Ten of us formed a company, and agreed to pay him a hundred thousand dollars for a half interest in the mine, if it turned out as he represented. He described it minutely, over and over again, and his story appeared perfectly plausible. He was ready to go there with any of us, show us the property, and satisfy us that he had told the truth. We sent one of our number to California with him, and at San Francisco a couple of gentlemen, to whom we had written, joined the twain, and made a party of four to go to the copper mine. All the way he talked about the mine—from New York to San Francisco, and from the latter city to the Colorado River. Several copper mines had been opened in that region, and he spent a day escorting the party among the reduction works of these companies. Up the banks of the river he led them about twenty miles from the last of these mines, and then acknowledged that the whole thing was a deception, and that he had no mine to sell.
The two Californians proposed shooting him on the spot; but the New Yorker had a prejudice against shedding blood, and persuaded his friends to let the scoundrel escape. He did not return with them, and he never reappeared in New York; but he did turn up in San Francisco, where he sold for ten thousand dollars (and obtained the money for it), a quarter interest in a mine to which he had no more title than I have to a township in the moon. He was a plausible wretch, and could look you straight in the eye while telling a lie as big and as plump as the swelled head of an Irishman the morning after a wake.
SHOT BY MISTAKE.
I believe he was subsequently mistaken for a coyote, and shot by a miner whose claim he had been endeavoring to steal and sell. The miner regretted the mistake, or, at all events, said that he was sorry that somebody else had not made the mistake, and made it earlier.
LXV.
PERQUISITES.
CURIOSITIES OF COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS.—PAYING COMMISSIONS IN EUROPE.—FUNNY EXPERIENCES.—SPREAD OF THE CUSTOM IN AMERICA.—HOW CONTRACTS ARE OBTAINED AND PAID FOR.—COMMISSIONS TO TRADESMEN AND OTHERS.—CURIOUS FEATURES OF THE PIANO TRADE.
American travellers in Europe frequently express astonishment at the commission system which prevails there among all classes of people. From the moment you land on European soil till the moment you leave it, you are the subject, or rather the object, of commissioners of every possible variety. I do not refer to the parties who expect and require you to pay money for direct services, but to those who make money out of you in an indirect way. You step on the dock at Liverpool or Havre, and an officious porter takes you in charge, and hands you over to a cabman. You pay the porter for his services, and think that the money you give him is all he receives. Not a bit of it. The cabman gives the porter a commission on the money which you pay for your ride, and very often this commission is a heavy one. Instances have come to my knowledge wherein the porter or servant engaging a carriage was paid twenty-five per cent. of the fare; and I once looked from a doorway in Rome, and saw the cabman give my valet de place exactly half the money which the former had received from me; and I had paid him only a few cents above the regular tariff. The couriers, or travelling servants, receive a commission on the hotel bills of the tourists whom they accompany, and also a commission on nearly all their bills of whatever sort. If you make purchases in shops, it will very likely make a difference of five or ten per cent. in your bills whether you are accompanied by a courier or valet. Some of these fellows are constantly urging you to go to shops where you are likely to buy something, and very ingenious are the devices by which they wheedle you, or endeavor to wheedle you, into buying something. The shrewdest of them pretend to be your friends, and take your part with a great deal of vigor. I have in mind a valet that a party of us hired, one day, to show us the sights in the vicinity of Naples. We thought he was a capital fellow, as he was exceedingly earnest in his efforts to save us from the grasp of the swindlers. There were many sights to be seen, and consequently many fees to be paid; and he took especial care that we did not pay too much. A custodian would demand four francs for admitting the party to the special curiosity in his charge. “Two francs is the proper charge,” our conductor would say; and if the custodian persisted in his outrageous demand, our guardian would threaten to erect a dormer window on him. We, of course, would pay the two francs, and rejoice that we had not been defrauded. We learned, next day, that one franc would have been sufficient, and that the extra franc was divided between the custodian and our valet. He made a nice day’s work of it, as he received, in addition to his hire and commissions, a present of five francs from us for his fidelity. When we returned to the city, he took us to a coral store, but declined to enter, as he feared the proprietor would take advantage of us on account of his presence, and charge an extra sum, on pretence of expecting to pay commission. We learned afterwards that this was one of the tricks of the trade. It made us more willing to purchase, as it threw us off our guard; and no doubt the storekeeper and the valet had a laugh over the circumstance when the latter received his commission. For ways that are dark, and for tricks that are not in vain, commend me to a courier or a valet de place in Europe.