800 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June fl, 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
Can you give us any information re¬ 
garding C. Abramson, 233 Madison 
Street, New York? I shipped him a 
crate of eggs April 6 and he sent me a 
check for them, but the check came back 
unpaid, as there were no funds to pay 
it. In the meantime I had sent another 
shipment and now cannot hear from Mr. 
Abramson. He promised to pay 2S cents 
a dozen. Can you help find him? A. R. 
New York. 
We have 13 complaints from farmers, 
aggregating $200, including two ship¬ 
ments made Mr. Abramson in 1911 which 
are unadjusted. This amount has been 
lost because of failure to investigate the 
standing before making shipments. Ilis 
initial inquiry was for trial shipments 
at 2S cents per dozen. When inquiry 
was made why shippers had not received 
returns he claimed checks were lost or 
tags had come off cases and he could not 
tell who was the shipper. We are in¬ 
formed that he sent out something like a 
hundred checks dated ahead, all of which 
were protested when presented. His of¬ 
fice was in a basement, but he has moved 
now and the advice is that he has gone 
to Pittsburgh. He will probably play 
the same trick on shippers from that 
point. Ilis removal was doubtless 
planned in advance as this is usually the 
case with concerns sending out quota¬ 
tions above the market price. 
A poor woman who is in my employ 
and who has a child to support, was in¬ 
duced by II. H. Tilley of 68 Valentine 
Ave., Mt. Vernon, N. Y., to give him 
$50 for an old phonograph which was 
not worth $15. It took this woman a 
long time to save this money and the 
loss of it means privation to herself and 
her child. Will you please write to Mr. 
Tilley and see if you cannot induce him 
to take back the machine and refund the 
money? A. c. o. 
New Jersey. 
After addressing several letters to Mr. 
Tilley he called on us and gave his ver¬ 
sion of the transaction but refused to 
accept return of the machine. At the 
time of his call he made an offer of $15 
in settlement which offer he since with¬ 
drew and now agrees to refund $10 of 
the money. 
I have been approached to buy some 
of the International Text Book Company 
stock of Scranton, Pa. I inclose you 
some of their pamphlets. I have declined 
the opportunity to purchase. I could get 
no statement from the salesman that 
would show the necessity of selling this 
stock if it is as good to hold as repre¬ 
sented. I would like a copy of the pa¬ 
per in which you referred to this mat¬ 
ter. s. E. 
New York. 
One of the pamphlets states that the 
agents of the company are now to be 
sent into small towns and country dis¬ 
tricts in which they have not heretofore 
operated. It claims that the rural terri¬ 
tory is most productive for them, and 
that country boys and girls are easiest 
enrolled. According to this pamphlet the 
country districts are to be convassed by 
these agents and solicitors, and for this 
reason it may be well to restate some 
facts that have been said before. 
The concern has an army of agents 
soliciting the scholarships. These agents 
and the advertising literature of the 
company encourage every proposed stu¬ 
dent to believe he can manage the 
courses, and better his position and great¬ 
ly increase his income. Contracts are 
made with people who are not able to fol¬ 
low the work, and after a short trial 
give it up. They pay the first install¬ 
ment, and while they get no benefit what¬ 
ever, the company enforces payment for 
the balance of the contract. This in¬ 
flicts rather a severe hardship and loss 
to some young people w'ho can ill afford 
the loss. 
As to the stock investment, a bill is 
before the Massachusetts Legislature to 
enforce this and other correspondence 
schools selling stocks to file information 
about them w'ith the State Corporation 
Commissioner. In a hearing before the 
legislative committee w 7 hich is consider¬ 
ing the bill, a representative of the 
Scranton concern stated that the bill was 
aimed at them, and that the bill was in¬ 
troduced to make the International Cor¬ 
respondence School pay money to prevent 
its passage. Representative Clarence A. 
Barnes of Mansfield, who proposed the 
bill, is reported to have said : 
These people, one way or another, are 
reaching a lot of poor people and induc¬ 
ing them to invest in securities. Now 
when a man buys of a stock broker he 
appreciates it is purely a commercial 
transaction, but when a school attempts 
to sell securities it assumes a fiduciary 
relation towards its pupils. 
“Instructors of these schools,” he 
charged, “and their agents go into the 
homes of students, get into their con¬ 
fidence and ascertain how much money 
they have in the bank. They will then 
remark that ‘if you have any money to 
invest and ever get a chance to buy 
stock in this Lackawanna company (for 
instance), get all you can of it.’ 
“Three or four weeks later a salesman 
from the Lackawanna Coal & Lumber 
Company puts in his appearance and 
makes an easy sale of stocks. The in¬ 
structor gets a rake-off for ‘tipping off’ 
the salesman and at least one higher of¬ 
ficial receives a share.” 
Mr. Barnes cited the case of a poor 
widow in Roxbury who, he said, invested 
$650 in one company because one of her 
boarders, a student of the correspondence 
schools, had told her to purchase the 
stock. Later she learned that the stu¬ 
dent had received a commission of $10 
for the “tip” he had given the company. 
We have seen volumes of literature on 
the several companies promoted by the 
men connected with the Scranton con¬ 
cern, but we have not seen anything that 
would give an intelligent idea of the value 
of the stocks. They lay great stress on 
the fact that the International Text-book 
Company stock is in the hands of good 
people, and that it is not sold on the ex- [ 
changes, and that the price is maintained 1 
by the company. Instead of being argu¬ 
ments why you should buy, these facts 
are reasons to us against buying the 
stock. So long as the company pays the 
dividends, and sells through agents, and 
takes the stock off the hands of those who 
want to sell it, all is well, but no pur¬ 
chaser has any guarantee that the divi¬ 
dend will be paid in the future, no person 
has any guarantee that the stock will be 
taken off his hands later on. The com¬ 
pany may not pay dividends in the fu¬ 
ture. It may not continue to sell the ! 
stock over again. It may do neither; 
and in such case the holder of the stock 
would find no market for it. 
It is not enough that a stock pays 
dividends, and that the promoters of it, 
buy it up again to maintain the price. 
Dividends are often paid for a time on 
worthless stocks, and the fact that the 
promoters organize an agency to take up 
the stock and sell it over again is evi¬ 
dence that the stock does not sell on the 
open market on its merits at prices es¬ 
tablished for it. The Massachusetts 
Legislature will do well to pass its bill. 
Why shouldn’t this concern furnish in¬ 
formation to show whether or not the 
poor people of the State are getting value 
for their money? 
I send you part of the correspondence 
between C. L. B. Landis of Reading, Pa., 
which shows that he owes me $8. I have 
made various efforts to secure payment, 
and I take the liberty to ask you to do 
by me as you have by some of your other 
subscribers and attempt to make the 
collection. I will be much obliged wheth¬ 
er you can collect or not. j. H. R. 
Maine. 
From a mere sense of duty we have 
been trying to get this settlement from 
Mr. Landis. We failed as we expected 
we would. We have had complaints of 
him for 15 years or more, and do not 
recall a single adjustment. We expect 
no redress for complainants. Our only 
hope is to lessen the number of them. 
Please make me a formal member of 
the Uhlman Club. I have long been an 
actual, acting member, having dropped 
the Success magazine because of the 
Lewis advertisement, and long years 
ago shunted that Indianapolis fake, also 
let go of a farm paper whose editor was 
and is master of the diverse problems 
that confront the soil tiller here. Please 
publish the pledge again. Every farmer 
should join and all should live up to the 
pledge, although sometimes it will hurt. 
As I am pledged to be a life member of 
The Rural New-Yorker fraternity, en¬ 
closed is my subscription. G. F. M. 
Florida. 
The Anti-Fake Club is growing. A 
few more members and w 7 e will form our 
organization. When this is done, a defin¬ 
ite pledge will be drafted, and suitable 
regulations prescribed. The idea of the 
organization is to discourage dishonest 
advertising by calling the attention of 
publishers to them and by refusing to 
receive papers the publishers of which 
persist in printing the advertising of 
fakers and rogues. j. j. d. 
Results Compared with Theories 
Here we have: 
Ten telephones for each 
hundred persons. 
Nearly one rural telephone 
to every two farms. 
Reasonable rates fitted to 
the various needs of the whole 
people. 
Telephone exchanges open 
continuously day and night. 
Policy—prompt service. 
There they have: 
One telephone for each 
hundred persons. 
Practically no telephones 
on the farms. 
Unreasonable rates arbitra¬ 
rily made without regard to 
various needs of the whole 
people. 
Telephone exchanges 
closed during lunch hour, 
nights and Sundays. 
Policy—when your turn 
comes. 
America's Telephones Lead the World 
With the Best Service at the Lowest Cost. 
American Telephone and Telegraph Company 
And Associated Companies 
One Policy One System Universal Service 
HAVANA FARM TRUCKS. 
Both Steel or Wood Wheel. 
Especially adapted for farm purposes and 
coming into more general use every day on 
the roads, because of the wide tire. You will 
appreciate our free catalog. 
HAVANA METAL WHEEL CO., Box 17 HAVANA, ILL 
Save draft —save repairs. 
i’t rut roads or fields. Send today for free 
illustrated catalog of wheels and wagons. 
Electric Wheel Co., * 8 Elm St. f Quincy, III. 
Por Intensive Tillage 
Cutew&y 
Disk Harrows and Plows 
A style and size for every farmer 
The Cutaway Harrow Company 
Makers of the original CLARK disk harrows and plows 
839 Main Street Higganum, Conn. 
SAVE HALF Your 
Paint Bills 
By using INGERSOLL PAINT —proved 
best by 66 years’ use. It will please you. 
Only paint endorsed by the “Grange.” 
Made in all colors—for all purposes. 
DELIVERED FREE 
From the Mill Direct to You at Factory Prices. 
INGERSOLL PAINT BOOK —FREE 
Tells all about Paint and Painting for Durability. 
How to avoid trouble and oxpenso caused by painta 
fading, chalking and peeling. Valuable information 
free to you, with Sample Color Cards. Write me. DO 
IT NOW. I can save you money. 
O.W. Ingersoll, 246 Plymouth St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 
r$io,ooo.oo*<| 
JLJ/vclr n Tltis Drill 
If this Hertzler & Zook Grain Drill doet ot atisfy 
you in every way. ship it back, and if we fail to return 
your money in full, paying freight both ways, we for¬ 
feit $10,000 which our bankers hold *o protect you— 
you can’t lose. 
Wo make this bip guarantee because we know this is the 
best drill on the market today—sows all kinds of k rain, seed 
or fertilizer accurately and without waste. High, broad- 
tire wheels lighten draft. Extra larpe grain box. We also 
make a low down and plain seed drill. Sold direct from 
factory; saves you $10 to $20 dealers’ prolits. 
Write for cat¬ 
alog and 
offer. 
30 Days’ 
Free Trial 
HERTZLER & 
ZOOK CO. 
Box 120 
Belleville, Pa. 
1 - 
“BADGER” Guarantee Is Positive 
No strings attached—no catches or technicalities in our 
guarantee. Your engine must satisfy you, for your good 
will means our success. Our guarantee covers every part 
—~, n< * * s imqd for five years. 
They cost little to run. Consumo no fuel which is not turned 
into power. Develop more power than rated. Speed adjust¬ 
able at will. Runs smoothly ; needs no blocking ; wearing parts 
are case hardened and made adjustable. Use gas, gasoline or 
crude oil. Finest power plant for grinding, wood sawing, fodder cutting: 
churn, separator or milking machine, Made in portable, semi-portable and 
stationary typos. 2% to 30 II. 1>. 
Send for Catalog. Free Engineering lessons sent on receipt of dealer’s name. 
Address, THE CHRISTENSEN ENGINEERING CO., Milwoukoo, Wis. 
Or J. B. Norton Co,, Inc., Distributors, 209 Elizabeth St, Utica, N. Y. 
GASOLINE ENGINES 
