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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING. 
(RURAL SPECIAL REPORT.) 
Exposition visitors naturally expect to 
find Louisiana largely and fully represented 
In this no one is disappointed. The products 
and resources of the State are amply shown, 
especially the four great staples—sugar, eot- 
tou. rice and tobacco. The sugar display is 
very complete and instructive. There is a 
tower made of sugar cane, the whole struc¬ 
ture 30 feet high; the lower portion con¬ 
tains jars with all the different grades of 
State sugar carefully classified. A very com¬ 
prehensive exhibit of the sugar statistics of 
the world is shown by different sized pyra¬ 
mids, the quantity being marked ou each. 
The largest crop ever raised in Louisiana was 
in 1861, 459,410 hogsheads. In 1883 the yield 
was 221,515 hogsheads, which was slightly 
less than one-fourth of the total sugar 
consumption of the Union for that year. 
Rice is another leading product of Louisiana, 
which has been steadily increasing in interest 
until in 1883 it had grown to nearly 500,000 
barrels. Both the upland and lowland 
species are shown. The straw is used for 
thatching and other decorations on numer¬ 
ous ornamental designs seen in this space. 
The cotton display is diversified aud unique. 
There is a stalk nine feet high, well supplied 
with large white bolls, then there is the seed, 
meal, cake, hulls, oil and every known pro 
duct of the plaut. A glass case contains fig¬ 
ures of an aged man and woman, all of 
cotton, illustrative of the cotton centennial. 
The background is the State coat-of-arms, a 
pelicau ou a cotton bale. The lady' is knitting 
aud the dog and cat are playing with the ball 
of yarn at her feet. Tobacco is most at 
tractively displayed, especially the famous 
Periqne brand, which is claimed to be the 
finest brand in the world. It is grown only in 
8 l James Parish and caunot be raised any¬ 
where else, as has been fully demonstrated, 
it is said to be absolutely pure, and the aroma 
aud flavor are regarded with the highest 
favor by connoisseurs of the weed. 
The silk industry of the State is very hand¬ 
somely shown, many of the exhibits being 
specially attractive; cocoons, bouquets of silk, 
the worm in every stage, and all manner of 
its products Another most interesting mater¬ 
ial shown is the Spanish moss, which grows 
in such abundance in all the swamps aud for¬ 
ests here. It is gathered, rotted, dried, and 
and comes from the factory resembling curled 
hair; Hnd like that is used for mattresses and 
general upholstering, being very much cheap¬ 
er and a fair substitute. 
Several large glass cases contain wax copies 
of all the fruits and vegetables grown in the 
State. It is the work of a New Orleans lady, 
and every specimen seems perfect. A fine 
collection ol nuts, embracing 157 sorts, are in 
this space. The native woods are shown in 
great variety, including Red Cypress, six feet 
across from a tree 150 feet high. Then there 
is pure rock salt in masses as it comes from 
Avery mine iu Iberia Parish, which also con¬ 
tributes a salt statue of Lot’s wife, life size, 
as lookiug back to Sodom. Then iu the alcove 
near the State headquarters, the ladies have 
gathered a very large and rare collection of 
antiquities, relics, and beautiful fancy work; 
New Orleans is peculiarly rich in the former. 
The State of Maine bus uu exceptionally 
fine exhibit of her native woods iu variety 
and forms, from the rough log to various 
manufactured articles. There is a good show 
of canned fruit, seeds, grasses, graiu iu fair 
variety, tools, toys, Indian canoes, minerals, 
building stone, and especially her noted gran¬ 
ite. There is also a fair educational exhibit. 
The space is not. large, and yet there is room 
for a more diversified display of Btate pro 
ducts, and a larger and better collection than 
is fouud here. But, of course, it is a long way 
from Maine to the Crescent City. 
The exhibit of Mary laud i8 notable; one- 
third of her urea being under water, this part 
of her domain Is given full prominence; and 
the whole display is a comprehensive epitome 
of the productions aud natural resources of the 
State. Above all hovers a Baltimore oriole, 
bearing the national banner. In the center 
floor is a model of t he Battle Monument, on a 
massive pedestal, decorated with grains, 
grasses, vegetables, fish, and a great mass of 
articles, illustrative of leading industries. 
Baltimore seedsmen have a vast variety of 
seeds, grains and vegetables from every coun¬ 
try. The B. & O. Railway and Telegraph 
companies have a fine show of products aud 
resources along their lines. Every species o 
bird in the State, including its water fowls, is 
here shown. Beetles and insects by the hun¬ 
dred thousand are from the noted collections 
of Professors Lugger and IThler. The seals 
of Marytaud and the United States, and the 
American Eagle are fashioned from State 
butterflies. The fish and reptiles are in al¬ 
cohol; aud a very complete case of marine 
shells, including every known species of the 
oyster, is most interesting, Over 200 kinds of 
building stone, 120 being marbles, are shown 
rough and polished. Leaf and manufactured 
tobacco are also embraced in the exhibit. 
Massachusetts cannot be said to excel in her 
exhibit here, m view of her resources and de¬ 
velopment. The educational exhibit is, how 
ever, varied and extensive, and the collections 
of numeral specimen-, and building stones are 
fair. But with the exception of a few apples, 
cranberries, some corn, seeds and vegetables, 
the story of her soil products is neither vivid 
nor striking. 
The great State of Michigan, with its im¬ 
mense fresh-water coast line of 1,000 miles, 
and its many superior advantages of soil aud 
climate, is most happily represented in the 
Exposition, She has much the largest potato 
exhibit here. There are 650 distinct varieties 
in the collection, which embraces nearly every 
known sort, and is believed to be the most ex¬ 
tensive ever brought together. Each sort is 
od a separate plate and carefully labeled, and 
the whole is nicely arranged on an inclined 
platform in front of the handsome State head¬ 
quarter rooms. Mr. D. B Harrmgton, of 
Mason, is in charge of this display. The dis¬ 
play of native woods is perhaps among the 
best here. There are 400 samples, and 150 
varieties. There are many fine mineral speci¬ 
mens, among, them copper from the ore. to 
the ingot aud burnished sheet, Grains, seeds, 
grasses and vegetables are well sampled. 
Michigan claims first rank iu salt, copper, 
charcoal, pig-iroD, fresh water fisheries, and 
in the growth and manufacture of lumber. 
Minnesota, with her 10,000 beautiful in¬ 
land lakes, her vast area of both land and 
water, exceeding that of the island of Great 
Britain, aud all her wonderful possibilities, 
has a large display in this building. Native 
woods, minerals, granite and building stones 
are skillfully arranged in a high column or 
pillar, all being carefully classified. A curi¬ 
ous red pipe-stone is shown in a varietiy of 
forms, some nicely carved and wrought into 
numerous articles of use aud ornament. The 
great flour-milling interest is grandly dis¬ 
played here. The “'Washington A” mill, the 
largest iu the world, made 1,500,000 barrels of 
flour last year. The flour is here shown at 
every stage of the milling process. The dairy¬ 
ing interest of Minnesota is booming up rap¬ 
idly. She has taken a large share of the 
premiums here. She has 850,000 cows, and 
her annual butter produce has grown to 
30,000,000 pounds last year. 
Mississippi, the great cotton producer of 
the Union, is here with a diversified collec¬ 
tion of products iu addition to a most excel¬ 
lent display of that staple. There is a fairy 
puvillion made entirely of cotton, and very 
skillful iu design and construction. A silk 
exhibit from Corinth is especially noteworthy 
for the variety and excellence of toe ar¬ 
ticles shown aud the beauty of arrangement. 
There is a most ingeuious county map of the 
State made entirely of silk in colors, and most 
elaborately embroidered, about 4x8 feet in 
size. Native woods, cereals from the various 
couuties, tobacco, sugar cane, aud a great 
varietj of soil products demonstrate the fact 
that the people of Mississippi ere getting 
much larger notions of the resources of their 
soil than formerly. Nuts are in a great va¬ 
riety and exceptionally fine, especially the 
favorite pecan. The vegetable show is large 
aud excellent. It has been said of the Missis- 
sippian iu the past that he would sit quietly, 
under the shade of his hickory trees waiting 
for ax helves from the North, and with truth, 
doubtless, but the great variety of manufac¬ 
tured woods shown here, as well as the 
numerous other products of the workshop, tell 
a more encouraging story now. A tine apiari- 
au exhibit, including Implements and 
excellent products attracts attention h h. 
In the Eye Opener of the Rural for Fob- 
ruarj 21, we said, “Geo L Peters & Co. pro¬ 
fess to run the “Fairmouut Nurseries’* at 
Troy Ohio: Topeka, Kansas, aud I.e Mars, 
la ; but they are mikown to the mercantile 
agencies as conducting a legitimate business 
iu any of these places. It will be safe for our 
friends to leave these nurserymen severely 
alone.” This was in answer to several inquir¬ 
ies from different parts of the West, some of 
our correspondents telling wonderful stories 
of the fruits offered for sale by the agents of 
the firm. We consulted the Bradstreet and 
Dunn mercantile agencies, which give the 
standing of every concern in the country en¬ 
gaged in any legitimate mercantile business. 
The above firm was not known at any of the 
places mentioned; but at Troy, Ohio George 
Peters & Son were given a good standing as 
nurserymen; but in neither of the two other 
towns was the firm mentioned. It is a com¬ 
mon practice of swindling concerns to assume 
nearly the full name of a reputable business 
firm, merely omitting or changing some in¬ 
itial or other letter, or altering the “style” of 
the firm so slightly as to induce the unwary 
to think the two identical. Those who, like 
the Eye-opener, are con-tantlv on the look¬ 
out for frauds, notice examples of this dodge 
every week. Our suspicions, therefore, were, 
very naturally, at once aroused that the firm 
of George L. Peters & Co. was a fraud of this 
stripe. To sift the matter to the bottom, how¬ 
ever, we wrote to subscribers of the Rural 
at the different towns mentioned, inquiring 
as to the existence and standing of the con¬ 
cern at each place. Our friend in Topeka 
wrote us; “Diligent search has failed to dis¬ 
cover any such firm doing business in this 
place; nor can I find any trace of the Fair- 
mount Nur»ery.*' The Census of 1880 gives 
Topeka a population of less than 16,000, and it 
can hardly be suppposed that an old resident 
could discover nothing about a firm of any 
considerable importance in a town of that size. 
A friend at Le Mars, la , wrote us: “There 
is no such firm in the nurs :ry busiuess bere, 
but I learn that a concern of something like 
the same name is about to start a nursery in 
this place. Not a tree or plant has yet been 
grown by it in Plymouth County.” A friend 
at Troy, Ohio, wrote: “There is no such firm 
as Geo. L Peters & Co. in the nursery bus¬ 
iness at this place; but Geo. Peters & Son do 
a considerable business bere in that line.” 
Under the circumstances, were we justified in 
cautioning our inquiring friends! After the 
publication of the warning, we received sev¬ 
eral letters from George Peters & Son, and 
some of their friends, protesting against our 
remarks, and subsequent investigation has 
convinced us that the inquiries sent to us 
about Geo. L Peters & Co of Troy, Ohio. 
Topeka, Kansas, and Le Mars, la., referred 
to the firm of George Peters & Son, of Troy, 
Ohio., which has long been doing a trust¬ 
worthy business at that place. It has lately 
changed its name, it appears, to Geo. Peters 
& Co., and we learn from the Evening Sen¬ 
tinel, of L* Mars, dated March 13. that it had 
then concluded to start a nursery at that 
place. It probably intends to start one also 
at Topeka, Kansas, if it has not done so al¬ 
ready, inasmuch as its letter heads bear the 
names of all three places. We have no doubt 
whatever as to the reliability of the old firm 
of George Peters & Son of Troy, Ohio, and 
trust that, the new firm of George Peters & Co., 
of Troy, Ohio, Topeka, Kansas, and Le Mars, 
Iowa, will prove itself deserving of equal 
confidence and commendation. 
We would once more warn our friends that 
they cannot be too cautious in dealing with 
agents of the Standard Machine Company, of 
Cleveland, Ohio, “manufacturers of the com¬ 
bined corn-sbeller and feed grinder, patented 
Feb. 20, 1883.” It is over six months ago since 
we first cautioned our friends against the 
tricks of these rascals, and since theu we have 
heard quite frequently of their attempts to 
swiudle farmers in various parts of the West, 
attempts in which they have been often suc¬ 
cessful. The modus operandi of the knaves 
is thus descrited in one of several clippiugs 
made from Western uapers regarding them. 
This is from the Wilber Blade, Neb 
‘•A little the sleekest piece of swim]lint; was perpe¬ 
trated on W, H. Mathews, of DeWltt precinct, Mr. 
Wheeler, of Western, anti Mr Gloson, of Plymouth, 
ami others, of which we have heard for some time, 
as related to us by Mr. Mathews. A fellow came 
through the country selling a combined machine for 
shelling corn and grinding feed. He stated that he 
was not selling the machine now. but was putting 
one up here and there for the tarmers to try during 
the W r lmer. StUI, In the goodness of his heart he 
would permit the snid farmers to sell them If they 
could, but he must Ua'e a certified statement of 
what tnc farmer was worth before he would clothe 
him with such aurhorlty. It was done. Iu about 
two weeks Chas H. Browu. candidate for Congress 
In the first Congressional District, came to Mr 
Mathews and we presume to others—exhlht'tng u 
postal card containing an order for said machine 
with Mr. Mathews's name to It. Mr. Mathews told 
him he would take his oath that he never saw the 
card. But he had ordered the machine according to 
the postal aud must settle for It or stand a suit. He 
settled It with his note rather than go to law. The 
amouut was *175 ” 
Some of the extracts relate to unsuccessful at¬ 
tempts of the sleek tongued, brazen-faced 
frauds; aud oue tells bow a farmer “settled” 
the note by tearing it into bits and eooly ask- 
iug the lawyer, “Now, what are you going to 
do about it?” Tbe lawyer made no fuss, but 
amicably collected all the scraps, and peace¬ 
fully walked off with them by way of com¬ 
promise. That farmer is pretty sure to bear 
about those scraps again, when they are pasted 
handsomely together, so as once more to form 
a note as valid, under the circumstances, as tbe 
untom note ever was. The rascals tried to 
swindle a friend of ours at Rising Sun, Neb., 
as he tells us thus: “’A very slick-tongued man 
called on me when at work in the field, and 
said be wanted my time for five minutes—no 
longer—as he was introducing a new com¬ 
bined mill to shell corn and grind at the same 
time He just wanted the privilege of setting 
one up ou my place for me to use, and show 
to my neighbors, as he wanted to get the mills 
scattered over the country where men were 
keeping a good many bogs. It should cost me 
nothing, not even freight. He then got out 
his papers and filled out the blank that I send 
you. I saw by that, that I was in (or the 
freight and asettlement for the mill some time, 
so I required him to put his certificate as the 
manufacturer’s agent on the back, as you will 
see. Then he produced a postal card for me 
to sign to send to the company an order for 
the mill. That I refused to do. He said he 
would have one sent anyway, as he considered 
it a good place to set odb up. The mill has 
never come, but lately I have seen several ac¬ 
counts of swindling operations by the rogues 
in other parts of this State.” The note was 
evidently drawn up with the intention of de¬ 
ceiving the “guileless granger;” but being a 
reader of the Rural, of course the latter, 
though “as harmless as a dove, was as wise as 
a serpent,” and wasn’t “taken in and done for” 
like bis gullible neighbors. 
There are many, very many, Bwindlers all 
over the country, who offer things for sale or 
on consignment, whose object is to bamboozle 
the farmer in this way. The above account 
is given as a specimen of the modus operandi 
of these scoundrels. 
To Several Inquirers. —It is becoming a 
trifle monotonous to reiterate over and over 
again that the Globe Manufacturing Company, 
of Bo^ton.is not worthy of patronage. We have 
said this at least three times already and giv- 
eu our reasons for the statement, and really 
and truly we must positively refuse to refer to 
the old fraud again until—the next time...... 
Yes, A. 1. Root, Medina, Ohio, is quite trust¬ 
worthy ....We do not recommend B W. 
Head. Vienna, Va.We ask our friends 
not to have any dealings with the Chicago 
Preserving Company, which offers “Preser- 
vine” for sale for $1 a box or two boxes for 
61.50. This is a powder for preserving fruit. 
We haven’t yet had time to investigate the 
concern; but it carries on its face all the marks 
of an arrant swindle. For ourselves we have 
no doubt whatever that it is a fraud; but we 
hesitate to state our conviction until he have 
overhauled the matter thoroughly.We 
have repeatedly cautioned our friends against 
having any dealings whatever'with the Stand¬ 
ard Silver-ware Company, of Boston. Mass. 
.We cannot recommend the Electric 
Pad Manufacturing Company, of Brooklyn, 
N. Y. It is an old hambug under a new 
name. .. The dentaphone made by the Amer¬ 
ican Dentaphone Co., of Cincinnati, Ohio, is 
of some use in particular cases of deafness; 
but we have known quite a number of cases 
of deafness in which in was either absolutely 
worthless or of such little aid as not to be 
worth bothering with. In cases of severe deaf- 
Dess, we do not think it would be of any use. 
Such has been the experience in this office.... 
The marvelous cures wrought by “Dr.” R. C. 
Fowler, of Boston, are, like his claims. 
humbugs..We have already in over half 
a column of the Eye-opener, fully exposed the 
Hulless Oats $10 a bushel swindle Why do 
not people keep all the “Eye-openers” for ref¬ 
erence? Yes, yes, we know quite well that 
some neighborhoods have lost from 6100 to 
61 .(XX) by the fraud. The Bohemian Oat cheat 
is of the same stripe, and has been fully ex¬ 
posed in back Rurals. We are so pressed for 
space here, that we cannot detail the nature 
of the frauds, but merely warn our friends 
against them, .. .. Humphrey's Specific 
Homeopathic Medicine Company, of this city, 
is quite trine worthy, and the medicines 
are goixl of their kind . The Civiale 
Remedial Agency, this city, will doubtless, 
send tbe goods ordered and paid for; but we 
recommend neither the firm nor the goods. 
.We do not recommend the Harris 
Remedy Company, of St. Louis. Mo.. .... 
Peter Duryee & Company, of this city, are 
trustworthy.We have already exposed, 
iu full, the fraudulent offer of the Cotton 
Belt, a wretched sheet sent out now and then 
from Memphis, Tenn.. . We have never 
heard any complaints against tbe goods or 
dealings of the Acme Manufacturing Com¬ 
pany, Ivorytown, Conn.Again come 
inquiries about that old fraud the Reliable 
Manufacturing Company, of Philadelphia, 
which has been denounced here half a dozen 
times within a year. ...Fowler & Company, of 
Boston, is a humbug of the same pattern; and 
the Globe Manufacturing Company, of the 
