Vol. LXX. No. 4083. 
•NEW YORK, JANUARY 28, 1911. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR 
OUR FARMERS’ HORSE COMPANY. 
How It Was Formed. 
I was busy doing up the work in the dairy house 
when I heard a horse neighing loudly at the door. I 
went out and saw one of the finest draft colts that 
ever came to these parts. He was an imported Bel¬ 
gian, chestnut in color, with silvery mane and tail, 
and although less than three years old he. weighed 
1560 pounds. His mane was braided and tied with 
red ribbons, and his tail was also tied up with the 
same, and he wore a bitting harness of white leather 
which trimmed him up in great shape. The young- 
man who was leading him was very polite, and said 
that Mr. Goodwin, representing the Otto-Hoag Im¬ 
porting Co., had sent him out to show me the horse, 
and that Mr. Goodwin would shortly be on hand to 
tell me about him. About this time Mr. Goodwin put 
in an appearance with a 
livery rig. After intro¬ 
ducing himself he went 
on to explain that he was 
organizing a company to 
buy the horse, and pur¬ 
posed that this company 
should consist of 12 men, 
each to buy one share 
at $200, making the price 
of the horse $2400. I 
suggested that $2400 was 
a pretty good price for 
a colt, but Mr. Goodwin 
explained that in reality 
he would not cost us a 
cent. We were to give 
our notes payable in three 
installments, the first 
payment to be made 
April 1 , 1912. In the 
meantime the horse 
would be kept insured 
by the company, and 
further if he did not 
prove to be a GO per 
cent foal-getter he would 
be replaced by one that 
was. 
At this stage of the 
conversation, a 
book and a fountain pen 
came upon the scene. 
The little book contained 
a contract for the shares 
of stock, and stated that 
the undersigned agreed 
to take a share in the 
horse at $200, payable in 
a note to be paid as I have said, or in cash at the 
option of the subscriber. While I was looking at the 
contract Mr. Goodwin kept talking very fast, ex¬ 
plaining how the horse would be self-paying, and 
there was the beautiful horse right before me to prove 
it. Then the thought came to me that the horses in 
this section certainly do need improving, and why 
should I not help to do it, especially as it wasn’t 
going to cost anything? The book was right in my 
hand and the pen in the other, so it was very easy 
to sign the contract, and as soon as I had signed it, 
I was relieved of further trouble, for Mr. Goodwin 
bade me a hasty good-by and departed with the beau¬ 
tiful horse. 
The next day Mr. Goodwin came back and wanted 
me to go with him to show the horse to some other 
men, and it was on this trip that I began .to get my 
eyes open. As an inducement to others to take a 
share in the horse, I began to figure out the profits on 
the investment, and it ran about like this, as I figured: 
Credit by 30 colts at $20 each, $600. Debit to 
keeping horse one year at $1 per day, $365; to inter¬ 
est on $2400 at six per cent, $144; to bills and ad¬ 
vertising, $25; balance, $66. So at the end of the 
first year, or when the first payment of $800 should 
be due, we would have just $66 to pay it with. This 
looked very much as if each man would have to go 
down into his pocket for $61.17, instead of paying 
nothing, as Mr. Goodwin had represented. Since 
then I have gone over the figures with men who 
know, and they tell me that we will be doing all the 
business we should with a three-year-old if we get 
30 colts the first year, and further that the manager 
of the horse is keeping him for less than he can 
really afford to at $1 per day, and finally that if the 
horse pays his keep and six per cent on $2400 he 
will be doing remarkably well. We did not get any 
subscriptions that afternoon. After going ove. he 
figures in my mind I am afraid I was not a very 
good solicitor. 
Several days went by before I heard from Mr. 
Goodwin again, when I was called to the ’phone and 
asked if I would be at home the next morning, as he 
wished to see me. The next morning he came and 
said that the subscribers were all secured, and that 
we would hold a meeting that afternoon to organize 
the company. I thought it very kind of Mr. Goodwin 
to hire a livery rig and drive out to tell me this, but 
another paper and the fountain pen came into evi¬ 
dence again. 
‘‘Just sign this, Mr. Morse, and I must hurry back 
to attend to a little business with one of the members 
of the firm who has come to help to organize the 
company.” 
I took the paper and was confronted with a note 
of $2400, which read, ‘‘We, the undersigned, jointly 
and severally, agree to pay,” etc. Arid would you 
believe it, that note had been signed by 11 men, some 
of whom I knew and some that I had never even 
heard of! No company had been formed, the sub¬ 
scribers had not seen each other, but Mr. Goodwin 
had taken care to get them each to sign a note that 
made them individually liable for the whole amount. 
The pen and paper were just as handy this time as 
before, but somehow I did not sign the note. I 
handed them back to Goodwin and told him I would 
see him on the way to Halifax astride the Belgian 
colt before I would sign it. 
But I had an idea that I was in for it on the 
subscription contract, so I went to town early and 
called on the district attorney of the county. He 
told me that they would certainly hold me for a share 
of the stock, but to pay the cash for it and not by 
any means sign that $2400 note. There was a time 
when it would have been 
quite a poser for me to 
raise $200 spot cash 
without any previous no¬ 
tice, but as I have been 
fairly punctual in meet¬ 
ing my obligations in the 
past, I was able to pro¬ 
cure the money. Then I 
went to the hotel where 
the meeting was to be 
held and was introduced 
to Mr. Axford—a mem¬ 
ber of the company. He 
took me up to his room 
and went over the propo¬ 
sition in his best man¬ 
ner, but I told him it 
was simply useless to ask 
me to sign the note and 
requested him to drop 
my name from the list. 
This he refused to do, 
stating that I had signed 
for the stock with my 
eyes open, and that the 
whole transaction was 
perfectly square and 
above board. Then I 
asked him if he had any 
objections to my giving 
a history of the deal 
to The Rural New- 
Yorker, and he replied 
that he was perfectly 
willing that I should do 
so, but to be very care¬ 
ful that I did not mis¬ 
represent anything, as 
they were a big company and would not hesitate to 
prosecute me if I slandered them. I assured Mr. 
Axford that I would be careful to state the facts, and 
also that The R. N.-Y. people were rather noted for 
stating all the facts. I further asked Mr. Axford if 
my lawyer would be allowed to attend the meeting or 
to see the contract with the company, and he re¬ 
fused this request, also saying that if my lawyer 
ever saw the contract it would be in court. Then we 
went down to the parlor, where we met the other 
prospective members of the company to be formed 
and Mr. Axford called us to order and proceeded to 
organize the company. After the meeting was over 
I gave Mr. Axford my check for $200 in payment for 
my share in the horse, and of course I am still liable 
to assessments on my stock for the keep of the horse, 
but I certainly am not liable for the $2400. I have 
stated the case at length for the information of others. 
Madison Co., N. Y. . j. grant morse. 
BELGIAN STALLION OWNED BY A FARMERS’ HORSE COMPANY. Fig. 32. 
