1876 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
447 
vada, who of course found it to be a bare-faced attempt 
at swindling, and that great numbers of similar letters 
had been sent out all over the country. The instigator 
of the scheme is well known in Nevada, as a person who 
formerly had a -‘lottery” with its headquarters in that 
place. The thing is so transparent, that the mere ex¬ 
posure of it is sufficient to deter sensible persons from 
sending money in response to such letters; as for per¬ 
sons of the other kind—nothing will deter them. It is 
now five or six years since one Collinwater was sending 
out letters from N. Y., that were almost word for word 
like the above. It is a little short-sighted in these would- 
be swindlers, not to know that the first question of a rela¬ 
tive who received such a letter, would be, “ What have 
they done witli the body?”—If buried there were 
charges, and a trunkful of valuables would not be sent 
off on the mere payment of a board-bill. We have, first 
and last, seen a number of these letters, and find that in 
every case the person who died suddenly, has “ a valua¬ 
ble gold watch and chain, silver-mounted revolvers, gold 
ring, etc.” This leads to an important deduction. If 
you would avoid sudden death, don't travel with valua¬ 
bles in your trunk....The number who write us about 
CHEAP JEWELRY SCHEMES 
is really surprising. All the reply that we can make is, 
that the jewelry will be in real value much less than it 
costs. If any think that articles sold for a dollar can be 
worth any more than ten dimes, they will only learn to 
the contrary by experience. Our own practice in regard 
to jewelry is to wear none whatever. Our views in the 
matter are, that there are but two excuses for wearing 
jewelry at all: first, the intrinsic value and beauty of the 
articles, and these should only be worn by those who can 
easily afford them, and second, that the articles are keep¬ 
sakes or mementoes, and have associations that render 
them valuable to the wearer. Nothing is more vulgar 
than cheap jewelry ; in the eyes of thoughtful persons it 
is anything but ornamental, and the wearing of what 
pretends to be something which it is not, is apt to be 
taken as an index to the character of the wearer. We 
are led to these remarks by a circular of a New Jersey 
concern now before ns ; as several have been sent for an 
opinion it has no doubt been widely distributed. In so 
far as it offers packages of articles of “ Grecian Gold,” 
the “nearest approach to solid gold known,” there is no 
pretense, as in some cases, to give anything but an imita¬ 
tion. A package contains a stud, a pair of spiral studs, a 
watch chain, a pair of sleeve buttons and a plain wedding 
ring, the est imated value of which is $ 0 , but which are sold 
for$l. Beingsold at this price their original cost could not 
have been over 50c. and probably much less than that. 
There are five articles, and their in rinsic value is 10c.each. 
Just think of “wedding rings,” at ten for the dollar! 
We know nothing of this “Grecian Gold” beyond what 
is given in the circular, and if our inquiring friends wish 
to buy cheap ornaments this has the merit of being very 
cheap. We have had scores of letters complaining that 
the writers have bought cheap articles that were “ war¬ 
ranted to look and wear as well as gold,” and found that in 
a short time they appeared like brass, and wish us to ex¬ 
pose the sellers. We can do no such thing. We have no 
doubt that the writers got their full money’s worth, and 
we do not regret that they have been taught a useful les¬ 
son. But there is one thing that we do regret, and deep¬ 
ly; it is, that these people should have such false ideas 
of personal adornment; that they should think it neces¬ 
sary to hang trinkets upon their persons in order that 
they may be acceptable to others. That they should so 
desire this kind of decoration that they are even willing 
to wear what they themselves know to be false, in the 
hope that others will not see that their jewels are bogus. 
If men and women who wear this stuff knew what im¬ 
pression they made upon others, they would throw it 
aside at once. 
A CARD COMPANY 
in Michigan is complained of by a correspondent in Illi¬ 
nois. This “ Company ”—we do not give their address, 
having no desire to advertise them—offer to send “a 
package of visiting cards and a handsome paper, three 
months, free, to any one sending the names and addresses 
of 10 boys.” Our correspondent “ H” sent the list and 
did not get. the cards, but he did get the paper, which he 
sends us, with his complaint, and wishes us to expose 
this “Card Company” as a swindle. Did not “H” ap¬ 
pear to be perfectly honest and unsuspecting, we should 
say that ^deserved exposure quite as much as the “Card 
Company.” After all we have said of the ways in which 
rogues and swindlers procure lists of names, and after 
we have over and again cautioned secretaries of societies 
not to send lists of their members to unknown parties, 
and even suggested that persons should not tell traveling 
agents and pedlers the names of their neighbors, here 
comes one who in the face of all this, for the sake of a 
few paltry visiting cards, does ten of the boys of his 
neighborhood a most serious injury, and perhaps brings 
great trouble to their parents. “ H ” no doubt thinks this 
rather hard language, but it is nevertheless true. We 
| have not the least idea that he did this intentionally, or 
in any manner knowingly. He saw cards and a paper 
offered on certain conditions. He complied with those 
conditions, and received no cards, but did get the paper. 
He evidently was so angry that he had taken the trouble 
to send the list of “ 10 hoys,” and had received no cards, 
that he did not stop to consider the matter, and apparent¬ 
ly disgusted with the paltry size of the paper, did not 
read it, but sent tiio sheet, “ The Card Gazette,” to us, 
with his complaint of the “ Company.” The Gazette 
consists of four pages, and when opened out full is almost 
the size of one page of the American Agricultuiist , and 
there is a supplementary sheet of just half the size. Had 
“H” examined this sheet, he would have seen why its 
publishers wanted the names of 10 boys, and why we 
blame him for sending them. In short, this card busi¬ 
ness is a dodge for getting the names of young persons 
to whom this “ Gazette ” may be sent; the paper itself is 
a dodge for advertising things that should not bo sold, 
and that boys (and men too) ought not to buy. There 
are advertised in this very small but very pernicious 
sheet such stuff as “ Magnetic Love Powders, sure, safe, 
and reliable. Warranted to win the affection of any per¬ 
son in a short time. Perfectly harmless, and easily used, 
etc.” This is by no means the worst, as there are books, 
pictures, and other matters, advertised in such a manner 
that any one with half an eye can see that they are 
“ goods”—this paper calls them, but really “ bads,”—of a 
kind that could not be sold openly, but all this round¬ 
about machinery of cards must be resorted to, to induce 
well meaning persons like “ II ” to send secretly the 
names of “ 10 boys ” to whom they can as secretly send 
their advertisements, and induce these boys to purchase 
things they would not dare to show to their parents or 
their brothers and sisters. We think that “ II ” has 
small cause of complaint as compared with the parents 
of the boys whose names he has thus wrongly used. 
DONT SEND A NAME OR NAMES 
of any one, men, women, or children, on any pretence 
whatever, to unknown parties, no matter if visiting cards 
or any other bait is used. In many cases all such attempts 
are apparently to get lists of names for improper use, as 
in the one here cited, or to accumulate them for sale. 
We have more than once stated that lists of names in 
any section of the country are offered for sale in Now 
York and other large cities. Let all be careful how they 
help this generally doubtful, and often rascally traffic. 
THE LOTTERIES STILL ALIVE. 
Though under the ban of the United States law, (as far 
as that can interfere), and the laws of most of the individ¬ 
ual States, the lottery, while severely crippled, is still 
alive. The fact that those concerned go to great expense 
in the endeavor to avoid the law, and run the risks of fine 
and imprisonment in carrying on the business, show hows 
wonderfully profitable it must be, and should induce 
those inclined to purchase tickets to reflect—if such ever 
do reflect — upon the sonree of all the money so freely ex¬ 
pended. They should know that it is the buyers of tickets 
who furnish the means, and that the chances (or at least 
the drawings) are so largely in favor of the lottery man¬ 
agers, that they have full purses, whatever may be the 
case with their patrons. Some skill is displayed in the 
documents now sent through the mails in defiance of the 
law. Instead of the former bold schemes, neat circulars 
with “blind” headings are sent, or the lottery scheme 
appears in the form of a neat newspaper, “the same with 
intent to deceive ” the hurried P. O. clerks. Early in 
November the N. Y. police made a descent upon four of 
the places in which the tickets of the “Kentucky State 
Lottery” were sold, arrested the proprietors and seized 
the tickets. The confirmed lottery gambler is past cure ; 
so long as tickets are to be had, he will somehow con¬ 
trive to get them ; and our warnings can only be of use 
to those who are novices, and find the inducements pre¬ 
sented so tempting that they are inclined to try their 
luck. Some of these, more cautious than others, before 
they venture, write to us to know our opinion of this or 
that lottery. To all who are thus tempted, whether they 
have written for advice or not, we would say that in all 
but a few States, yon, by buying a ticket, become accesso¬ 
ry to a misdemeanor. The law, unfortunately does not 
punish the buyer, but by purchasing a ticket you. in most 
States, knowingly help another to violate the law, and 
are morally, if not legally, just as culpable. Besides this, 
recollect that the great majority of the “ Gift Concerts,” 
“Prize Distributions,” or by whatever other name a lot¬ 
tery may be disguised, are 
OUT AND OUT SWINDLES 
from beginning to end ; this we have shown to be the 
case in the exposures of the present year as well as in 
those given in former volumes_Though the Red-man 
makes slow steps towards civilization, there are now and 
then indications that Mr. Lo (the poor Indian) is pro¬ 
gressing, and we have now a case which shows that Mrs. 
Lo is not behind her husband. We know that the.Indian 
can drink whiskey and play cards equal to the white man 
who taught him ; that he is very fond of those ways of 
civilized life that allow the use of six-shooters,and breech¬ 
loading rifles ; that in the means he will resort to in order 
to get powder, be it only a single charge, thqt he may 
shoot some game to keep his children from starving, 
he equals the wily schemes of the most civilized con¬ 
fidence man, but we did not know until recently that the 
red-man, or woman, was up to that refinement, that cou- 
sumate flower of our later civilization of 
ADVERTISING TO SELL RECIPES. 
It is a very touching story which we find in a “ Fashion 
Quarterly.” and not the less affecting because it appears 
as an advertisement. Mrs. Oakee Tubee, it is her name 
•—though we can't help thinking that “ Cedar-ee Tub-ee ” 
would be more durable, and we naturally wonder if Mrs. 
Tub-ee wears the hoop-ce. —But we digress. The story is 
in that most effective form, a dialogue, in which Mrs. 
Tubee is interviewed. She interviews well (another in¬ 
dication of progress) and simmered down the story is 
that Indians are never bald, and never have beards. They, 
unlike old Uncle Ned, always have hair “In the place 
where the hair ought to grow.” We will pass by all the 
talk about the “ Great Spirit,” the “MedicineMen,” who 
held the secret, and the particular “ agony ” any one 
would get who divulged the secret, and coming directly 
to the point, say that the superior length, blackness, 
thickness and persistence of the red-man’s hair is due to 
the use of “ Escollucus .” That is a very good looking 
name, but to our notion it smacks of the ’pothecary 
shop rather than of the wigwam. Being “ injun ” it is 
of course made of “ roots and barks,” and it is a comfort 
to know that it grows everywhere, “North and South, 
East and West.” But, it wouldn’tdo to have too much of 
a good thing, so when the “ Great Spirit” taught about 
keeping the hair on the head, it at the same time said that 
“ the face of the warrior must be smooth like a woman’s.” 
Hence the “ Sho-sue," which not only destroys hair, but 
prevents it from ever growing again. Terrible to relate, 
this stuff “grows in every pond.” One can learn some¬ 
thing, even from a squaw ; we have always wondered 
why Indians never washed themselves—except in the 
rainy season, when, there being no umbrellas, they could 
not help it. Now we know that it is because “ Sho-sue ” 
“grows in every pond,” and would completely depilate 
them. The red-skinned warriors, in whose country we 
have lived, were not up to the “ Sho-sue,” and pulled out 
the beard with nippers made from a bit of sardine box or 
other tin. The story is told much in detail, but it winds 
up in a manner that shows Mrs. Oakee Tubee well ad¬ 
vanced in the arts of civilized life. We are informed that 
any one who will send to Mrs. Oaktubee a string of wam¬ 
pum—we beg pardon—a civilized $1 greenback, will re¬ 
ceive a “recipe with full directions.” If that isn’t an 
evidence of civilization, then we are no judge of the 
article. Were we in the betting line, we would wager a 
large apple that the recipe, if received, (Oalctubs may be 
so far civilized as to get the dollarand then forget), while 
pretending to give the ingredients to make these hair 
stuffs, would give to the articles names unknown to drug¬ 
gists, and moreover, anticipating this ignorance among 
the medicine men of the pale-faces, she had the same pre¬ 
pared, and would dispose of it for other greenbacks. 
Tubee’s advertising is so civilized, that we feel quite 
sure she would be equal to Adce with his “ Indian Cough- 
Plant,” the venerable Inman, (we never like to use that 
name without the endearing Joe or Joey), with his 
“Corossa-apimis,” and the rest of it, or to Mother Leg¬ 
gett, with her “Chce-ochce” and “ Chee-Mouchons.” 
We will back the civilized “salvage,” Tubee, against any 
of them. Who shall say that our “Indian policy” (we 
don’t know exactly what it is) is a failure 1 Onkee-Tubee 
—in spite of the fact that your name suggests washing- 
days and cold dinners—we with pride hang your copper- 
colored portrait in our Humbug Gallery, where you will 
shine among your pale-faced brothers and sisters, in evi¬ 
dence of the progress your race has made in one form of 
civilization. 
Yew Yorli State fl>a,irymeii’s Asso¬ 
ciation.—The Sixtli Annual Convention of the New 
York State Dairymen will be held at Elmira, December 
13 and 14. Several addresses will be ma :e by prominent 
dairymen, and discussions wiii be held after each address, 
for which ample time will be allowed. Dairymen are 
urged to attend this convention. 
Califoi'nia ffVsait at the Centennial. The 
“Pacific Rural Press,” in noticing the strictures of the 
“ Gardener’s Monthly ” upon the conduct of those who 
had charge of the California fruit at the Centennial, states 
that the sending of the fruit was entirely a private enter- 
prize. The State made no provision for the expenses of 
an exhibition of fruit, and the persons who took it there 
did so not to show the fruit, but to sell it. The mistake 
seems to be that these men were allowed to exhibit at 
all; they made a convenience of the occasion, and the 
facilities afforded by the Exhibition, and under color of 
exhibiting, found a ready and inexpensive market. 
