i#l) RAV. 
'h£W-yORKEP 
Spain through the intervention of our Minis¬ 
ter to that country.” 
And he calls such ageueies as the “B.-A.” 
“dens of thieves. ” At the same time Secretary 
Bayard proved conclusively the imaginary 
nature of the Lawrence-Townley, or Chase es¬ 
tate of $800,000,000, about which special in¬ 
quiries were made. Further, he says that 
neither the Department nor the Legation in 
London can encourage or aid any investigation 
iuto such nebulous fortunes. This sort of swin¬ 
dle is an old one. Long before the “B.-A.” 
Agency hundreds of thousands of dollars had 
been contributed by associations and 
individuals on the theory that fabu¬ 
lous fortunes awaited American heirs 
in England. In 1867 a meeting of 31X1 
La wrences was held in Boston to send out an 
agent to look after the nice little sum of $125,- 
000 , 000 , supposed to be held in the English 
Court of Chancery. In 1807 200 Ingrams 
voted to raise $ 20,000 to assert their imagi¬ 
nary rights to a vast estate in Yorkshire, in¬ 
cluding the site of the City of Leeds. Colum¬ 
bus Smith, of Vt., as far back as 1852, began 
to form associations of “heirs” to tremen¬ 
dous English estates begging for somebody 
to come and take them. He promised mil¬ 
lions to the Willoughbys, the SnowB, the Wil¬ 
sons and the Gibsons; but while all of them 
have paid out considerable money, none of 
them has ever got in a cent. In 1867—a ludic¬ 
rous year in this line—the Browns chased a 
neat little fortune of $245,700,000: the Dud¬ 
leys laid claim to vast Euglish possessions; 
an association of Churches wanted to get 
$35,000,000 from the Bank of England and 
$ 20 , 000,000 in landed property on the Thames. 
While the blending of Arabian, Turkish and 
Barb blood has undoubtedly contributed im¬ 
mensely to the formation of the modern 
Thoroughbred, there is not the remotest doubt 
that the care aud skill of English bi’eeders in 
selecting and coupling the stoutest, best and 
fleetest for successive generations has been a 
still more potent agent in the formation of the 
breed. 
Our American Thoroughbreds are,of course, 
of Euglish birth or descent,and indeed all our 
horses, except those bred especially for agri¬ 
cultural purposes, are largely permeated with 
Thoroughbred blood. It enters largely into 
the ground-work of our trotting strains and 
roadsters aud saddle horses generally. Hav¬ 
ing been bred for generations with special 
reference to speed, the Thoroughbred has ac¬ 
quired peculiarities of form and temper, that 
l'ender him undesirable for the more 
sober and steady work of ordiuary life. He 
is rather too lithe and light in form, too 
nervous and excitable in temper for every¬ 
day uses; but iu speed, eudurauee and reso¬ 
lution the Thoroughbred excels all other 
breeds on the globe, and there is no race of 
horses in existence that may not be improved 
by a Thoroughbred cross. 
At Fig. 140 is showu a famous specimen of 
a Thoroughbred stallion, Hermit, winner of 
the sensational Derby of 1867 and of nine 
other remarkable races, and, next to Stock- 
well, the most successful stallion of the cen¬ 
tury. Before the Derby of 1867, owing to the 
breaking of a blood-vessel in the head, from a 
prime favorite he became an outsider, 1,000 
to 15 teing offered against him without any 
takers; yet he won the race from a field of 20 
troit, Mich., was sentenced to five years’ im¬ 
prisonment for obtaining $5,000 from John 
Deakin, of Susquehanna, Pa., ou the false 
pretence of prosecuting for him a claim to an 
English estate worth $250,000. Some ac¬ 
counts put the amount Deakin is “out” at 
$20,000. The .first sum paid was only $500; 
but Anderson then claimed that the property 
he had discovered was worth only $50,000. 
As his demands increased so did the value of 
the mythical estate, until his credulous dupe 
followed him to England and found the estate 
and Anderson’s services bogus. The rascal 
must have had several other similar clients 
for he squandered money “like a Prince” or a 
successful “boodleman.” There’s a good deal 
of cheating iu the same way in this country, 
witness, the “Harlem Common Syndicate” 
humbug. 
The following note from Alex. Heron, Sec¬ 
retary of the Indiana State Board of Agri¬ 
culture is very suggestive of fraud: 
“A corn show having been advertised, 
under the auspices of the Marion Co. Agri¬ 
cultural Society, during March, aud special 
premiums having been solicited and offered 
for that purpose, therefore, this is to convey 
the information and explanation that the ar- 
rangemet Is an individual enterprise, as the 
Marion County Agricultural Society, in ses¬ 
sion the other day, disclaimed any authority 
for such announcement, and the use of my 
name alone in soliciting premiums for such 
exhibit was without my knowledge or consent 
in any way whatever. ‘ One or more persons 
therefore write to manufacturers aud others 
soliciting prizes to be offered at a “corn 
show,” representing that they do so in the 
name of the Marion County 
Agricultural Society, aud, without 
any authority, use the name of 
the Secretary of the State Board 
of Agriculture to lend weight to 
their solicitations. Goods received 
under these conditions would 
evidently be obtained on false 
pretences, and tbe receivers would 
be liable to criminal prosecution, 
and most likely would be well 
worthy of punishment. Are there 
other “ventures” of the kind? 
To Several Inquirers— We 
cannot by any means recommend 
IgjSgffc* theElectricPad MTgCo., Brooklyn, 
N. Y. We do not recommend the 
Domestic M’fg Co., Wallingford, 
Conn. We cannot recommend 
the Franklin Publishing Co., New 
V- Haven, Conn. We do not recom- 
- mend the Civiale Remedy Co., of 
~ this city. It will send the goods, 
no doubt, but they are too high 
priced and less effective than 
Ss==^Iil claimed. Itiseugagedinwhatwe 
.a - ~ consider a disreputable business.. 
... .We don’t recommend Stephens 
Brothers, Northford, Conn.,or the 
Shelton Card Works, Birmingham, 
__ Conn.“Henry Wood,” -343 
E. 54th St., this city is the assumed 
name of a swindler who pretends 
to sell counterfeit money, and is 
sending a large number of circulars 
to different parts of the country. Of course, 
every person who deals with him is absolutely 
certain to be swindled, and richly deserves 
to be so. He ouly hires a letter-box at 50 
cents a month at the address. We have set 
the police after this rascal. After so many 
press warnings, isn't it wonderful that dis¬ 
honest dupes still patrouize such rascals. 
arscmaii 
THOROUGHBRED HORSES, 
In this country the word “thoroughbred” 
is frequently applied to domestic animals of 
auy kind belougiug to any well-defined breed 
without any admixture of other blood; but 
originally ami properly it was applied ex¬ 
clusively to tbe English race-horse, which 
of all breeds of animals is the oldest and 
lw:st established. It is now about 137 years ago 
—1750—since tbe first publication of tbe En¬ 
glish Racing Calendar, containing the names 
of all the horses that took part iu tbe regular 
races, and iu a very few years it became the 
custom to give tbe name of tbe sire in each 
case. With very little change this publica¬ 
tion has continued till the present day, aud 
the records of performances and names of the 
performers furnished the basis for the stud¬ 
book of the breed. A record of the pedigrees 
of distinguished horses was published in 1780, 
and,’.later, several other compilations of pedi¬ 
grees from the Racing Calendar and other 
sources were attempted; but it was not until 
171*1 that the English Stud Book took its pres¬ 
ent form. The standard of admission to it 
was a creditable performance on the turf, as 
shown by the Racing Calendar, as it was 
taken for granted that a creditable ;>erform¬ 
er must necessarily be well-bred. The first 
volume compiled on this basis formed the 
foundation for all subsequent ones, and few 
names have since been admitted to registry 
that could not trace their pedigrees on both 
sides, without admixture, to pre¬ 
decessors recorded in the first vol¬ 
ume,or to subsequent importations 
of Oriental blood; but while a re¬ 
cent cross with an imported Arab 
or Barb does not render an ani¬ 
mal ineligible as a Thoroughbred, 
it is not considered desirable, inas- I 
much as the English race-horse of 
to-day is considered far superior 
to the Oriental horse of to-day iu 
size, speed and endurauce. No 
horse, no matter how long his ped¬ 
igree, can find entrance to the En¬ 
glish Stud Book except those 
indicated: but, with regard to the 
American Stud Book, this rule 
has been relaxed so as to admit to 
registry animal* that show an uu- 
mixed descent for five generations 
of pure blood ; for the amount 
of alien blood then remaining _d£^jgg§ 
must necessarily be infinitesimally 
But what was the foundation of 
the breed? Well, the original -fMliH* 
horses of the islaud were very in- 
ferior iu comparison with any of 
the breeds of to-day; but from • >3 ^ 
Saxon times they were steadily im- " 
proved by importations from tbe 
Continent, especially from Nor- 
maudy, Flanders and Germany in 
earlier days, uud, later, by fre¬ 
quent introductions of the lighter, 
more agile a nd graceful horses of Spain, which 
were almost, identical with the Barbs to be 
met with ou the other side of the Mediterra¬ 
nean from Egypt westward to the Atlantic, 
but especially in Morocco. As far back as 
16(X) horse racing was a favorite pastime in 
England, and frequent importations of choice 
horses were made from Egypt, Tunis, 
Morocco, Arabia aud parts of Turkey. This 
was especially the case during ami after 
the reign of Charles II, when horse-racing 
had become so much of a national sport that 
the ability to excel in a race was regarded as 
the principal tost of merit in a horse, aud those 
most successful on the turf were most highly 
prized for breeding purposes. From the time 
of Charles IT down breeding for speed and en¬ 
durance ou the race-course has been conducted 
more and more on a definite plan and on more 
scientific principles. Charles sent his Master 
of the Horse especially to the Levant for some 
choice stoek.und liis purchases comprised three 
celebrated Turkish stallions and some mores 
from Tuugiers known as the “royal mares,” 
anO these are supposed by many to be the 
foundation of all the pure Thorougbbreds.Turf- 
men generally consider that the Oriental stal¬ 
lions that have contributed most to the forma¬ 
tion of the Thoroughbred are Place's White 
Turk, imported iu the time of Cromwell; 
King Charles’s importations; the Byerley 
Turk in the days of James II.; the Darley 
Arabian, imported between 17u0 and IT 15, aud 
the Godolphin Arabian, supposed to have 
been really a Barb, imported in 1728. The 
last is commonly supposed to have been the 
last Easteru horse that has been of auy special 
benefit to the Euglish stock, though there are 
a considerable number of later importations 
whose names are seen in the best pedigrees. 
THOROUGHBRED ‘STALLION, HERMIT. Fig. 140. Re engraved from tbe London Live Stock Journal 
others, putting £80,000—$406,000—in the pock¬ 
ets of his owner. Since 1870 he has been in 
the stud at Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the first 
charge being 20 guineas with 10 s fid for the 
groom; but owing to his success the fee was 
rapidly advanced to 50 gs., 200 gs.. and last 
year to 250 gs., at which it now stands. In 18 
years iu the stud he begot 280 foals which won 
uo fewer than 658 races of the value of £207,- 
874—which the London Live Stock Journal 
justly remarks is a stupendous sum to be won 
in 18 years by tbe progeny of a single horse. 
Who has ever heard that a single dollar of 
these vast millions, or of other millions sought 
by different claimants in the United King¬ 
dom has been secured ? 
With regard to Fortunes iu Germany, Min¬ 
ister White says; 
“So far as the Legation has been able to 
ascertain, there are in Germany uo large 
estates, that for 86 or more years have been 
awaiting distribution to unknown heirs, in 
the hands of the Government or of anybody, 
aud all efforts to discover such estates that 
the Legation bas ever made or even heard 
of have proved fruitless. ” 
Similar notices have for years been coming 
from our Ministers at the Hague, for, next to 
England, Holland has been the greatest custo¬ 
dian of such'mythical fortunes. 
The amount of money expended iu hunting 
for such fortunes must be enormous. The 80,- 
000 dupes bled by the "B. A. Ageucy” in six 
months represent only a part of the “claim¬ 
ants.” There are a considerable number of 
associations here and there throughout the 
country, generally got together by rascally 
lawyers who want fees for investigating and 
prosecutiug the “claims.” Then there are 
many individual “claimants,” who pay some 
dishonest “claim-agents” more or less heavily 
to help them to fortunes. There are a large 
number of these sharpers preying quietly on 
the credulous all over this country and Eng- 
laud. Generally their dupes are ashamed to 
confess their credulity aud are silent about 
their losses. It is only when some simpleton 
has been outrageously swindled that he 
“squeals' - and prosecutes the swindler. 
A remarkable ease of thiskiud occurred in 
London'last Saturday, when George F. An¬ 
derson, who claimed to be a judge from De¬ 
iVUscfllancous 
TRANSCONTINENTAL LETTERS. 
LXXVI.— (Concluded.) 
MARY WAGER-FISHER 
In Paso del Norte; a church of the conquisa- 
dores; not much of a Republic; a Mexican 
bill-of-fare. _ 
The old church at Paso del Norte is claimed 
to be over300 years old. Like all the work of 
early Spanish monks, it is of noble but simple 
architecture. This one is ornamented iuside 
with much wood earviug, the lofty ceiling in 
particular being very elaborately and beauti¬ 
fully carved, and it is of very novel con¬ 
struction. As this is a treeless, timberless 
country, such a thing as a board or plank 
three huudred years ago was of great value. 
However, considerable wood w«s used in this 
church for the cross-beams, the doors, and 
about the altar. Small, round sticks cross di¬ 
agonally between the lieams of the ceiling 
and produce an ornamental effect. The roofs 
of houses are formed of sticks and limbs of 
trees—driftwood largely—ami over these a 
thick layer of adobe is put. The altar in¬ 
closure is painted white, with stripes of green, 
Parker of the “British-American Claim 
Agency.” is held for trial under bail of $2,500; 
aud Withered ami Gibbons under bail of $1,000 
each. The more that is learnt about the swin¬ 
dle, the more marvelous appears the gullibility 
of a vast multitude of people who think they 
may be heirs to European estates. For years 
the State Department has been sending ouc 
priuted circulars by dozens every day to cred¬ 
ulous jx'Ople of this sort, showing the 
mythical character of such fortunes. On Nov. 
15, 1884. Minister Lowell, after proving that 
there are no such unclaimed fortunes iu Eng¬ 
land says: 
“I hope it may be of some use iu saving the 
money of those foolish dupes iu the United 
States who have not already thrown it away 
iu the worse than useless pursuit of imaginary 
fortunes in Gmit ’Rritian. They ’.might as 
well sock to recover possession of a castle in 
