few days since a stranger called at the 
office of the American Agriculturist to ask advice. 
He had just been swindled at an auction sale. 
His story was a common one. While passing 
along the street lie heard the cry “going, going, 
going!” and on walking into a store where the 
sale was proceeding, found they were selling 
watches. Several were knocked off at surpris¬ 
ingly low prices, and carried out by the “ stool 
pigeons,” who were in considerable numbers, 
dressed and appearing like merchants, farmers, 
etc. As they passed out, they exchanged places 
with another set in a similar establishment near 
at hand, and the latter class came in and kept 
up the bidding in presence of our stranger. But 
he was too suspicious to bid, knowing that “ all 
is not gold, that glitters.” Presently one of the 
company bid off a watch, but appearing to sud¬ 
denly remember that his money was at the 
hotel, and to be in great fear that he should lose 
the benefit of a splendid purchase, he turned to 
the 6tranger, and told him that if he would ad¬ 
vance the money to pay for it, $14, he, the pur¬ 
chaser, would give him ten dollars, as soon as he 
could get the money from his hotel, as the watch 
was gold and worth much more than the 
amount for which it sold, and they would not 
let him have it without the cash. The stranger 
handed over the $14, and retained the watch 
as security, while the purchaser went to “ his 
hotel.” After he had gone, those present told 
the stranger he had been swindled, that the pur¬ 
chaser would never return, and advised him to 
put up the v^itch for sale again, and get his 
money back, assuring him it would probably 
bring much more than the sum lent, and thus 
he could make a profit. It was accordingly 
handed over to the auctioneer, and in a twink¬ 
ling was knocked down at $5, which was hand¬ 
ed to the stranger. Upon his remonstrating, 
he was informed that the sale was over, and he 
might as well clear out. We directed him to 
the Mayor’s office, where he made his complaint, 
but as he had consented to the second sale, 
the only course left was for him to prefer a 
charge of swindling against the parties, and re¬ 
main in the City until it could be brought to 
trial, which would require several days, while it 
was necessary for him to return to his distant 
home. So the swindlers escaped punishment, 
and the sufferer left the City, partly initiated into 
the mysteries of a “ Mock Auction Shop.” 
This is a specimen of transactions that occur 
in this City many times a day. The sufferers are 
usually situated as this stranger was, being una¬ 
ble to remain and prosecute, and the authori¬ 
ties can not legally interfere without sufficient 
evid mce to make out a case. 
It is doubtful whether a regular reader of the 
Agriculturist would have been humbugged in this 
manner, as we have frequently exposed these 
Mock Auctions. Repeated cautions are neces¬ 
sary, however, for the swindlers of this sort 
abound, and have many cunning plans to en¬ 
trap the unwary. Remember when visiting 
any City never to enter an auction store un¬ 
less you have first been assured of its good char¬ 
acter by reliable parties. And furthermore, 
trust no stranger to handle your money, or to 
advise you how to dispose of it. Before leav¬ 
ing nome, ascertain from your merchant or 
other neighbor the name of some reliable per¬ 
son to whom you can refer here, and you will 
always find a willingness on the part of our cit¬ 
izens to afford all possible protection against im¬ 
position. We have saved many thousands of 
dollars to our readers, who have come here in 
answer to advertisements for various business 
enterprises, but it is often impossible for us to 
find the time to attend to all who call. Time 
is money, and there are only 24 to 26 working 
days in a month. 
-— . . —m g — > - 
For the American Agriculturist. 
How to Make Luxuries Cheap. 
THE CITY MILLIONAIRE AND THE COUNTY LAWYER. 
Bullion, up in his brown stone mansion in 
Fifth Avenue, when he makes a feast, and does 
his very best, must have a few dozen Duchess 
pears at about five dollars a dozen, and sundry 
bunches of Black Hamburgs, and the Muscats, 
at one dollar a pound and upward. The florist 
is called upon for bouquets, and the camellias, 
roses, and other flowers in mid-winter, smell 
quite as much of the gold, as the fruits taste of 
that article. It makes even Bullion sweat 
when he comes to look over and settle the bills 
for that magnificent entertainment. 
A Christmas dinner is given out in the country 
by a professional man of less than a tithe of Bul¬ 
lion’s means, and it has more than Bullion’s 
bounty; and the beauty of the whole is, that 
every staple article in the whole bill of fare is a 
home product. The turkey that crowns the ta¬ 
ble, a gobler of the present season, weighing 
twenty pounds, has been raised by the master 
of the feast, and fattened on corn, the growth of 
his own plantation. The same may be said of 
the chickens and ducks that make their appear¬ 
ance on other parts of the table. There is not a 
vegetable, from the potatoes to the celery, but 
grew in his own garden. The wheaten loaf is 
from grain that grew in his fields, and that pe¬ 
culiar golden hue of the butter you see, must 
have come from the Alderney heifers that the 
owner exhibited at the fair. And as the dessert 
comes in, you see the Beurre Diel, and the Glout 
Morceau pears are from trees that he plant¬ 
ed only five years ago. The grapes are from the 
cold vinery, and the flowers from the conserva¬ 
tory, where the family have a small flower gar¬ 
den with pleasant Summer heat all Winter long. 
He lives like a nabob, and supplies at least nine- 
tenths of his table expenses from his little farm 
of less than twenty acres. His professional in¬ 
come is less than three thousand a year, and yet 
he has more luxuries upon his table and enter¬ 
tains his friends in better style, than Bullion 
with his ten thousand a year and ten African 
boarders in the basement. He has hosts of 
friends, and they are fond of visiting him. His 
fruits are excellent, and his discourse upon all 
the mysteries of the vegetable garden and the 
fruit yard, are better still. 
All these luxuries that have become his every 
day comforts, are the result of a little skill in 
cultivating the earth, and a little oversight of the 
daily work upon the farm and in the garden. 
The hours devoted to these pursuits are not mis¬ 
sed from his professional work. They rath¬ 
er invigorate him, and make him a better 
lawyer than he would be if he were confined 
wholly to his office. 
He has an intelligent faith in his horticultural 
operations, and is a great deal more sure of his 
case when he plants a fruit tree, than when he 
pleads in court. A tree planted is not aban¬ 
doned to its fate, but followed up with generous 
culture, flntil it bears bountifully. Dwarf pears 
are a success in his grounds, and grapes out of 
doors and under glass are daily food from Sep¬ 
tember to January. He has fruit of some kind 
the year round, and in great abundance. 
But you will ask “how does he pay for it ?” 
Mainly by working the twenty acres of land, 
and selling the surplus products in the best mar¬ 
kets. The vegetables go to the village which is 
handy, and the fruits to the City which is but 
three hours distant. There is a Yankee thrift, 
(he is one of them) and management about every 
thing, and the luxuries of his table which would 
cost Bullion two thousand a year, cost him noth¬ 
ing, he claims. He sells enough from his place to 
pay for all his labor and manure, and for the in¬ 
terest on his investment. The rest he thinks he 
can afford to enjoy with his family and friends. 
We can not all imitate his example, but we can 
all plant a few more trees and have cheap lux¬ 
uries. CONNECTICUT. 
-- i " —i ■- 
Readings and Doings in War Times. 
What shall we read in these days of wars and 
rumors of wars ? The newspaper, of course ; 
but not that only. We pity the man who does 
not feel a deep, an all-absorbing interest in the 
welfare of his country, in this hour of strife and 
peril. But the danger is, that this interest wl’I 
become excessive and morbid. The danger is, 
that one’s time and thoughts will be so engrossed 
with this subject, that he will become unfitted 
for the ordinary duties of life. When the fresh 
daily paper comes in, the latest telegraphic dis¬ 
patches must be read, of course; then the older 
“specials”; then the editorials; then the com¬ 
ments of cotemporary papers; then the opinions 
of foreign journals. And so, we read on and on, 
till our eyes ache, and our heart aches, and our 
nerves are unstrung, and we are unfit for any¬ 
thing, and can do nothing but wait for the next 
paper, only to go through the same round of 
excitement. 
Now, let us protest against this immoderate 
“ bolting ” of newspapers. Sad as the times are, 
and deeply as all must feel concerned in the fate 
of the country, it becomes us to keep self-con¬ 
trolled. If duty does not call us personally to 
the field of battle, there is something for us to 
do at home. We have our families to support, 
our children to educate, our schools and church¬ 
es to maintain with vigor. The great interests 
of morality and social order should be watched 
over now with special care. The springs of vir¬ 
tue and law and intelligence should be kept 
open, and guarded with sleepless vigilance. And 
to this end, it is of the highest importance, to 
keep our minds calm and well poised. Nor let 
it be forgotten, that in all such periods of excite¬ 
ment there is increased liability to sudden at¬ 
tacks of heart disease and apoplexy. 
Let us read something beside the daily news 
paper, and think and talk of something beside 
the last sensation dispatches. And,(as just now 
we are editorially addressing farmers,) why not 
read our agricultural and horticultural papers 
and books systematically, attend regularly to 
our crops and stock and whatever concerns us 
as tillers of the soil. Let us look after our chil¬ 
drens’ education and their morals. See too it 
that no important interest of society suffers from 
neglect. By so keeping our hearts calm, by 
maintaining every source of virtue and princi¬ 
ple in the community, we shall behest able per¬ 
sonally to go through this fiery trial, and our 
-country will be best able to meet any demands 
that may be made upon its courage or its re¬ 
sources. As individuals we have each a part 
to perform in this eventful period of our history. 
