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SWt'S'i-v mmsstaa AUCTION 3t H.IT-T** INF */L$ MERICANS have the reputation of be­ ing quick witted and shrewd. A* a matter of fact we are Barn um lied bluffers, far more gullible and credu­ lous than any class of any nation. Right now, in nearly every moder- atf-tsised city of the United States we are failing in line and dropping gold into the till# of organized fake auc­ tion stores and taking in exchange a misrepresented article. These bogus auction stores are more harmful to us as a nation than all the old- time lotteries, policy games, mail-order fakes and circus grafts, including gold bricks and shell games, combined. They are pot honest. They play "heads we win, tails you lose," Uncle Sam doesn't want to bring up bis boys in *be business; yet he countenances it, and over 630 of his cities issue licenses regularly to the auctioneers of these fake companies, giving them the privi­ lege of swindling the public at a nominal fee. Any town with over 10,000 blind, Barnumized Yankees waiting to be buncoed is considered a fertile field. From coast to coast. BS a m "fWU' STATENEWS I ?i¥Tr]TT[jiiwniO \ ! II I ! I THE FitOPMiETOS 7H£ CAJNIl •481 wf Aucr/ort££ft. ttom line to line, we find jta nearly every state jfrom one to forty cities •upporting temporary inaction swindles. Few iare permanent; it is a toushroom business ] which springs up over (night In a cheap store, leased from month to knonth, and stays until trouble occurs or the field worked dry. New York city alone demands to be duped Iby no less than eight practically permanent com- jpanles of this sort, only shifting their positions to {greener fields as the crowds change. There are three ways to tell a legitimate auc­ tion. If the place is permanent and advertises tales on certain days, if the goods to be sold iare catalogued piece for piece, and if there are no •outside men hired to control the bidding, then St is certain that the sale is genuine. The fake auction game is played under the pseudo patronage of reliability. The auctioneer's license, issued by the city, is hung conspicuously near the door and the goods are claimed to have %een consigned from private sources or pawn­ brokers in nearby cities. It is misrepresentation from the start. As a matter of fact the goods were picked up in job lots from novelty houses, Jobbers, Japanese stores and regular auction sup­ ply firms who handle Job lots of trashy stuff and are to be found in all the larger cities. The Ivories they handle are made of cheap clay by Bhrewd JapB who have scraped through the shell of American bluff and found the flabbiness of the flesh beneath. These antiques crumble to pieces •Lftpr «|v months in - bested apartment. Practi­ cally all the goods handled la these stores are made on the same principle and bought at from one-fifth to one-fiftieth of what they will bring at Miction. There is nothing criminal in selling at an ex­ orbitant profit if the purchaser gets the square deal. But a fake auction company is primarily a ring of cheats never intentionally giving anyone a sqi are deal. The proprietor is the arch rogue. His profit depends on selling an article at anywhere from fifty to two, three and sometimes five hundred dollars. The auction does not pay if run for the average buyer; it is merely a trap, a "plant," for the occasional "good thing" who happens in and Is quickly relieved of a large amount of money through an elaborate system he never suspects. It is a Joyless game, played on cut-and-drled rules which admit of no freshness or originality. 'The average cast--for they are all actors and play the same cheap show every day--is made up of one backer, or proprietor, two auctioneers, one pretty girl cashier, and from two to ten "shllls" Kthe pale-faced people with mushy morals), their ntimber depending on the size and situation of the store. The backer usually is a shrewd and unscrupu­ lous man who rents a vacant store, fills it with a Scattering of cheap, showy articles to attract at­ tention and a number of large so-called "works Df art;" and "antiques" which, on inspection, prove to be minors. The range runs from foun­ tain pens at ten cents to deceptive "ivories," "bronzes" and "paintings by the old masters" that bring from fifty to two hundred and fifty dollars, and sometimes more, from the uninitiated. The proprietor hires a pretty girl cashier and counts her as an additional attraction. He gets ane or two auctioneers--they usually travel in pairs, to relieve one another and the public--and guarantees them ten per cent, of the sales; which Eommission runs from forty to two hundred dollars k week. Then the dealer incorporates the backbone of the whole crooked business--the body of "shills." THS JHIJ.L. ° The word "shin," or "shll- liver" in full, is of Inde­ terminate origin. It Is synonymous with "cap­ per," "booster," "ringer," "dummy," "stool." "stool pigeon" and "outside man;" all techincal slang titles for the shabby crea­ ture, the human buzzard, who picks up his foul liv­ ing by rascality and roguery in working between the public and some swindling game: in this case, working among those who stop in at the auction and pretending to have no connection with the sale, betraying a score of people a day after ingratiating himself in their good graces through cunning and craft. Without these shllls no sham auction can ex­ ist. Of course in smaller towns only two or three can be used, as strangers are more easily noticed in such places. They are the crooks on whom the proprietor relies to pick out unsuspecting vis­ itors 6nared by the bargain lure and Jockey them into buying misrepresented articles. The shill mlxea with the crowd. His business is to look just like an Interested buyer and lie in wait for the fly for which the elaborate web was spun. This individual, for whom the scenery is set and the actorB dressed, is called in technical slang "a rummy." The old three-card monte men chris­ tened him "sucker." Picture a room 40 feet long and 20 feet wide. Double doore to the sidewalk are invitingly open; above them hangs an enticing red flag bearing the name of what purports to be a legitimate auction firm; beneath that, in large letters, are the words: SALE TODAY. Pick out any acquaintance who lives in a small town, is fairly prosperous, and has Qpme to the nearby city oflO.OOO to 30,000 population to look around for the day, purchase a present for his wife and some implements for the farm. He has read in the papers and magazines ac­ counts of book, art and antique auctions and not­ ed the hugh prices brought by rarities. When he stumbles on to the flagrant flag of the fake auc­ tion house and looks in at the window, heaped with a miscellany of antiques, he is suddenly stirred by that perennial longing for a bargain. He glances through the door. There is a wor­ ried auctioneer struggling with eight dull-faced people. He is trying frantically to sell a pair of opera glasses. "Genuine Lemlef, gentlemen; concave and con­ vex lenses, put up In this heavy morocco case," the auctioneer cries, "and $2 is bid for them. Think of that! Not a tenth of their value. Why, I dont believe you gentlemen would give $2.50 to see statue of liberty do a Salome dance Two dollars bid, oh, shill! Two dollars!" Jones, your out-of-town friend, is undecided whether to go in or not; but at that moment a fellow near the door shakes his head to a seem­ ing stranger beside him and says in a low voice: "It's a shame. Things are going for nothing. Wish I had the price to buy some of that cut glass. It'll sell for a song." Jones overhears and is interested. He thinks the mind of everybody in that store is centered on the opera glasses, going so Cheap. He smiles at their rapt attention and the auctioneer's hard luck complaints. The smile would disappear In­ stantly if he knew that he himself was the sole concern of the eight minds in that audience, and the auctioneer. He would be furious if he knew that the whole sale of the opera glasses was a sham; that when the auctioneer saw Jonesey looking in he immediately transmitted this fact to the shlll nearest the door by saying, "Oh, shill," casu­ ally in his speech. Jones had never heard the word, so naturally he didn't select It with suspicion from the auctioneer's Jargon, and suspected nothing when the man neafthe door remarked about cut glass bargains. As a matter of fact Jones was interested in cut glass. His wife liked it and occasionally he invested in some, it being the nearest he could get to diamonds. Bo he sauntered in casually and watched with an amused smile the frantic auctioneer trying to sell a watch. Jones wasn't interested in watches. He had one in his pocket; so his eyes continually roved toward the cut glass in a little Japanese cabinet. He didn't know it, but before he was in the place two minutes, while the auctioneer was trying to "feel him out" with the watch, one of the shills had noticed Jones's interost in cut glass, and had called the auctioneer's attention to the fact t by touching the cabinet signifi­ cantly. The auctioneer, on his perch above them all, had control of the situation. He noted the signal from the shill, jotted down mentally that Jones wanted cut glass, and knocked down the watch he had been experimenting with to one of the Bhills for a ruinous price, which was all helpful in showing Jones that a shrewd man could pick up a bargain If he laid low, attracted no attention and bided his time. "Sold tor six ninety. Put it with the other goods for Mr. A. Deposit sufficient," the auc­ tioneer cried to the pretty cashier, Jones did not bid on the first piece of cut glass. The auctioneer did not look toward him once to give him a chance. The piece was knocked down for $3.80. It was a frightful bar­ gain. Jones would have given $5 for It him­ self. But the auctioneer passed abruptly to the next article. Jones pressed forward this time as a gor­ geous punch bowl was put up. He heard vari- " * ous exclamations around him, all tending to give him confidence in the fact that things were going dirt cheap. Two ladles beside him com­ miserated because they wouldn't have enough "Gentlemen and ladies," the auctioneer went on solemnly, "If I had this article in Chicago or New York it would bring one hundred dollars, one hun­ dred dollars. You couldn't duplicate It at retail for less than two hundred. It is the finest piece of art glass ever shown In your city." "Can I get one hundred dollars ? Ninety ? Eighty ? Seventy-five dollars? Can I get sixty? Fifty? Give me forty; thirty-line; thirty!" "Fifteen dollars!" came a halting voice from beside Jones. Jones was interested. He sensed a bargain. Had he known that when the auctioneer said "thirty-line" it was a signal to the shill beside Jones to bid $30 with a line through It, or fifteen actual dollars, he would not have been so enthu­ siastic. "Sixteen!" "Seventeen!" "Half!" "Eighteen!" staccato offers punctuated the atmosphere after the auctioneer's encouragement. The little man beside Jones shook his head sadly. "Gee, it's gone beyond me, he sighed, turning to Jones; it'll go dirt cheap, too. If you could buy that for $50 it'd be a bargain, sure enough." 'Twenty-eight is the last bid," walled the auc­ tioneer. "Why, you could take it out and pawn it for more than that." Jones thrilled as the auctioneer turned to look squarely at him. "You'd give thirty, wouldn't you?" he cried. Jones gulped and nodded. The auctioneer skilfully led up to the grand landing by taking offers of "thirty-six" and "thirty- seven" from members of his troupe. He had felt out his man carefully and knew that $40 would be Jones's limit. "Will you give me forty?" he said simply, In a level tone, leaning far over the showcase. Jones hesitated, gulped, and then nodded his head abruptly. Jones was pleased with his bargains until bs got home and his wife told him he could get th« same punch bowl for $10 anywhere and that the other stuff was worthless. MONUMENT TO A GOOD LIVER %-L" ••Hey, In France, to Honor the Mem­ ory of Brlllat-8ava«*ln, Noted Gourmand 'ftelley, a little town In the southeast of France, is about to raise a monument to the glory of one of its ions, Brlllat-Savarin. The author of "Tbe Physiology of Taste" was the ab- realization of the typical good |ilv<?r The revolution confiscated his - t' * V-. - v'\\ i twe, and removed him from his office as civil Judge. He fled to Switz­ erland and then to the United States, where he played a fiddle in a New York theater to gain a living. His property was afterward returned to him and he was made b counsellor of the Supreme court, an office he clung to successfully through changes of empire and kingdom. His "Physi­ ology of Taste" shared the fate of many celebrated books. It was re­ fused by several publishers and event­ ually was published at the author's expense, but without his name* at­ tached to It, as he considered the na­ ture of the work incompatible with hiB Judicial functions. It was firillat &avarln who declared that "the discovery of a new food does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery of a star." Some of the axioms from his book are: "The man who can cook is made, the man who can roast is born." "To invite anybody to one's house Is to undertake the responsibility of his well being during the whole time h< is one's guest." "Animals feed; man eats; the man of sense alone knows how to eat." "The destiny of nation* dependa upon how they are fed." "Monsieur the Councellor," a hostem asked him one day, "which do y«i prefer, Burgundy or Bordeaux?" "Madame," replied the Judicial an thorlty, "that Is a lawsuit in which 1 have so much pleasure in taking th« fvidence that I always postpone Jada meat," Urbana.--With 65 entries, including 591 fowls, the first annual poultry show of the Champaign County Poul­ try and Pet Stock association Is in progress in this city. Jollet.--Many thousands of dollars will be spent by the Masonic frater­ nity of Joliet within the next year In remodeling and enlarging the Masonlo mnla I IU IUIO vj # Paris.--State's Attorney Dyas of Paris says that he will ask Judge Klmbrough for a special grand Jury to investigate rote buying in Edgar county. East Aurora - A visiting nurse has been employed to see to the health of the pupils attending public schools in East Aurora, and a school for the deaf and dumb will soon be estab­ lished. Danville.--A plan to assault the Vermilion county Jail and lynch Har­ ry Thomas, colored, confessed assail­ ant of Detective Saunders, was dis­ covered by Sheriff Shepherd. Rockford.--One thousand birds, representing the aristocracy of poul- trydom in this part of the state are on exhibition at Armory hall in this city. Aurora.--Several men employed by a local ice company while harvesting ice on the Fox river had a narrow es­ cape from death when the Ice gave way. and four teams with their driv­ ers fell into tie icy water. Neponset.--E. S. Statson, one of the best-known residents of this state, Is dead at his home at the age of seven­ ty-two years. Wheeler.--J. A. Wilson's genera] store and Field & Co.'s poultry house were robbed by four men. H. C. Wolfe, who was aroused, was covered by one of the robbers and held until the safe in the poultry house was blown. Aurora.--William Smith of Monroe, Mich., is in the city searching for his brother, A. J. Smith, who left home in Monroe a week before Christmas to visit in this city and has not been heard from since. Canton.--J. J. Hortpn, seventy-five years old, was sentence to life Im­ prisonment in state prison for the murer of his neighbor, Adam Vance, last July. Rock Island.-pA stranger was found dead with his' head frozen solid in the ice along the river bank in west Rock Island. Peoria.--Two young girls, sixteen years old, were arrested on the streets of Peoria in a drunken condition after running away from their homes In Davenport. Bloomington.--Extensive prepara­ tions are being made to entertain the Illinois Swedish American society in this city on John Erickson day, March 9. Jacksonville.--Harry Towers was accidentally shot by a companion when the bullet glanced from a tree and entered Tower's abdomen. Rockford.--W. C. Dewolf of Bel- vldere announced his withdrawal from the judiciary race, leaving Charles Whitney of Waukegan as the only Republican in the field. The dis­ trict is overwhelmingly Republican, and hlB nomination and election seems certain. Sterling.--Alderman Henry Zel- enka, a saloonkeeper of Savanna, was fined $217.50 following his arrest at the mayor's order on a charge of violating the saloon ordinance, and bis license was revoked. The alderman immediately resigned from the coun­ cil. Lincoln.--Leo Grazer and John Schoof both died of injuries re­ ceived on railroad tracks. The for­ mer Btepped in front of an Alton pas­ senger train and Schoof was struck by a switch engine in the Alton yards here. De Soto. -- Brooding over do­ mestic and business troubles and poor health, Alexander Marstellar, eighty- five years 61d, a pioneer resident, committed suicide by drinking car­ bolic acid. Relatives found Marstel­ lar lying in a semi-conscious condi­ tion. A physician arrived too late to be of any assistance. Marstellar re­ sided in Jackson county for many years. He was a blacksmith by occa- pation. Springfield.--"Illinois is striving to place flre insurance and fire Insurance companies on a par with life com­ panies and their Interests. She has made notable advances In the last few years In this direction." These were assurances of Governor Deneen, who welcomed 150 delegates to the six­ teenth biennial meeting of the Illi­ nois Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. Peoria. -- By a recommendation oC a special bridge committee of the city council, which Included seven out of sixteen aldermen, and the mayor, the Milwaukee Bridge company was Indorsed for the contract for building a wagon bridge across the Illinois river at Peoria. The bid price was $160,000, which was $820,000 be­ low tbe highest bidder. Marytown.--A heavy oak log with veins of $10 gold pieces was discov­ ered in the cellar of a hut occupied by Jacob Zeis,, aged seventy-four years, a hermit who recently died. Carthage.--Jacob La Monte, a wealthy land owner, aged eighty years, was struck by a fast freight and his body was mangled In a horrible man­ ner Qulncy.--On a plea of guilty of as­ sault with Intent to commit murder, Henry Mers, the young man who shot his wife last summer, was sentenced to from one to fourteen years in statp prison by Judge Akers. Plnckneyville.--Lorenzo Moreno, the Italian, who has confessed to being the author of the Black Hand note received by Rev. B. Senese, pastor of the Catholic church at Willisville, southeast of here, was placed in the Perry county Jail at Plnckneyville for safekeeping. Reports here are that feeling against Moreno at Willisville Is high, and it was deemed best to get him out of town. Rev. Mr. Senese 1b with relatives In Chicago. Pekin.--Archishop Ireland of St. •paul will be one of the speakers at th« Washington day banquet by the Creve Couer club of Peoria. SCORNS GIFT FOR SAVING AGED INDIAN WHO BOA8TED RE­ LATIONSHIP TO PIERCE, BIT­ TER TOWARDS LINCOLN. LOG CHAIN RED MAN'S MEDAL Heroic Old Joe La Framboise, Who Recently Died, Considered Meager Reward Given Him for Warning Against Redskins an Insult* Pierre, S. D.--Old Joe La Framboise is dead, and another link between the present and past of terror and massa­ cre In the early days of Minnesota is gone. But for one act of his life Old Joe. would now be resting in his grave unmourned and remembered no more than those of liis mixed-breed com­ panions who preceded him to the "happy hunting grounds." But that one act has won him a place in'his­ tory and In the hearts - of- all who know of his deeds. August 18, 1862, Old Joe saved his name from oblivion by saving <2 white persons from death by torture at the hands of the Sioux. Fired by the eloquent tongue of Lit­ tle Crow, their head war 6hief, the savage Sioux and Yanktonais held the ti-yo-ti-pi. or war dance., and planned a massacre. La Framboise knew what it meant, and, prompted perhaps by the blood nSk m B0: mm BUS Indian Scorns Gift. of his civilized ancestors, carried the warning to the agency at Yellow Med­ icine. Here he gathered the fright­ ened pioneers in the stone warehouse for the night, and in the morning saw them safely across the river before the storm of savage fury which car­ ried hundreds of settlers to death was upon* them. There is nothing in the meager his­ tory of Old Joe which shows that he felt any close attachment for the whites, and after that one day of serv­ ice he dropped back into his old life again. But some pride of the white man re­ mained in him so that when the re­ wards for the Indians who had helped the whites in the outbreak had run through the red tape of government departments and Joe received nothing but a few farming implements, he ac­ cepted them sullenly and refused to fight for what was his by right. The gift of these tools he always consid­ ered as a personal Insult. One piece of log chain he always re­ tained, insisting that it was the per­ sonal gift of Abraham Lincoln. This chain, when he could be prevailed upon to talk about the matter at all, he always exhibited with infinite scorn as the gift of the great white father for his services to his white children. , Shortly before Old Joe died, Doane Robinson, secretary of the State His­ torical society of South Dakota, visit­ ed him in his home near Veblin, in Marshall county, s. D. This is Mr. Robinson's account of the interview: "I found old Joe smoking his pipe in front of his cabin, and he motioned me to a seat by his side. "« " 'My grandfather. La Framboise, was very nice man,' said Old Joe. 'Very nice man, very religious man. He was shot in hees teepee while say­ ing hees prayers.' "Old Joe smiled through his griz­ zled beard which sparsely covered his thoroughly Sioux features, and said: I have not said my prayers. I not reesk it.' "Joe displayed not a little Gaelic pride in his ancestors. His conversa­ tion about the grandfather led him to boast of his relationship to Franklin Pierce. "Joe picked up the bit of log chain which he said was a gift from Lincoln, then threw it down and kicked It un­ til the heavy links rattled. "There was a great deal of sarcasm and bitterness in Joe. Perhaps the one glimpse of the better man within him had disappointed him with the rather sordid preponderance. He re­ fused to discuss the Yellow Medicine rescue, for that was another man, the man at Yellow Medicine." Woman Loses 2,928 Pounds. Kittanning, Pa.--A case considered without parallel in the medical pro­ fession is being treated in the Kittan­ ning General hospital by Dr. S. A. S. Jessop of Kittanning, In which a wom­ an patient, 79 years of age, lost 2,928 pounds in the last two years. The case results from what is known as abdominal ascites, caused by liver trouble, and since the disease de­ veloped the patient has been tapped 23 times and 185 gallons of fluid have been removed. Her normal weight 1» 100 pounds. JJiE SCHOOLS OF : WESTERN CANADA" In Some of the CICfee end Towne the School Buildings Cannot Accom­ modate the Increasing Num­ bers. One of the most important factors In the building of a new country la the attention that is paid by the au­ thorities to the education of the rising generation! Fortunately for western Oovto<4o fftA saHlA*v<i#t««4 - s ti. _ 9 -- v -- u t u i a i n e w country began in such recent years that it was able to lay a foundation for this work, gained by the experi­ ence of older countries. In way the very best is the result Through­ out the entire country are to be seen the most Improved style of architec­ ture in school buildings. The cities and towns vie with each other in the efforts to secure the best of accom­ modation and at the same time get architectural lines that would appeal. Sufficient to say that nowhere is there the greater attention paid to elemen­ tary and advanced education than in western Canada. A report Just to hand shows that in Calgary, Alberta, there are eighty teachers -employed, and the enrollment 4,228 pupils. In the Province of Alberta there was a total of 46,000 pup.'la attending schools in 1809. The total enrollment for the year in city, town and village schools was 22,883, and the total in rural schools was 23,165. There are in the province 970 schools with 1,323 de­ partments. At the clotee of 1909 there was a total of 1,096 school districts in the province. Great attention is paid also to agricultural education. The best uses of the soil and such other matters as tend to make the agricul­ ture less of a drudge and more of a success are employed. When there Is the combination nf good soil, splen­ did climate and healthy and advanced ideas in the methods employed in agriculture, we see accomplished the results that have placed western Can­ ada on its present high plane In the agricultural world. There is to be found men of high standing in liter­ ary spheres as well as in financial circles who are carrying on farming, not alone for the pleasure they de­ rive but for the profit they secure. Mr. Adler, a wide-awake business man of New York, has a ranch near Strath- more, Alberta. He is highly pleased with his success the past year. He sayB: "On July 25tn we estimated our crop at 6,000 bushels of wheat. A week later we increased our estimate to 12,000 bushels. A few days later we again increased our estimate, this time to 18,000 bushels, but after har­ vest in September we found we had 20,150 bushels. If that Isn't a record, what is?" he asked. / "This crop was made with practi­ cally no moiBture," he continued, "and we now have a better opinion of the fertility of Alberta lands than ever and value our lands higher than we ever did before." Mr. Adler, who has been on the ranch for about a week, leaves for New York Saturday. This gentleman is conducting a farm on a large scale, and has plenty ol means to develop it, and his may nol be taken as a fair case. There are, though, instances of thousands who have begun life on small farms in western Canada with but brains and the determination over and above the couple of hundred dollarq in ready money that they possessed, and today are owners of large farms and hand­ some incomes, all the result of their efforts on land that was responsive to the touch of the hand that held th« plow. Instances such as these can be quoted if you will communicate with the nearest Canadian government agent, who will also mail you free de> scriptlve literature. --* AIRV FAIRIE8. "What becomes of all the smashed aeroplanes?" "They sell them to the girls for hats, I guess." \ Important to Mothers - Examine carefully every bottle o! CASTORIA, a safe and sure remedy for Infants and children, and see that it Bears the Signature In Use For Over 30 Years. The Kind You Have Always BoughL A Jobber. "Were you ever confronted by a robber?" "Sure." "And did you play the part of a hero?" "No. indeed; you can't throttle a gas meter." 1U LUlIUicIi, ciiiU tSUi? illal I| DISTEMPER In all its forma among all ages of horses, as well as dogs, cured and otuera in same stable prevented from having the disease with SPOHN'S DISTEMPER CURE. Every bottle guaranteed. Over 600.000 bottles sold last year $.50 and $1.00. Any {rood druggist, or send to manufacturers. Agents wanted. Spohn Medical Co., Speo. Contagious Diseases. Goshen. Lnd. His Opinion. Nephew--What do you thing of the opera? Uncle Josh--Them women In th' boxes ought to be able to raise enough money on their diamonds to buy some clothes with, by jinks! Couldnt Last a Day. Howell--I can tell you how to llvs on ten cents a day. Powell--Don't do it; I've only eight eents. •*... Sr.: 4, k*.