CHAPTER LXV.

DIVORCE LAWYERS.

In any issue of certain city newspapers, you will see such advertisements as the following:

"Absolute divorces legally obtained, in New York, and States where desertion, drunkenness, etc., etc., are sufficient cause. No publicity; no charge until divorce obtained; advice free. M——B——, attorney, 56——street."

The persons so advertising are called divorce lawyers. They make a specialty of putting asunder "those whom God hath joined together."

The laws of New York specify but one ground for a complete divorce, adultery; but in spite of this these lawyers encourage persons to apply for a sundering of their matrimonial bonds.

A man or woman, wishing to get rid of his or her partner, applies to one of these lawyers, and a bargain is drawn up, signed and sealed, pledging the payment of a good round fee in case a divorce is obtained. The first step on the part of the lawyer is to obtain a thorough knowledge of the habits and movements of the person against whom the proceedings are directed. Private detectives, who also make a specialty of this kind of business, are set to watch the wife or husband. Every movement is observed, and every act tortured into meaning something unlawful. Sometimes a trap is laid in which the person is led and caught. Or, if evidence of a truthful nature cannot be procured; it is manufactured for a given price.

When everything is ready, a suit is brought in the proper Court. Charges are made against the fidelity of the party from whom the separation is desired. These charges may be true or false. If true, they are the result of the system of espionage carried on by the private detectives. If false, they are sustained by the testimony of suborned witnesses. It is the custom of the Courts not to try these applications openly, but to refer them to some lawyer of ability, who hears the evidence in chambers, and reports the result to the Court, with a recommendation either in favor of or against the divorce.

Lawyers of ability are not always men of integrity. It is owing to this fact, doubtless, that the referee generally reports in favor of the divorce, which the Court grants upon the strength of this report. However this may be, there is no doubt of the fact that divorces may be easily obtained by those who are willing to pay for them. There are many secret methods of procedure known only to the initiated, but there can be no doubt of the fact that justice has become so corrupt, in both this city and State, that its acts have lost that moral force which is so necessary to the national prosperity. Men of wealth can accomplish anything, and are sure of success from the moment their causes are presented in the Courts, while those who have not the means to pay for their freedom must remain yoked to their partners until death parts them.



CHAPTER LXVI.

PAWNBROKERS.

The sign of the three gilt balls is very common in the Great City, and where the ancient badge of the pawnbroker is not seen, the words "Exchange Office" answer the same purpose. The law recognizes the fact that in all large communities, these dealers are a necessary evil, and while tolerating them as such, endeavors to interpose a safeguard in behalf of the community, by requiring that none but persons of good character and integrity shall exercise the calling. In New York, the Mayor alone has the power of licensing them, and revoking their licenses, and none but those so licensed can conduct their business in the city. "But Mayors of all cliques and parties have exercised this power with, apparently, little sense of the responsibility which rests upon them. They have not, ordinarily at least, required clear proof of the integrity of the applicants; but have usually licensed every applicant possessed of political influence. There is scarcely any instance where they have revoked a license thus granted, even when they have been furnished, with proofs of the dishonesty of the holders." [footnote: Report of the Prison Association.]

As a consequence, the pawnbrokers of the city are, with a few exceptions, a most rascally set. They are little more than receivers of stolen goods. The police frequently trace stolen property to them. Upon one occasion a whole basket of watches was found in one of these establishments. Another possessed a diamond worth over seven hundred dollars, which had been pawned for two dollars and a half. It had been stolen by a servant girl.

Goods taken to these men are received by them without question. They advance a fraction of the value of the article which is to be redeemed at a certain time at a high rate of interest. If not redeemed, the article is sold. Some of these dealers do not wait for the expiration of the time when an article of value is concerned, but sell it at once, and flatly deny ever having received it. The rate at which all articles are taken is sufficiently low to render it certain that the sale of it will more than cover the advance.

The principal customers of these men are the poor. Persons of former respectability or wealth, widows and orphans, are always sure to carry with them into their poverty some of the trinkets that were theirs in the heyday of prosperity. These articles go one by one to buy bread. The pawnbroker advances not more than a twentieth part of their value, and haggles over that. He knows full well that the pledges will never be redeemed, that these unhappy creatures must grow less able every day to recover them. Jewelry, clothing, ornaments of all kinds, and even the wedding ring of the wife and mother, come to him one by one, never to be regained by their owners. He takes them at a mere pittance, and sells them at a profit of several hundred per cent.

You may see the poor pass into the doors of these shops every day. The saddest faces we ever saw were those of women coming away from them. Want leaves its victims no choice, but drives them mercilessly into the clutches of the pawnbroker.

The majority of the articles pawned are forced there by want, undoubtedly, but very many of them go to buy drink. Women are driven by brutal husbands to this course, and there are wretches who will absolutely steal the clothing from their shivering wives and little ones, and with them procure the means of buying gin. God help them all, the sinner and the sinned against.

DIAMOND BROKERS.

The best class of pawnbrokers lend money only on such securities as jewels. These are known as diamond brokers, and of course are patronized only by the upper classes, both respectable and disreputable.

'The tricks in trade,' practiced in connection with gems and precious stones, are almost infinite in variety, and the shifts of individuals, who are as extravagant personally as they are needy pecuniarily, to obtain them, are really wonderful in ingenuity and impudence.

To illustrate by a case in point: A diamond broker, whose office is located on the central portion of Broadway, was recently visited by a remarkably handsome and elegantly attired young lady, who at once entered upon business in a straightforward style, which greatly impressed the broker in her favor, he being a thorough business man himself. She wished to negotiate for a loan upon some diamonds in the possession, at that moment, of 'a Safe Deposit Co.,' where he could obtain a view of them, if the 'preliminaries' to this step were satisfactorily arranged. These 'preliminaries' consisted in information as to the amount of money the broker could at once advance, what rate of interest he would charge, how and when payments were to be made, etc., etc. These matters were pleasantly and precisely settled by a conversation of some ten minutes, during which the lady looked at and examined, merely with a natural feminine curiosity, a number of precious stones, pearls, etc., which were displayed in the broker's cases for sale or show purposes. At last the lady rose to depart, appointing the hour of eleven the next morning as the time for their next meeting, when the lady would exhibit to the broker her diamonds, upon which, if they were as valuable as she represented, she was to obtain the agreed upon amount of money, on the terms already arranged.

As she rose to leave, however, the quick eye of the broker noticed that a valuable pearl was missing, and at once he 'made up his mind' as to the true character of his fair visitor, and the whereabouts of the missing pearl. He rushed to the door, barred the 'lady's' exit, and said, quietly but firmly, 'You have a pearl about your person which does not belong to you—restore it.' The lady assumed the looks and attitudes of the most virtuous and violent indignation, but in vain. The broker was inexorable and still barred the door of departure. 'You have been too light-fingered for me, I confess, madam. You are an accomplished woman, and have thrown me off my guard, but I must have my pearl, nevertheless.'

The lady still protested; the broker still persisted; finally the former, with a mingled aspect of wounded modesty and triumphant innocence, said: 'Sir, you may search my person if you like, and convince yourself of your gross mistake, but remember that you shall bitterly atone this outrage to which I am now forced to submit.' Without further parley the broker took the lady at her word, and searched her person—delicately or indelicately as you are disposed to regard it—but thoroughly, certainly. No pearl was found, and the lady, imagining her innocence to be hereby established, expected to find the broker overwhelmed with confusion; but, on the contrary, the gentleman referred to simply handed the woman a bottle, and coolly and firmly commanded her to drink therefrom. 'And wherefore should I drink?' asked the astonished woman. 'Because it is an emetic,' was the broker's reply. 'And what has the fact of this bottle containing an emetic to do with my swallowing its contents?' inquired the lady. 'Why, everything, answered her involuntary host, quietly; 'you have swallowed my pearl, and this, being a powerful emetic, will compel you to disgorge it. Come now, no nonsense, madam,' (still more quietly and still more firmly,) 'or you will compel me to communicate with the police.' The word police, that magically terrible word to the evil- doer, terminated the dialogue. The woman (who proved to be an adventuress of the most 'fashionable' order, whose very professional existence depended upon the 'secresy' in which she 'operated,') was alarmed by the threat of publicity, and the criminal court, swallowed the emetic, and—need we say more than that the broker recovered his pearl, and the 'lady' left New York for a period.



CHAPTER LXVII.

THE MARKETS.

Two thirds of the people of New York deal with "corner groceries" and "provision stores," consequently there are very few markets in the city. The principal are the Fulton Market on East River, at the foot of Fulton street; the Washington, at the end of Fulton street, on North River; the Jefferson, at the corner of Sixth and Greenwich Avenues; and the Tompkins Market, opposite the Cooper Institute. The Washington Market is more of a wholesale than a retail establishment, as is also the Fulton Market. The supplies of meat, fish, and vegetables brought to the city, are originally sent to the wholesale dealers at these markets, to be sold on commission. The dealers will frequently go into the country and engage a truckman's entire crop of vegetables or fruits, and then retail them out to the city dealers at their own prices.

The streets in the vicinity of the markets on the two rivers are always dirty and crowded. The buildings themselves are outwardly dirty and uninviting. The interior, however, presents a sight worth witnessing. In the spring and summer it is filled with the most tempting displays of fruit and vegetables. One can hardly imagine that all this immense quantity will be eaten, but it does not require more than a day to get rid of the whole display. Fruits are high in the city and sell readily. The market is never overstocked. The same may be said of vegetables. Good vegetables are always in demand. All such things have to be brought so far to market, that by the time they reach the consumer's kitchen they are almost half-decayed. Those who can furnish pure fresh vegetables, or animal food, are always sure of doing a profitable business in the city.

Almost anything can be found in the Fulton Market. There are all kinds of provisions, eating-stands abound, bar-rooms are located in the cellars, cheap finery is to be seen in the stalls, books, newspapers, and periodicals are to be had at prices lower than those of the regular stores, ice creams, confections, and even hardware and dry goods are sold in the booths. The oysters sold here have a world-wide reputation. Dorlan's oyster-house is the most popular. It is a plain, rough- looking room, but it is patronized by the best people in the city, for the wares sold here are famous. Ladies in full street dress, and young bloods in all their finery, come here to eat one of the proprietor's splendid stews.

Dorlan began business in New York more than thirty years ago; and has made a handsome fortune. He has done so by keeping the very best goods in the market. He is one of the best-known men in the city, and is deservedly popular. He is conscientious and upright in the minutest particular, and gives his personal attention to every detail of his business. Although wealthy to-day, he may be seen at his stand, in his shirt-sleeves, superintending the operations of his establishment, setting an excellent example to younger men who are seeking to rise in the world.



CHAPTER LXVIII.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

The public buildings of New York are many, and, as a general rule, handsome. They are widely scattered over the island, and our limits forbid more than a notice of the principal structures.

THE CITY HALL.

This building is located in the Park, and is nearly opposite Murray street. It faces the south, and the ground line is perpendicular to Broadway. It is too small for the present uses of the city, having been built between the years 1803 and 1810. The front and ends are of marble, but the rear is of brown stone. It is said that the city fathers, at the time of its erection, thinking that the town would never extend beyond the lower line of the park, were anxious to save the additional cost of the marble at this side.

The clock-tower, and upper portions of the building, were set on fire by the pyrotechnical display in honor of the Atlantic Telegraph of 1859. They were rebuilt soon afterwards, in much better style.



Previous to the completion of the new cupola, our city fathers contracted with Messrs. Sperry & Co., the celebrated tower-clock makers of Broadway, to build a clock for it, at a cost not exceeding four thousand dollars, that our citizens might place the utmost reliance upon, as a time-keeper of unvarying correctness. During the month of April the clock was completed, and the busy thousands who were daily wont to look up to the silent monitor, above which the figure of Justice was enthroned, hailed its appearance with the utmost satisfaction. It is undoubtedly the finest specimen of a tower-clock on this side of the Atlantic, and, as an accurate time-keeper, competent judges pronounce it to be unsurpassed in the world. The main wheels are thirty inches in diameter, the escapement is jewelled, and the pendulum, which is in itself a curiosity, is over fourteen feet in length. It is a curious fact that the pendulum bob weighs over three hundred pounds; but so finely finished is every wheel, pinion, and pivot in the clock, and so little power is required to drive them, that a weight of only one hundred pounds is all that is necessary to keep this ponderous mass of metal vibrating, and turn four pairs of hands on the dials of the cupola. The clock does not stand, as many suppose, directly behind the dials, but in the story below, and a perpendicular iron rod, twenty-five feet in length, connects it with the dial-works above.

The building contains the offices of the Mayor and city officials.

In the rear of the City Hall is the new County Court House, which, when completed, will front on Chambers street, and constitute one of the handsomest edifices in the city. It is built of white marble.

THE PARK BANK,

Situated on Broadway, below Ann street, is a magnificent white marble edifice, ornamented with a profusion of statuary and carving. The bank- room is a model of beauty. The vaults are the most perfect and secure in the city.

THE ASTOR LIBRARY,

In Lafayette Place, is a substantial building of red brick. The property, and the library, are the gift of John Jacob Astor to the trustees, for the benefit of the cause of education throughout the land. The interior is in keeping with the exterior. It is simple and elegant, and contains a collection of over one hundred thousand volumes, carefully and judiciously selected. It is free to all persons, on condition of good behavior and careful usage of the books. The officers are courteous and obliging, and every care is taken to make the institution meet the wishes of its founder.

THE COOPER INSTITUTE,

In Astor Place, is a handsome freestone building, devoted to science and art. It occupies an entire block, and is the gift of Peter Cooper, Esq., to the public. It contains lecture rooms, rooms for experiments, free schools of science and art for the working classes, a reading room, and a library. The street floor and that, above are rented out for stores and offices, and yield an annual income of from twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars.

THE BIBLE HOUSE,

Faces the Cooper Institute, and occupies a whole block, being bounded by Third and Fourth Avenues, and Eighth and Ninth streets. It is an immense structure, nearly triangular in form. It is the property of the American Bible Society, and was erected at a cost of three hundred thousand dollars. The revenue of the society is about five millions of dollars annually. Thousands of copies of the Bible are printed here annually, and sold or distributed in all parts of the world. The Bible has been printed here in twenty-four different dialects, and parts of it have been issued in others still.



About six hundred persons find employment in this gigantic establishment. Of these about three hundred are girls, and twenty or thirty boys. The girls feed the presses, sew the books, apply gold-leaf to the covers ready for tooling, etc. About a dozen little girls are employed in the press-room in laying the sheets, of the best description of Bibles, between glazed boards, and so preparing them for being placed in the hydraulic presses. Every day there are six thousand Bibles printed in this establishment, and three hundred and fifty turned out of hand completely bound and finished. The sheets of the Arabic Bible, which has been so long in preparation, are now exhibited to visitors, and elicit universal admiration, both on account of the peculiarity of the character, and the striking neatness and elegance which the work exhibits. A large edition of this translation has just been forwarded to Constantinople. Much of the mechanical portions of this admirable work has been executed by children. They are fairly paid by the Society, and appear to be very happy and comfortable at their work.

THE ACADEMY OF DESIGN,

At the corner of Twenty-third street and Fourth Avenue, is one of the most beautiful edifices in the city. It is built in the pure Gothic style of the thirteenth century, and the external walls are composed of variegated marble. It has an air of lightness and elegance, that at once elicit the admiration of the gazer. The interior is finished with white pine, ash, mahogany, oak, and black walnut in their natural colors; no paint being used in the building. Schools of art, a library, reading room, lecture room, and the necessary rooms for the business of the institution, occupy the first and second stories. The third floor is devoted to the gallery of paintings and the sculpture room.

An annual exhibition is held during the winter months, when the public are admitted at a small charge. Only the works of living artists are exhibited.

The hospitals and benevolent institutions of the city are numerous, and are conducted in a liberal manner. Visitors are admitted to all of them at stated times, and much instruction and profit may be gained from an examination of the system upon which they are managed.



CHAPTER LXIX.

THE POST-OFFICE.

The General Post-office of the city is located on Nassau street, between Cedar and Liberty streets. It was formerly the Middle Dutch Church, and was built long before the Revolution. It was in the old wooden steeple of this building that Benjamin Franklin practiced those experiments in electricity, which have made his name immortal. When the British occupied the city, during the War for Independence, they occupied this church for military purposes. The building was very greatly injured by the rough usage to which it was put, by its sacrilegious occupants. The pews and pulpit were broken up for firewood, and the building was used first as a prison, and then as a riding school. It was repaired in 1790, and again used for religious services. Some years later, it was purchased by the Government, and fitted up as a post-office. The growing business of the office has made it necessary to make so many additions to the structure, that it is hard at present to distinguish the original plan of the edifice. The building is much too small to accommodate the business required to be transacted within its walls, and efforts are being made to secure the erection of a larger and handsomer building, at the lower end of the City Hall Park. It is supposed that the movement in this direction will be successful, though the Government would seem, by its delay in the matter, not to consider it a matter of much importance to accommodate the citizens of the metropolis in this respect.

The Post-office being situated so low down in the city, it has been found necessary to establish branches, called "Stations," in the upper part of the island. They are distinguished by the letters "A," "B," "C," etc. Many persons receive and mail their correspondence here. The drop letter system places an immense amount of business in the hands of these stations.

Street boxes, for letters, are scattered through the city. They are never more than a block or two apart, in any of the streets below Fifty-ninth street, and the distances are not very great in the other portions of the island. Letters dropped in these boxes are collected seven or eight times during the day, and there is a delivery of letters and papers by the postman every hour. These are left at the houses of the parties to whom they are addressed, without additional charge. The system is excellent, and is a great convenience to all classes of the population.



CHAPTER LXX.

THE PATTERERS.

By this term we refer to the street vendors of the city, who hawk their wares through the public thoroughfares. A recent number of the Cornhill Magazine, of London, contains the following interesting description of this class:

As New York is the largest city in America, we naturally find more of this class there than anywhere else. It takes a long residence in the city to become familiar with them, for they vary with the season, and their occupations change according to circumstances. In many respects New York city resembles London or Paris. And so would any other town with a million of inhabitants, surrounded by a cluster of cities, which swell the united population to almost two millions. It may well be doubted if there is a city in Europe which presents so many strong characteristics as the American metropolis. The population of Manhattan Island is a mixture of all the peoples under the sun, fearfully and wonderfully jumbled together. About one thousand foreigners a day arrive in New York from all parts of the world the year round. The resident American is always coming in contact with Spaniards, Germans, Irishmen, Frenchmen, Africans, Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Mexicans, Scotchmen, Canadians, Englishmen, Arabs, Prussians, Swedes, and Italians. The Frenchman is as much at home as in his native Paris; the Scotchman hears the bagpipes in the City Hall Park, and sees the shepherd's dog at the Central Park; the Chinaman can find a whole street devoted to the selling of his teas, his native idols stare him in the face as advertisements before a Yankee shop door, and all the ladies on Broadway are toying with his fans; the Irishman rules the city, and hoists his green flag upon the public buildings; the African is the most important man in the crowd, and expects soon to colonize the whites in British America, or somewhere else, while the German has his sangerbunds and his schutzenfests and lager bier, and runs a halle and a boarding haus. Great is the mystery of New York.

But to the patterers. These are that large class of people who hawk their wares upon the street, or get a living at a stand. Some of them do a thriving trade, others barely eke out a miserable existence. Take them all in all, and they are a very curious class of people, interesting to study. A large number of them are women, from the oldest gray-haired grandmother, tottering on her cane, down to the young woman of sixteen. There are numerous little girls struggling to get a living, too, from three years old upwards. The women always excite our pity, and we patronize them in preference to the men.

The women patterers are usually a very ugly-looking set. That is, they are not handsome. Most of them are Irishwomen, although we now and then see an Italian or German woman. We never saw more than two American women patterers in New York, and have no recollection of ever seeing a Jewess, a Scotch woman, or a Spanish woman. The women and girls sell flowers, newspapers, candy, toothpicks, fruit, various kinds of food, turn hand-organs, sell songs, and beg. A woman never sells cigars or tobacco, and we have never seen one crying gentlemen's neckties. There is an old woman on Nassau street, not far from the General Post-office, who sits behind a stocking stall, covered with ladies' hose and gentlemen's socks, suspenders, mittens (the women always were fond of dealing in mittens) list slippers, yarns, and such stuff. So far as we know, this woman is an exception to her sex.

Very few women patterers in New York cry their wares. There is one ancient dame in the vicinity of St. John's Park, who screeches 'straw- ab-berries' in the spring time, following it up in the summer with 'blackberrie-e-e-s.' She seldom gets above Canal street, and always stays upon the west side of Broadway. Her voice has been familiar in that section of the city for the past five years, at least, and would be sadly missed if some day she should happen to get choked with one of her own berries, and, turning black in the face, be laid out on a bier of straw ready for burial.

There is a very stout old lady who always sits by the City Hospital gate, on Broadway. She has been in that selfsame spot, ever since before 'the late war,' and how much longer we know not. She is immensely stout, and must weigh at least two hundred pounds. Rain or shine, hot or cold, there she sits, with a little stand of newspapers before her—the Tribune, World, Herald, Times, and Sun. She only sells morning papers, and leaves when they are all sold. She always has her knitting-work, or sewing with her, and can often be seen making her own garments. Now and then she grows weary, the eyes close, the head falls forward, the mouth opens, the fingers stop, (still holding on to the knitting work,) and she dreams! What are her dreams? Possibly of a happy home in a distant land, a long time ago, when she was a little girl, and had a father to bless her, and a mother to love. A brace of omnibuses come thundering down the pavement, and she awakes. If people purchase papers of her while she is asleep they drop the pennies upon her stand, and pass on. This old body has a daughter who sells newspapers at a stand directly opposite, upon the other side of the street. The daughter is not as dutiful as she ought to be, and sometimes there is a family jar upon the street, not at all to the edification of those who witness it.

One of the saddest sights in New York is that of a pale-faced, light- haired woman, middle-aged, who can frequently be seen sitting on a Broadway curbstone behind a small hand-organ, from which she grinds a plaintive tune, the notes of which are seldom heard above the thunder of the street. She always appears bareheaded, and with a small child in her lap. The little straw hat of the babe is put upon the top of the organ to catch the pennies and bits of scrip. We are glad to notice that many men remember her in passing.

City Hall Park, Printing-House Square, Bowery, and Nassau street, are the great centres for all kinds of patterers. Here women sell ice cream, lemonade, doughnuts, buns, tropical fruits, and sweetmeats. Bananas and pineapples are favorite fruits and all forms of chocolate candies are in great demand. Most of the women who attend stalls grow very stout, as they get little or no exercise. It is noticed that very few of them ever partake of the fruits or other edibles which they deal in. They always bring a lunch with them of bread and butter, cold soups, and cold tea or coffee, with occasionally a bit of meat. One evening, opposite the Fifth Avenue Hotel, we saw a young woman, evidently nineteen or twenty, playing upon a violin. She was blind, and, as it was a warm, bright moonlight night, her head was bare. The countenance had a very sad, sweet expression, and the air she played was a far-away dreamy romance. We never saw her but once.

The poor little girls of New York do a wonderful number of things to get a living. They sell matches, toothpicks, cigars, songs, newspapers, flowers, etc. There is a good deal of romance published in the newspapers, about the flower-girls, which does not exist. The Evening Post once said they were as handsome as the flower-girls of Paris. If they are, the Paris flower-girls must be frightful little wretches. The flower-girls of New York cluster about St. Paul's churchyard and the Astor House, and can be found scattered up Broadway as high as Twenty- third street. They sell magnolias, hand bouquets and button-hole bouquets for gentlemen's coats. They appear on the streets with the earliest spring violets, and only disappear with 'the last rose of summer.' A rainy day is a very good one for the flowers, and they sell better than in fair weather. When the skies are lowering, man wants something to cheer him, and so he takes a tuberose and a geranium leaf, and puts it in the button-hole of his coat. The girls buy their flowers of the gardeners out in the suburbs of the city, and then manufacture their own bouquets.

Some of the little girls who patter upon the street make a tolerably good living, if they are industrious and stick to their business. Oranges and sponges sell well, and often from two to four dollars' worth are disposed of between the rising and the setting of the sun. Pattering is only profitable during business hours, which, in New York, do not commence much before 9 o'clock, and close by 5 P. M. So the patterer is a gentleman with the rest of them, and shuts up shop at the same time A. T. Stewart and H. B. Claflin do their marble and sandstone palaces. There are exceptions to this rule, as there are to all rules. Those who patter at the Battery, and in the vicinity of South Ferry, where a constant stream of people is passing back and forth far into the night, stick by their stands as long as there is any one upon the street. At midnight, when the thunder of the streets is hushed, and the moon is rolling beneath a dark cloud, the heads of old men and women can be seen nid, nid, nodding, from Bowling Green to the Battery wall. Where they go to when they close up their stalls and crawl away in the darkness, it is impossible to say.

The most interesting sights in connection with pattering may be seen in the vicinity of Castle Garden, and on the east side of City Hall Park, opposite Park Row. At Castle Garden the patterers meet with a constant stream of freshly arrived emigrants. They have just landed in 'free America,' and the first thing which greets their eyes after they have left the officials, and passed the portals of the Garden, is a long row of patterers behind stalls filled with ginger-cakes, lemonade, tropical fruits, apples, etc. Many of the poor peasants from the interior of Europe never saw a bunch of red or golden bananas, they know nothing of the mysteries of a pineapple, and are unacquainted with cocoa-nuts. They look with no little astonishment upon these products of the soil, but hesitate to purchase them. They are shy of the new-fangled American drinks, but being very thirsty, occasionally indulge in a glass of lemonade. How their eyes sparkle as the delicious nectar runs down their throats. Such wasser is unknown to the springs of Germany. Bread, cakes and apples are readily bought by them, but as they deal in hard cash, and talk German, and as the old woman they are trading with speaks Irish-English, and has nothing but scrip, it takes some little time to conclude a bargain. A great deal of talking is done on the fingers, and the emigrant goes away satisfied, nay, pleased, at the great amount of something to eat he is able to buy in America with a small lot of silver. Besides this, the old woman behind the stall gives him a variety of paper money, curiously printed. He looks at it, then doubles it up, and puts it carefully away.

The men patterers are a much larger class in New York than the women. They are engaged in all imaginable occupations and dog your steps at every corner. Some of these men are middle-aged, able-bodied fellows, quite strong and healthy enough to be clearing up land in the West or laying bricks at five dollars a day. For some unaccountable reason they prefer to remain in New York, living from hand to mouth, and doing nothing to improve themselves, mentally, worldly, or financially. We have one of these in mind now. Sitting on the west side of Broadway, not far from White street, a young man of about thirty-two or three, healthy, stout, and quite intelligent looking, employs his time in tending a small stand, upon which a few gum-drops and chocolates are displayed for sale. Here is enterprise and ambition for you. We have passed his stand several times a day for the last year, and we never saw him selling anything to a man. They are ashamed of his presence on the street in such an occupation. A girl, or a poor woman, would get some sympathy, but for an able-bodied man in America, none! The fellow has a wife, and sometimes she takes place. There is a sad, disconsolate look upon her face, and well there may be, since she is united to such a lazy dolt of a husband.

It has been noticed that dwarfs and deformed people often resort to pattering. Like Gloster, in King Richard III., they are

———'curtailed thus of fair proportion, Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, Deform'd, unfinished, sent before their time Into this breathing world, scarce half made up, And that so lamely and unfashionable, That dogs bark at them.'

Through these misfortunes they hope to tell upon the feelings of the public, and thereby secure a larger share of patronage. One of these 4 unfashionable human beings stands on Broadway, with a bunch of carpet dusters in his hand-leather thongs fastened to a handle. Another poor fellow in front of the Times office has no arms, and therefore supports himself by whittling kindling-wood for the benefit of the public. A dwarf on the sidewalk, not far from the St. Nicholas Hotel, has an immense head, with ugly and snubbish features, a short body, and ungainly limbs. He peddles apples.

The other men and boy patterers of New York sell cigars, whips, neckties, sleeve-buttons, dogs, young bears, watch-chains, resurrection plants, sponge-cakes, and all the articles sold by women. A man does a thriving business at the foot of one of the large marble columns of the Sub-Treasury on Wall street. He keeps fresh home-made sponge cakes, which sell for five or ten cents each. One of these is enough for a man's lunch.

The dog and bear men lurk in the vicinity of the Astor House. They always have a basket in which they carry their animals, and during business hours spend the most of their time scratching their backs with a comb. These men seem to be a little unsound in the upper regions. They wear long hair, loose fitting clothes, broad-brimmed hats, and are perfectly happy whether they sell a dog or not. No one has yet been seen offering cats for sale. Maps, pictures, and songs are frequently indulged in by the street patterers. Most of them are horrible prints, highly colored, representing favorite priests, the Presidents, naval conflicts, battles, and fires. The maps have the Irish harp in one corner and the United States flag in the other. The favorite maps are those of Ireland and New York City.

Since the police have banished the banner-men from the side-walks, the various trades have taken to representing themselves in odd costumes on the backs of ambitious patterers. Just now walking awnings, barber's poles, whalebones, etc., are the rage. Like everything else in a city, this will be tolerated until it becomes a nuisance, when the police will take them off to the station-house and they will be among the things that were.

"The patterers of New York could well be dispensed with. Most of them deserve none of our sympathy, and should be taken in charge by the government, and set to work at some useful occupation. This would clear the streets of a great many disgusting sights, and give the town an air of thrift and respectability, which it is not likely to have as long as such a horde of spendthrifts hang about all the corners."



CHAPTER LXXI.

LOTTERIES.

The New York correspondent of a provincial journal, recently published the following excellent sketch of the lottery business as practiced in this city.

Few persons realize to what an extent American lotteries are patronized in this city, and in a great many other cities of the country. A lottery business has been built up within a few years, secret and silent from general public inspection, which draws thousands of dollars yearly from the pockets of credulous fools, into the coffers of the designing men who manage these traps for the fortune-seekers. New York is the general headquarters for these Southern lotteries, though they are not drawn here; and in this sketch we will take a look at them.

The regular authorized American lotteries are the 'Kentucky' and 'Missouri.' There are several other branches of these concerns—two or three off-shoots growing out of a feud between the managers of the old Kentucky lottery, last winter, but as the side-establishments are not recognized as legitimate, either by patrons or the lottery board, I will pass them by in silence.

The two lotteries above named are drawn daily at noon and night. The 'Kentucky' is drawn at Covington and the 'Missouri' at Lexington. The drawings are made in public. Immediately after the numbers are taken from the wheel, the telegraph sends them over the country to the various lottery offices, those for the East coming to the general headquarters in this city, where they are forwarded to every lottery dealer in New England and the Middle States.

The lottery schemes are what is known as the ternary combination of seventy-eight numbers, being one to seventy eight, inclusive; or, in other words, 'three number' schemes. The numbers vary with the day. To- day seventy-eight numbers may be placed in the wheel and fourteen of them drawn out. Any ticket having on it three of the drawn numbers takes a prize, ranging from fifty thousand dollars to three hundred dollars, as the scheme may indicate for the day. Tickets with two of the drawn numbers on them pay an advance of about a hundred per cent. of their cost. Tickets with only one of the drawn numbers on them get back first cost. On another day only seventy-five numbers will be put in the wheel, and only twelve or thirteen drawn out. And so it goes.

The owners or managers of these concerns are prominent sporting men and gamblers of New York and elsewhere. Considerable capital is invested. It is said that it takes nearly two million dollars to work this business, and that the profits average five hundred thousand dollars or more a year. The ticket sellers get a commission of twelve per cent. on all sales. The tickets are issued to them in lots, one set of combinations going to one section of the country this week, another next; and all tickets unsold up to the hour for the drawing at Covington, are sent back to headquarters. In this way many prizes are drawn by tickets which remain unsold in dealers' hands after they have reported to the agents; and the lottery makes it clear.

Together with the sale of tickets is carried on an extensive game of gambling known as 'policy.' To 'policy' is to bet on certain numbers coming out in the drawing, for either morning or evening. Thus, if I believe 4, 11, 44 will be drawn, I stake a dollar at the lottery office, or any sum I see fit, up to five hundred dollars, and if all three of the numbers make their appearance on the drawing, the liberal managers will give me two hundred dollars for my one. You can take any three numbers of the seventy eight and policy them. The three numbers taken are called a 'gig;' two numbers a 'saddle;' four numbers a 'horse'—either of which pays its own rate, which is from two to six hundred dollars for one; a 'saddle,' however, only giving a small advance on your stake.

Now, perhaps you will say that is simple enough, and a fine chance to make money. It must be possible to strike three numbers often. Try it. The lottery, by its large advance on the amount you stake, tells a different story. A man might play three numbers every day for a year, and not have the satisfaction of seeing all three come out at one time on the drawing. Two will come out with a number just ahead or below the third; and you will pay more money and try again. Why there are men who are veterans at policy-playing, using all their spare funds, going without everything which makes life pleasant, and yet it is rarely they hit the 'gig.'

In this city, where all kinds of gambling flourishes, from the Stock Exchange to a Fifth Avenue faro 'hell,' a 'sweat' board in Baxter street, or greasy marked cards in a cellar drinking den—these American lotteries are sold in no less than six hundred places over and across the town. They are known by the dignified name of 'Exchange.' Go where you will, their signs will meet your eye. On Broadway, down town, there are several large lottery offices, well known, frequented by merchants and well-to-do business men, where policy is played with high stakes, where hundreds of tickets are sold daily. There is one near John street, on Broadway. The front office is a money broker's counter; but passing through, you come into a long, well-furnished room, all parts of the day filled with policy players. Here they do a great business in lottery tickets. There are five clerks employed. Across the wall hangs a large slate, upon which the drawn numbers are chalked. A little sign over the ticket desk gives notice that 'plays will not be taken for over ten thousand dollars.' This is the great office of the city. The proprietor has an interest in the lotteries, besides making his commission as seller.

A good many stories are told of this 'Exchange.' A man came in one day and laid a dollar on the counter before the clerk, and said: 'Here, give me a ticket that will draw a prize! That dollar is all I have got; but I dreamed last night that I would draw something big!' The clerk laughed, and carelessly passed him a ticket taken at random from the bunch. It was numbered 16, 42, 51. Did it draw the prize, you ask? No, not that drawing. The man came in at night, read the list of drawn numbers, turned away without a word, and went out into the street. He had been gone but a moment before the report of a pistol rang out clear, sharp, alarming. The people in the policy office hurried to the door. The unfortunate man had shot himself dead! The next morning what should come rolling out of the lottery wheel but his numbers—16, 42, 51—a prize of twenty thousand dollars! Tricked by fortune, the man lay cold and stark at the Morgue.

Another story. A boy came into the office not long since. 'Father wants to policy two dollars on this gig,' he said, giving the three numbers to a clerk. That was for the noon drawing. About two o'clock the father came to inspect the list. He cast his eye down the big slate, and found his 'gig' there. He had won four hundred dollars! 'I have spent five thousand dollars on this accursed thing, and this is the first money that has come back,' he said, as the greenbacks were placed in his hand. 'Try it again,' said the affable clerk, as an historical affable spider once said, 'walk into my parlor!' to a foolish policy-playing fly. The man who was five thousand less four hundred dollars out, did try it again. He kept trying it. He kept winning as if a good angel stood behind him dictating the plays. He struck two thousand dollars one day. He followed it up by bagging thirty-two hundred soon after. The lottery folks were afraid of him. Before two months was out the man was 'in' to the tune of twenty-seven thousand dollars. Every third or fourth play seemed to hit. Did he stop and carry his large gains away from the fascination of gaming? He became intensely nervous, wild over his rare fortune. No day but to play. At last the office refused to receive plays from him. This excited him so much that in raving over it he fell down in a fit in the very 'Exchange' where he had made his pile. He was taken to the City Hospital; from there, hopelessly insane, he was taken to the mad-house, on Blackwell's Island. And the best part of the story is that a loving wife and mother, who had vainly attempted to check the husband in his dangerous course, received the money, and, for the first of several years, is enabled to live comfortably, caring for the hapless victim on the Island, part of the time, and devoting the rest to the training of a young son.

Some of the lottery gamblers have a regular system. Their dreams give them numbers to play. If one dreams of a house on fire, a horse running away, a ship sinking at sea, a bald-headed man, or a monkey going up a cocoa-nut tree, straightway he rushes to play the numbers indicated. You would think they were destitute of brains, if in all other things they didn't show plenty of sense. When a man or woman gets lottery-mad, nothing is too absurd for them to do in getting 'numbers.'

The negroes of the city are great policy-players. In every district where they live you will find dingy little lottery offices, patronized mostly by them. Some of them make as much as forty or fifty dollars a week. A negro must play his policy even if bread is lacking at home. Now and then they make a lucky 'gig,' and win a few dollars. Some are born with a policy luck, I do believe. One old darkey woman, a kind, motherly sort of a body, who used to attend to the linen of the house where I resided, has had a wonderful streak of luck in policy. Out of four or five years playing she has obtained money enough to set up a pretty cottage in Harlem, and furnish it well. She says she dreams her numbers! The sale of lottery dream-books is really immense. One firm on Ann street sell several thousand a month of these books, wherein every possible dream is described, and the proper 'policy' attached to it.'

The poverty, the evil, the utter and abominable waste that results from these lotteries, cannot be realized, save by those who have investigated the subject. Hard working, sober men, good citizens, respectable and worthy in every other way, are bound down to this mean gambling, which always keeps them poor, which continually keeps the wolf at their doors. And all for what? That a set of rascals may wear fine linen, and walk Broadway with lofty airs. A man who becomes infatuated in lotteries, becomes lost almost beyond chance. I can count up in passing no less than six men who are mad on policy, who save from food, from clothes, from the family, money, to spend in these lottery hells. They never draw anything. The next time it is hoped better luck will come. So they have gone on for years, and are no nearer the prize. Strange human blindness! They haven't strength enough to dash away from it all; and drop by drop the very life-blood is sucked out of them.

If you want to see anxious faces, drop into one of these 'exchanges' about the time the drawings come in. The office will be full. All classes of men are represented. There is the day-laborer with his tin pail, the merchant with an unmistakable business air, the gambler glittering with diamonds, clerks with inky fingers, men of leisure, cool and vacant looking, and I have even seen very ministerial looking men, who might have been divines, or dealers in a faro bank; it is hard to tell one from the other in New York, where, if a man has a very respectable appearance, he is put down as belonging to one of the two professions. But there is a marked look of concern on all faces, 'waiting for the verdict' on their plays.

The numbers come in from headquarters. One by one they are called off and chalked on the slate, so that he who runs may read. One man has struck something, and his face lights up with joy. It is only a small amount, and instead of blessing his stars that he has been so fortunate, he is bewailing his prudence in staking so little. Another turns away with a dreary sigh, for the slate tells him the same old story of no luck. Another has just hit it—all but one figure! if he had played 'seven' instead of 'six,' what a pile he would have taken in! Yes; but the good managers knew you would play seven, and so were perfectly willing to offer you two hundred dollars for one. A woman crowds her way into the throng. Does she invest in lottery tickets or policy? She has a slip of paper with numbers on, and compares them with the slate. Now she turns away, and there is no light of victory in her eyes.

"Poor fools, waiting, hoping, longing for a prize! The flaring printed poster on the wall tells of fifty thousand dollars to be drawn to-day. A fortune to be paid to the lucky holder of the right ticket. Of course you will all go in for it, lottery maniacs, as you have done many times before. You will lay out hard-earned money—I pity you, but no urging can stop you; and all the while the lottery is laughing in contempt at you; and the radiant managers are flashing costly diamonds in your faces, and enjoying themselves in splendid mansions up town, living on the fat of the land—airing themselves in the Park behind blood horses with famous names—all bought with the dollars you have given them so freely! Work for more and give them! Starve your family to add to the spoils! Go ragged yourselves that they may dress richly! Who knows but that you may draw that tempting prize in time!"



CHAPTER LXXII.

GIFT ENTERPRISES.

There are more than two thousand persons in the city of New York, who make their living by conducting gift enterprises. These schemes have various names, but are conducted substantially on the same plan.

THE SYSTEM.

The parties engaged in the swindle open an office in some conspicuous place in the city, and announce a grand distribution of prizes for the benefit of some charitable association, such as "The Gettysburg Asylum for Invalid Soldiers and Sailors," "Southern Orphans' Aid Association," etc., etc.; or they announce a grand gift concert, to take place at some public hall at a given time. The tickets to this concert are sold at prices ranging from one to five dollars, the former being the usual price. Directions of other cities are procured, mailing clerks of newspapers are paid for copies of the list of subscribers to their journals, and country newspapers are procured for a similar purpose. A large number of names is thus obtained, and a circular issued, setting forth the scheme, the list of prizes, and the manner of procuring tickets. There is scarcely a place in the United States to which these circulars are not sent. Each of the persons so addressed is requested to act as an agent; and is promised a prize in the distribution if he will use his influence to sell tickets and say nothing of the inducements offered to him, as such knowledge would make others dissatisfied. The prize is said to be worth a great deal, and the party requested to act as agent sets to work promptly, and generally succeeds in getting a number of names and dollars, which he forwards to the managers of the grand concert. No concert is ever held, and no drawing takes place. The money is lost to the senders and pocketed by the swindlers who receive it.

THE BANKERS' AND BROKERS' GIFT ENTERPRISE.

During the winter of 1867-68, a swindler or set of swindlers opened an office in the lower part of Broadway, under the title of "The Bankers' and Brokers' Gift Enterprise." The affair was ostensibly managed by the firm of Clark, Webster & Co. As many thousand persons were victimized by these villains, it is possible that some of our readers may be able to vouch for the statements contained in the following extract concerning the affair, from the Missouri Republican, published in St. Louis.

For some months, certain papers, both in the East and West, have been displaying an enormously large advertisement, of the Bankers' and Merchants' First Grand Presentation Enterprise, to be commenced on Thursday, October 24th, and continued for 'one hundred and fifty days from the date of commencement, at the rate of ten thousand tickets per day.' The scheme was a magnificent one; every ticket holder was entitled to such a premium as would fully insure him against loss—that is, he would draw a prize equal to the money invested, minus five per cent., and would run a risk of winning an enormous prize, of which there were several 'on the bills.'

Of course this spread like wild-fire, the cholera, or yellow fever; hundreds, who should have possessed some discretion, sent their dollars to Clark, Webster & Co., 62 Broadway, New York, expecting to realize handsome fortunes. How they supposed that the proprietors could ever give such premiums, we cannot say; but certain it is they did, and hundreds and thousands have been most fearfully victimized; how, will be easily explained.

The enormous prizes were not in money; they were stocks, and the like, in fancy companies, somewhere—where, we do not know; where a nominal half a million would not be worth half a dollar.

But it was not in the dollar paid for the original ticket that the chief swindle lay. Nearly every man drew a 'prize' and was at once notified, on receiving the sum of five per cent. of the value, it would be forwarded; and as the nature of the prize was not stated, but only its nominal value in money, thousands of persons have, doubtless, sent the five per cent., and will continue to send it, and receive in exchange some worthless oil stock, or a similar valueless piece of paper.

Even in this city, where the people should read the daily papers, and be posted in such swindles, a large number have been victimized, two of whom have furnished us with their experiences, which we give below:

The first is a young man, the son of a well-known politician in this city, but who requests us to suppress his name. A few days since he received the following note:

'You are hereby notified that one of your tickets has drawn a prize valued at two hundred dollars. Five per cent. on this amount will be ten dollars. This amount of assessed per centage must, in all cases, be sent on receipt of this notice, with directions by what express you wish the prize sent. Yours, very respectfully, 'CLARK, WEBSTER & CO.'

The young man, 'green' as he must have been to invest a dollar in the swindling concern of the fictitious Clark, Webster & Co., was yet too sharp to send the ten dollars without an investigation, and accordingly went to a friend, a well-known banker of this city, and requested him to correspond with reliable parties in New York, and ascertain the responsibility of the parties, and, on doing so, Mr. Davis received the following reply:

'Office of Gwynne & Day, No. 7 New Street, 'New York, Nov. 12, 1867.

'Messrs.——& Co., Cincinnati, Ohio:

'Gentlemen: We have received your favor of the 9th, with enclosure as stated.

'In regard to the prize drawn by————, we went to Clark, Webster & Co., to see about it. The prize consists of two hundred shares in the Sand River Petroleum Company. We did not get it, as we do not know the market value of the stock (and probably never will). We enclose it to you, as we do not think it is worth ten dollars.

'Yours respectfully, "'GWYNNE & DAY.'"

Another correspondent tells his story as follows:

CINCINNATI, November 15.

Messrs. Editors: Last summer I was foolish enough to place sufficient confidence in an advertisement of a "Grand Presentation Enterprise of Merchants and Bankers of New York," that appeared in a Cincinnati paper a number of times, as to invest one dollar in a ticket. The prizes consisted of greenbacks, diamonds, watches, sewing machines, etc., to be drawn October 24. A few weeks afterward I received a letter in which I was requested to act as their agent in this city, for the sale of their tickets, promising, in consideration thereof—in case my ticket drew a blank—they would insure me a handsome present. But I did not bite this time. Two or three other circulars were sent me after this; one announcing the postponement of the drawing, to enable them to dispose of all their tickets; another postponement was announced in September, because their 'agents had sold more tickets than were issued, so that now they were compelled to increase the number of tickets from 1,300,000 to 1,500,000.' All this was announced in staring capitals.

In the latter part of October another circular was received, announcing the commencement of a drawing on October 24th, and that it would take two or three months to complete it, as they could draw and register but 10,000 per day; and also informing the 'lucky' ones, that upon being notified that their ticket had drawn a prize, they were to remit immediately five per cent. of the value of the prize, if under $500, and ten per cent. if over $500; the money obtained in this way was to be used to meet the extra expense incurred in printing the additional tickets and in their distribution.

Soon after this I was notified my ticket had drawn a prize, valued at $200, and I must remit them five per cent. of this within ten days, or forfeit the prize. I wrote to a friend of mine in New York, to call at 62 Broadway, and ascertain if such a firm as Clark, Webster & Co.—the firm name signed to the circular—held forth there, and, if so, to present my ticket, and claim the prize.

He called, as requested, and writes me that there is no such firm there. The 'Merchants' and Bankers' Grand Presentation Enterprise' is a grand swindle, carried on by one Hill, who has been arrested a number of times for swindling the public in this manner, but has, so far, by the aid of money, freely used, managed to keep out of the Penitentiary. When my friend presented the ticket, and demanded the two hundred dollar prize, they offered him stock in an oil well out West, which (well) is all a myth. So I concluded to retain the percentage, and forfeit the 'prize.' In one of the circulars it is announced that a second 'grand distribution' will take place this winter, and I make this matter public that none of your readers may be deceived. "ALMOST A VICTIM."

Complaints from the victims of this infamous swindle, became so numerous, that the police authorities seized the premises of Clark, Webster & Co., and all their books and papers. These last comprised six truck loads, and contained printed or written directories of every city and town in the Union. No such persons as Clark, Webster & Co., could be found. A man calling himself William M. Elias, claimed to be the owner of the books and papers, and endeavored to regain possession of them by legal process. The Police Commissioners, knowing what use he intended to make of them, refused to surrender them, and gave bonds. Elias was arraigned before the Tombs Police Court, on a charge of swindling, by some of his victims. The Court room was full of those who had suffered by the grand lottery. The proceedings amounted to nothing, and as the man left the Court room, he was followed by the excited crowd, and severely pelted with snow balls, until the police came to his assistance.



Messrs. Reade & Co., who profess to do business at No. 6 Clinton Hall, Astor Place, are extensive swindlers. The police have made rigid searches for them several times. They have arrested the clerks and managers, but have failed to discover the principals, who, doubtless, have no real existence.

A CLEVER SWINDLE.

Many of these swindlers adopt the following system. They send a circular to some one in the country, notifying him that he has drawn a prize in their lottery. The circular used by one of these firms is as follows:

MR.——, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

DEAR SIR: You are hereby notified that ticket No. 5,114, has drawn a gold watch, valued at two hundred dollars. Five per cent. on the valuation is ten dollars. The percentage must be paid or forwarded within twelve days from the date of this notice.

Those receiving prizes, in the preliminary drawing, receive them with this understanding, that they will either buy tickets in our grand distribution that takes place in November, or use their influence in every possible way to sell tickets. Any parties receiving this notice, who are not willing to assist in our grand enterprise, will please return the ticket and notice as soon as received.

HALLETT, MOORE & Co., Bankers and Financial Managers, 575 BROADWAY, NEW YORK.

By Order of the NEW YORK JEWELLERS' CO-OPERATIVE UNION.

N. B.—No prizes will be shipped until the percentage is received.

We shall be ready in fifteen days to fill orders for tickets in the grand distribution of five millions of dollars' worth of goods, the drawing of which is to take place in the building of the New York Jewellers' Cooperative Union, November 16, 1868. By order of the BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

The person receiving this circular well knows that he has purchased no ticket in the above concern, and at once supposes that he has received through mistake the notification intended for some other man. Still, as the parties offer to send him, for ten dollars, a watch worth two hundred dollars, he cannot resist the temptation to close with the bargain at once. He sends his ten dollars, and never hears of it again.

Another plan is to notify every one who has bought a ticket that he has drawn a prize, and demand five per cent. on it. The value is always stated at two hundred dollars, and the amount asked is ten dollars. Strange as it may seem, this ruse succeeds in a majority of instances. The luckless ticket holders are delighted with their good fortune, and send the assessment at once. They never see their money or their prize.

The scoundrels who carry on these enterprises feel perfectly safe. They know that their victims dare not prosecute them, as by purchasing a ticket a man becomes a party to the transaction, and violates the laws of the State of New York. No one cares to avow himself a party to any such transaction, and consequently the swindlers are safe from prosecution.

The post-office authorities of the city state that over five hundred letters per day are received in this city from various parts of the country, addressed to the principal gift establishments of the city. Nearly all of these letters contain various sums of money. Last winter these mails were seized and opened, by the Post-office Department, and some of the letters were found to contain as much as three hundred dollars.

The profits of these swindlers are enormous. Those which are well conducted realize half a million of dollars in three or four months. Instead of resting satisfied with this amount, the rogues close up their business, and start a fresh enterprise.

From this description the reader will see how the various gift enterprises, under whatever name they are presented, are managed, and how certain he is to lose every cent he invests in them. The description applies also to the various Manufacturing and Co-operative Jewelry Associations, and all schemes of a kindred nature.

JEWELRY ASSOCIATIONS OR UNIONS.

A recent publication contains the following clever description of the way in which these associations are managed.

No doubt these enterprises are of the purest benevolence—at least such is the impression their projectors seek to convey. That everybody who wants a gold watch for a dollar may know how to get it, we copy the following extract from the advertisement—without charge, on this occasion:

'One million certificates, bearing upon their face the names of the articles as above enumerated, are each inclosed in plain envelopes, and sealed, undistinguishable one from another, mixed and placed in a repository, without choice, and they are drawn as ordered. The sealed envelopes, containing certificates marked with the name of the article, description, and marked price it entitles the holder to, will be sent by mail to any address at twenty-five cents each; on receipt of the certificates, the purchaser ascertains the exact article he is entitled to, which he can obtain upon the return of the certificate and one dollar to the office of the Association.'

Not wishing, however, to encourage too sanguine hopes, we would add an account of the success of an experiment made last year by an incredulous individual, who was so curious as to find out how it was these people made money by selling gold watches for a dollar. He spent a hundred dollars for the 'certificates' above referred to, and found himself the lucky possessor of a lot of paper tickets purporting to represent property to the value of two thousand one hundred and fifty- three dollars, and this property he was entitled to receive on the further payment of four hundred and fifty-eight dollars. Not wishing, however, to impoverish these rashly-benevolent Samaritans, and reflecting, perhaps, that he had already spent one hundred dollars, for which he had as yet received nothing but 'certificates,' he selected a hundred of those that promised the most valuable articles, and sent them for redemption—paying another one hundred dollars for the articles. He received a lot of watches, jewelry, gold pens, etc., of which the nominal value was five hundred and ninety-nine dollars.

Very good investment of two hundred dollars, was it not? But stop a minute. We said nominal value. As the articles were all gold and silver—at any rate, professed to be—it was easy to ascertain their actual value; so they were sent to the United States Assay Office, melted up, and a certificate of the net proceeds returned. And how much does the ingenious reader suppose this five hundred and ninety-nine dollars of gold and silver proved to be worth? Just nine dollars and sixty-two cents ($9.62)! That was what our friend got for the two hundred dollars cash he had invested. And that is about what anybody will get who chooses to invest money in enterprises of this kind.

The certificate jewelry business is, in fact, under whatever name carried on, nothing but a gigantic fraud, extending far and wide over the country, and causing many innocent but rather green people losses they can ill afford. During the war, the soldiers were cheated enormously by it. Millions of dollars have been paid for utterly worthless stuff.

But it is not only in bogus jewelry that prizes are warranted. Gold pens are held out as an inducement. What village poetaster or scribbler for the weekly journal—enjoying a reputation among his acquaintances for 'smart writing'—imagining himself a second Byron or another Sylvanus Cobb, Jr., but what likes to sport a gold pen with 'silver case' before the admiring eyes of friends or the envious glances of rivals, as the instrument with which the flow of melody or pathetic romance in the 'Trumpetown Blower' is produced. By such the circular of the '——-Gold Pen Co.' sent through the post-office, is warmly welcomed. A careful perusal, a comparison of the different styles and prices, and then, of course, a remittance. The pen arrives in a handsome velvet-lined box. A glance and the possessor is entranced; he tries it, it writes smoothly, and forthwith it is cleaned, placed in the pocket and carelessly shown by accident' to friends. Another trial—alas! the ink sticks; the pen corrodes; the gold comes off; the silver holder turns black; polishing fails to produce a shine, and eventually it is apparent that a swindle has been perpetrated and that the 'cheap gold pen' is, after all, but copper or brass; thousands of these pens are sent in a week by express to all parts of the country and as many dupes made to pay fifty times their value to the adroit swindlers who manufacture them.

"The postmaster at Wakeman, Huron county, Ohio, having heard of this— Pen Co., sent for a circular, which was at once forwarded. Selecting a certain pen he remitted the money for it; in reply he received an old copper pen not worth three cents; he immediately remonstrated in a second letter, and a third, of which no notice was taken, and the unfortunate United States official was obliged to consider himself swindled. This is but an instance of many."

Remember, dear reader, there is no royal road to fortune. Keep your money, or invest it more sensibly, for there is not one single gift association in the world in which you will meet with anything but the vilest deceit and dishonesty. You will be robbed in any and all of them.

DOLLAR STORES.

The Dollar Stores of the land are mere humbugs. The articles sold are dear at the prices asked. The watches are worthless, the diamonds and other jewels are paste, and the gold is pinchbeck or Dutch metal. An article for which they ask one dollar is worth in reality about ten cents. On higher priced articles their profit is in proportion. A few weeks' use will show the real value of a purchase made at one of these places.



CHAPTER LXXIII.

SITUATION AGENCIES.

Those employment agencies whose advertisements may be daily seen in our city papers, are well exposed in the following experience of a young man in want of a situation.

I have no trade or profession. My parents were well off in the world, and; without thinking that their riches might take to themselves wings and fly away, they considered it of no importance that I should become master of anything but the graces of society. But misfortune did come and left them without a dollar in the world, although neither of them lived long to contend with poverty. I found myself illy adapted to anything, and was, as you may well suppose, at a loss which way to turn.

I applied to one or two acquaintances; but they could make no use of a man who knew nothing at all of the ways of trade, or of the arts and sciences; and so I was treated to not a few very gloomy forebodings. While glancing over the columns of a daily newspaper, my eye rested on the following advertisement.

'WANTED, clerks, copyists, collectors, timekeepers, watchmen, potters, bartenders, coachmen, grooms, two valets to travel. Immediate employment.'

It was such a spontaneous affair; so general and so pliable that I resolved to avail myself of some of its many chances. So I entered the 'office' with great expectations.

I am a good penman and at once resolved to take up the situation as copyist, and using that as a foundation for future superstructure, to do my best, early and late. I entered the room. There didn't seem to be such a rush of applicants there as I had anticipated; in fact, the room was entirely unoccupied, save by a flashy youth who seemed to be doing his best to smoke himself out with a very bad segar. I mentioned my errand to him and he instantly became very polite.

The proprietor was not in just then but would probably be in sometime during the day. The first thing, however, for me to do, was to register my name and pay a fee of two dollars, which would entitle me to the situation I coveted. What was two dollars with a prospect of business before me? I paid it and was told that I had better call in the afternoon and see the proprietor.

I called again as he requested. The proprietor had been in, but a man whose name was down ahead of mine had taken the place of copyist that had kept my heart up so eagerly, and I should be obliged to wait until a similar situation presented itself, when, of course, I should stand first of all, or take up with something else. I asked about clerkships, but a hasty glance at his book convinced him that everything had been taken up, and that I had better call to-morrow.

Unwilling to lose my money without some attempt at securing a place, I called again the next day. The flashy fellow of the day before was not there, but in his place a black-whiskered man, with keen black eyes, so small and retiring that you would scarcely be aware of his possessing such assistants until he turned them fully upon you. This proved to be the proprietor. To him I made known my wants. He nodded, placed the book before me, and handed me a pen.

I explained my transactions of the day before, but he said that the fee for each day encompassed only the chances for that day; that if I desired to take my chances for this day I must again favor him with my name and two dollars. This I refused to do, unless he would guarantee me a situation similar to the ones he had advertised openings for, at the same time expressing my disgust in warm, if not eloquent language.

But his assurances were so strong that, with his promise to give me a note to a man who was then desirous of a copyist, I again enriched him from my scanty stock of money. Taking the letter, I followed the directions upon it until I was led into the fourth story of a building on Nassau street. I found a man seated at a desk, whose voice and general manner was strongly like the flashy individual whom I had met at the 'agency' the day before. But his whole exterior was changed, and as he seemed to be very busy over some writing, I did not have a good chance to verify my suspicions.

He did not wish a copyist, but his friend Brown did, and was willing to pay handsomely for such services. Unfortunately, however, Brown had been called out of town on some important business, and would not be in until the next day; but if I would have the kindness to leave my address, there was no doubt but he would send for me there at once. I wrote my address, but told him that I would call myself.

While I was allowing him to bow me out, I made some inquiries relative to the responsibility of the 'agency,' and he gave it an unqualified recommendation, speaking in such high terms of Mr. Bucker, the proprietor, that I almost repented the few hard feelings I had indulged in toward him. If Mr. Bucker enjoyed the confidence of the leading merchants, he certainly was a man for me to trust.

I called the next day, and Mr. Brown was poising his feet upon his desk, smoking, and soothing his heart in the columns of a newspaper. I mentioned my name and business. He looked up, and in reply to my question as to whether or not he was Mr. Brown who desired a copyist, he said that he had the honor of being a Mr. Brown, but I must be laboring under some misapprehension, if I supposed that he was in want of a copyist. The Brown to whom I alluded, in all probability, had gone to New Jersey, and owing to sundry unsettled accounts he would not be likely to return so suddenly as he had departed. I explained my position, but he disclaimed all knowledge of the affair, and would give me no satisfaction whatever. I went back to the 'agency,' but on inquiry I found that Mr. Bucker had sold out, and another swindler had taken up the business of robbing the unwary poor.

I made my case known to the police, but a shrug of the shoulders was all the consolation I received. Such swindlers do exist, they say, but owing to the artful manner in which they conduct their business, it is next to impossible to convict them.

"My object in sending you this for publication is to warn others. I have since learned that the majority of these 'agencies' are established on the same principle, and that not one in a hundred who apply and pay their money ever receive a situation; that the merchants and those whom they profess to represent have no faith and no connection with them whatever."



CHAPTER LXXIV.

THE PATENT SAFE GAME.

One of the most barefaced swindles ever practiced in New York has now almost gone out of existence. It is called the "patent safe game," and was much practiced during the late war, as many of our soldiers can testify. It was carried on principally in the neighborhood of the Hudson River Depot, and the complaints of the victims, to the police, were loud and numerous. The mode of operation was as follows:

A stranger in the city would be accosted by a well-dressed individual, who would immediately begin a careless, friendly conversation. If the overtures of this individual are not repulsed in the first instance, he is soon joined by his accomplice, who professes to be a stranger to swindler number one.

The accomplice has in his possession a small brass ball or sphere, which he says is the model of a patent safe, much used by merchants in China and India. He is trying to introduce it in this country, and would like to show the gentleman his model. This brass ball is, to all appearance, solid, but to the initiated it is soon made hollow, by pressing on a certain inner circle, when the centre of the ball, which is in the shape of a small cone, drops out. The bottom of the cone may be unscrewed, when a little chamber is revealed, in which is a long piece of white paper, carefully folded and secreted. The other end of the cone, the top of it, can be unscrewed, and a second chamber is revealed, in which is a second piece of paper, exactly like the first.

Swindler number one takes the ball, examines it, and declares that it must be solid. The accomplice then presses the spring, and the centre drops out. He then unscrews one of the chambers, and reveals the paper to the admiring stranger and swindler number one. The accomplice's attention is here called away for a moment, and swindler number one, quietly winking at the stranger, abstracts the paper from the chamber, screws the lid on, and replaces the centre in the ball. Handing it back to the accomplice, he whispers to the stranger that he is about to win some money. He then bets the accomplice a sum which he thinks proportioned to the means of the stranger, that there is no paper in the ball. The bet is promptly taken by the accomplice. Swindler number one finds that he has no money, and asks the stranger to lend him the amount, offering to divide the winning with him. The stranger, who has seen the paper abstracted from the ball, is sure his new-found friend will win, and not being averse to making a little money on the spot, produces the desired amount, and hands it to his friend. The accomplice then opens the second chamber, reveals the duplicate piece of paper, and claims the stakes. The stranger loses his money, and is taught a useful lesson. He may apply to the police, if he wishes to do so, but the probabilities are that he will never see either his "friends" of the safe, or his money, again.

POCKET-BOOK DROPPING.

This is a common occurrence in New York, and it is well for strangers to be on their guard against it.

A gentleman was once standing in front of a handsome show window on Broadway, gazing at the wares it contained, when he felt himself tapped on the shoulder. Looking around, he saw a well-dressed man standing by him, holding in his hand a well-filled pocket-book.

"Did you drop this, sir?" asked the stranger. "I have just picked it up at your feet."

"It is not mine," said the gentleman, feeling for his own wallet, and finding it safe.

"Strange," said the man. "It was lying at your feet." As he spoke he opened it, and revealed several heavy rolls of bills. "There must be several thousand dollars here," he said.

"What are you going to do with it?" asked the gentleman.

"I don't know," said the man. "I'm a stranger in the city, and I am compelled to leave town in a couple of hours. This pocket-book will undoubtedly be advertised to-morrow, and as the amount it contains is heavy, the reward will be large. Do you stay in town to-day, sir?" he asked, suddenly.

"Yes," said the gentleman, "I shall be here several days."

"Then I will turn the pocket-book over to you," said the man, after thinking a moment. "You can advertise it. Give me twenty dollars, and take the wallet."

"What do you suppose will be the reward offered?" asked the gentleman.

"Not less than fifty dollars. In that case you will make thirty dollars clear."

"Why don't you keep the money?"

"Sir," said the man, sharply, "do you take me for a thief?"

"Not at all," was the reply. "I meant no offence." The gentleman was thoughtful or a moment, and then drew out his wallet. The fellow, he reasoned, was evidently an honest man. The owner of the wallet would certainly reimburse him for the amount he paid the finder, and might offer more and the contents of the wallet would insure him against loss. He hesitated a moment longer, and then handed the man two ten dollar bills. The stranger gave him the pocketbook, and after a few words more, walked off.

At the first opportunity, the gentleman examined the notes in the wallet carefully. They were all of the denomination of ten dollars, and amounted in all to five thousand dollars, but were each and every one counterfeits of the very grossest character. He had paid twenty dollars for a lot of worthless trash, and the game was now plain to him.

This method of swindling is still very popular with the rogues of the city.

THIMBLE RIGGING.

The headquarters of this game are in the neighborhood of the City Hall and Printing-house Square.

"The 'little joker' is a very simple trick, and yet, from its very simplicity, all the more successful in entrapping the unwary. The apparatus is (occasionally) a small stand, three brass thimbles and a little ball, resembling, in size and appearance, a green pea. Often the former is dispensed with, and the crown of a hat or the knees used instead. The 'rigger,' in the most nonchalant manner imaginable, places the ball apparently under one of the thimbles, in plain view of the spectators, and offers to bet any sum that 'it isn't there.' Our friend from the country who is looking on, an interested spectator—is astonished at such a proposition, and looks upon the individual making it as little better than a fool; for didn't he see the ball placed under the thimble, and therefore must it not be there still? His idea on this point is soon confirmed—a bystander takes up the bet, the thimble is raised, and there sure enough is the ball—just where he knew it was!

"Again the ball is covered, and once more the bet is offered. Eager to prove his sagacity, our friend produces a 'V' or 'X spot' and covers the sharper's money. The thimble is raised, a moment of expectation, a single glance, and the ball is gone! A shout of laughter from the swindler and his confederates standing around, announces the fact that the gentleman from the rural districts has been 'sold.' Pocketing, not his money, but his loss, the victim walks away disconsolate, painfully conscious that he has been 'done,' not only out of his cash, but has had the wool pulled over his eyes in a (to him) most incomprehensible manner."

SEWING MACHINE SWINDLES.

The country newspapers are filled with advertisements of cheap sewing machines. From one to ten dollars is the price asked. The men who insert these advertisements are amongst the most unprincipled swindlers in New York. The machines they offer for sale are worthless.

A lady living in a neighboring State once sent five dollars to one of these fellows for his machine, and received in return a flimsy little instrument, so small that she could put it in her pocket. The needle could not be used at all, and after turning the handle a few times the cranks and wheels became bent, and twisted into one confused and useless mass. The machine was not worth twenty-five cents.

A fellow, some time ago, advertised a machine for fifty cents, and proclaimed it to the world as "the most perfect ever invented." It was simply a brass instrument in the shape of a fly, and the only use to which it could be put was to fasten work to a table. It was so flimsy that it did not last more than two or three days in this way.

THE POCKET TIME KEEPER.

Almost every reader of this book has seen in some newspaper the advertisements of the various "Pocket Time-Keepers," manufactured and offered for sale in this city. The price is usually one dollar. The article is merely a pasteboard sun-dial. The purchaser can make little or no use of it, and is swindled out of his money.

MOCK AUCTION'S.

The day of mock auctions has gone by, but there are still one or two of these establishments lingering in the city. These are managed in various ways.

At some of these establishments a lot of pencil cases, watches, or other goods, is offered for-sale. The lot generally contains a dozen or a gross of articles. Bids are started by the "decoys" of the proprietor, who are scattered through the crowd, and strangers are thus induced to make offers for them. Each man supposes he is bidding for a single lot, and is greatly astonished to find the whole lot knocked down to him. He is told he must take the entire lot, that his bid was for all. Some are weak enough to comply with the demand, but others resist it.

Admiral Farragut, during the war, made a bid for a penknife at one of these places, and was astonished at being told he must take the whole gross of the article. The old hero was not to be caught in this way, however, and he quietly called in a policeman, and gave the auctioneer in charge for attempting to swindle him.



A well-known Broadway auctioneer was brought before the Mayor, some time ago, on the following complaint. A gentleman, who appeared against the auctioneer, stated that he had attended his last sale. The auctioneer put up a box containing twelve silver pencil-cases, and the gentleman, supposing from his manner and language, that he was selling them fairly, bid two dollars and fifty cents for the lot. To his surprise, he was told that he had bid two dollars and fifty cents for each pencil-case, and that he must pay thirty dollars for the whole lot. The money had been paid and the auctioneer refused to return it, insisting that the gentleman should take one pencil-case or nothing. The Mayor compelled the scamp to refund the money, and warned him that he would revoke his license if a similar complaint were again made against him.

In some of these establishments, a stranger who attempts to remonstrate against the swindle fares badly. He is hustled out by the confederates of the proprietor, and if he attempts to defend himself, is handed over to the police on a charge of attempting to create a disturbance.