142 
J Ihe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
January  22,  1916, 
PUBLISHER’S  DESK 
Tour  letter  of  the  3rd  inst.  received 
with  check  from  - -  Express  Company. 
I  can  hardly  congratulate  you  enough 
for  this  great  favor  you  did  for  me  iu 
this  matter  of  collecting.  I  could  never 
get  any  reply  ft’Om  them  at  all.  t  saw 
tin*  agent  here  and  b 
e  wrote 
them  so 
reral 
times 
with  no  reply 
whate\ 
*CT. 
I 
1  hen 
wrote 
you,  ns  I  was 
quite  confident 
you 
would 
do  the  trick 
if  it  co 
uki 
be 
dom* 
at  all. 
It  is  remark 
able  how  some 
Cnm- 
panics 
will  not  Ink 
;o  any 
noti 
ee 
until 
SCitne  < 
one  gets  after 
them  w 
ith 
the 
“big 
stick" 
and  then  they 
"sit  up 
and 
tiller 
?  no¬ 
tii  i'"  i 
ind  go-  at  the 
matter 
in  i 
a  in 
un  ly 
way. 
J. 
G. 
II. 
Del  a 
iware. 
Transportation  on 
mpanies 
wo 
uld 
add 
to  their  credit  if  they 
would  i 
itiakt 
•  pr< 
nnpt 
settlements.  When  they  do 
not 
and 
add 
to  it 
by  neglecting 
to  repl; 
v  to 
letters. 
naturally  their  shippers  belii 
iive 
they 
are 
taking 
advantage  of 
them. 
and 
look  to 
some  One  else  for  he 
Ip.  We 
are 
gla 
d  to 
render 
what  service 
we  can. 
I  am  enclosing  you  something  which  I 
presume  is  of  no  use  to  me.  hut  it  may 
he  of  service  to  some  others  if  they  are 
still  looking  for  suckers.  This  George 
Gower  of  “Ye  Scribes’  Club"  came 
around  here  in  a  liue  auto  soliciting  ad¬ 
vertising  in  their  Route  Book.  We  re¬ 
ceived  excuses  why  they  did  not  deliver 
the  hook  for  several  months,  hut  have 
heard  nothing  from  them.  1 ’lease  let  me 
know  if  there  is  such  a  concern  at  128 
Madison  Ave.  s.  E.  J. 
New  Jersey. 
The  above  title  seems  to  he  the  pro¬ 
duct  of  the  brain  of  Air.  George  L. 
Gower.  .Tr.  It  is  a  nice  sounding  name 
to  do  business  under,  and  if  the  business 
is  of  a  “shad.v”  nature  such  a  name  is 
well  intended  to  allay  any  suspicion  that 
might  arise  in  the  public  mind  regard¬ 
ing  it.  Mi'.  Gower  represents  himself 
as  a  publisher.  lie  publishes  or  prom¬ 
ises  to  publish  hooks,  appealing  to  the 
vanity  of  business  houses  or  individuals 
— a  "write-up”  or  history  of  the  individ¬ 
ual  or  industry  is  to  he  published  in  the 
book  free  of  charge  because  of  its,  or  his, 
great  prominence — very  flattering.  You 
are  merely  asked  for  a  check  for  suffi¬ 
cient  amount  to  cover  cost  of  making 
the  half-tone  plates  to  be  used — of  course 
no  one  who  is  to  receive  so  much  gratuit¬ 
ous  advertising  would  be  so  small  as 
to  refuse  to  write  a  check  for  the  small 
amount  of  $37.50  required  for  this  pur¬ 
pose.  Those  who  were  deceived  by  the 
scheme  and  parted  with  the  $37.50  are 
still  looking  for  the  appearance  of  the 
book  which  it  was  represented  would 
make  the  donors  of  the  $37.50  famous 
at  once. 
This  fake  scheme  has  been  confined 
principally  to  the  cities  in  the  past ; 
but  we  arc  recently  advised  that  Air. 
Gower  has  turned  his  attentions  to  the 
country,  and  is  “working”  through  his 
agents,  owners  of  garages,  country  ho¬ 
tels  ami  road  houses.  It  is  on  this  ac¬ 
count  that  we  feel  a  word  of  warning 
regarding  the  scheme  may  be  necessary 
in  this  department. 
We  handle  thousands  of  complaints 
and  controversies  in  The  R.  N.-Y.  of¬ 
fice  during  the  course  of  a  year.  It  is 
rarely  that  we  find  u  subscriber  unrea¬ 
sonable  or  making  unjust  demands.  It 
sometimes  happens  that,  a  subscriber 
conscientiously  believes  that  he  has-  been 
taken  advantage  of  when  such  is  not  the 
case.  To  illustrate:  John  I,.  Borden, 
Kooskia,  Idaho,  ordered  nine  Barron 
AYhite  Leghorn  birds  from  an  Eastern 
breeder — six  hens,  two  cocks  nml  one 
cockerel.  Air.  Borden  complained  bitter¬ 
ly  about  the  birds,  and  particularly  of 
the  two  cock  birds,  and  before  sufficient 
time  had  elapsed  to  hear  from  us.  after 
taking  the  case  up  with  the  breeder,  he 
shipped  the  two  birds  to  The  It.  N.-Y. 
office.  The  price  Air.  Borden  paid  for 
these  birds  was  $1.75  each — the  return 
expvessage  nearly  equalled  the  price  of 
the  birds,  which  shows  the  fallacy  of 
ordering  common  stock  from  such  a  dis¬ 
tance.  Perhaps  Air,  Borden  expected 
fancy  show  birds  at  $.1.75  each  !  When 
the  birds  arrived  here  after  their  journey 
across  the  continent  and  hack,  they 
showed  good  vitality  and  were  fair  speci¬ 
mens  of  the  Barron  type  of  birds.  One 
of  the  birds  had  scaly  legs,  which  may 
have  developed  after  the  birds  were 
shipped — -aside  from  this  we  can  see  no 
criticism  attached  to  the  breeder  in  the 
transaction.  The  Golden  Rule  applies 
to  readers  as  well  as  to  the  advertisers, 
and  if  in  cases  of  this  kind  the  one  who 
feels  injured  would  look  at  the  case  from 
the  viewpoint  of  the  other  party  there 
would  be  less  bitter  controversies  over 
poultry  transactions.  Iu  the  poultry 
line  more  ihan  any  other  the  purchaser 
is  pl'oue  In  accuse  the  other  party  to  the 
transaction  of  bad  faith.  This  is  particu¬ 
larly  true  in  cases  where  eggs  fail  to 
hatch.  Wo  have  on  file  hundreds  of 
cases  where  the  purchaser  accuses  the 
breeder  of  willfully  shipping  infertile 
eggs.  There  are  dishonest  poultry  men 
who  do  this  sort  of  thing,  but  in  ftp  eases 
out  of  100  rough  handling  or  exposure 
by  the  express  company  is  to  blame. 
Readers  must  realize  that  they  are  as¬ 
suming  a  risk  when  they  order  eggs  for 
hatching  or  baby  chicks  from  a  distance. 
I  have  a  certificate  of  100  shares  of 
preferred  stock  in  the  Potomac  Oil  Com¬ 
pany,  217  So.  Broadway,  Los  Angeles, 
<  al.,  purchased  in  1909.  Can  you  give  me 
any  information  regarding  this  company? 
Stock  hasn't,  paid  a  dividend  to  date. 
New  Jersey.  n,  j>.  <3. 
We  are  advised  that  the  Potomac  Oil 
Company  is  still  alive  but  there  is  no 
market  for  the  stock.  This  is  the  usual 
outcome  of  investment  in  stocks  of  th<> 
kind.  These  people  are  neither  public 
benefactors  nor  philanthropists.  If  there 
is  any  value  in  their  holdings,  they  are 
going  to  keep  the  profits  for  themselves 
and  not  divide  them  with  people  widely 
scattered  over  the  country. 
Is  the  United  Wireless  Telegraph  Com¬ 
pany  still  in  existence?  I  have  some  stock 
in  that  company.  d.  r.  s. 
Ne\y  Jersey. 
The  information  that  we  obtain  is  to 
the  effect  that  this  company  was  absorbed 
by  the  Wireless  Liquidating  Company,  by 
giving  a  half  share  of  their  stock  for  one 
of  United  Wireless.  The  Alarcoui  Com¬ 
pany  took  over  the  physical  assets  of  the 
Wireless  Liquidating  Company,  for  which 
they  gave  28,(55  of  their  stock  for  one 
share  of  Wireless  Liquidating  stock.  The 
time  for  turning  in  the  stock  has  expired 
and,  therefore,  is  of  no  value.  .We  fear 
many  of  our  people  have  lost  because  they 
pinned  their  faith  to  the  tempting  prom¬ 
ises  made  by  the  promoters  of  the  United 
Wireless  stock.  We  have  been  issuing 
warnings  for  some  years  hack,  and  hope 
few  of  our  people  are  among  the  victims. 
Your  dear  friend  Whiting  of  the  Whit¬ 
ing  Nursery  Co.,  of  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  is  in 
our  part  of  the  country.  He  called  here 
this  afternoon.  He  asked  to  come  in  nml 
get  warm,  tie  opened  the  conversation 
by  showing  us  his  pictures  of  six  wonder¬ 
ful  Oriental  plums  at  $10  per  dozen.  He 
tried  to  get  me  to  sign  a  coulract.  which 
was  one-sided,  to  say  the  least.  I  read 
it.  Some  of  the  provisions  were  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 
"1.  Purchaser  agrees  to  pay  $ . 
cash  on  delivery  of  goods. 
“2.  Contract  cannot  be  countermanded. 
"3.  Seller’s  liability  for  defective  stock 
expressly  limited  to  price  paid  for  de¬ 
fective  specimens.”  and  so  forth. 
I  told  him  I  wouldn't  sigu  any  such 
agreement,  even  if  I  bought.  He  then 
showed  me  several  contracts  signed  by 
near  neighbors  of  ours  (who  should  have 
known  better  1  in  amounts  of  from  $10 
to  $25.  I  then  asked  him  if  his  firm  had 
ever  been  written  up  by  The  R.  N.-Y. 
and  related  from  memory  the  story  by 
“A  Country  Woman.”  in  your  issue  of 
August  28  last,  lie  said  he  didn’t  read 
The  R.  N.-Y.  I  then  brought  out  "The 
I’lums  of  New  York”  to  compare  his  de¬ 
scriptions  with  those  of  the  Station,  hut 
this  was  too  much,  lie  got  up  to  go — I 
pressed  him  to  stay  bur  lie  said  he  was 
"thoroughly  warm,  thank  you,”  and  I 
think  that  by  this  time  he  was. 
Alany  thanks  to  the  courageous  “Coun¬ 
try  Woman”  rind  The  R.  N.-Y.  who 
backs  her  up. 
Aluy  I  join  the  Anti-Fake  Club? 
New  York.  1:.  w.  how. 
Air.  Whiting  makes  a  great  mistake 
in  not  reading  The  R.  N.-Y.  Ifis  edu¬ 
cation  is  neglected.  If  he  read  it  he 
would  learn  that  we  invite  him  to  carry 
out  his  threat  to  sue  "A  Country  Wom¬ 
an”  for  the  price  of  those  trees.  The 
R.  N.-Y".  will  defend  the  suit  and  give 
AH'.  Whiting  a  fine  chance*  to  get  his  full 
story  into  print.  Wo  heard  a  man  say 
once  that  “The  R.  N.-Y.  builds  a  fire 
under  them."  It  looks  as  if  this  were 
true  by  the  way  Whiting  suddenly 
warmed  up  when  the  paper  was  men¬ 
tioned.  Air.  Ilow  has  set  us  all  an  exam¬ 
ple  of  how  to  do  it.  When  The  It.'  N.- 
Y\  can  act  as  steam  heater  to  as  cold  a 
proposition  as  Whiting  we  must  be  go¬ 
ing  some.  You  can  have  our  vote  not 
only  as  a  member  of  the  Anti-Fake  Club.- 
but  commander-in-chief  of  the  forces  if 
you  will  accept  the  office. 
Don’t  Lose  Your  Only  Chance 
WON 
HIGHEST 
AWARD 
PflNflMfl-PflGIFIG 
INTERNATIONAL 
EXPOSITION 
SAN  FRANCISCO 
1915 
OlPAKTKrNT  or  ACRICIHim 
*.  :  If 
. -22 
. 
Issw _ 
International 
Harvester 
Tillage 
Implements 
TT  takes  more  time,  and  more  work,  to  disk, 
plow  and  harrow  until  you  have  a  furrow  slice 
mellow  and  moist^  from  top  to  bottom,  and  compact 
throughout.  But  it  pays  to  do  it  right. 
For  many  crops,  the  only  chance  you  have  to  insure  good 
growing  conditions  is  when  you  are  preparing  the  see,d  bed.  A 
well-prepared  seed  bed  is  always  one  of  the  best  guarantees  of 
a  good  crop  at  harvest  time. 
The  preparation  of  good  seed  beds  is  important  enough  to 
warrant  care  in  the  selection  and  purchase  of  tillage  implements. 
It  will  pay  you,  before  you  buy,  to  look  over  carefully-  the  full 
line  of  International  Harvester  tillage  implements  sold  by  your 
local  dealers. 
Note  the  unusual  strength  of  the  disk  harrow  frames.  Ask  the 
dealer  to  show  you  how  the  adjustable  snubbing  block  and 
bowed  set-lever  bars  hold  the  gangs  level.  See  how  carefully 
the  oiling  system  is  designed. 
See  your  local  dealer  and  go  over  the  machines  with  him,  or 
write  us  for  catalogues  and  information,  but  don’t  buy  a  disk 
harrow,  spring-tooth  or  peg-tootli  harrow,  or  cultivator  this 
spring  until  you  have  seen  the  I H  C  tillage  liue. 
International  Harvester  Company  of  America 
(Incorporated) 
CHICAGO  USA 
Champion  Peering  McCormick  Milwaukee  Osborne  Plano 
APPLETON 
WOOD  SAWS 
Strong,  rigid,  simple; 
stand  years  of  hard  ser¬ 
vice.  frames  of  heavy 
bar  steel,  or  hardwood 
braced  and  bolted. 
Non-heating,  self-ad¬ 
justing  boxes  .  10  styles. 
The  Appleton 
GRINDER 
has  made  good  furSoyears. 
Strong, durable.  Coarse  or 
fine  grinding— ear  corn  or 
small  grain.  Hull  bearing, 
ring  oiler,  light  running. 
ENGINES 
Of  Appleton  Quality  deliver 
moreh.p.  with  least  use  of 
fuel;  and  wear  for  years. 
Sizes,  l/«  to  22  h.  p. 
Wood -Saw, Grinder  and 
5  Engine  catalogs  free; 
write  for  ones  you  want. 
Appleton  Mfg.  Co.  627  Fargo  St.,  Bataviajll. 
Mulchep 
&  Seeder 
^A  mulcher,  smoothing  harrow,  cultivator,^ 
wiuigor and  aoedor— utlln  one.  Fornu  dual  mulch 
— A  blanket  ofloo-se  soil— preventing  soil  hardening 
and  moisture  escaping.  Increases  yield  of  com, 
potatoes,  oats,  wheat,  etc.  Kilts  weeds,  Flirt  Udh, 
especially  adapted  to  form  mulch.  Lover  and 
pressure  spring  control  depth  of  teeth.  Sold  with 
or  without  seeding  boxes  for  gram,  seed,  alfalfa, 
oata,  etc.  Teeth  cover  the  sued  to  depth  desired. 
Adapted  for  a  large  variety  of  work.  In  stock  near 
you,  Semi  for  catalog. 
EUREKA  MOWER  00.,  Box  »*2  ,  Utl**,  K.  Y. 
Poor  tire,. 
3,  8,  10 
and  iz  ft. 
GASOLINE  ENGINES 
six  horsepower  $90.00.  four  horsepower  $70.00- 
Circular  saws,  24-inch  $4. 26-inch  28- 
frich  $5.25.  Agents  waited.  Catalog  free. 
PALMER  BROS.,  Coscob,  Conn. 
3 
BROWN 
FENCE 
^W-vyriteI 
POSTAL  NOW 
Learn  why  I  have  400,000  cus¬ 
tomer.!.  (Jet  my  prices.  Test 
quality  Of  Brown  Kcnco  at  my  expense. 
ISO  Stylo,  Direct  iron,  Factory 
13c  per  Pod  up,  Frolaht  Propald 
Hard,  high  carbon,  Basic  Open  Hearth  Wire,  heavily 
Double  Galvanized.  Gates  and  Steel  l’osts  too.  Write 
postal  now  for  big.  new  Catalog  and  Bample— FREE, 
Address  Dept.  59 
|  The  Brown  Fence  A  Wire  Co.  •  •  Cleveland,  O. 
KITSELMAN  FENCE 
Gpt  It  From  ] 
/At?  Factory  1 
Direct 
HORSE-HIGH,  BULL- 
STRONG,  PIC-TIGHT 
Made  of  Open  Hearth  wire, 
heavily  galvanized— a  strong, 
durable,  long  tasting,  rust-re¬ 
stating  fence,  hold  direct  to  the 
Farmer  at  wire  mill  prices. 
Here’ll  a  few  of  our  blgvaluen: 
28-Inch  Hog  Pence  -  12  cts.  a  rod. 
47-lneh  Farm  Fence  -  IB  cts.  a  rod. 
48-inch  Poultry  Fence  -  24  ots.  a  rod. 
Special  Prices  on  Calv.  Barbed  Wire. 
Our  big  Catalog  Of  fence  values  shows  100  stylus 
anil  heights  of  Farm,  Poultry  and  Lawn  Pence  at 
money -6 living  prices.  Write  for  It  to-day.  It’s  free. 
KITSELMAN  BROS.  Hox  230  Muncie,  Ind. 
The  Threshing  Problem 
£1  l  1  Threshes  eowpeas  anil  soy  beans 
illl VPfl  from  the  mown  vtnuh,  wheat,  oats. 
UvIV  vll  rye  and  ba rlt-y .  A  perfect  rointdna- 
I ion  machine.  Nothing  like  tc.  “The  nnwhine  I 
have  been  looking  forxtir  SU  .vettrs."  W  F.  Massey. 
■•Ii  >  ill  meet  every  demand.'  11.  A.  Morgan,  Pi- 
reetur  lenn.  Exp.  Station.  Booklet  free. 
ROGER  PEA  S  BEAM  THRESHER  CO., 
Morristown,  Tenn. 
Quaker  City  Feed  Mills 
Grind  corn  nnd  cobs,  feed, 
tablo  m cal  and  alfalfa. 
On  the  market  49  years. 
Hand  and  power.  23  styles. 
*.1.80  to  *40.  FREE  TRIAL. 
r  Write  fur  catalog  and  farm 
machinery  bargain  book. 
THE  A.  W.  STRAUB  CO. 
Deal.  f-'JMU  filbert  St.,  PluIHrlphl*.  P». 
Dept.T-3709  S.  Aikltnd  Ate., Chicago. lit. 
FENCES 
Ornamental  wire, wrought 
iron, nnd  steel  picket, lawn, 
farm  and  poultry  fences.  Atlkiuds.  Finest  grades.  At 
manufacturer*'  prices,  direct  to 
you.  Write  for  Catalog. 
WARD  MFC.  CO. 
137  Ohio  St„  fcufiif.  In*. 
Use  NATCO  Drain  Tile  — Last  Forever 
Farm  drainage  needs  durable  tile.  Our  drain  tile  are  made  of 
best  Ohio  clay,  thoroughly  hard  burned.  Don't  have  to  dig  'em  up 
to  be  replaced  every  few  years.  Write  for  prices.  Sold  in  carload 
lots.  Also  manufacturers  of  the  famous  NATCO  IMPERISH¬ 
ABLE  SILO,  Nateo  Building  Tile  and  Natuo  Sewer  Pipe. 
National  Fire  Proofing  Company  a  1121  Fulton  Building,  Pittsburgh,  Pa* 
TVV.Y. 
When  you  write  advertisers  mention  The  R.  N.-Y.  and  you’ll  get  a  quick  reply 
and  a  “square  deal.”  See  guarantee  editorial  page. 
