roe 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
I bought a farm four years ago through 
the Strout agent, W. W. Leister, with the 
understanding that the man that sold the 
farm paid the commission. I paid $3,675 
for the farm, but the man who sold it 
got only $3,100, and the agent kept the 
other $575. Can you collect overcharges 
for me? My farm is near Quakertown, Pa. 
Pennsylvania. w. p. 
This man is to be congratulated. He 
must be something of a financier him¬ 
self. He seems to have bought a farm 
through the Strout company - and paid 
them only about 20 per cent, of the sell¬ 
ing price of the farm for their valu¬ 
able services. Many of the buyers who 
write us paid as high as 50 per cent, for 
the Strout intervention. As yet we do 
not know whether these payments can 
be recovered from the Strout company 
or not. At one time they promised to 
adjust all the corhplaints. They did 
adjust several, and then refused any 
further settlements. It would be a good 
policy for all the complainants to join 
in a suit on one complaint and test the 
matter in the courts. We believe such 
a suit would be successful. 
What do you think of the enclosed ex¬ 
tract from “Farm and Home,” May 1st is¬ 
sue? What is the object here? One of my 
neighbors just put up $10 expenses for a 
“free advertising orchard,” a few years 
ago which proved to be worse than worth¬ 
less. Does this contain another sleeper? 
Ohio. J. w. 
Following is the enclosure published 
under the caption, “Business Talks with 
Business Farmers,” by Herbert Myrick, 
illustrated with a picture of Mr. Myrick 
and a bursting bag of gold coin: 
It is a reprint from the Myrick paper. 
THE SQUARE THING. 
In the Spring of 1908 I ordered $22 
worth of nursery stock from your adver¬ 
tiser, Gardner Nursery Company of Osage, 
la. The plants were set out, but have 
proved to be not according to name and 
all mixed up.—T. E. Wood, Shoshone 
County, la. 
This matter was referred to Mr. Gardner, 
who by very next mail wrote Mr. Wood: 
“We cannot understand how , our packers 
could have gotten your orders so mixed. 
We therefore inclose New York draft for 
$22. Keep the part of the stock which 
proved all right, and we will give you $5 
worth of anything more you want from 
our catalog. We wish to prove to you that 
we grow a good stock and can get the 
same to you in good condition, true to 
name, etc. We have improved our packing 
facilities and handling so that our present 
system cuts errors down to the smallest 
minimum.” 
Mr. Wood immediately writes to me: “I 
could not ask a more liberal settlement. 
Evidently I misjudged them, and wish to 
do anything I can to renfedy any injustice 
done, and ask your aid.” 
The real trouble in this case was that 
the buyer never wrote to the seller, report¬ 
ing the condition, and the seller was only 
too glad to make it right the moment it 
was called to his attention. Out of the 
millions of transactions between our read¬ 
ers and advertisers in the course of a year 
how few complaints we receive and how 
easily they are adjusted. 
“What is the object here?” asks our 
correspondent. It is probably the fra¬ 
ternity of fakers. It is not the first 
evidence we have had of the coopera¬ 
tion among them. Some of the worst 
rogues that we have exposed found com 
fort and public support from Mr. My¬ 
rick. When we were trying to protect 
farmers from their schemes Myrick en¬ 
couraged with advertising and editorial 
approval the American Farm Co., the 
Seedless Apple Co., the Temple Pump 
Co., the Detroit Engine Works, the 
Strout Farm Agency Company, the 
Whiting Nursery Co., and now probably 
the least of all of them, the Gardner 
Nursery Company. Let J. W.’s neigh¬ 
bor send his complaint to Mr. Myrick, 
and see if he will get his $10 back. If 
he is successful we can send him 
other similar complaints. If Mr. Myrick 
does not know that the Gardner Nursery 
Co. free gift proposition is a fake he 
is not qualified to give “business talks 
to business farmers.” If he does know 
it to be a fake, then he betrays the con¬ 
fidence of his readers to earn the ap¬ 
proval and the patronage of an adver¬ 
tiser. Mr. Myrick refused to see that 
the old game is worked out. Intelligent 
farmers will no longer stand for the 
schemes that were worked with impu¬ 
nity years back. His “business talk” will 
bring him no end of trouble so long as, 
he attempts to make them an apology 
for fakers or rogues. 
I see that some of the papers are carry¬ 
ing the advertisement of the Dr. Haux 
Spectacle Co., of St. Louis. Mo. As I know 
them to be a fake I send you their adver¬ 
tisement and their circular which speaks 
for itself. The glasses that they sent n.e 
are not better than the ones that can be 
bought in the stores for 10 cents a pair. 
They will not do anything for us that they 
agree to do, or as they agreed to do it, 
and when we complain to them they do 
not answer our letters. They are picking 
a lot of money out of the people. They 
soaked my son $1. ' C. K B. 
New York. 
The above letter speaks for itself and 
hardly needs comment. This Dr. Haux’s 
spectacle proposition was referred to in 
“Publisher’s Desk” several years ago, 
and the business methods of the con¬ 
cern apparently have not been improved 
in the meantime. 
I live in the Highland section of Pateta- 
ogue, to which you refer on page 590; have 
been here for 13 years. It is six miles 
from Patchogue. Whoever buys lots here 
is stuck. It is nothing but hills and hol¬ 
lows, and the only improvements that were 
ever made were that the big timber was 
cut off and sold and nothing left but the 
stumps. This lot selling is a curse to the 
county. There is large acreage for sale at 
a reasonable price. Some land sharks come 
out here and get five-acre lots, and lay 
out the streets and try to sell the lots. 
Many of the lots are on tax sale "now, 
and will cost the county a good many 
dollars before they get through with them. 
Some people come out here and buy acre¬ 
age and do very well raising chickens, etc. 
Others come with big ideas and soon go 
back. The place is all right for a person 
who is willing to work, but it is no place 
for lots. G. E. 
Long Island. 
Imagine suburban building lots, 50 
miles from the city, six miles from the 
town, and covered with stumps. These 
are the lots that I was to get “free,” 
and required only to pay for improve¬ 
ments. It would not be a bad deal for 
the sellers, since the cost of improve¬ 
ments was made high enough to suit 
his avarice. He probably had in mind 
the decoration of the stump. 
Can you give me any information regard¬ 
ing W. M. Ostrander of 12 West Thirty- 
first street, New York City, who is offering 
a course of instruction in the real estate 
business for $35 or $30 cash down. He 
agrees to start anyone who will cooperate 
with him and furnish office outfit, type¬ 
writer, desk, chairs, etc. I have also been 
corresponding with another company, the 
Morden Land & Loan Co., Palace Building, 
Minneapolis, Minn., who are quite anxious 
to get me to represent them in the real 
estate business after taking their course 
of instruction for which they charge $20 
cash. Do you know anything about the 
standing of this company? Would you ad¬ 
vise anyone to take a correspondence course 
before taking up the real estate business? 
Massachusetts. " L. I. T. 
Ostrander’s experience ought to qual¬ 
ify him to instruct you in the art of 
faking your neighbors on his real estate 
schemes. If you want that kind, of in¬ 
structions and want to engage in that 
kind of business, you will probably get 
what you may consider the value of 
your $35. But if you are looking for 
any other kind of instruction or em¬ 
ployment, keep awav from Ostrander. 
As to the other concern, I would not 
give them 20 cents, much less $20, for 
any instruction they can give about the 
real estate business. The anxiety to get 
you to represent them is simply an 
anxiety to get your $20. It is a modifi¬ 
cation of the old work at home fake. 
Real estate business cannot be learned 
by correspondence. You no doubt know 
more about the business now in your 
neighborhood than the man does who 
wants to give you lessons for $20. 
J. J- d. 
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Frick Building 
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