RECREATION'S ADVERTISER 



Frank Ford's 



Last month they told you that I was to be turned loose in your midst. Here I am, ready for business. Before turning me loose, the 

 Publisher told me, "First let our readers know who you are." Now, I am a modest man, but 1 realize that to get acquainted you really ought to 

 know something about what I have done. Confidence begets confidence; and yet I realize that some of you will be far more interested in what 

 I am going to do than what I have done. I told the printerto set this part of my talk in small type so you can skip it if you like. Beginning at 

 my last joo, which was a railroad job, as they have told you, I will go backward. With the railroad I had to do all kinds of work — advertising, 

 booklet writing, gathering information, sending hunting and fishing parties over the line, promoting emigration, stocking streams, supervising 

 the replanting of forests, attending to the enforcement of the game laws, and acting as general all round assistant to progress. Before that I 

 was in Alaska looking for' one of the pockets one miner in a thousand sometimes finds. The year previous I spent in California, working some, 

 playing much. I landed in California from the Orient, having seen the ruction in the Philippines and reported it for an English paper. I 

 reached the Philippines in a round-a-bout way, having started out with an alleged member of the English nobility, on a trip around the world. 

 The Englishman, after getting two good skins in India took the fever and a bad case of cold feet and left me to shuffle for myself. Before 

 starting on this wild goose chase, I had been the editor of a Southern newspaper, which was one of the really quiet times of my life. I am just 

 beginning to recover from it. My first years out of school were spent in the West and in Canada, during which time I shot, fished, and trapped 

 in practically every good spot in the country. I have been shot in three different places, not without damage to the other fellows; came near 

 starving to death in the Mojave desert; went without food and drink for eight days on the open sea; been scratched by a big cat; bitten by a 

 tarantula; hugged by a grizzly; been married twice and have had several other experiences about which I am more or less reticent. My 

 boyhood was uneventful, and my parents having given me a good education there was no apparent reason why I should fly off on the tangent 

 which has finally landed me in the Recreation office. After hearing the stenographer read the foregoing from her notes, I find that I have 

 touched only the high places as a man will, I guess, who is not used to talking much about himself; but you will see that as far as experience 

 goes I have had some. I will wager any amount of money that I have experienced every human emotion, excepting one and that one I hope will 

 be delayed for many years. 



As I take it here is what I am to do for Recreation readers. To do everything that the readers of the 

 magazine nvant me to do and do it ungrudgingly. I rather guess that this is the biggest job I have ever had, 

 but they have given me a lot of money and plenty of assistants; they have placed at my disposal one of the most 

 complete libraries I have ever had the pleasure of looking over; have given me access to information which no 

 private individual could hope to get. All this in addition to a corps of fresh, young stenographers — and when I 

 say fresh I mean good looking and pretty — two young chaps just out of college and bubbling over with ambi- 

 tion, a page of space in the magazine, through which I may talk with you, and all of the advertising space I 

 need to sell the things that the subscribers want to sell. 



Now, here is what you can get from me, in the way of information : Where to go for 

 sport ; how to hunt and fish ; how to get to the best streams and camping places ; what 

 guides, arms, tackle, outfit, camera, canoe and dog to take and where to get them ; when to 

 go ; what the laws are ; information about equipment, retailers, the best manufacturers, the 

 jobbers, reference books, the best magazine, the best newspaper; and to be of service in 

 every possible way. I can find a purchaser for almost anything you have, and I can buy 

 almost any article you want and at a price that is often surprising. 



There are no limitations to this service. If you are a subscriber and 

 put in the necessary two-cent stamp, you can write me a letter a day if 

 you wish. All these letters will be answered gladly and not perfunc- 

 torily, but as this bureau will do all of its work — as it should be done. 



If you are not a subscriber, send in your dollar and 

 tell me your troubles. I am not a policeman but I 

 can help. Remember, you must be a subscriber to Rec- 

 reation and you must enclose two cents for postage. 



FRANK FORD, RECREATION, NEW YORK CITY 



When corresponding with advertisers please mention "Recreation'' 



