Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 August 1888 — TAKEN IN AND DONE FOR. [ARTICLE]

TAKEN IN AND DONE FOR.

A traveling patent medicine fake got in his work in great shape, in this town, Saturday and Monday evenings. His plan was to get a crowd together by the songs and guitar playing of an assistant and then, after a windy description of the virtues of his medicine, offer it for sale in small packages, say for 25 cents a package. He lyould take the names of the buyers, and after a few minutes would return to them their money and usually a little more and let them keep the medicine. The size of the packages sold arid the amount of their cost increased until two, three and even five dollar packages were freely sold. He made no promises to return any money, but still con-

tinued to give back all he took in, and a little more. He followed this plan the whole of Saturday evening and a good part of Monday evening, l but finally, after the sales had been very rapid and large, for a time, and the crowd was full of open mouthed suckers who had invested from one to ten dollars each in the medicine, and who were standing around expecting every minute to get their money back, With interest, the fake packed up his cash and' his trash and waving a gracious farewell to his .crestfallen victims, drove coolly away. If the names of the many usually discreet and conservative citizens who dropped their money on this transparent game, were published, our reader’s would be astonished.

One of the methods employed to draw a crowd was the giving of an alleged gold ring to the ugliest looking man and another to the prettiest looking girl. For ’ the homliest man .W L. Richison, better known as “Pacing Billy,” received the suffrages of. liis admiring townsmen although Uncle Swaney Makeever run him a pretty hard race. Miss Hattie Rhoades was. voted the prettiest girl. The fake and his gang took their departure Tuesday, carrying away with them probably about $l5O of our citizens’ good cash and leaving in its place a let of patent medicine which perhaps cost about $3 to manufacture. The sucker i 3 a fish which bites perennially.