1883.j 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
8T 
"practised upon farmers and other rural residents, 
by those who go about the country, making house 
to house visitations. While these go to their vic¬ 
tims, another class wait for their dupes to come 
to them. Farmers and all other strangers, who 
for business or pleasure visit any large city, should 
be aware that there are gangs of scoundrels who 
make it their business to lay in wait for, and en¬ 
trap every one who has the appearance of a stranger. 
The Peter Funk Auctions 
were, some years ago, doing a great business. 
These auction shops were in the most frequented 
streets, and their trade, the selling of worthless 
watches and bogus jewelry, was carried on openly 
and boldly. Whenever a stranger could be tempt¬ 
ed into one of these dens, he was quite sure to be 
fleeced. He sometimes made a complaint to the 
authorities, and if he went with the officers to 
make arrests, the victim failed to identify a single 
person who was concerned in the swindle. Several 
of these shops were under the same management, 
and as soon as a sale had been made in one of 
them, the auctioneer and his confederates all went 
to one of the other shops, and exchanged places 
"with the inmates, and when an attempt was made 
to arrest, no one engaged in a sale could be 
found. All other methods of breaking up these 
mock auction shops failing, at length a police 
•officer was stationed in front of each, with instruc¬ 
tions to warn all who were tempted to enter, of 
the character of the business. This completely 
broke up the concerns. “Peter Funk”—the name 
often given by the auctioneer, if arrested, now no 
longer sells worthless jewelry and watches. He 
sometimes sells furuiture “ of a family breaking 
Tip housekeeping.” It is remarkable that the 
iamily is a long while in “ breaking up,” as the 
furniture is sold in the same house every day for 
months. Such sales are supplied with showy but 
miserable furniture, made for the purpose. Bu¬ 
reaus have been sold without drawers, the fronts be¬ 
ing fastened in place, and other shams are common. 
Auction Sales of Cigars 
are just now among the leading auction swindles. 
There are several stores, in the busy streets, where 
the “going,” “going” of these chaps may bo 
heard all day long. A store is hired, boxes of ci¬ 
gars—or more likely cigar boxes—are placed in the 
•window and on the shelves, and 'a red flag is hung 
At the door. The auctioneer cries and hammers 
away, to an audience of two or three confederates, 
with usually one venerable looking old rascal 
among them. If a stranger, attracted by the noise, 
looks in, bidding goes on lively. If a smoker, he 
may be tempted to bid, when a lot of ten boxes is 
going, and he can get it by bidding five dollars. 
The usual trick is this : The stranger thinks he 
buys the lot of five or ten boxes for his bid, but 
rfioon finds that the bid was of that amount for each 
box. There are witnesses to that effect, and the 
buyer is often frightened into paying a high 
price for cigars which are worth nothing. A 
stranger in New York or in any other city should 
avoid all auctions.Another trap is laid by what 
are known as 
Banco Steerers. 
These were formerly more prominent in Chicago 
than elsewhere, but now every large city is infested 
by them. They promenade the principal streets, 
and waylay the passengers from the depots and 
ferry boats. When one of these chaps sees a well- 
to-do looking person, who is evidently a stranger, 
be rushes up to him, shakeshis hand, with : “ How 
do you do, Mr. Jones, when did you come down, 
and how did you leave all the good people at Little- 
town?” The stranger may say: “You are mis¬ 
taken, sir; my name is not Jones; I am Mr. 
Smith, of Four Corners.” He will not walk far, 
before a confederate of the first will salute him as 
“Mr. Smith,” and insist on inquiring about “the 
folks at Four Corners.” This opens the way to 
a more familiar acquaintance, and the man from 
“ Four Corners ” is induced to accompany his new 
found friend to look at some recent purchase he 
has made. There a game of cards is in progress, 
and in a short time the stranger is persuaded to 
play. He wins again and again, and loses with 
astonishing regularity. He soon finds himself 
largely in debt, and is fortunate if he escapes with 
only the loss of the ready money in his possession. 
The “ game ” is an old one, and the “ danger sig¬ 
nal ” has often been raised to warn the unwary. 
But no “ game ” is more successfully or more fre¬ 
quently played. Hudibras thinks “ the pleasure is 
as great of being cheated as to cheat,” and per¬ 
haps it is on this principle that so many vvorthy 
people are made the dupes of sharpers. A case in 
point occurred a few months ago in Boston, 
Banco-steerer Fitzgerald and Charles Francis 
Adams 
being the conspicuous parties. Mr. Adams, an 
aged and honored citizen, was taken in hand by a 
plausible, well-spoken young man, and conducted 
to a den occupied by sharpers, where he was in¬ 
duced to play cards and forced to give his checks 
for a large amouut of money, his alleged losses. 
Banco-steerer Fitzgerald reckoned without his host. 
He supposed that Mr. Adams and his family would 
be deterred from makiug the circumstances public, 
and upon their silence he depended for the quiet 
enjoyment of his ill-gotten gains. But his dream 
was rudely dispelled by the unexpected conduct 
of the Adams family, who hunted up Fitzgerald 
and his associates, and prosecuted them to the full 
extent of the law, as Fitzgerald, now in prison for 
his crime, has found to his cost. These Banco- 
steerers seek their victims everywhere, not only in 
city streets, hut on steamboats and the cars. 
There is but One Safe Course 
for those who travel or who find themselves in a 
strange city. That is, to repel the approaches of 
every one who is disposed to be too familiar. Do 
not admit that you are a stranger in the city to 
which you are destined, and decline all offers to 
serve as a guide. Above all, never enter a building 
of any kind with a person unknown to you. 
Since the above was in type, an illustration of 
the necessity for the warning has been furnished by 
A Distinguished Stranger. 
He was not from the rural districts and unused to 
cities, but came from the old country as a poet and 
an exponent of aesthetics and a lecturer on the 
beautiful. He thought “small beer” of the At¬ 
lantic, Niagara was an “ utterly utter ” disappoint¬ 
ment, and our fondness for cast-iron stoves an of¬ 
fence to his sense of the sweet-pretty. Oscar was 
one day accosted on the street by a young man who 
was very glad to meet him. The young man was 
“Mr. Drexel,” so he said, a son of the celebrated 
banker; he had seen the poet in his father’s bank¬ 
ing house, and took the liberty, etc. As Oscar had 
been in the office, he accepted the “ younger 
Drexel ” as all right, and accompanied him to a 
house in one of the uptown streets. 
Some men were playing a game with dice, and 
“young Drexel” played and won largely. The 
poet was asked to play ; he did so, and won. En¬ 
couraged, he won more. The stakes were enlarged, 
and Oscar did not win, but lost, and lost again. 
Determined to recover his losses, he played on, un¬ 
til he lost in all $1,160. He gave his checks for 
that sum, and suspecting, in spite of “ Mr. Drexel,” 
that all was not right, he drove in haste to the 
bank and stopped payment of the checks. He then 
visited the police station, but, with true poetic ab¬ 
straction, could not tell what street the house was 
in, and the police could do nothing. Oscar was 
asked to look at the picture* in the Rogues Gallery, 
where he soon found the portrait of his friend 
“ Drexel ” in that of a person known to the police 
as “ Hungry Joe,” and a uoted Banco Steerer. 
Oscar soon left for home—he could find nothing 
beautiful in this “ beastly ” country—yet he cannot 
deny that he was most beautifully swindled. 
It seems that the bait so freely scattered in the 
form of circulars offering to dispose of 
Counterfeit Money, or “Queer,” 
does sometimes prove effective. A farmer in Ken¬ 
tucky was a short time ago fascinated with the 
offer that for $300 he could get $3,000 in green¬ 
backs. These were said to be printed from a plate 
stolen from the Government, and were practically 
genuine. This man made the journey from Ken¬ 
tucky, bringing his son, from whom he kept hi? 
secret, met his man at a hotel, gave him $300 in 
good money, and was given a parcel. At once the 
man was advised to hurry out of the city, and was 
met on his way to a ferry by a police officer, who 
recognized in his companion a well-known swin¬ 
dler. There was the same old ending to the story. 
The parcel for which he had paid $300, when 
opened, was found to contain a brick and a bag of 
salt done up in waste paper. The Kentucky man 
went home, having travelled far and paid dearly for 
a lesson in common honesty. When his neighbors 
learn that he was ready to deal in counterfeit mon¬ 
ey, he will hardly enjoy their salutations. 
Too Sudden to be Trustworthy. 
A Chicago firm, E. E. Kendall & Co., are flooding 
a part of the West with circulars for “Mutual In¬ 
vestment Clubs.” These circulars solicit subscrip¬ 
tions at $10 per share for investments in grain, 
provisions or stocks.. The latest of these “ Mutual 
Investments,” is “Club 13,” which it is claimed 
has made 209 per cent or $20.90 for each $10 share, 
during the last six months. This is a rate of profit 
of which even the Bonanza kings have never 
dreamed, and we caution the anxious inquirers 
who address the American Agriculturist, to be care¬ 
ful how they invest their money in these attractive 
but dangerous schemes. Money is not made by 
such rapid methods. Least of all can it be so made 
by “ margins ” on the necessaries of life. The best 
use for these circulars is as fire kindling. It is a safe 
rule to pay no heed to manifestoes that make ex¬ 
travagant promises of fortunes without work. Dol¬ 
lars represent hard work in some way or other, as 
farmers well know. It is known that 
Sharpers who prey upon the Community 
find little apparent difficulty in procuring lists of 
names of expected victims. There are men who 
make it a business of furnishing these lists in 
assorted styles, to suit the sharper who desires to 
use them. If young people at school are to be 
corrupted, names are gathered from school and 
college catalogues. It is easy to procure these cata¬ 
logues under the pretence of having a son or 
daughter whom the applicant desires to place in an 
institution of learning. County, city, town and 
village directories supply names for other pur¬ 
poses. The columns of newspapers are also 
drawn upon. In some underhand way or other 
the names are procured and are often used for 
the vilest purposes. A letter, one of many lying 
before us, comes from Creston, Ohio, and advises 
us, that “that little town” is flooded with small 
hooks of an indescribable character. We have seen 
these books and can say to all, “hands off” from 
all such documents. Our correspondent at Creston 
will do “ the hoys ” of his town a great service by 
stopping the circulation of these books, which 
he says he can do. Its end is corruption and 
suffering. We will not name the vile thing. 
Enough has been said to point out the evil. 
Readers of the American Agriculturist who re¬ 
ceive circulars and other documents of the kind, 
described in the “Sundry Humbugs” department 
of this paper are requested to forward them to the 
editors, who will make it a business to expose 
fraudulent imposters who set these traps for the 
unwary and unthinking. The American Agri¬ 
culturist has done good service heretofore in this 
direction, and is hopeful that in the future it may 
be even more successful in saving the money of 
its readers. 
