©14 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
September 9, 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
One of our subscribers agreed to buy 
a self-heating iron called “Economy” 
from an agent, paying him a small de¬ 
posit. A couple of weeks after the 
agent called to deliver the iron for 
which our subscriber paid him. Upon 
examining it she found the iron was 
old and broken. She wrote the com¬ 
pany—the Aetna Iron Company, of 
Newark, N. J., and the same agent 
called for the iron and took it away, 
saying he would bring another one on 
the same day. The agent has never re¬ 
turned. She is out her money and the 
iron, and although she has written the 
company regarding the transaction, and 
we have written for her, the only advice 
we can get is that “she should not have 
given the agent the iron,” and as the 
man is not in their employ at this time 
they can do “nothing about the matter.” 
We simply repeat this history to em¬ 
phasize our previous advice to be cau¬ 
tious about dealing with agents. How 
far a company is responsible for the 
transactions of their agents is a de¬ 
batable question, but our position is that 
they should be responsible and make 
good a loss of this kind which is the di¬ 
rect fault of their accredited agent. By 
and by people will hesitate to deal with 
agents at all. 
I am interested in the Publisher’s Desk, 
and write to know if I have “bought a gold 
brick,” too. Last November I took one 
share of stock in the Independent Har¬ 
vester Company, or Farmers’ Company, as 
they call it. As I expected to buy some 
machinery in the near future, I took the 
preferred machinery discount stock, which 
pays no interest. There is nothing in the 
agreement when they would redeem this 
stock. By unforeseen circumstances I have 
come to need the money, and wrote to the 
company offering my share for sale, but was 
promptly told that the statutes of this 
State prohibited them buying back their 
own stock. Is this so? Is there any way 
I can get the money back? Of course, I 
don't expect to get full value. J. E. d. 
Illinois. 
It is our information that Illinois cor¬ 
porations are not allowed to purchase 
their own stock, and we are afraid this 
money is lost. We advised our readers 
against investing in concerns of this sort 
some time ago in this column. A similar 
concern, which we understand was pro¬ 
moted by the same people, was organ- 
ied in Springfield, Ohio, some eight 
or 10 years ago and sold stock in the 
same manner. The concern finally went 
into the hands of a receiver and the 
farmers, of course, lost all the money 
they put into it. The promoters then 
went to Plano, Ill., and seem to be re¬ 
peating the Ohio performance there. 
Please give me advice in regard to the 
Chacanms Plantation Company. I have paid 
in $600, and I am afraid I have been 
swindled. All their business has seemed 
to be O. K. until now, when they are asking 
a 5 per cent payment. r. h. 
Pennsylvania. 
This company is asking for $5,000 to 
meet some pressing obligations. If they 
fail to meet this obligation their prop¬ 
erty will be attached under the laws of 
Mexico. They are, therefore, coming 
to the small stockholders asking for the 
five per cent payment on the amount in¬ 
vested, promising to repay same with 
six per cent interest later. There is 
nothing to justify a further remittance 
as far as we can see. This seems to 
be the same plea made by all these 
stock-selling companies. The officers of 
this company are reputed to be men of 
affairs, and some are connected with 
financial institutions, and if the property 
had anything like the value they inti¬ 
mate for it, or anything like the pros¬ 
pects they promise, it would be an easy 
matter for them to go to experienced 
investors or brokers and secure the 
amount they need without appealing to 
the original investor to help them. Un¬ 
der all the circumstances we would not 
advise further investments. 
The Gotham Dairy Company of New York 
came up here last Fall and asked for our 
milk. They now owe us some .$7,000 and 
offer to pay 35 cents on the dollar. Our 
lawyers advised us to take it. I would like 
your opinion of that offer. p. n. w. 
New York. 
Our records show that a chattel mort¬ 
gage has been issued against the com¬ 
pany on their trucks and horses. They 
have refused to make any financial state¬ 
ment, and whether they have any prop¬ 
erty or not is known only to them¬ 
selves. Their business in New York is 
done entirely on a cash basis and it is 
doubtful if they are in a position to 
get credit here. It is unfortunate that 
farmers have permitted them to run up 
such a large account. Possibly the 
farmers will «et more out of it by ac¬ 
cepting the 35 cents on the dollar than 
in any other way. These milk dealers 
should be obliged to give an account of 
what they have done with the profits of 
the milk and a very thorough, definite 
examination of their affairs ought to be 
insisted upon before accepting a com¬ 
promise of this kind. Farmers cannot 
be too careful in entering into contracts 
with unknown parties without a definite 
rating. 
I am enclosing all papers and bills relat¬ 
ing to a shipment of eggs made to a New 
York commission house. They claim they 
were never received and the American Ex¬ 
press Company claims to hold tracer showing 
that the shipment was delivered. I have 
done all I can to straighten the matter out, 
and as this concern has always been a first- 
class house to deal with. I think it is only 
a little mix-up somewhere. Will you kindly 
look into the matter for me, as you have so 
kindly done before in regard to other mat¬ 
ters? w. H. A. 
New York. 
We followed this matter up some 
s en or eight months with the Ameri¬ 
can Express Company. The shipment 
was lost in transit, but because other 
shipments made about the same date 
had been delivered, the express com¬ 
pany mixed them up with the particular 
shipment that was missing and wanted 
to insist it, too, had been delivered. 
After some time they became convinced 
they had lost it somewhere along their 
line, and our subscriber reported the 
claim of $14.76 had been paid. 
An unexpected dividend of 10 per cent 
of the unsecured claims against Cardenio 
F. King, stock broker and promoter, now 
serving a long sentence in State’s prison, 
was declared to-day by Lee M. Friedman, 
the trustee of the estate. Allowed unse¬ 
cured claims against the estate amouut to 
.$95,000, and it was said to-day that in addi¬ 
tion to the .$9,500 now at the disposal of 
the creditors, a still further sum may be 
realized from the assets. 
The above is a newspaper dispatch 
from Boston, Mass. It is a good sign 
that the law begins to put swindling 
promoters in prison, and divides their 
plunder among the victims. 
Elmer E. Ellsworth, Red Bank, N. J., 
is a fugitive from justice. A warrant 
for his arrest on a charge of the forgery 
of a $4,000 note is in the hands of the 
detectives. Another note discounted by 
Ellsworth for $2,500 is said to be a 
forgery, and a stock certificate sold to 
a local investor is said to be worthless. 
Two years ago Ellsworth began fren¬ 
zied financial operations among farmers. 
The R. N.-Y. caught him in one of his 
early swindles and promptly exposed 
them. Then Ellsworth abandoned the 
agricultural field and evidently turned 
his attention to business centres. It is 
said that more claims will yet be heard 
from. 
Can you inform me whether the claims of 
the N. E. Mineral Fertilizer and Chemical 
Company, of Boston, are as represented in 
their pamphlets? I saw their advertisement 
in a Boston paper. 1 wrote for their printed 
matter and price list. If the fertilizer is 
half what they claim for it at the price it is 
certainly what we have been looking for. 
Ithode Island. H. l. y. 
Keep right on looking and let this 
wonderful chance go by. There is no 
h! 0 her authority on fertilizers than Dr. 
E. H. Jenkins of the Connecticut Ex¬ 
periment Station. He says: 
The analysis of a sample taken from a 
bag sent by the manufacturer showed 90.92 
per cent, of silica and silicates undecom¬ 
posed and insoluble in strong boiling hydro¬ 
chloric acid. The acid dissolved 0.28 per 
cent, of phosphoric acid and 0.36 per cent, 
of potash. No further comment on this 
material as a fertilizer is necessary. If 
there are any farmers who believe that 
finely ground stones can enrich the more 
finely ground rock dust which is already in 
our soils, and that these ground stones are 
six times as valuable as commercial fer¬ 
tilizers, to such farmers the claims made 
for this fertilizer may appeal. To others 
they will appear so preposterous as to be 
unworthy of discussion. 
According to this a ton of this stuff 
contained five pounds of phosphoric acid 
and seven of potash—together worth 60 
cents! It will require a faith very much 
stronger than boiling acid to get value 
out of this stuff. Let it alone. The 
farm papers which advertise it ought to 
be ashamed of themselves. 
About 30 employes of the Telepost 
Company went on strike recently to en¬ 
force payment of past due salaries. The 
excuse given by the president of the 
company was that stock sales had been 
slow, which is a virtual confession that 
the business does not pay, and that it is 
kept going by sales of stock. The litera¬ 
ture sent out by the Sterling Debenture 
Co., sales agents for the stock, claim 
that the Telepost becomes self-support¬ 
ing practically as soon as established. 
The investors in this stock take their 
hazard against advice repeated at fre¬ 
quent intervals in this column for the 
past three years. When stock sales cease 
to produce revenue, strikes will prob¬ 
ably be permanent. j. jr. n. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
White Lead on the 
F arm— Vehicles 
\ You can’t afford to neglect 
painting your farm wagons. A 
few small cracks will let in the 
weather, the wood will begin 
to rot. the timber to weaken, 
and a break-down will follow. 
Neglect rums viore •wagons 
than over-weighting. 
Good old-fashioned paint made of 
Dutch Boy Painter” 
Pure White Lead 
and pure linseed oil is what wagons need. 
It holds to the wood like a nail and fills every 
crack and crevice, The surface of the wood 
is protected against moisture until the paint 
is actually worn away. 
Our Free Painting Helps. We will send you 
free on request color schemes and miscellaneous paint- 
NEWTON’S HEAVE 
COUCH, DISTEMPER I I D C 
AND INDIGESTION vUIxCi 
_ The Standard Veterinary Remedy. 
Makes the Horse Strong and Willing to Work. 
CURES HEAVES BY CORRECTING THE CAUSE 
which Is Indigestion. Send for booklet “Ilorse Troub¬ 
les/’ Explains fully about the Wind. Throat, Stomach 
and Blood. Newton’sissafef or colt, adultormarein foal 
A GRANU CONDITIONER AND WORM EXPELLER 
$1.00 n can at dealers, or express prepaid 
THE NEWTON BEMEDY CO., Toledo, Ohio 
second $1.00 can cures Heaves, The third 
is the sign of a modern farm. The superiority of concrete over euery other form of building 
material has been absolutely proven. Progressive farmers everywhere are now using concrete 
for all reconstruction and new buildings. From every standpoint—economy, durability, appear¬ 
ance, ease of handling, fireproof qualities —concrete is supreme. LEHIGH PORTLAND CEMENT 
makes the strongest, most durable and most uniform concrete on the market. 
These same superior qualities have made LEHIGH the unhesitating choice of the builders of the magnificent 
Curtis Publishing Co’s Building, at Philadelphia, Pa., where 25,000 barrels of Lehigh were used, the Western Maryland 
Ry. Extension requiring 150,000 barrels—the Woolworth Building, New York City, requiring over 30,000 barrels— 
the Southern Power Co’s Dam and Plant at King’s Creek, S. C., and many other of the most important pieces of 
construction work of recent years. You are safe when you follow the judgment of the noted engineers behind these 
undertakings. 
I TOTAL! PORTLAND 
LLlllvtlCEME 
NT 
Ask for LEHIGH by name. Watch for the LEHIGH trade-mark; it is the easiest way to make certain of satisfac¬ 
tion. Lehigh is the best cement for buildings, barns, water-troughs, corn-cribs, fence posts, etc. At least one good dealer 
in your town can supply you and can make quick deliveries. 
Our complete handbook, sent free, gives full instructions, with plans and diagrams for all 
concrete work on the farm. 
Just a postal or letter with your name and address, brings you this valuable book postpaid. 
No obligations—just address: 
LEHIGH PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY 
(11 mills—11,000,000 barrels yearly capacity) 
Dept. A, Allentown, Pa. 
