646 
April  15,  191G. 
5»c  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
|  PUBLISHER’S  DESK 
Enclosed  find  booklet  from  American 
Motor  Corporation  which  will  explain  it¬ 
self  much  better  than  I  can.  Please  look 
it  over  and  let  me  know  what  you  think 
about  it.  Would  it  bo  a  safe  investment? 
This  concern  being  right  in  .Yew  York 
City  T  thought  you  might,  be  able  to  as¬ 
certain  if  there  was  any  good  in  it. 
New  York.  m  .  ]•’. 
This  corporation  has  been  organized 
according  to  Our  reports  by  five  very  em¬ 
inent  gentlemen  under  the  laws  of  Vir¬ 
ginia;  authorized  capital  $50(1.000  pre¬ 
ferred  and  $750,000  common  stock — par 
value  $5  per  share.  The  booklet  or  pro¬ 
spectus  makes  no  pretense  of  having  any 
manufacturing  plant,  or  that  the  com¬ 
pany  at  present  lias  any  assets.  The  pub¬ 
lic  is  apparently  expected  to  supply  the 
money  to  build  a  plant,  purchase  ma¬ 
chinery,  etc.  The  plan  of  raising  the 
money  is  to  apportion  “1000  ownerships” 
among  the  several  States  and  the  pro¬ 
spective  investor  is  impressed  that  lie 
should  consider  it  a  privilege  to  he  one 
of  the  men  from  his  State  to  put  his  sav¬ 
ings  into  the  proposition.  But  the  main 
argument  in  the  booklet  to  separate  the 
prospective  investor  from  bis  money  is 
the  big  profits  automobile  manufacturers 
are  making.  True,  but  those  promoters 
never  refer  to  the  many  concerns  that 
started  in  making  automobiles  and  be¬ 
cause  of  lack  of  capital  went  to  the  wall. 
If  these  promoters  will  point  to  a  single 
successful  concern  manufacturing  auto¬ 
mobiles  or  anything  that  was  financed  on 
a  plan  similar  to  this,  we  will  withdraw 
our  criticism  or  objections.  There  are 
plenty  of  men  experienced  in  the  auto¬ 
mobile  trade  with  abundant  capital  ready 
to  back  any  enterprise  that,  has  any  fair 
prospect  of  success.  Experienced  in¬ 
vestors  must,  be  "shown,”  but  promoters 
still  hold  to  the  theory  that  all  that  is 
needed  to  separate  country  people  from 
their  money  is  to  send  them  some  “dope” 
about  the  easy  money  others  are  mak¬ 
ing.  This  proposition  has  all  the  ear¬ 
marks  of  the  professional  promoter's 
scheme.  TLero  is  no  basis  for  investing 
as  much  as  a  postage  stamp  in  it. 
You  may  have  received  copies  of  the 
enclosed  Lewis  “dope”  from  other  read¬ 
ers,  but  I  want  to  be  sure  you  got  it. 
California.  H.  w.  j. 
Our  friend  encloses  four  pages  of  print 
in  imitation  of  a  typewritten  letter,  on 
a  new  form  of  an  old  swindle,  by  our 
old  acquaintance,  E.  G.  Lewis,  formerly 
of  St.  Louis  but  now  of  California.  He 
is  now  asking  gullible  people  to  send  him 
$5  for  subscriptions  to  his  Woman's  Na¬ 
tional  Weekly,  to  be  followed  by  a  sim¬ 
ilar  payment  for  three  successive  months, 
with  a  promise  of  reward  in  profits  from 
a  company  to  be  hereafter  organized  on  a 
paper  cork  invention  and  process.  The 
promise  of  reward  is  expressed  in  a  way 
to  make  an  innocent  and  gullible  person 
unacquainted  with  the  fact  believe  that 
lie  is  going  to  become  a  stockholder  in 
a  million  dollar  corporation  with  pros¬ 
pects  of  future  profits. 
Old  Lewis  victims  will  remember  the 
Fibre  Stopper  Company  promoted  by 
Lewis  some  years  ago.  The  stock  was 
sold  in  till  parts  of  the  country.  At 
least  one  man  in  Connecticut,  sold  his 
farm  and  Invested  the  money  in  the 
Lewis  Fibre  Company  stock.  One  hoy 
was  induced  to  pay  double  the  face  value 
for  the* stock  on  the  theory  that  an  Eng¬ 
lish  concern  had  contracted  for  the  pro¬ 
duct.  and  that  the  profits  were  going  to 
be  phenomenal.  The  old  concern  never 
made  any  corks,  and  never  had  any  pros¬ 
pects  of  si  business  other  than  si  few  hard¬ 
ened  forms  of  pulp  paper  used  sis  a  bait 
to  induce  people  to  pay  money  for  the 
stock.  It  was  one  of  the  transparent 
Lewis  swindling  schemes.  This  new 
scheme  is  without  any  doubt  a  repetition 
of  the  old  swindle  in  new  territory. 
I  am  sending  you  an  advertisement  <>f 
the  O.  K.  Seed  Store,  Indianapolis,  lnd., 
which  is  appearing  in  seversil  of  our 
prominent  farm  papers,  as  well  as  some 
of  the  poultry  journals,  and  no  doubt  you 
have  seen  it  many  times,  I  thought  it 
a  very  liberal  offer,  so  sent  my  address 
on  a  postcard  and  sometime  after  re¬ 
ceived  eight  packets  of  vegetable  seeds 
and  two  of  flower  seeds;  also  a  letter 
from  .1.  A.  Everitt,  Indianapolis,  lnd.. 
saying  he  was  the  O.  K.  Seed  Store,  and 
the  little  tiling  the  advertisement  said 
we  were  to  do  when  told  flow,  was  to 
subscribe  for  Up-To-Date  Farming  at 
50  cents  per  year,  and  by  sending  ad¬ 
dress  we  agreed  to  do  so  and  he  should 
expect  a  subscription  from  us.  T  at  once 
wrote  him  that  I  did  not  so  understand 
it,  and  had  no  use  for  his  paper,  and 
thought  people  would  subscribe  more 
readily  for  bis  paper  if  lie  would  adver¬ 
tise  it  at  50  cents  per  year  and  the  seeds 
for  a  premium  instead  of  using  a  blind 
advertisement  and  trying  to  force  it  upon 
people  not  wanting  it,  so  I  at.  once  re¬ 
turned  the  seeds.  He  wrote  he  had  done 
just  as  he  agreed  in  sending  the  seeds, 
but  in  the  advertisement  lie  says  be  will 
send  22  packets  and  affixed  a  note  to  bis 
letter  that  he  would  send  12  more  pack¬ 
ets  later.  I  did  not  find  his  advertise¬ 
ment.  ill  The  It.  N.-Y.  and  thought  I 
would  ask  your  opinion  of  such  schemes 
to  trap  farmers  and  make  them  subscribe. 
1  would  like  this  exposed  in  your  Pub¬ 
lisher's  Desk  column,  which  1  always  read 
fil'i’t.  j,  o.  o. 
New  York. 
Mr.  Everitt  is  running  true  to  form  in 
this  subscription  scheme.  His  advertise¬ 
ment  as  it  appeared  in  various  publica¬ 
tions  was  headed  “Free  Seed  Distribu¬ 
tion”  and  the  information  followed  that 
he  wauled  to  give  away  17  neir  varieties 
of  garden  seeds  and  live  packages  of 
flower  seeds — 22  packages.  There  is  no 
suggestion  in  the  advertisement  that 
those  sending  for  the  seeds  would  he  re¬ 
quired  or  expected  to  subscribe  for  or 
pay  any  money  for  anything,  ns  Everitt 
claims  in  bis  follow-up  literature.  In 
short  this  is  just  one  of  Everitt's  char¬ 
acteristic  fake  schemes.  The  subscriber 
was  under  no  obligation,  moral  or  other¬ 
wise,  to  return  the  seeds,  but  we  could 
not  advise  planting  them.  Tie  adver¬ 
tises — “Established  35  years.”  What  a 
record  the  schemes  Everitt  has  launched 
on  the  unsuspecting  public  during  those 
years  would  make! 
I  am  much  disappointed  to  hear  that 
II.  ,7.  I  !ulte,  1006  Third  Ave..  New 
Yolk,  will  do  nothing  in  regard  to  lli-se 
two  eases  of  eggs.  1  do  not  think  there 
is  any  doubt  but  that  he  received  them 
all  right  but  does  not  want  to  pay  for 
them.  If  he  had  not  received  them  he 
would  at  least,  look  them  up  and  when  I 
wrote  him  about  them  he  Would  not  an¬ 
swer.  He  ought  to  be  shown  up.  It  will 
not  bring  me  pay  for  my  eggs  but  it  may 
help  some  one  else.  I  recommended  him 
to  a  good  many  and  had  lots  of  confidence 
in  him.  G.  It.  M. 
New  York. 
Seven  cases  of  eggs  wore  shipped,  but 
only  five  paid  for.  \Ve  traced  through 
the  express  company  and  found  they 
were  delivered.  We  asked  Mr.  P.olte  to 
verify  the  record  and  send  cheek,  but  he 
neglected  to  do  either,  and  we  must  add 
him  to  the  list  of  undesirable  houses,  lu 
a  case  of  the  kind  the  least  a  consignee 
can  do  is  to  verify  records,  and  lend  Ids 
aid  in  adjusting  a  complaint.,  but  to  ig¬ 
nore  the  shipper  deliberately  does  not  in¬ 
spire  confidence. 
T.  .T.  Foster.  Scranton,  l*a..  filed  a 
voluntary  petition  in  bankruptcy  in  the 
E.  S.  District  Court  last  week  with  a 
schedule  of  assets  amounting  to  $463,- 
735.33  and  liabilities  of  S67S.351.12. 
Foster  promoted  some  20-odd  concerns 
with  a  capital  stock  aggregating  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  twenty-nine  millions  of  dollars. 
Many  of  these  Institutions  have  already 
gone  to  the  wall  and  others  are  tottering. 
This  is  only  the  logical  resuli  of  the  high 
finance  in  which  Mr.  Foster  indulged. 
His  operations  were  similar  in  many  re¬ 
spects  to  those  of  E.  (I.  Lewis  and  were 
of  much  larger  magnitude.  Both  men 
counted  only  in  millions  and  were  equally 
reckless  in  handling  money  entrusted*  to 
them  by  others.  The  history  and  collapse 
of  flies  ■  gigantic  schemes  should  serve  as 
a  warning  to  the  public  for  all  time  to 
come.  Lewis  is  already  launching  other 
schemes  which  are  practically  duplicates 
of  those  in  which  the  public  lost  nearly 
$10,(166.060  and  Foster  will  probably  be 
at  his  old  stock-selling  game  again  as 
Soon  as  he  is  free  from  his  present  fin¬ 
ancial  entanglements. 
Yes.  I  want  Tin:  TL  N.-Y.  Last  Sat¬ 
urday  a  man  was  here  soliciting  an  order 
for  seed  oats  and  seed  potatoes,  asking 
for  the  potatoes  $5.50  per  bushel.  I 
spied  on  his  blank  “Hniison.”  T  then 
read  article  in  Publisher's  Desk  oil  (inn- 
son  in  Imva  in  dan.  1  issue,  The  man’s 
tongue  was  stilled,  He  took  note  of  the 
article  and  bade  me  good-bye.  I  noticed 
a  few  of  my  neighbors  had  given  small 
orders  by  bis  (illed-oiit  blanks.  That  ar¬ 
ticle  alone  saved  me  one  dollar. 
Pennsylvania.  .7.  i<\  p. 
This  experience  illustrates  the  power 
of  the  press  and  the  necessity  of  keeping 
concerns  of  this  kind  in  mind.  Our  peo¬ 
ple  are  pretty  well  advised  as  to  the  Gun- 
son  methods  of  selling;  still  as  the  Spring 
season  is  at  hand  this  reminder  may  not 
come  amiss. 
WORLDS 
Greatest 
Roofing 
Book 
Beware  The  Siberian  Hare 
Gan  you  give  me  some  information 
about  Siberian  hares?  Where  can  1  get 
them?  What  d<>  they  cost?  What,  are 
their  skins  worth?  Would  they  thrive 
in  South  Jersey?  c.  S. 
Yine'lund,  N.  J. 
We  have  had  several  questions  about 
these  hares.  They  are  greatly  praised 
for  their  meat  qualities  and  for  their 
fur.  The  Biological  Survey  at.  Wash¬ 
ington  sends  us  the  following  report; 
“We  receive  many  letters  similar  to  the 
one  you  enclosed  and  have  for  several 
weeks  been  trying  to  obtain  exact  in¬ 
formation  on  tiie  subject  in  order  to  an¬ 
swer  such  letters  intelligently.  The  com¬ 
pany  at  Hamilton,  Ontario,  last  week 
wrote  us  explaining  that  the  animal  is  a 
rabbit  and  not  a  bare.  They  enclosed  a 
translation,  said  to  he  from  a  Russian 
source,  giving  an  account  of  the  habits  of 
the  animal  in  a  wild  state  in  its  native 
country,  Siberia.  Naturalists  know  of 
no  rabbits  in  Siberia,  and  the  three 
known  species  of  hare  found  there  are 
gray  ill  Summer  and  become  white  in 
Winter.  If  is  of  course  possible  that  the 
Company  does  not  know  the  true  source 
of  its  stock ;  but  the  most  importance 
attaches  to  the  matter  of  the  claims  made 
as  to  the  value  of  the  animals  for  fur  or 
food.  We  shall  continue  our  inquiries, 
anti  when  we  have  more  definite  knowl¬ 
edge  shall  be  glad  to  inform  you  of  what 
we  have  learned.  At  present  we  should 
advise  prospective  buyers  of  these  ani¬ 
mals  to  investigate  the  matter  carefully 
before  investing  their  money.” 
n.  W.  IIENSHAW. 
Absolute  “rock  lioflom"  prices 
have  now  lien  renctieit  on  tho  r3/  Jt 
greatest  rooting.  Don’t  invest 
a  cent  in  new  roof  covering’,  , Ur 
i<ling  or  celling  for  any  build- 
int  until  you  lir.it  get  KiIwmivI'b  V'v 
wonderful  freight  prepaid  KVrV 
money-savin  goffer  direct  from 
the  world’s  largest  factory  of  its  kind, 
Keo  Steel 
Cluster  Shingles 
EDWARDS  Tightcote 
Reo  Steel  Shingles 
outlast  three  or  four  ordinary  roof--  /iWy 
yet  they  actually  coat  loan!  I  iriinl-w  Or  X3T  13 
log  or  repairs  necessary ;  i  n  fire-  Spanish  Metal  Tilts 
Weather --mid -proof.  Insurant)  ,-ost 
Is  li’SH  tiwaueo  Edwards  guaranteo  yraflL 
their  roof  against  lightning.  Easy 
to  lay  no  xtiei-ial  tools  needed . 
Every  hhi  id  of  Edwjirjr  Galvan-  “ 
ized  Steel  Shingles,  Roofing,  Sid¬ 
ing.  t letting  or  liniah  is  extra  heavy 
galvanized,  ptcae  at  a  time,  hy  rn  r 
exclusive  Tlghtcoto  patented  pro¬ 
cess  after  sheet  lias  been  stamped 
and  resqunred.  Ride  and  edges  are  us 
heavily  galvanized  as  body  of  sheet. 
Means  r  :i  weak  spots  to  rust  and  mr- 
riele.  Edgctmnd  nail  holes  can't,  i-nsi.. 
F.ihearcts  Patent 
“drift  l_,ock" 
Wide  variety,  many  styles,  nit  sizes 
of  Portable,  fireproof.  Metal  Garages, 
fciiil.ilOrtnd  up,  tsiwoat  prices  ever  a 
made.  Pound  brings  al-Page 
Garage  t  Catalog  KKRK. 
Freight  Prepaid  Offer  g 
on  the  lowest  prices  ever  j] 
mode  on  world's  nest  fooling,  o] 
Wo  make  nml  sell  direct 
from  biggest  factory  of  JUs 
kind,  Edwards  Reo  Tight- 
cote  Sl*>  1  Sldii  kIch,  V-Critnped, 
Corrugated,  Stieoling  Seam. 
Painted  or  Galvanized  Roofing 
at  bed-rock  bargain  prices,  sav¬ 
ing  yon  all  "in .between"  mid¬ 
dlemen's  profits.  Write  for  Free 
Roofing  Samples  and  your  copy 
of  Roofing  Catalog  No.  173 
Tho  Edwnrds  Mfg,  Co.. 
423-473  Pi!..-:  Street, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Note  eonat ruction  of 
Paten i  interlocking  z, 
Device  protecting 
natl  heads  from  yf flijfljk 
the  went  her  and 
nmkingtho  roof, 
absolutely 
water¬ 
tight.  . 
Carrugated 
Garage 
The  Value  of  the  Rabbit 
It  is  my  purpose  to  show  bow  by  keep¬ 
ing  :t  few  rabbits  it  is  possible  for  any¬ 
one  with  a  little  spare  time  to  make 
very  substantial  addition  to  his  income 
hy  breeding  these  animals.  We  hear  a 
great  (leal  today  of  the  advantage  to 
the  working  man  of  keeping  poultry,  but 
in  many  instances  the  working  man  hits 
not  the  Hceoointnodation  for  a  poultry 
house  and  yard,  and  yet.  he  may  be  able 
to  find  room  for  a  few  rabbit  hutches. 
produce  is 
fast.  In  time  of  pence 
over  two  million  dol- 
W  SPECIAL  OFFER  COUPON 
The  Edwards  Mfg.  Co., 
423-473  Pike  St.,  Cincinnati,  0. 
Z'  Plcsuie  lend  FUl.K  samples,  Freight- 
Paid  pi  Ire,  and  World's  Greatest 
Rooting  Book  No.  473 
Name. 
Address . . . . . 
Lamest  Masers  of  Sheet  Metal  Prodoi  J  fn  ttis  World. 
The  demand  for 
inerensin 
England  imports 
lnrs  worth  of  rabbits  from  Belgium  and 
Australia.  The  American  people  are 
only  just  beginning  to  recognize  the  rab¬ 
bit  as  tt  staple  food,  and  1  believe  in  the 
near  future  we  will  have  its  many  rabbits 
in  nur  public  markets  as  there  tire  of 
domestic  fowls  now.  One  of  the  greatest 
drawbacks  to  the  rabbit  industry  in  the 
past  has  been  the  prejudice  which  people 
have  had  against  home-fed  rabbits,  but 
the  fact  that  the  industry  is  growing  is 
proof  that  this  prejudice 
down. 
It  is  gratifying  to  note  the  way  in 
which  the  demand  for  dressed  rabbits, 
also  breeding  stock,  is  increasing,  and  at 
the  present  time  the  demand  far  exceeds 
the  supply.  In  the  vicinity  of  Boston  the 
price  for  dressed  rabbit  is  from  30  to  35 
cents  per  pound,  find  for  live  weight,  they 
bring  25  cents  per  pound.  The  larger 
varieties  of  rabbits  are  more  profitable 
to  raise,  as  they  can  he  dressed  off  at 
from  three  to  four  months  of  age.  For 
instance  a  Flemish  Giant  rabbit  will 
weigh  at  the  age  of  three  months  five  to 
six  pounds,  whereas  the  smaller  varieties 
weigh  only  a  little  over  six  pounds  when 
full  grown. 
Apart  from  the  table  value  of  rabbits 
there  is  the  question  of  skins.  Many  va¬ 
rieties  of  our  fur-bearing  animals  arc 
nearly  extinct,  and  to  satisfy  the  in¬ 
creasing  demand,  the  furriers  are  looking 
to  the  fur  farms  and  rabbit  breeders  for 
their  furs.  There  is  no  reason  why  tho 
home-fed  rabbit  should  not  carry  the  day, 
but  the  progress  must  be  sure  and  steady, 
and  anything  in  the  way  of  a  wild  scare, 
which  would  cause  hundreds  to  rush  into 
rabbit  production  without  u  scrap  of 
knowledge,  would  be  absolutely  fatal  to 
success,  because  rabbit  farming  must  be 
learned  in  the  same  way  as  any  other 
craft  or  business.  L.  g.  young. 
Massachusetts. 
cm  n 
armers 
Its  tree  —  write  ror  a  copy. 
The  Santa  Fe  has  no  land  to  sell.  Its 
mission  is  to  help  populate  the  dis¬ 
tricts  along  its  lines  with  thrifty 
farmers  who  grow  things. 
That's  why  wc  want  you. 
That’s  why  we  help  California 
advertise  herself. 
California  has  no  winter.  Cattle  and 
chickens  can  forage  outdoors  every 
month.  The  man  in  overalls  can 
Dr.  W.  A.  Henry’s  standard  work  on 
live  stock  feeding  has  been  entirely  re¬ 
written  with  the  assistance  of  Prof.  F. 
B.  Morrison,  and  is  invaluable  to  all 
who  feed  live  stock.  Price,  postpaid, 
$2.25,  from  Tiie  R.  N.-Y.,  333  W.  30th 
St.,  New  York. 
make  more  money,  too. 
Let  me  help  you  plan  your  trip. 
Reduced  excursion  fares  this  Spring 
and  S  unimcr  on  the  Santa  Fe.  And 
ask  for  the  hook. 
C.  L.  Seagrarcs,  Gen.  Col.  Agent 
A.T.& S.F.Ry, 
SS/,S  Railway  Exchange,  Chicago 
