1894 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
269 
A CONTEMPTIBLE FRAUD EXPOSED. 
DOINGS OP DUBIOUS COMMISSION MEN. 
The work of exposing scoundrels is getting to be 
quite a feature of The R. N.-Y.’s business. It always 
gives us pleasure to run a pitchfork into some black¬ 
hearted wretch who has made a business of cheating 
confiding farmers. During the past year we have 
saved our readers large sums of money by forcing 
careless or dishonest dealers to disgorge a portion of 
their plunder. In some of these cases, settlement had 
not been made because of slack business methods ; in 
others collections had been slow and the consignees 
were unable to make returns, but in some cases re¬ 
turns had not been made simply through deliberate, 
premeditated, downright dishonesty. A case coming 
under the latter head we have been at work upon for 
some months past. Our readers will pardon us for 
taking space to give a scoundrel the advertising he 
deserves. 
Last fall, we received several complaints against 
Stephen H. Hayt, supposed to be doing business at 
294 Washington Street. His letter heads, etc., repre¬ 
sented a large building several stories in height with 
his name and business conspicuously displayed upon 
every story. Investigation revealed the building all 
right at that number, and the fact that he was doing 
business there, but it was impossible ever to find him 
in. His name appeared nowhere upon the front of 
‘ the building. Another firm occupied the building, 
and he simply sub-let a fioor or a part of a fioor. In- 
^ vestigation of his business methods disclosed the fact 
that for years past he had been deliberately and 
systematically defrauding confiding shippers. He is 
the meanest specimen we ever remember to have 
encountered, and we have watched such fellows for 
years. His methods are lower and more contemptible 
than those of the pickpocket, burglar, or footpad. 
Through well-known methods, he secured the names 
of farmers in certain localities of the country ; then 
he would make specialties of the products of that 
portion of the country and quote prices on those prod¬ 
ucts higher, as a general thing, than those quoted by 
the reputable dealers. 
It is a quality of human nature for sellers to wish to 
get the most possible for their products, and the result 
was that he secured large shipments. Sometimes he 
would make returns for some of these at good figures, 
simply as a bait to secure further shipments ; others 
he would never notice, either by acknowledging their 
receipt or in any other way. Unfortunately some 
readers of The R. N.-Y. were deceived by his lying 
promises and sent him goods. 
When one part of the country was worked out, he 
would take another. Finally, to cap the climax, he 
advertised for a buyer for his business. A comparative 
stranger in the city, seeing the advertisement, entered 
into negotiations and finally purchased the business. 
At Mr. Hayt’s suggestion, the name was changed to 
the Hayt Produce and Packing Co. This sale was 
made January 15, and Mr. Hayt was engaged to repre¬ 
sent the firm on the road, soliciting consignments, etc., 
and started out supposedly for this purpose. The pur¬ 
chaser had agreed to assume the outstanding checks, 
accounts, etc., to the amount of 8700, which he was 
assured would cover all indebtedness. Subsequent de¬ 
velopments go to show that 10 times that amount 
wouldn’t begin to do so. 
Soon after Mr. Hayt’s departure, complaints began 
to come from all parts of the country, of goods shipped 
and not receipted for, and for which no settlement had 
been made. These continued to come day after day 
and, for that matter, are still coming, not a day pass¬ 
ing but what the successor of Mr. Hayt receives more 
or less complaints. The purchaser had acted in good 
faith and appears to be an honorable man, but he had 
apparently stepped into a trap deliberately laid for 
some victim. Mr. Hayt was recalled from the road 
and discharged ; then he showed his spirit. A repre¬ 
sentative of The R. N.-Y. had called at the store re¬ 
peatedly before the sale was made, and had always 
been assured that Mr. Hayt was not in. Finally a let¬ 
ter to him was responded to after his return and after 
we had threatened to expose him if he did not settle 
with our subscribers who had made consignments to 
him. He condescended to pay the oflice a visit to as¬ 
sure us that everything would be settled, that the pur¬ 
chaser of his business had retained his books, and pre¬ 
vented him from making his settlements. This was 
afterwards shown to be a deliberate falsehood. The 
scoundrel then boasted that he had silenced The R. 
N.-Y. and that we would not dare to expose him. We 
did not say anything about his case at the time for the 
reason that we were endeavoring to get him to settle 
with our subscribers and thought he would do so. This 
seems now to be out of the question. He has gone 
into business again, however, at 2(54 Washington 
Street. After selling out all his right, title, interest, 
and everything pertaining thereto in the business, has 
started again on the next block almost, where he 
hopes to go through the same old game. 
After his discharge from the position as represent - 
ative of the new firm, he brought suit against his 
successor, obtaining an injunction restraining him 
from receiving his mail, express matter, or anything 
pertaining to the business. This case came into court, 
and the character of the man and his business are 
well illustrated by the fact that after a little testi¬ 
mony was given, the injunction was at once dissolved 
and the case dismissed. A process server gave the 
testimony that he had had more than a hundred 
processes to serve against him, and that he was the 
hardest man to reach of any against whom he had 
ever had papers. The express companies give him a 
bad nam>; reputable commission men in his neigh¬ 
borhood give him a bad name ; former employees do 
not waste any praise on him ; in short, he does not 
seem to have a redeeming trait. After his suit was 
dismissed, to save himself from prosecution, he signed 
a paper acknowledging the receipt from his successor 
of everything that was due him, and discharging him 
from all obligations , past, present and future. 
As an illustration of his methods of doing business, 
he had in his office a sort of private box with a secret 
door, and an exit another way to the stairway. In 
this way he was enabled to elude process servers, 
creditors, etc. When they were in the outer office 
looking and waiting for him he could slip out of the 
back way and make his escape. Another trick told 
the writer illustrates pretty thoroughly his character. 
Very appropriately, one of his specialties was chest¬ 
nuts. He received large quantities, sold them, and— 
forgot to make returns ; then he bought a large quan¬ 
tity of old chestnuts, such as accumulate sometimes, 
that are wormy and unfit for anything but fuel. These 
were sacked and piled up in the store, and when a 
chestnut shipper came in to find out why returns had 
not been made for his chestnuts, these were pointed 
out to him. They had not been sold ; there they were. 
His successor has been using these dummies for fuel 
for some considerable time. 
The R. N.-Y.’s object in giving so much space to 
this man is primarily to warn its readers against him 
and others of his class, for he is still looking for vic¬ 
tims and is still receiving shipments. We wish, too, 
to show the methods followed by some dishonest com¬ 
mission men. We think this is the worst case we 
have ever found. His dishonesty seems so deliberate, 
so thoroughly planned that there is no palliation or 
excuse. We have given him every opportunity to ex¬ 
amine complaints, and ample time to make settlement 
with our readers who have shipped goods to him. He 
has failed in his repeated promises to do so ; and has 
finally ignored our demands in this direction entirely. 
We now caution every reader of The R. N.-Y. against 
him. Pin up his name where you can see it every day, 
and ship him no more goods unless you wish to make 
him a present of your produce. Go further and de¬ 
nounce him to your neighbors as one of the worst 
humbugs and frauds in the commission business in 
New York City. There are plenty of honest men in 
the business—avoid this scoundrel. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Who wants those Grade Ayrshire calves of Mr. (J. W. Smith, East 
Branch, Pa.? 
BRONZE turkey, Pekin duck, goose and Bantam eggs, of G. It. Bax¬ 
ter, Hillsdale Mich. 
There Is an opportunity for some one on that Maryland farm for 
sale or exchange by A. II. Lovejor, Kingston, Md. 
Hens that will not tly over a fence three feet high, eggs seven to a 
pound, are what J. V. Henry Nott, Kingston, N. Y., oilers. 
Do you want eggs of U. C. Br. heghorns, B. P. Hocks, or S. O. Br. I.og- 
horns 7 Edward I.afot, LakeUold, Minn., Is ottering them. 
That Enterprise power tba( Mr. Carll operates by goat power to run 
the separator, is made by Mlnard Harder, of Coblesklll, N. Y. 
The Kurai. is found to be a great middleman. Alfred Whitaker, 
Bedford,O., wants It to sell seed bears and a tine Norman stallion. 
Miels’S Seedling raspberries were from 5fi to till per cent ahead In 
yield at the Geneva Stat'on last year. Chas. Mills, Pair Mount, N. Y., 
Is Introducer. 
DON’T you want soms of that nice clean, clover seed forsale by N. S. 
Knutson, Watervllle. .Minn. 7 .Justus well buy direct and save the 
middleman’s proUt. 
Self-ci.banino stables save not only back ache, but also keep 
coffs clean and save all manure. Mr. J. J. Stewart, Lake View, N. Y., 
will send full description free. 
Co.MMON sense Is a good thing as a mixture In any product. The 
common sense In wagon racks Is found in the one made by the Tecum- 
seh Hack Co., Tecumseh, Mich. 
Hoof paste is a good thing to have In the stable. Use It on cracks 
and sores, and also to reduce caked udder In the cows. Scott’s Hoof 
Paste Co., Hoohester, N. Y., can furnish It. 
HAVE you noticed that Mr. Carll uses the Moseley & Stoddard Mfg. 
Co.’s dairy goods In his dairy? We are also using some of them In the 
home dairy. The firm Is located at Rutland, Vt. 
It will be noticed that Mr. E. W. Davis, formerly of Oneida, N. V , 
has moved to Torrlngford, Conn. He has taken his Cheshlres with 
him, however, and his customers will llnd that he carries his usual 
promptness and care to his new home. 
THE MAPES MANURES. 
Send for Pamphlets, Price Lists—MAPES COMPANY, 143 Liberty Street, New York. 
Experience of Eight Years with Mapes on Appie and Pear Orchards, Etc. 
WILiMER Atkinson, editor and proprietor of the Farm Journal, has used the Mapes Manures for many years on his farms. Under the heading “ Orchards,” in 
the Farm Journal, January, 1894, Mr. Atkinson writes : “ We are often asked what kind of fertilizers to use in the orchard, and perhaps as good an answer as we can 
give is, use Mapes Manures, for this is the kind and only kind we have used in our young thirty-acre orchard since it was planted eight years ago. The trees are 
vigorous and healthy, are now coming into bearing, and the past season we cut three tons of Timothy hay per acre off of a part of the orchard, and we have not used 
a ton of stable manure from the beginning. While pure, fine-ground bone and muriate of potash are splendid fertilizers for all orchards, and we can recommend them, 
but in Mapes Manures we have something ready-mixed ; we know what we are getting, and they are good enough for us. We have found these manures equally good 
for grass, potatoes and corn as for orchard trees.” 
The Mapes Fertilizers Head Both Lists of Fertilizers Reported in the Year 1893 by the Connecticut Experimental Station. 
[From Connecticut Farm (Hartfoi'd) March 3, 1894.] 
It will be difficult for the careful and unprejudiced reader of the Experiment Station reports, not to be impressed with the remarkable high standard maintainea 
by all the Mapes goods. In Part 1, lately issued, of the Connecticut Station Report for 1893, the analyses of 61 “ Nitrogenous superphosphates” and 76 “ special 
manures ” show that Map es heads the list in both classes, in being found to have the highest valuation, as figured by the Station as compared with the cost to the farmer. 
[From the New England Homestead, March 8, 1894 ] 
As to the quality of the goods of The Mapes Formula and Peruvian Guano Company, analysis shows them to be unexcelled for farm, fruit or garden purposes. 
The analyses of 61 nitrogenous superphosphates and 76 special manures by the Connecticut State Experiment Station, show that Mapes beads the list in both classes 
in being found to have the HIGHEST VALUATION COMPARED TO THE COST TO THE FARMER. 
Top-Dressing in Spring Old or Worn Out Meadows or Pasture Lands, Lawns. 
Farmers in all sections are claiming that they can make HAY GROWING PROFITABLE with the Mapes Top-Dressing Manures. Some of the most successful 
farmers are using twenty tons and upwards per year of the Mapes Grass Top-DresFing, for bringing up and sustaining their grass lands. They prefer to TOP-DRESS 
rather than plow up and seed to grass. It pays dairy farmers to top-dress. 
