Some years since it was common to find cunningly worded horse-sale advertisements in the daily newspapers, offering seemingly valuable animals at sacrifice prices. In some of these advertisements it was stated that a widow about to leave for Europe, where she hoped to be able to assuage the grief of her recent bereavement, would sell her favorite carriage horse, provided she could be assured of a good home and kind treatment for the highly esteemed animal. In reality the widow was a myth and the valuable horse a good looking, but worthless “robber.”

The scheme was craftily carried out, and many a man from the country fell a dupe to the wiles of the “widow” and her confederates. On going to the address mentioned in the advertisement, the prospective buyer would find a large stable in the rear of a fine old-fashioned mansion on one of the outlying boulevards or avenues. Here in charge of a glib-tongued coachman, usually a colored man, would be found several finely groomed horses standing knee deep in the finest of wheat straw bedding and surrounded by every appointment of a swell private stable. Opening negotiations with the groom, the buyer would hear one of the most plausible and pleasing tales imaginable elaborative of a similar, condensed story told in the glowing advertisement that had induced the visit. The filly or gelding would be described as bred in the purple, by Allerton, out of Kentucky Queen, she by a Pilot Jr., or some such combination of standard blood, possessed of great speed, having done halves in 1.08, a final quarter in 34 seconds, and the half “would have been as good as 1.06¼ had the track ‘near the pole’ not been heavy from a recent rain.” When the purchaser had become interested, but not sufficiently so to agree to a somewhat steep price, the “widow” dressed in deepest mourning and heavily veiled would opportunely appear upon the scene, do the weeping act and manage matters so adroitly that soon a bargain would be struck at a handsome figure.

Sometimes a “Colonel” or a “General” or a “Judge” would take the place of the “widow,” the man posing as that character being suitably dressed for the part, commanding in appearance, and so plausible and polished in address as to disarm all suspicion. During the preliminary negotiations between the groom and the buyer, the “General” would be conveniently stationed in the hay-loft overhead and would be summoned by electric bell when wanted, the “sucker” meanwhile being taken into the alley to see the horse go through his paces.

Needless to say that the buyer on getting the horse home and trying him out quickly rued his bargain, and equally unnecessary to say that when he went back to the swell stable for redress he found the place abandoned and was wholly unable to locate the men who had perpetrated the swindle.

This method of fleecing the unwary buyer is still in vogue but far less common than was the case before the advent of the automobile. Still it will be well to take glowing horse-sale advertisements with a large grain of salt, and better still to purchase a horse through some reliable commission man or dealer.

Landing a Sucker.

Dr. H. W. Hawley, an experienced veterinary horse buyer at the Chicago Stock Yards, says in the June, 1903, number of the Chicago Veterinary College “Quarterly Bulletin,” that most of the tricks of the horse dealing trade, though not all of them, are performed by scalpers. It takes only a few glances or questions for the sharper to know just the sort of horse the city buyer is looking for, and the scalper, with the aid of his colleagues, proceeds to “land a sucker.”

The gentlemanly scalper, with a disinterested manner, informs the buyer that he saw a lovely horse in a certain barn, the color being mentioned, but not being a horseman he knows nothing as to the soundness of the animal, nor as to the price. Word is sent along the line, and everything is ready. The horse is led out and just suits; is sound and all right, but the sum asked is $25 to $75 more than the market price. Perhaps the unsuspecting buyer will offer $10 or $15 more than the auction price, but he is allowed to go away with a polite, “Thank you, for the offer.”

Another disinterested party whispers in the buyer’s ear that the horse will be sold at auction. Sure enough, the animal is led to the auction stables, and care is taken that the buyer sees it passing.

The auctioneer and ringman are posted, and they wait for the sucker. The horseman starts the animal at pretty near his value. The bidding is rapid. The sucker gets in, and under excitement bids two or three times. Perhaps one of the regular eastern shippers bids once, but as a rule, the sucker, the auctioneer, and the scalper are the only bidders. The latter can usually tell when the victim has made his last bid, and the horse is knocked down to him at a good profit, which is divided between those concerned.

Sometimes the auctioneer is fooled by the sucker refusing to bid again. In such a case the scalper kicks out of his last bid and the horse is sold to the sucker at his previous bid.

A Horse That Was Right There.

A New Hampshire horse dealer was “burned” by trading for a horse that would work anywhere and pull strongly except when he came to the foot of a hill; there he would balk and refuse to pull a pound. After he had kept the horse about a month a stranger came along and was “taken in.” The horse looked well and a trade was made for another horse and considerable “boot.” The buyer asked the dealer if the horse was a good worker and was told, “You bet! He will work any place you put him and when you come to the foot of a hill I tell you he’s right there!”

So the buyer discovered, and on complaining bitterly to the dealer was reminded of his honesty and candor in stating that at the foot of a hill he would always be right there. No doubt he paid more particular attention to the plausible talk of the dealer the next time he had occasion to “dicker” for a “hoss.”

An Honest “Hoss” Dealer.

There lived in Michigan a shrewd old horse dealer who gave folks due warning to beware when he donned his selling clothes. He used to say: “When I say, ‘Hoss’,—look out! I’m a-goin’ to trade. But when it’s ‘Horse,’—nawthin’ doin’! Ye’re perfectly safe.”

It is related that this character had a balky horse put on him by brother dealers in a neighboring town; but a few days later he got even, and with the same “hoss.” The former owners failed to recognize the beast, for in the interim it had been clipped, roached, docked and bishoped, besides receiving a few artistic spots of dye, and having had “tug marks” and “collar galls” manufactured by skilful shaving at the right places. In his new fix he looked a young, handsome, hard-working animal, but when the deal was made and the new owners hitched him up, they realized at once that both they and the horse were “stuck.”

A Sharper’s Smooth Sayings.

Elsewhere we have told of a balker that “was right there at the foot of a hill” or that would “stand without hitching.” The scalper and crafty dealer use many catchy phrases of this sort, and they fool the buyer unless he has sharp ears and quick comprehension.

A few additional catch sayings may prove of interest: A dealer having a horse with defective eyesight fitted him out with close blinkers and said to the buyer, “He doesn’t look very well.” Another said of a heavey horse, “If he ain’t windy you needn’t take him.”

Again, as to looks, and ability in harness, one said, “If he don’t suit you in harness you can take it off,” and again, “Single I bought him; double I broke him myself.”

Some of the dealers are wits and most of them have quaint expressions and sayings. The following sample will suffice: A dealer was seen exercising a horse so badly foundered in his hind feet that he not only walked on his heels but stood with his fore and hind feet almost on the same spot under his body. “Say! What are you goin’ to do with that critter!” asked a bystander, and like a flash came the answer, “Take him to Indiana to tramp sourkraut in a barrel.”

The Winter Board Trick.

A farmer read an advertisement in a city paper asking for a winter home and board for two family horses that the owner desired to leave comfortably provided for in the country during his absence in Europe. The farmer went to the city to investigate and found a fine pair of horses in a swell stable. Soon a bargain, profitable to the farmer, was arranged at a specified rate per week for board, stabling and care during the winter, but as the pleased stranger was about to leave for home, the stableman said, “Here, you are a stranger to me, and therefore you ought to put up some security for having such a valuable pair of horses in your care.” After some discussion, the farmer was induced to deposit $100 as security, and went home, congratulating himself upon the good winter’s profit he would have in looking after the horses which were to be shipped to him by train the following day. In due course, two horses arrived, but they were old “plugs,” worth perhaps $5 a piece. The swindle cost the farmer $90 and his expenses, for when he went to the city to hunt up the sharper, he found the stable in the same old place, but the bird had flown, and no one could tell him where.

How Horses Catch Cold.

An old time farrier wisely says: “Many farmers and tradesmen get too much drink when they go to market, and then set off home, riding like madmen, and calling at some public house on the road to get more of the soul and body destroying evil, leave their horses to stand sweating at the door, where it is no wonder that they get cold. Wagoners, carters, and coal carriers, are also often guilty of this abominable practise.”

Tricks in Measuring Horses.

It is often important to have a horse not less than some given height, and great care has to be taken in making the necessary measurement with the “hand stick” (hippometer). If the horse is under or over the desired height the dealer may irritate the animal so that an exact measurement is difficult or impossible to make.

If the horse is undersized the dealer will try to stand him with the hind feet low. In the stable or yard everything is prepared so that this may be easily done. Another plan is to put on abnormally thick shoes, or those having calkins; the animal’s head is kept lowered so that the withers will be correspondingly heightened. Opposite methods are practised when a horse is a trifle too high for show-yard requirements or mating, and such tricks have given buyers of horses for the army no end of trouble.

When a horse is to be measured stand him on a level floor and then see that the measuring is honestly done.