«14 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 11, 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
Well, I am stung again ! I have been 
charged $1.98 for shipment of three crates 
of eggs to New York which should be but 
$1.41. A difference of 57 cents overcharge. 
If you can brings Adams Express to time 
it will be all to the good. Suppose you 
are still on track of my other claims. 
Pennsylvania. ‘ w. j. k. 
We received the 57 cents for this 
overcharge without much trouble. The 
goods are delivered to a messenger, as 
there is no regular express office at this 
point, but there is an overcharge re¬ 
ported on almost every shipment deliv¬ 
ered to the messenger. Adams stated 
over the ’phone they hoped to remedy 
this. 
I was very glad to read your item under 
the head of "Publisher’s Desk" concerning 
the New Mineral Fertilizer Company. I 
was also glad of the way that you exposed 
them, and never was a statement more true 
than this : 
“The farmer who sends money for such 
stock or fertilizer as that ought to have a 
guardian.” 
In my opinion this is one of the greatest 
frauds of the present time, and it is cer¬ 
tainly beyond my comprehension how a re¬ 
liable agricultural paper can allow to ap¬ 
pear in its columns the advertisement of 
such a fertilizer as this company puts out. 
1 heard a very practical farmer only a 
short time ago make this statement, that 
if the fertilizer were placed out in back of 
bis barn he would not consider it worth his 
while to furnish the team to spread it on 
bis soil. 1 supposed that most of the peo¬ 
ple at the present time had been educated 
up to that standard so that they could not 
be inveigled into any such scheme as this. 
1 have even seen some of this fertilizer 
come into my home town. w. h. r. 
Massachusetts. 
Whatever others may do, we do not 
propose that our people drop their 
money into such things for the want 
of information about them. 
Elmer E. Burlingame, who was indicted 
with Dr. Lee De Forest and several others 
for using the mails to defraud by selling 
stock in the Radio Telephone Company, ap¬ 
peared vesterday before John A. Shields, 
United States Commissioner, and furnished 
$3,000 bail. Mr. De Forest was arrested at 
Palo Alto, Cal., last week. A charge of a 
similar nature was made last year against 
Mr. Burlingame for sales of stock in the 
Sun Electric Company, which asserted it 
could generate elecliicity from sun rays 
and store it in batl.t ries. Under the first 
indictment Mr. Buuingame was held in 
$5,000 bail.—Daily Taper. 
It is probable that the people lose 
$100,000,000 annually on such schemes 
ns the above. The Post Office Depart¬ 
ment put their hands on $77,000,000 so 
lost. The law will never be able to 
stop it entirely, so long as people part 
with their money readily, schemes will 
be presented for it. The remedy is 
for the people to get wise to schemes. 
In April, 1911, number of the “Poultry 
Keeper” I read the advertisement of E. 
F. McAvoy, Cambridge, N. Y., and sent 
him 10 cents for a copy of his catalogue. 
1 then wrote Mr. McAvoy inquiring the 
price on fowls, and received his reply de¬ 
scribing three pens of three hens and one 
cock each, quoting prices at $100, $40 and 
$25 respectively on each pen. I wrote 
him that I would take all three pens, and 
sent him final remittance for the amount, 
$105. on July 3, 1911. He wrote me on 
August 7 that he would ship the fowls 
as soon as I was ready for them. I 
asked that they be shipped at once, and 
his letter of September 2 stated that he 
would ship them the next Saturday. I 
wrote him repeatedly, and finally wrote 
the “Poultry Keeper,” in which publica¬ 
tion I saw the advertisement. This pub¬ 
lication replied that Mr. McAvoy had de¬ 
ceived them, and that they had discon¬ 
tinued his advertisement. On March 18. 
1912, I received 12 hens and three cock 
birds from Mr. McAvoy, and had them 
taken from the express office for the reason 
that while I knew the birds were not as 
represented, yet if they were returned Mr. 
McAvoy would claim that they were fully 
up to representations and 1 could not 
prove otherwise. The birds are a motley 
lot, sick, have scaly legs and some are 
deformed. J. e. tv. 
• Texas. 
In regard to E. F. McAvoy of Cambridge, 
N. Y., would say that he has not an¬ 
swered any of my letters since last Fall 
and I have been continually writing to 
him. You will see by our correspondence 
that I ordered a pen of birds from Mr. 
McAvoy over a year ago and previous to 
that time I sent him $1 for a book but 
did not receive it. I sent him $60 for the 
pen of birds in April. 1911, so that he 
now has $61 of my money and I have 
never received the fowls or the book. 
South Quappelle, Canada. c. x. f. 
Mr. McAvoy appeared in Publisher’s 
Desk before several years ago in con¬ 
nection with complaints from subscrib¬ 
ers who sent him money for poultry. 
Since that time we have had occasional 
complaints against him which we have 
quietly induced him to adjust without 
giving the case publicity. During the 
past year, however, the number of com¬ 
plaints against him has increased. The 
two complaints above speak for them¬ 
selves. We have exhausted our re¬ 
sources to induce Mr. McAvoy to ad¬ 
just the complaints without appeal to 
public sentiment, and we think buyers 
are entitled to the information con¬ 
tained in the record. 
1 often read of people asking about the 
etanding of different companies in which 
they want to invest money. But when a 
farmer wants to make a loan on his farm 
and is prepared to give a first mortgage 
for it he finds it hard to find anyone who 
has any money to loan. I have a farm of 
80 acres, 7 ft acres of it woodland, 1% 
acre of same big timber, and orchard of 
200 apple trees, 20 cherry trees, pears and 
other fruit, a fine lot of buildings in good 
condition, plenty of fine water, a nice 10- 
room house, telephone, R. D., located well, 
nearest town 1 % miles, also four or five 
other towns near, and good market for all 
produce. Farm is in good state of culti¬ 
vation, but like lots of others I am short 
of funds to run it right. I would not 
take less than $4,500 for the farm, and I 
would like to make a loan of $2,500 on it, 
first mortgage. This farm cost the former 
owner over $8,000. If you know of any¬ 
one having money to loan I would consider 
it a great favor if you would let me know. 
I don’t use liquor or tobacco in any form 
and never have. f. f. 
Northumberland Co.. Pa. 
Mortgages of this kind afford excel¬ 
lent investments for spare money, es¬ 
pecially for local investors. There is 
probably money in this farmer’s neigh¬ 
borhood or at his county seat, the own¬ 
ers of which would be glad to put it in 
such a mortgage, if they knew of the 
opening. The reason that it is hard 
to finance such a farm mortgage is that 
people in large cities are constantly 
trying to draw the money to the cities. 
In other words, the city securities, such 
as they are, have been well advertised, 
and the farm mortgage is not advertised 
at all. As a further means of helping 
the city, our present financial system is 
devised to drain the country money into 
the city. Another influence is that se¬ 
curities of doubtful value and others of 
no value at all allure the country money 
by the promise of big dividends and par¬ 
ticipating profits. These promise prof¬ 
its to fit the supposed gullibility of the 
people approached. It varies all the 
way from 10 per cent to 1000 per cent 
or more. Investors who are gullible 
enough to believe these get-rich-quick 
stories, or even to think them possible, 
are in no frame of mind to consider a 
farm mortgage at five or six per cent. 
He takes the tempting bait, and loses 
his money. Another trouble with the 
farm mortgage is the difficulty for in¬ 
vestors at a distance to get reliable ap¬ 
praisals. From correspondence that I 
receive, I am sure many people who 
read this would be glad to take the 
mortgage at five or six per cent, if they 
could be sure that the valuation of the 
farm would justify the investment. Of 
course, they could not take the owner’s 
judgment or word for it. Here in the 
city we have regular appraisers, and it 
is a simple matter to find the appraisal 
value of a property. If we had some 
such means of fixing the value of farm 
property I believe it would be compar¬ 
atively easy to find money for farm 
mortgages of this kind. A system that 
would secure the result would be a 
benefit to the farms and a still greater 
benefit to the small investor, because it 
would enable him to make a safe in¬ 
vestment at a good rate of interest. 
I sec that a woman has paid $72 to the 
Standard Home Co;, of Birmingham, Ala., 
expecting a loan, and refusing to send any 
more money because she did not get the 
loan. 1 am in the same fix. 1 stopped 
sending the money last month. I had al¬ 
ready paid them $90, and I do not see 
myself any closer to a loan than when 1 
first began to pay them. Their agent told 
me I could get a. loan after paying six 
monthly installments of $6 each, making 
$36. and then paying $36 cash to make 
up $72 in all. No one in this neighbor¬ 
hood has yet received a loan ; but to all ap¬ 
pearances they received many contracts. 
’The intent and purpose of this contract 
as alleged is to give me a loan, and if 
they are not to do so, they should return 
my money. Can you help me? r. m. 
Minnesota. 
Unfortunately we are unable to do 
anything for the people who go into this 
contract expecting to get a loan in six 
months. The circulars and agents seem 
to promise this loan on payment of 
$72; but the contract itself does not. 
To read the circulars and hear the 
agents, one would think that everyone 
who signed the contract would get a 
loan. Clearly this could not be so. At 
least 15 people would have to pay in 
$72 before one of them could get a 
loan. A large number of people must 
pay in without loans, in order that the 
few can secure loans. The wrong is in 
allowing people to sign the contract 
and pay in their money by the promise 
of loan, when it is plain enough in 
advance that the loan cannot be made, 
and that the people will be disappointed. 
If they continue to pay to the end of 
the contract they will, of course, get 
their money back provided the company 
is solvent at the time the contract ma¬ 
tures. But this makes it a saving 
scheme and not a borrowing proposi¬ 
tion. And these people are induced 
to sign the contract in the hope and 
under the representation that they are 
to have a loan. j. j. d. 
(R>hole Business Section 
of Town Roofed vith 
In the city of 
Coshocton, Ohio, practically every 
good business block and factory erected or re-roofed 
within the last 15 years is covered with J-M Asbestos Roofing. 
The Meek Co.—with about 4 acres of roof space—has covered all its 
buildings with J-M Asbestos Roofing. So has the James B. Clow & Sons 
Co., with nearly 3 acres of roof, and the H. D. Beach Co., with nearly 2 
acres of roof. Likewise, the Pope-Gosser China Co., Coshocton Brick Co., 
Coshocton Glove & Garment Co., Hunt-Crawford Corrugated Paper Co., 
Hay Huston Axle Co., Coshocton Ice & Cold Storage Co., Novelty Adver¬ 
tising Co., and others too numerous to mention. 
Could we induce such shrewd business men as the heads of these 
mammoth manufacturing plants to use J-M Asbestos Roofing if it had not 
given their next-door neighbors entire satisfaction? 
The business men of Coshocton, as well as in all parts of the country, 
have been so unanimous in adopting this ready-to-lay stone (asbestos) roof¬ 
ing, because we have proved to them, as we can alsoprove to you, that it is 
absolutely fire-proof; that it contains nothing that can rot, melt, crack or 
deteriorate with age; and that, because of its long life and the fact that it 
never needs coating or repairs, it costs less per year of service than any 
other roofing. 
J-M Asbestos Roofing is suitable for all types of buildings. Our nearest Branch 
will fill your order if your dealer does not sell it. Write today for Booklet No. KJ48 
which tells all about the advantages of this roofing over other kinds. 
H. W. JOHNS-MANVILLE CO. 
Baltimore 
Boston 
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Cleveland 
Dallas 
Detroit Milwaukee Omaha St. Louis 
Indianapolis / C a r CY\q C Minneapolis Philadelphia Seattle 
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For Canada: -THE CANADIAN H. W. JOHNS-MANV1LLE CO., LIMITED, 
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__. avr'KSCC 
■i’-'.; 'r - r ■ . :>V2 -■ ■ A—,' V. 4 
Why 
buy lumber for 
your farm when the 
price of one carload will 
pay for an “American” Saw 
Mill with which you can cut 
a carload a day from your own 
grove? Be independent; increase 
your farm income. Make your 
own lumber; use what you need 
— sell what is left. And saw 
your neighbor’s timber for him, 
too, at good profit. "Mak¬ 
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is a book which tells the 
whole story. Let us send 
you a copy. Write 
to our nearest 
_ office. 
AMERICAN SAW MILL MACHINERY CO. 
Hope Street, Hackettfltown. J. 
s lr»82 T«rminal Bldg., N Y. Chicago, Savannah.New Oriean* 
This portable machine 
cuts 2,600 feet per day 
| with 6 H.P. 
EAIEHIS\ 
that Pay. $427,630 made by cli¬ 
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___ _ to Invent—Proof of Fortunes 
in Patents” & 112-p. uuide Fro« I Free report as to pat 
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RUSTPROOF:BULLSTRONG: PIGTIGHT 
Fences for horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, chickens,etc. 
Special law bargain prices. We pay the freight. 
Ornamental Lawn Fences and Gates 
Send for catalog Brown Fence & Wire Co. 
and sample Dept. 60 Cleveland,Ohio 
SPLENDID CROPS 
j n Saskatchewan (Western Canada) 
Bushelsfrom 20 Acres 
of wheat was the thresher’s re¬ 
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w 1) eat to th o acre. Other g rains 
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Large Profits 
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For settlers’ low railway rates and Illus¬ 
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301 E. GENESEE STREET 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
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