AN INFLUENTIAL FRIEND AT COURT. 
THAT 18 WHAT THE RURAL NEW-YORKER HAS l’ROVED ; 
IT QUICKENS A SLOW COMMISSION MAN TO THE TUNE 
OF NEARLY ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. 
Some Recent Experiences. 
The R. N.-Y. is, always has been, and always will 
be, so long as its present editors have anything to do 
with it, re°dyto help its friends in every way possible. 
It has in the past endeavored to tell them no'' only 
about growing and securing their crops, but also about 
marketing them to the best advantage. It has put 
many a producer in communication with wholesalers 
in the cities, enabling the former to dispense with the 
services of the 
middleman. It 
many times, too, 
got after the 
tardy commis¬ 
sion-man with a 
sharp stick, and 
brought him to 
a realizing sense 
of his obliga¬ 
tions to the ship¬ 
per. It has saved 
its readers many 
dollars in this 
way. Its efforts 
have not always 
been appreci¬ 
ated, e. g ., a ship¬ 
per could not 
secure any at¬ 
tention to in¬ 
quiries about 
produce shipped 
weeks previous¬ 
ly. A representa¬ 
tive of The R. 
N.-Y. visited the 
firm, and staid 
there until the 
account was 
looked up, a 
statement made 
out, and a check 
for the amount 
drawn. The lat- 
ter was for¬ 
warded by The 
R. N -Y , but the 
recipient didn’t 
have the courte¬ 
sy to even ac¬ 
knowledge its 
receipt. But it 
would do the 
same thing again 
if called upon. 
Still we do not 
intend to start a collection agency, or to settle all the 
disputes that may arise between shippers and receiv¬ 
ers. Goods of inferior quality, cr those poorly as¬ 
sorted and packed are often sent, and the shippers are 
not satisfied with the returns Goods have been ship¬ 
ped to irresponsible parties against whom we had 
warned our friends, but who had quoted extremely 
high prices, and then we were requested to endeavor 
to get the goods or make them settle. We decline to 
waste time over such cases. Then again, we are sorry 
to say that complainants deliberately misstate facts. 
To illustrate, we received a complaint that a ship¬ 
ment of beans was not paid for, that the instructions 
to the commission-man were to sell immediately and 
not to hold fojr a better market or higher prices. We 
investigated. The commission man produced a letter 
from this complaining shipper, instructing him to hold 
the beans for higher prices. We have also been de¬ 
ceived by those asking us to make complaints, about 
the quality of goods shipped. In sue * cases, we de¬ 
cline to have anything further to do with the matter. 
But any reasonable, just claim, we will follow up to 
the best of our ability. 
A Case for Investigation. 
A case recently presented to us illustrates so many 
points in the business of selling on comm'ssion, and in 
some ways is such an aggravated instance of wrong 
done to an honest and worthy shipper, that we 
present it here in detail. We give the story just as 
it is. On August 25, we received the following letter : 
“ I am in trouble with the commission-man, but shall 
never be again and have made a solemn vow to that 
effect. We—wife, daughter and myself—have worked 
day after day, year after year, summer and winter for 
the past 13 years to pay for a small farm of 22 acres, 
and to-day three-quarters of those earnings are in the 
hands of a commission house in New York City. Dur¬ 
ing the time I have taken The R N.-Y. I see that it 
has looked up several commission-men for its sub¬ 
scribers. Shall I be requesting too much if I ask it to 
hear my case ? Some time last February, an agent at 
Port Byron, N. Y., called on me, looked at my stock of 
evaporated apples and offered me 10 cents per pound, 
f. o. b., giving a New York firm as reference. I declined 
his offer and a few weeks later received a letter from 
his concern stating that they were probably the largest 
receivers of that line of goods in the city. On April 
24, after some correspondence, I sent two sample 
boxes, each box 50 pounds net, to the concern, asking 
them how they would be graded or classed. They 
praised the stock and said it would be rated as ‘ fancy 
on an active market, surely choice on the present.’ 
On May 1 I consigned the ‘Golden Egg,’ consisting of 
12.477 pounds net, which with the 100 pounds previ¬ 
ously sent made 12,577 pounds net. They offered to 
advance three-quarters of the value, but I did Dot care 
for it, if the stock could be sold within a reasonable 
length of time. The raspberry season approached. I 
needed funds to carry me through and wrote them two 
letters before 
receiving an an¬ 
swer. On June 
28 they wrote, 
‘ If we shall not 
be able to send 
you returns we 
will send you a 
liberal advance 
at the close of 
the week, so you 
may be in funds 
for raspberry 
season.’ I waited 
three weeks for 
cash and wrote 
again. On July 
25 they said: 
‘ We have placed 
your evaporated 
apples, and sales 
have been de¬ 
layed in the ab- 
sence of thq 
writer, who has 
just returned 
from the West. 
We will send you 
statement and 
check this week. ’ 
I watched each 
mail until 
August 7, when 
I wrote again, 
and under the 
date of August 
12 received the 
following: ‘We 
will send you 
check for your 
balance $856.26 
the first of the 
week and prob¬ 
ably on Mon¬ 
day.’ No state¬ 
ment you see. 
This balance 
would give me returns on the very lowest quotations 
of the season, and I wrote them that they had evidently 
made a mistake in my balance. I have heard nothing 
from them since. My friends, the best business men 
of Naples, have come to this conclusion : that my 
plea for funds has led the concern to think that I 
shall be too willing to accept the balance of $856 26, 
and will draw on them with sight-draft for that 
amount after which they can make statement to 
agree. I have written to one of their ‘ references,’ 
the Irving National Bank, and inclose the answer. I 
also inc.ose the headings of two envelopes and price 
currents showing a change in firm. H >w do these 
headings compare with the reply from the Irving 
National Bank ? This failure to make a statement 
•‘ Cornered ! ” Now he Must Fight to the Death ! Fig. 204. 
