1911. 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
626 
OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY. 
The “Sucker List” as an Asset. 
On Saturday last E. G. Lewis and the 
Lewis Publishing Company gave a chattel 
mortgage on “Art Institute, etc.” for $7,000 
to Taxile Doate, the French artist in 
Lewis's employ; and on Monday the Amer¬ 
ican Woman's League gave Adelaide Ilob- 
ineau and husband a chattel mortgage foi k 
$3,620 on 54 vases of art ware. Claims in 
the hands of attorneys are in suit amount¬ 
ing to $50,000. The suits are pending in 
the county courts. Notes and mortgages 
outstanding and due against the Lewis Pub¬ 
lishing Company are said to amount to close 
to a million dollars. 
A Mr. Williams of New York, who has 
been engineering an examination of the 
Lewis concerns by accountants for Class 
A publishers, has left for New York, and 
for some reason the examination was 
abruptly ended. It is reported that he is 
trying to get himself appointed as trustee 
of the Lewis enterprises and avoid any 
criminal action, but it is not clear here 
what interest the publishers could have in 
fostering his ambition. The inquiry by the 
Department of Justice and the Post Office 
Department does not seem to be completed, 
and it is the result of this inquiry that 
is causing nervousness in the Lewis camps. 
The grand jury is yet to be heard from. 
Above is a general summary of re¬ 
ports from St. Louis. The work on 
the accounts was discontinued, it is 
reported, because the matters were so 
involved that it was difficult, if not im¬ 
possible, to get any satisfactory state¬ 
ment of their condition; and, further, 
because Mr. Lewis attempted, through 
Mr. Williams, to get consent to some 
sort of an agreement which would leave 
Lewis practically in control and free to 
continue the borrowing of money with 
a criminal immunity bath. We are told 
that five of the publishers promptly 
withdrew from the affair altogether and 
refused to have anything more to do 
with Lewis or his schemes, and the 
criminal immunity bath has not yet de¬ 
veloped to the rubbing down stage. 
The interests of the other publishers 
are clear enough to anyone familiar 
with the situation. The “sucker list” is 
the principal asset of all promoting 
schemes. The membership of the 
American Woman’s League is the 
“sucker list” in the Lewis scheme of 
promotion. This is apparently not only 
the best, but practically the only asset 
Lewis has left. These publishers would 
like to possess themselves of it. There 
is not, as we have said before, a real 
prominent successful publisher among 
them, and those who had any regard for 
their future have already withdrawn 
from the Lewis connection. Others 
have been working the Lewis game on 
their own account in a modest way, and 
if Lewis had got away with the game 
the whole bunch of them would ‘have 
been in it with a rush. As it is, “Suc¬ 
cess Magazine” which had lent its en¬ 
tire influence to the Lewis fakes, sold 
$400,000 worth of guaranteed debenture 
gold bonds (paper notes) to its sub¬ 
scribers, interest on which has default¬ 
ed, and a total of $700,000 indebtedness 
is now capitalized for nearly half a mil¬ 
lion more, and one would think from 
the literature that the promoters were 
conferring a favor on you to allow you 
to buy the evidence of indebtedness at 
par. So over the whole list of fake 
publication securities. As I write re¬ 
port comes of the failure of Human 
Life Pub. Co., C’. E. Ellis is in a Fed¬ 
eral prison, G. L. Richards, of Boston, 
is missing, Vick’s Magazine, Agricul¬ 
tural Epitomist, Circle Magazine, and 
Spare Moments of Rochester, N. Y., 
all sold stock to the dear subscriber. 
Where are they now? Currier, of 
Chicago, paid dividend on stock while 
he was selling it, but not now. Colum¬ 
bian Magazine is reported to be now 
paying dividends but 500 per cent Miller 
paid dividends. Wilshire’s sold you a 
gold brick in mining stock, and Herbert 
Myrick created the building certificate 
fiction before he screwed up courage to 
offer the dear subscribers stock of the 
discredited Cushman publications, and 
the inflated stock of Good Housekeeping 
Company. This does not exhaust the 
list by any means, but it gives you an 
idea of what is going on in the cheap 
publishing promotion fields. Now, can 
you see the interest they all had in the 
Lewis schemes? His success was their 
opportunity. If he established a prece¬ 
dent with the Post Office Department the 
way was open to all of them. Their 
fight was not for Lewis. It was for an 
equal opportunity of plunder for them¬ 
selves. A more contemptible scheme no 
class of men ever attempted on the con¬ 
fiding people of any country. The con¬ 
fidence men and the pickpocket make 
victims of strangers. These publishers 
betray the confidence of their friends. 
Hirelings and notoriety seekers will 
not mind, but Mr. Lewis has covered 
the honest women who went into his 
scheme with confusion and shame. Pie 
has stenciled the League members with 
his own brand of repudiation and trick¬ 
ery. Contracts for the League have 
been repudiated; debts unpaid; and now 
the few cups remaining have been 
covered up with chattel mortgage to 
the disadvantage of other creditors, if 
not deliberately to defraud them. And 
this is made the act of the honest women 
who put their faith in Lewis through 
his control of the so-called League offi¬ 
cers. The women have believed much 
in his fake schemes, but we doubt if they 
can stand for this. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—Clarence S. Funk, gen¬ 
eral manager of the International 
Harvester Company, testifying before the 
Illinois State Senate bribery investigating 
committee on April 5, in the Lorimer 
bribery case, testified that Edward Hines, 
of Chicago, a millionaire lumber dealer, 
asked him as manager of the harvester 
company, to contribute $10,000 to reim¬ 
burse certain men who had put up a $100,- 
000 “slush” fund to elect William Lori¬ 
mer to the United States Senate. The 
harvester company manager further testi¬ 
fied that Mr. Hines named Edward Tildcn, 
a wealthy Chicago packer, as the collector 
of this fund to reimburse the men who, 
as Mr. Hines was quoted as having said, 
had “underwritten” the election of Lori¬ 
mer. Mr. Funk declared that the object 
he had in giving this testimony was to 
save H. IT. Kohlsaat, publisher of “The 
Chicago Record-Herald.” from a possible 
jail sentence as a result of Mr. Kohlsaat’s 
refusal to give certain information de¬ 
manded by the committee last week. The 
witness said he had given Mr. Kohl¬ 
saat information in confidence upon which 
the Chicago publisher had based an 
editorial, which charged the use of a $100,- 
000 fund to elect Mr. Lorimer. resulted 
in calling Mr. Kohlsaat as a witness be- 
for the committee. Mr. Kohlsaat refused to 
make known the name of Mr. Funk. The 
Chicago publisher was then given one week’s 
time in which to divulge this name or stand 
in contempt of the Senate committee. Mr. 
Funk testified that he voluntarily released 
Mr. Kohlsaat from the pledge of con¬ 
fidence when he felt that the publisher 
would be sent to jail unless the informa¬ 
tion was given. 
The police of the East 22d street sta¬ 
tion, New York, was thrown into a state 
bordering on panic on April 5 when it 
was learned that four goats inoculated 
with scarlet fever and diphtheria germs 
were at large having been stolen from 
the Willard Parker Hospital. They had 
been kept, so the police assert, for ex¬ 
perimental purposes. Detective Burke scored 
the neighborhood and succeeded in finding 
one of the goats in the stable of William 
Brooks, at 614 East 13th street. Burke 
got a twenty-foot rope and led the animal 
to the hospital. Brooks, who followed at 
a distance, told the detective that he had 
bought the goat for 50 cents. The goat 
had not been milked. They’re still hunt¬ 
ing for the others. 
Sidmon McHie, Richard I. Marr, Wil¬ 
liam A. McHie, James F. Southard. Frank 
II. Williams, Charles W. BIckell and 
Richard II. McHie, of the Capital Invest¬ 
ment Company of Chicago, and John L. 
Diekcs, representative of the company in 
Aurora, Ill., were indicted April 6 by the 
Federal grand jury for using the mails 
to defraud. John W. Rogers, of the firm 
of W. It. Ilolligan & Co., was indicted for 
perjury in connection with his testimony 
before the grand jury when the investment 
company was being investigated. The 
men indicted were arrested about three 
months ago in a spectacular raid made 
upon the offices of the company on the 
eleventh floor of the Rookery building. At 
the time of the raid warrants were issued 
for thirty-four men, all of whom were more 
or less prominently known in financial 
circles. Among them was William J. 
Lloyd, district superintendent of the West¬ 
ern Union Telegraph Company. In the 
warrant he was charged with knowingly 
abetting the company in conducting a 
bucket shop. 
Soon after 165 convicts had gone into 
the mines at Banner, 20 miles west of 
Birmingham, Ala., April 8, there was an 
explosion over a mile under ground. Five 
free laborers, including the convict fore¬ 
man, O. W. Spreading, had gone into 
the mines with the convicts, and they 
met death, together with 123 convicts. The 
mines are operated by the Pratt Consoli¬ 
dated Coal Company, and the convicts are 
hired from a dozen counties in the State. 
The men work out sentences ranging from 
ten days to three years. The company 
has at Banner 282 convicts, but the night 
shift, those sick and the farm hands left 
only 165 for work. Among those in the 
mine were fewer than 20 white convicts. 
After the explosion several convicts who 
had been in mines before understood that 
it was a race for life, and headed for 
the mouth of the mine. Some of them 
warned their fellow workers to get out. In 
the race against the black damp and death 
45 negro convicts managed to get out. 
An explosion in the I’ancoast mine at 
Throop. 1’a., April 7, killed 74 men, among 
them First Aid Assistant Joseph Evans, 
of the Government Mining Bureau, who 
was one of the rescue workers. 
The United States Circuit Court of Ap¬ 
peals reversed on April 10 the judgment 
of the Federal Court in Connecticut in 
the famous Danbury hat case, and ordered 
a new trial. The litigation is now nearly 
two years old, and was instituted by D. E. 
Loewe & Co., a Danbury hat firm, against 
the United Hatters of North America, af¬ 
filiated with the American Federation of 
Labor. It was alleged that the plaintiff 
company had suffered in its sales as a re¬ 
sult of a practical boycott by the defend¬ 
ant because of its refusal to adopt the 
closed shop. The Danbury firm got judg¬ 
ment in the lower court in Connecticut 
for $232,240.12 damages. A verdict in 
favor of the plaintiff was directed by the 
trial judge, Judge James P. Piatt, but the 
amount of damages suffered was left to 
the jury, which fixed it at $74,000. This 
amount was multiplied by three by the 
court under the provisions of the Sherman 
law. In setting aside the lower court’s 
judgment Judge Lacombe, who writes the 
opinion of the Circuit of Appeals, holds 
that the trial judge erred in directing a 
verdict. 
“The Roses,” the residence of Edward 
T. Rosenlieimer at North Pelham, N. Y,, 
was burned April 7, with a loss of $125,- 
000. This place attained notoriety a few 
years ago, when Rosenheimer’s father was 
murdered in the garden, a mystery which 
has never been explained. Last year 
Rosenheimer himself killed one young 
woman and injured two other persons with 
his automobile, under circumstances which 
caused much criticism. Rosenheimer was 
tried for manslaughter, but was acquitted 
on November 4, after a sensational trial 
before Justice (now United States Senator) 
O’Gorman and a jury. 
Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, the pro¬ 
prietors of the Triangle Waist Company, 
whose factory at 23 Washington place, 
New York, was burned out on March 25 
with the loss of 142 lives, were indicted 
April 11. There are two indictments 
against each of the men charging them 
with first and second degree manslaughter. 
Their attorney entered a. plea of not guilty 
with the usual proviso that Ue might 
change it when the case was called again. 
The case will be called on April 25. The 
Italian Consul is making an independent 
investigation. Some of the girls have 
already made affidavits freeing the Triangle 
Shirtwaist Company from any blame. It 
was the habit to hold back one week's 
pay from the girls. After the fire the 
girls swear representatives of the company 
told them they wouldn’t get their pay un¬ 
less they signed affidavits. For the Italian 
Consul they have made affidavits retract¬ 
ing the others. In the retracted affidavits 
they swore, they say, that the doors were 
open at all times and the loss of life was 
due to panic only. Affidavits made the 
Consul tell of locked doors and of the dif¬ 
ficulty of escape. Specific and sweeping 
recommendations for more adequate fire 
protection in factories and other buildings 
where largo numbers of employes congre¬ 
gate are incorporated in the report of the 
investigation of the Asch building fire 
made by the New York Board of Fire Un¬ 
derwriters. A careful survey of the plan 
of the lofts on the three floors where the 
shirtwaist workers were employed in the 
Asch building clearly showed overcrowded 
conditions, inadequate exits and a general 
hazardous arrangement of tables and ma¬ 
chines in the event of fire. On the ninth 
floor, where the greatest loss of life oc¬ 
curred, a diagram of the loft, incorporated 
in the report, shows that there were eight 
unbroken rows of tables, each containing 
a double row of sewing machines, with the 
space between the tables about four feet 
wide, containing two rows of chairs, back 
to back, for the operators. The table ex¬ 
tended from the Washington place front 
flush to the wall to within ten feet of the 
north side of the building. This ten-foot 
space was filled partly with tables of stock, 
allowing only for a narrow aisle. There 
were no aisles through the center of the 
broad loft. The only convenient way for 
the operators near the south waill to reach 
the stairs and elevators was to walk the 
entire length of the crowded space between 
the tables to the north side, and then use 
the aisles which extended along the north 
and west sides. One of the strongest fea¬ 
tures of the underwriters’ recommendations 
is for a fireproof stair tower built from 
the ground to the roof, within the build¬ 
ing itself, but with no direct communica¬ 
tion with the building. 
Twenty lives, it is believed, were lost 
when the small wooden steamer Iroquois, 
plying between Sydney, Vancouver Island 
and the islands of the Gulf of Georgia 
capsized soon after leaving Sydney on April 
10. This accident was in some respects 
similar to the loss of the steamer Sechelt, 
with 26 lives, off Beechy Head, Vancouver 
Island, on March 24. The Sechelt, a wooden 
steamer of almost the same speed and 
dimensions as the Iroquois, was struck by 
a gale, rolled over on her side and went 
down in a few minutes. Only one body 
from the Sechelt was found. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Dr. John G. 
Wills, of Chateaugay, has been appointed 
chief veterinarian in the New York State 
Department of Agriculture, salary $3,000, 
by Commissioner Pearson. He succeeds Dr. 
J. F. Devine. Bernard R. Blanch, of 
Geneva, Roy C. Draper, of Rochester, and 
Marion C. Albright, of West Coxackie, 
have been appointed nursery inspectors. 
The Massachusetts Corn Show was 
definitely organized in Springfield on April 
4, and application is being made to in¬ 
corporate it under the laws of the State. 
The dates are November 7-8-9, inclusive. 
Charles W. Bosworth, of Springfield, is 
president; J. Lewis Ellsworth, of Wor¬ 
cester, is first vice-president; Glenn C. 
Sevey, of Springfield, is treasurer, and Wil¬ 
liam D. Hurd, of Amherst, is secretary. 
The Springfield Board of Trade has pledged 
the backing of Springfield business in¬ 
terests, so that the financial success of the 
show is assured. It is planned to invite 
agricultural organizations to meet in 
Springfield at the time the show is held, 
and able lecturers are being secured for 
the educational meetings. 
Dean Liberty II. Bailey, of the school 
of agriculture at Cornell University, in a 
letter to Governor Dix on April'10 de¬ 
clined the proffer by the Governor of the 
position of State Commissioner of Agri¬ 
culture, owing, as he said, to his obliga¬ 
tions to the university work. The term of 
office of Commissioner Raymond A. Pear¬ 
son, the present incumbent, does not ex¬ 
pire until April 23. 
An outbreak of rabies in Rockland 
County, New York, has caused the commis¬ 
sioner of agriculture to put some localities 
under quarantine. The disease is causing 
disquiet in Northern New Jersey also. 
Delegate Andrews, of New Mexico, has 
asked the National Government for an ap¬ 
propriation of $25,000 for the extermina¬ 
tion of the grama-grass caterpillar in New 
Mexico, Texas, Colorado and Arizona. 
Shortly after the New York Legislature 
reconvenes it is expected that bills will be 
introduced abolishing the State Fair Com¬ 
mission of five members and creating a new 
commission of three to be made up of 
the lieutenant-governor, State Commissioner 
of Agriculture, who are now ex-oflicio mem¬ 
bers of the commission, and a third mem¬ 
ber to be appointed by the governor, who 
will serve at a salary of $3,000 a year. 
The five commissioners who get $3,000 a 
year at present and who will be legislated 
out of office are Charles A. Wieting, Coble- 
skill: Abram E. Perren. Buffalo: Ira Sharp, 
Lowville; De Forest Settle, Syracuse, and 
William Pitkin, Rochester. The State Fair 
in Syracuse in September next will likely 
be the most elaborate ever held, and with 
this object in view the present commis¬ 
sioners have been urging the Governor not 
to do anything which would interfere with 
the plans. It is understood the Governor 
will recommend that the proposed legisla¬ 
tion abolishing the present commission 
shall not take effect until next October or 
until after next Fall’s fair is held in 
September. 
CROP NOTES. 
We have snow here yet (April 5) ; about 
five inches fell last night. I drove up to 
North Creek with my cutter yesterday. 
Butter, 25 cents ; eggs, 17 to 20 cents for 
new, fresh eggs. Can’t get 25 cents for 
wool; do we need free trade? I joined 
the Grange last week at Glens Falls, 30 
miles away. I want to get when 1 I can 
do most effective work—for the people—for 
myself as one of them. s. c. Armstrong. 
Warren County, N. Y. 
Some plant flint corn, but the dent is 
raised mostly for silos, and grain is bought. 
Milk is sold in all ways; some is peddled 
from five to seven cents, some make butter, 
some sell to the creamery that takes the 
cream at the door. That paid from 31 to 
35 cents per pound for butter fat in 1910. 
The worst drawback to the creamery is 
that the customers are so few and far be¬ 
tween it costs too much to gather the cream. 
Others send to Boston and say the com¬ 
pany wants to go back to the old price be¬ 
fore the strike; they have been getting 75 
cents per cooler. t. a. s. 
So. Coventry, Conn. 
We would not like to venture an opinion 
as to what will be the outcome of this 
present potato season. Just at the present 
time the roads are not in good condition 
and the market has been advancing sharply, 
but it appears there are quite a few ship¬ 
pers who seem inclined to speculate. As 
usual with the advance in market, farmers 
are inclined to hold their potatoes and we 
are not in position to advise you as regards 
the stocks on hand as compared with other 
years. However, we believe that there are 
potatoes enough to go around, and if prices 
should be forced too high that we may look 
for a reaction. 
THE VINKF.MULDER COMPANY. 
Grand Rapids, Mich. 
Present conditions indicate at least a 
normal crop of apples. Continued cold 
weather has held buds back, frost just leav¬ 
ing ground. Although local nurserymen re¬ 
port heavy sales, there will be less acreage 
planted locally than last year. Sales of spray¬ 
ing materials this season are larger than 
ever before and farmers are planning to do 
good, thorough work. While many regard 
the outlook for the fruit industry as 
bright, still there is a feeling of conserva¬ 
tism in minds of some growers, fearing 
strong competition of sections able to grow 
more fancy fruit suitable for packing in 
boxes. Many pear orchards badly injured 
by pear psylla last season. w. e. 
Wayne County, N. Y. 
March went out blustery as it has been 
nearly all the while. No farming doing, 
but drawing manure and trimming orchards 
of which there is great need, much dead 
wood on Baldwins and Greenings. Or¬ 
chards will be better taken care of than 
usual, especially in spraying. Not much 
encouragement for farming. Two thousand 
bushels of potatoes for a team of horses, 
and then they are nothing extra. Thirty 
dollars a month and board for help ; phos¬ 
phate as high as usual. While farm pro¬ 
duce is low and going lower, potatoes have 
all been sold out within the past two 
weesk for 25 cents ; now they have gone up 
to 50 cents per bushel. This is overreach¬ 
ing the producer and making the consumer 
feel the high price. We ought to eliminate 
the middleman. Wheat, 80 cents ; oats, 35 
cents; corn, 55 cents; veal, seven cents; 
wool, 18 cents per pound ; butter, 25 cents ; 
eggs, 15 cents in trade. E. t. b. 
Canandaigua, N. Y. 
We are having miserable weather, viewed 
from a desire to begin Spring work and 
the necessity to do a large amount of 
spraying while the trees are dormant. 
And yet, considering the safety of fruit 
buds, the Spring has been very favorable 
thus far. All fruit buds have been un¬ 
usually dormant, rendering them practically 
safe from the rapid changes of temperature 
in the past few weeks. All varieties of trees 
seem to be full of good, strong buds, es¬ 
pecially peaches, plums and apples. Na¬ 
tural conditions here seem to be favorable, 
for we always have some fruit, and our 
oldest growers do not remember a year of 
total failure. Careful spraying and thor¬ 
ough cultivation are now so generally prac¬ 
ticed that we count on a good crop of fine 
fruit. Many thousands of trees have been 
planted and some of them are coming to 
bearing under conditions of neglect. Fruit 
from trees of this kind does not compete 
with well grown and carefully sprayed fruit. 
The old saying “There is always room at 
the top” certainly applies in the fruit 
business, and is my answer to the repeated 
cry of over-production. c. j. tyson. 
Adams Co., Pa. 
Peach buds are practically unhurt at 
present writing; plums and cherries, al¬ 
though not largely grown, promise well at 
this time. For past few years for this 
section there has been a fair crop of apples 
every year, and Baldwin orchards which did 
not bear last season appear well set with 
blossom buds; prospect is for a fair sized 
crop this season. Pears were a rather light 
crop last season, and this season should 
show a larger crop, as trees appear well set 
with blossom buds. But few new orchards 
are being set here; there will be more than 
the average in small lots, but not enough to 
affect market conditions, even should tnev 
all bear fruit later. Spraying is done more 
largely every year, yet there are many or¬ 
chards, especially small ones, where the 
fruit business is a side issue, unsprayed. 
Prices of apples have seldom been better 
than for the 1910 crop, and here where 
there has been but a small increase of 
acreage each year our growers are not 
borrowing any trouble over future pros¬ 
pects. Yet most large growers recognize 
the fact that with a full crop in all sec¬ 
tions, viz., a bumper crop like 1896, and 
the European crop also large, we might get 
a year of very low prices, but we know of 
no one who is looking for low prices all 
the time, while prosperous conditions pre¬ 
vail in our manufacturing cities and towns. 
Of course with a panic and business stag¬ 
nation the fruit growers will suffer as well 
as other classes, and without doubt the 
poorer grades of fruit with poor packing 
will become less valuable as the amount of 
first-class fruit increases. h. o. mead. 
Worcester Co., Mass. 
