by telling a downright falsehood, espe-
cially in face of the fact that at least a
dozen of bundles were on the counter,
all of which, doubtless, were intended
to be " changed" for real purchases, as
was the case with the gentleman in
question, did not "take." Apologies
not suiting that individual, he depart-
ed with nothing less than the fine coat
he had purchased, and the money for
which was even then warm in the sel-
ler's pocket.

Filibustering among- Parisian Jew-
ellers.

THE Parisian jewellers are now and
then the victims of people in elevated
stations aristocratic, titled, possessed
of everything to avert suspicion ; and
even of ladies in the highest social cir-
cles. These swindlers in high-born
position find it convenient to take
from jewellers what money bankers and
usurers refuse to give them. They
boldly enter the jewellers' shops, pur-
chase and have delivered to them many
bracelets and many diamonds, which
they will return in a few days (so they
say) if they find nothing to suit them.

The objects thus intrusted to them
go from the shop, after delivery, to the
pawnbrokers. Time passes away ; at
first, the jeweller hesitates to produce
scandal, and he accepts notes for the
goods which have been taken as good
as by force from the shop. At last the
notes fall due ; they are protested.
The next step of such " patrons " is to
offer to return the goods ! And this is



at the end of ten or twelve months,
without interest or damages. So that
the jewellers become the bankers of
fashionable ladies and gentlemen press-
ed for money.

As an example of this kind of aristo-
cratic filibustering, it is mentioned by

a dealer, that M. de took sixty

thousand dollars' worth of jewelry from
seven or eight jewelry shops in Paris.
A twelvemonth passed away, and noth-
ing was paid ; all had been sent to the
pawnbrokers. Finally, M. de of-
fered to return the jewels, but hooted
at the idea of paying a single sou for
merely " taking time to examine them
and make up his mind." The dealers
threatened to bring him before the
police court ; he laughed at them, and
they abandoned it, fearing the loss of
time and money. Another case was

that of M'me de , who took from a

certain dealer an immense quantity of
jewels to " show to her mother," as she
said ; but really to carry to her " aunt "
(the slang phrase for the pawnbroker),
and they could not be got back but by
the aid of the police.

Window " Gazers" Employed by Lon-
don Shopkeepers.

ONE of the most " exquisite " tactics
of London shopkeepers is the hiring of
regular window gazers. This leisurely
employe, whose very existence is hardly
known to one in a thousand (and of
course is not intended to be), is a gen-
teelly dressed, complacent-looking indi-
vidual, having much the appearance and
manners of an aristocratic " gentleman
about town." It is but rarely that his
services are monopolized by a single
firm, unless they are the proprietors of
several shops in different quarters of
the city. It more frequently happens
that he is the joint property of several
individuals whose occupations and in-
terests do not at all clash with each
other.

These various traders manage to rig
him out in fashionable trim by general



204



COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.



contribution ; a hatter takes charge of
his head ; a tailor of his back ; the pro-
prietor of the " pantaloononicon " con-
tributes the trousers ; the bootmaker
indues him in a pair of the genteelest
of boots; he supports a gold-headed
cane or a handsome umbrella, supplied
by the manufacturer of those articles ;
necktie and handkerchief of irreproach-
able style and pattern are bestowed by
the haberdasher ; while a jeweller finds
him a gold watch, a showy ring, and a
handsome double eyeglass.

Thus equipped, he " goeth forth to
his labor," whenever the state of the
weather is such as to support the proba-
bility of his genuineness. All he has
to do is to walk leisurely from the shop
of one of his patrons to that of another,
stopping in front of the window, and
scrutinizing with much apparent inter-
est and complacency the various objects
there displayed to public view. In
so doing, he handles his gold eye-glass
with aristocratic grace taps his model
boot with his splendid cane drops a
monosyllabic ejaculation of surprise or
commendation, and when half a score
of simpletons have gathered around to
admire the astonishing cheapness and
perfection of the goods, he pops into
the shop, already commencing to give
an order in a loud and pompous tone
for a dozen of the article which the
tradesman wants to push off desires
that they may be sent to May Fair be-
fore dark, and, naively leaving his
card with the shopman, who bows him
deferentially out, walks leisurely off to
the next shop on his beat, there to re-
peat the same automatic ceremony. He
contrives to arrive at the tailor's at the
fashionable hour, when that functionary
is engaged with customers, and there
lie spreads himself in giving his concise
and liberal orders : " You have my
measure no immediate hurry this
day week will do suppose you are
driven as usual ; " and he is off again
on his way to the jeweller's.

He accomplishes his easy round in



the course of the day, and betakes him-
self to his scurvy lodging, doffing his
"show-toys" before dark. His pay
varies from half a crown to three shil-
lings and sixpence a day, according to
his figure and effrontery ; and he con-
siders it easily and pleasantly earned,
inasmuch as he is (according to his own
notions), to all intents and purposes a
gentleman during the hours of duty.

One Price, but not the Same Article.

A LADY went into a drygoods store
to buy a silk dress, and after being
shown several pieces, at length fixed
on one, for which, however, she would
only give a certain price, and that con-
siderably lower than the one demanded.
But in accordance with the " One price
no deduction " rule of the house, no
abatement could be allowed to be made,
so the offer could not be taken.

The customer was just going away,
when the salesman dexterously put
aside the piece of silk in question, and
replaced it by another of an inferior
quality and lower price, though simi-
lar in appearance to that for which she
had been offering. " Come this way,
ma'am, you may have it ! " he cried, as
she was going out at the door. The
dress was cut off, the full price paid,
and the customer departed, highly
pleased at having got it all her own
way.

Dryg-oods Drummer " Sold."

THE following description, by the
hero of a native romance bearing his
name, of the manner and tactics of
New York drygoods drummers, is a pic-
ture which the presiding genius of Har-
per's " Drawer " justly pronounces to be
one that Dickens himself has rarely ex-
celled. The scene succeeds the history
of the hero's first acquaintance with a
" drummer "who, mistaking him for
a country " dealer," had given him his
card on board of a steamboat, taken



TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES.



205



him to his hotel, sent him his wine,
given him tickets to the theatre, and
requested him to call at his store in
Hanover Square, where (though he
didn't say so) it was his intention to
turn these courtesies to profitable ac-
count. On a bright, pleasant morning,
accordingly, our hero visits the store,
where Mr. Lummocks, the drummer,
receives him with open arms, and in-
troduces him to his employer.

He shook me heartily by the hand,
and said he was really delighted to see
me. He asked me how the times were,
and offered me a cigar, which I took,
for fear of giving offence, but which I
threw away the very first opportunity
I got.

" Buy for cash, or on time ? " he
asked.

I was a little startled at the question,
it was so abrupt ; but I replied :

" For cash."

" "Would you like to look at some
prints, major ? " he inquired.

" I am much obliged to you," I
answered ; " I am very fond of seeing
prints."

With that he commenced turning
over one piece after another, with
amazing rapidity.

" There, major very desirable arti-
cle splendid style only two-and-six ;
cheapest goods in the street."

Before I could make any reply, or
even guess at his meaning, he was
called away, and Mr. Lummocks
stepped up and supplied his place.

" You had better buy 'em, colonel,"
said Mr. Lummocks; "they will sell
like hot cakes. Did you say you
bought for cash ? "

" Of course," I replied, " if I buy at
all."

He took a memorandum out of his
pocket, and looked in it for a moment.

" Let me see," said he, " Franco,
Franco what did you say your firm
was ? Something and Franco, <or
Franco and Somebody? The name
has escaped me."



" I have no firm," I replied.

"Oh, you haven't, hain't ye? all
alone, eh ? But I don't see that I've
got your first name down in my ' tick-
ler.' "

" My first name is Harry," said I.

" Eight yes I remember," said Mr.
Lummocks, making a memorandum,
" and your references, colonel, who did
you say were your references ? "

" I have no reference," I replied ;
" indeed, I know of no one to whom I
could refer, except my father."

" What the old boy in the country,
eh?"

"My father is in the country," I
answered, seriously, not very well
pleased to hear my parent called the
" Old Boy."

" Then you have no city references,
eh?"

" None at all ; I have no friends
here, except yourself."

" Me I " exclaimed Mr. Lummocks,
apparently in great amazement. " Oh,
ho ! how much of a bill do you mean
to make with us, captain ? "

" Perhaps I may buy a vest pattern,"
I replied, " if you have got some gen-
teel patterns."

"A vest pattern!' 1 ' 1 exclaimed Mr.
Lummocks ; " what ! haven't you come
down for the purpose of buying goods ? "

" No, sir," I replied ; " I came to
New York to seek for employment,
and, as you have shown me so many
kind attentions, I thought you would be
glad to assist me in finding a situation."

Mr. Lummocks's countenance under-
went a very singular change when I
announced my reasons for calling on
him.

" Do you see any thing that looks
green in there ? " he asked, pulling
down his eyelid with his forefinger.

" No, sir, I do not," I replied, look-
ing very earnestly into his eye.

" Nor in there, either ? " said he, pull-
ing open his other eye.

" Nothing at all, sir," I replied, after
a minute examination.



206



COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.



" I guess not ! " said Mr. Lummocks ;
and without making any other answer,
he turned smartly on his heel, and left
me.

" Regularly sucked, eh, Jack ? "
asked a young man who had been
listening to our conversation.

" Don't mention it," said Mr. Lum-
mocks ; " the man is a fool."

Harry was about to demand an ex-
planation of this strange conduct, when
the proprietor came forward and told
him that he was not a retailer, but a
jobber, and advised him, " if he wanted
a vest pattern, to go into Chatham
street ! " The drummer was " sold,"
instead of his goods.

Deaconing- both. Ends of the Barrel.
IN preparing and packing fruit for
the market, the practice of "deaconing,"
as it is called, is very extensively fol-
lowed that is, topping off a barrel of
apples with the best specimens; the
rather irreverent term "deaconing"
having its origin, probably, from some
one holding that office having been un-
fortunately distinguished for his fre-
quent adoption of the plan, so as to
put an inviting show on his fruit. A
dealer down East, who happened to be
" posted," sold a barrel of apples to a
customer, at the same time recommend-
ing them as the choicest apples that had
been raised in the town. In due time
the barrel was opened, and found to
contain a very inferior quality ; where-
upon the customer, feeling that he had
been imposed upon, made complaint to
the seller, who in turn very coolly made
answer, that he guessed he must have
opened the barrel at the wrong end !
The only change this little episode was
known to produce in the seller's prac-
tice was to make him careful afterward
to " deacon" loth ends.



Grocers' Raisin-Boxes and Nibbling

Customers.

ALMOST every grocer, it may be safe
to assume, is or has been infested with



a customer who is perpetually infring-
ing on the eighth commandment. This
class of pilferers are constantly tasting
the cheese, or munching convenient
lumps of sugar, dried apples, etc. They
occasionally stick their dirty fingers in-
to the molasses hogshead, and suck them
with infinite gusto.

A grocer, " not a thousand miles "
from South Danvers, was the victim of

such a bore. Whenever Mr. A

came to the store, he would steer for
the raisin-box, and deliberately ab-
stract a handful; to the cheese, and
take a generous slice ; and, with a
cracker and a glass of water, serve
himself an excellent lunch.' The gro-
cer one day undid a box of nice Malaga
raisins and placed it on his counter.

Mr. A , coming in, made direct

tracks to them, and expressed his ap-
probation of their quality by taking an
unusually large handful. Our friend,
the grocer, observing this, gave orders
to his clerks not to sell or allow any
one to touch the raisins in that box,
except Mr. A. He called frequently.
At the end of six months, the box of

Malagas was gone; Mr. A had

eaten them all. His bill for that time
amounted to about forty dollars, the
profits on which were three dollars.
The raisins (to say nothing of other
nibblings) amounted, at cost price, to
$3.25. Thus the grocer, from that
" customer," in that space of time,
made twenty-five cents out of pocket.
After that, he insisted upon having

Mr. A administer firm control

over his fingers, or else withdraw his
patronage.

Item to whom it may concern :
Don't imagine that when you purchase
an ounce of pepper, the grocer can
afford you the gratuitous privilege of
his raisin box.

Artful Dodg-e.

AN ingenious rogue in Berlin, Prus-
sia, lately practised one of the most art-
ful dodges to be found in the records



TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES.



207



of any business. A member of the
company of players at Kallenbach's
theatre was to have a benefit night;
and the question was, how to get to-
gether a good audience, as the usual
attendance at that place of amusement,
even if doubled, would produce far too
slender a sum to satisfy the expecta-
tions of a benefit night. Accordingly,
some days before the memorable even-
ing, there appeared in all the Berlin
papers an advertisement to the follow-
ing effect :

" A gentleman, who has a niece and
ward possessing a disposable property
of fifteen thousand thalers, together
with a mercantile establishment, desires
to find a young man who would be able
to manage the business and become the
husband of the young lady. The pos-
session of property or other qualification
is no object. Apply to ."

Hundreds and hundreds of letters
poured in, in reply to this advertise-
ment. On the morning of the benefit
day each person who had sent a reply
received the following note : " The
most important point is, of course,
that you should like one another. I
and my niece are going to Kallenbach's
theatre this evening, and you can just
drop in upon us in Box No. 1."

Of course, the theatre was crammed.
All the boxes, all the best paying places
in the house were filled early in the
evening with a mostly male public, got
up in a style seldom seen at the royal
opera itself. Glasses were levelled on
all sides in the direction of " box
No. 1," and eyes were strained to catch
the first glimpse of the niece, when she
should appear in company with the
uncle. But uncles are proverbially
" wicked old men ; " and in the pre ent
case neither uncle nor niece was to be
found, and the disconsolate lovers of a
fortune were left to clear up the mys-
tery as best they could. The theatre
had not had such an audience for years,
and, of course, the chief person concern-
ed reaped a rich harvest by the trick.



Half-hour's Experience with London
Brokers.

I TURNED to the right (says an hon-
est visitor to the rendezvous of English
brokers, to see how the money-springs
were touched), and found myself in a
spacious apartment, which was nearly
filled with persons more respectable in
appearance than the crew I had left at
the door. Curious to see all that was
to be seen, I began to scrutinize the
place and the society into which I had
intruded. But I was prevented from
indulging the reflections which began
to suggest themselves, by the conduct
of those about me. A curly-haired
Jew, with a face as yellow as a guinea,
stepped plump before me, fixed his
black, round, leering eyes full on me,
and exclaimed without the slightest
anxiety about my hearing him :

" So help me Got, Mo', who is he ? "
Instead of replying in a straightfor-
ward way, " Mo " raised his voice as
loud as he could, and shouted with
might and main :

" Fourteen hundred new fives ! "
A hundred voices repeated the mys-
terious exclamation, "Fourteen hun-
dred new fives ! "

" Where, where fourteen hundred
new fives now for a look; where is
he Go it, go it I " were the cries raised
on all sides by the crowd, which now
rallied about my person like a swarm
of bees. And then " Mo," by way of
proceeding to business, repeating the
war-cry, staggered sideways against
me, so as almost to knock me down.
My fall, however, was happily pre-
vented by the kindness of a brawny
Scotchman, who humorously calling
out, " Let the man alone," was so good
as to stay me in my course with his
shoulder, and even to send me back
toward " Mo," with such violence, that,
had he not been supported by a string
of his friends, he must have infallibly
fallen before me. But being thus
backed, he was enabled to withstand
the shock, and to give me a new im-



208



COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.



pulse in the direction of the Scotch-
man, who, awaiting my return, treated
me with another hoist as before, and I
found those two worthies were likely
to amuse themselves with me as with a
shuttlecock, for the next quarter of an
hour. I struggled violently to extri-
cate myself from this unpleasant situa-
tion, and, by aiming a blow at the Jew,
inspired Moses to pause and give up
his next hit, and to allow me for a mo-
ment to regain my feet.

The rash step which I had taken was
likely to produce very formidable con-
sequences. All present were highly
exasperated and panting for a clinch.
The war became more hot and des-
perate than ever. Each individual
seemed anxious to contribute to my
destruction ; and some of their number
considerately called out, " Spare his life,
but break his limbs." My alarm was
extreme ; and I looked nervously round
for means of escape.

" You ought to be ashamed of your-
self to use the gentleman in that sort
of way," squeaked a small imp-like per-
son, affecting sympathy, and then trying
to renew the sport.

" How would you like it yourself,"
cried another, " if you were a stran-
ger ? " shaking his sandy locks with a
knowing look, and knocking off my
hat as he spoke.

I made a desperate blow at this
offender. It did not take effect, from
the expedition with which he retreat-
ed, and I had prudence enough to re-
flect that it would be better to recover
my hat than to pursue the enemy.
Turning round, I saw my unfortunate
beaver, or " canister," as it was called
by the gentry who had it in their cus-
tody, bandying it backward and for-
ward, between the Caledonian and his
clan, and the Jew and his tribe.

Covered with perspiration, foaming
with rage, and almost expiring from
heat and exhaustion, I at last succeeded
in recovering my once glossy and re-
spectable hat. I did not dare to rein-



state it, but was forced to grasp it with
both hands, in order to save what re-
mained of it. I baffled several desperate
snatches, one of which carried away the
lining in shreds, and was now trying to
keep the enemy at bay, afraid again to
attack the host opposed to me ; but not
knowing how to retreat, when a person,
who had not previously made himself
conspicuous, approached and interfered,
by saying, " Perhaps you had better go
out ; " at the same time pointing to a
door which I had been too much in a
hurry to have seen before.

One of the Operations in 'Change
Alley.

WHILE the war in which the British
nation was involved, in 1761, was going
on, Mr. Dunbar, the eminent West In-
dia merchant in London, finding his
affairs much less prosperous than usual,
sought " the Alley," as the money street
of London was then termed, to retrieve
his failing fortunes with what success,
the sequel will show. From some pri-
vate information of which he had come
into possession, he believed that he had
good grounds for supposing that a
peace would soon be effected, and a
rise in the funds at once ensue. He
therefore ordered his broker to buy
one hundred thousand pounds in stock
for his account, telling him privately
the opinion he had formed, with the
intelligence on which it was based,
and the broker, in violation of his oath,
jobbed extensively on his own account
as well as for his client. February
passed away without the expected
peace, and Mr. Dunbar paid the differ-
ence. Confident, however, in his views,
he continued the operation; but each
account day proved that the price had
been against him, and with great dif-
ficulty did he find money to pay the
amounts due. In July, unable to
pay cash, he gave notes of hand to
the broker, who agreed to receive
them. No objection being made,
the account was continued on for



TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES.



209



August. In that month the pros-
pect of peace revived, the funds rose
handsomely, and Mr. Dunbar, seeing a
chance of paying a greater part of his
losses, went with all speed to his bro-
ker. His distress may be imagined, when
he was coolly told, that, since he had
given notes of hand, no account had been
opened, and no advantage could be
reaped from the rise in price. Any ap-
peal to law was useless ; but, as Mr.
Dunbar became a bankrupt, the mem-
bers of the stock exchange subscribed
to pay the amount claimed, in order
that so flagrant a case might not be-
come public.



His Ruling- Passion.

A ME. L., a master in chancery, was
on his deathbed a very wealthy man.
Some occasion of great urgency occur-
red, in which it became necessary to
make an affidavit; and the attorney,
failing of one or two other masters
whom he inquired after, ventured to
ask if Mr. L. himself would possibly be
able to receive the deposition. The
proposal actually seemed to give him
momentary strength; his clerk was
sent for, and the oath taken in due
form. The master was lifted up in his
bed, and with difficulty subscribed the
paper ; as he sank down again, he made
a signal to his clerk, "Wallace?"
"Sir?" "Your ear lower lower.
Have you got the half crown f " He was
dead before the morning.

Trick for "the Spashy."

WHEN the banks "shut down" on
their specie, some people hold on to
what coin they get a feel at, to ^ the
annoyance of the retail traders, who are
importuned every hour to change a bill
for some small purpose. An illustra-
tion of this fact is that of a Celtic
woman who entered a grocery and
called for " a cint's 'orth o' sand." The
article was measured out, and put into
14



the customer's pail, who tendered a one
dollar bill to have the pay taken out
of it. " I can't change that for so small
an amount," exclaimed the grocer;
" you may take the sand, and be wel-
come to it." " Indade, sir, and shure
it isn't the sand that I'm wanting at all
at all ; but it's the sulver the spashy
that ye'll be giving me back."



Game of the Money Packages.

NORTH, the noted insurance agent,
banker, stock gambler, and speculator,
who flourished upon such an extensive
scale until the hour of his collapse
when he was found to be hundreds of
thousands of dollars worse than noth-
ing was a most inveterate and persist-
ent borrower of other people's money.

He went to New York frequently,
and took with him large packages of
bank bills. Usually arriving in New
York after business hours, it was his
custom, on such occasions, to deposit
the money packages, nicely sealed, with
the clerk of the hotel he might de-
cide to stop at. L. E. W., who had
occasion also to go frequently to New
York, and who often chanced to fall
into North's company, had noticed that
these deposits of money packages gen-
erally secured to North nice rooms and
much attention at the hotels. He ac-
cordingly prepared two handsome pack-
ages, sealed them up with heavy seals,