1064 
THE RURAI> NEW-YORKER 
September 20, 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
I was a city man, but became possessed 
of the desire to become a “back-to-the- 
lander” and spent the greater part of 
the Summer of 1912 looking up farm bar¬ 
gains offered by the E. A. Strout Agency, 
as advertised in their catalogues. In 
November, 1912, I looked at several 
places at North Scituate, It. I., with their 
agent. Finally I told him I was going 
to look at a place at Chepachet through 
another agent, lie said he had this place 
listed for .$1,500, including a cow, 350 
chickens and 5.000 feet of sawed lumber. 
I contracted for this place for $1,450. 
I paid the North Scituate local agent $10 
in cash, and paid the Strout agent $90 
in cash, so that the seller did not pay 
the commission in my case. We signed 
a contract for the sale and purchase of 
the farm and the owner agreed to give 
me a free and clear title on December 
2, 1912. The agent showed me a lane 
leading from the rear of the farm to a 
road, which was the nearest way to the 
railroad town. He told me I had a per¬ 
petual right of way over this lane. Hav¬ 
ing signed a contract and made a cash 
payment, I returned to my home and 
closed up my business there, moved with 
my wife and effects to the new farm on 
November 30. 
When we came to closing title the 
agent and owner took me to Providence, 
though the neighboring town of Chepa¬ 
chet was the county seat. They had pa¬ 
pers all drawn up ready to sign, but I 
told them I first wanted a search of the 
records and supposed that would have to 
be done in the clerk’s office at Chepachet. 
They then told me for the first time that 
the owner had sold the place last Sum¬ 
mer to another party, but because of 
some misunderstanding the title was not 
passed, and a suit was brought against 
the owner for $500 damage and an at¬ 
tachment was filed against the place. 
They proposed to have the agent take the 
mortgage and go on the owner’s bond, but 
I refused to agree to it. They then tried 
to get me to say that I had thrown up 
the deal. Then they could get away with 
my cash payment. I refused to do this. 
Then they suggested to assign the mort¬ 
gage to my mother, she to hold it to 
protect me on the attachment. _ This 
made me liable for the $500 suit and 
costs. It was not giving me a clear title, 
nor a satisfactory equivalent, but I had 
broken up my home and had $100 in cash 
paid on the farm, and finally agreed to it. 
When I showed the deed to the local 
agent at North Scituate, he said I got 
myself in a hole. He said it was the 
first time he knew there was any judg¬ 
ment against the farm, and if he had 
known of it he would not have sold it to 
me. When the owner left he took away 
personal property that was to go with 
the place, and I find that I have only a 
10-year lease on the lane, and that stipu¬ 
lates that I must provide gates and open 
and close them every time I drive 
through. I think the Strout Agency 
should do something about this deal, but 
I write you for advice before taking any 
further steps in the matter. J. Y. M. 
Rhode Island. 
Any of us can tell this “back-to-the- 
land” farmer what he should have done. 
In the first place he should have em¬ 
ployed a lawyer before he paid any 
money or signed any contract. The at¬ 
torney would have secured a full de¬ 
scription of the farm and a list of the 
personal property to go with it, and 
when it came to closing the title he would 
have insisted on a free and clear title to 
the property. Of course a wise precau¬ 
tion would be not to break up and leave 
the old home until the new one was se¬ 
cured. It is doubtful if this man will 
Jiave any redress now from the Strout 
agent or the old owner, but his best 
course is to place the contract and all the 
information in the hands of a trusty local 
attorney and have his rights protected 
as well as can now be done. This man’s 
story is told not with the expectation of 
getting anything back for him. We do 
not think that probable, but we tell it, 
simply illustrating the difficulty that an 
inexperienced - city man or other buyer 
may have in buying farms through the 
Strout system of agents but no matter 
from whom you buy, no man should pur¬ 
chase real estate without the services of 
an attorney to draw the contract and the 
deeds. 
The National Authors’ Institute, Gai¬ 
ety Theatre Building, New York, a cor¬ 
respondence school, makes very good of¬ 
fers to students taking up the study of 
the photoplay. Is it a reliable school, 
and safe to send the tuition in advance? 
New York. E. K. 
This inquiry was received some time 
back. Our private advice at the time is 
justified by the following from a recent 
city daily: 
Eugene Berry Watt, a young man who 
has served time in the Federal prison at 
Atlanta, and who for the last two years 
has been operating as The National Au¬ 
thors’ Institute, with offices in the Gaiety 
Theatre Building, No. 1547 Broadway, 
was arraigned yesterday afternoon before 
Judge Holt in the United States District 
Court on an indictment charging viola¬ 
tion of the postal laws. 
The postal authorities allege that the 
National Authors’ Institute obtained 
about $20,000 through duping hundreds 
of would-be short story writers and mov¬ 
ing picture playwrights. They say he 
charged tuition fees ranging from $2 to 
$50 and that he advertised extensively 
in college papers and cheap magazines 
promising to secure paying positions for 
graduates. In these advertisements he 
also stated that he would impart to his 
pupils the secrets of the art of short 
story writing. The indictment charges 
all 'of Watt’s extravagant statements 
were made with intent to defraud. In 
1908 Watt was arrested here for a simi¬ 
lar offense, and being convicted was sen¬ 
tenced to a two-year term at Atlanta. 
Because of his youth and on his promise 
to reform he was released on parole. Soon 
after returning to the city he opened the 
National Authors’ Institute. 
May 26 I received from the United 
States Express Company check for $3.11, 
payment for the peaches which were lost. 
I certainly feel grateful to you, for I 
could not have gotten one penny had you 
not collected for me. I told my neigh¬ 
bors about my loss and my failure to 
collect; then I told them that I had a 
friend who could and would collect free 
of all charge, too. They doubted, but 
since I got your letter and check they 
doubt no more. I have been telling peo¬ 
ple about the greatest and best farm pa¬ 
per for years, so now I am going to get 
some subscribers. J. w. m. 
West Virginia. 
Three baskets of peaches were lost in 
transit on August 19, 1912. The U. S. 
Express Company asked for a copy of 
the receipt three times, each time a copy 
being given them; bill for the value of 
the peaches was submitted as many 
times. In February settlement was 
promised in a week. When it dragged 
along to April the subscriber sent it to 
us in discouragement. In May voucher 
was sent less 31 cents, which the com¬ 
pany deducted as commission and ex- 
pressage in spite of the fact that the 
shipment was sent to the subscriber’s 
brother and not to a commission house. 
One of your subscribers of this place 
asked me to call on you for help. On or 
about March 15, 1913, I ordered a pure¬ 
bred swine and some fancy turkey eggs 
from N. P. Boyer & Co., J. T. Morris, 
proprietor, Coatesville, Penna., and sent 
them draft for $35 for the stuff, but in¬ 
stead of filling my order when I asked 
them to, they wrote me letters, one of 
which I enclose. I ask you, therefore, 
to please get them either to ship me the 
stuff I ordered at once, or return the 
money. G. W. c. 
Oklahoma. 
J. T. Morris, proprietor of the firm, 
N. P. Boyer & Co., is an old offender. 
The R. N.-Y. has warned its readers 
against him for 20 years back. Our last 
report of about a year ago showed Mr. 
Morris was in jail awaiting trial in the 
United States courts on a charge of us¬ 
ing the mails for fraudulent purposes. 
Government prosecutions, or even jail 
sentences, do not seem to cure men of 
Morris’ type of their evil ways—as soon 
as they are out of jail they are up to their 
old tricks again. 
Last Spring I entered into correspond¬ 
ence with W. S. Hall, proprietor of the 
Sunny Slope Nursery, Hannibal, Mo., in 
regard to peach trees, and I ordered 10 
“J. H. Hale,” which he recommended 
highly, enclosing check for $5 in payment 
of same. The check came back through 
my bank showing that Mr. Hall had 
cashed it. I have written Mr. Hall 
twice, but am unable to get the trees or 
any reply from him. H. c. c. 
Massachusetts. 
We took up this claim in this sub¬ 
scriber’s behalf during the month of 
June, and while we received no direct 
reply to our letter, the subscriber then 
received a letter from Mr. W. S. Hall, 
of the Sunny Slope Nursery, which prom¬ 
ised to fill his order this Fall. Our un¬ 
derstanding is that the stock of the J. 
H. Hale peach is all in the hands of one 
nursery concern, and if this be true this 
Sunny Slope Nursery had none of the 
stock at the time they solicited and re¬ 
ceived the order from the subscriber in 
question, and their failure to fill the order 
confirms our suspicion. We have made 
a demand in the subscriber’s behalf for 
a refund of $5. It has not been returned. 
We are giving this brief history of this 
transaction for the guidance of fruit 
growers generally. J. J. d. 
“We formed a club of girls sworn to 
marry no man commanding less than ten 
thousand dollars a year.” “And what 
broke it?” “A young fellow came along 
who was earning thirty dollars a week.” 
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