950 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
We shipped a case of eggs to M. Flie¬ 
gel, 342 Greenwich Street, N. Y„ on May 
1. lie claims he did not receive them. 
Adams Express Company shows deliv¬ 
ery, but still Mr. Fliegel refuses to ad¬ 
just. What can we do? c. H. b. 
New York. 
Mr. Fliegel declines to make payment 
regardless of the proof of shipment and 
clear delivery record. He Tefuses to go 
down to the express office and verify the 
signature on their books. The amount 
would not warrant suit, which would be 
necessary to make collection. Such con¬ 
cerns need a lesson of the kind but they 
realize they are immune because of the 
expense of the suit, which in most cases 
does not run into a large amount. This 
case of eggs was valued at $9. 
In order to qualify for membership in 
the Anti-Fake Club, I am forwarding 
herewith the literature of American 
Banking Credit Co., Chicago, which, 
while only a beginner at present, prom¬ 
ises to do a considerable business among 
our farmers unless a damper is put on 
them. They push the low rate of inter¬ 
est charged on their loans among farm¬ 
ers who are already carrying loans, and 
emphasize the large returns on the in¬ 
vestment to savings bank depositors. I 
am also enclosing report on Willis Els- 
worth Wright, president, which will give 
you a line on the man behind the con¬ 
cern. I may say for your information 
that a copy of this report which I hand¬ 
ed to a neighbor fell into Mr. Wright’s 
hands, and he has filed suit against me 
for .$50,000, so you see he is running 
true to form. G. A. L. 
Illinois. 
Willis Elsworth Wright referred to, is 
president of the American Banking Cre¬ 
dit Company, Chicago, which concern 
seems to be endeavoring to make con¬ 
tracts, the purpose being to grant loans 
at 4%, but before the applicant is eli¬ 
gible for such loan, he must pay a cer¬ 
tain amount of money to the company in 
regular monthly installments. This 
scheme seems to be very similar to that 
of the Standard Home Company of Bir¬ 
mingham, Ala., which has been referred 
to in these columns a number of times. 
Our reports show that Mr. Wright was 
previously connected with the American 
Finance & Bond Co. of Birmingham, 
Ala., which the postal authorities finally 
put out of business. There have been or¬ 
ganized in Chicago and elsewhere a num¬ 
ber of companies proposing to loan money 
to farmers on similar contracts to the one 
proposed by the American Banking Cre¬ 
dit Co. There is no assurance that those 
signing these contracts and making pay¬ 
ments under them will get the loan de¬ 
sired, and we think it is a fair assump¬ 
tion that all these concerns are more 
concerned about getting possession of the 
money on the contract than they are to 
make the loan after the party becomes 
eligible for the loan under the contract. 
All these schemes are intended for the 
enrichment of the promoters of them, 
and we trust that no Rural New-York¬ 
er readers will be induced to consider 
such contracts to secure loans as is 
above outlined. The president of this 
company will now have an opportunity to 
bring suit against Tiie Rural New- 
Yorker as he has done against the sub¬ 
scriber sending us this information. 
The Financial World gives the follow¬ 
ing list of companies promoted by T. J. 
Foster of Scranton, Pa. 
International Textbook Co.. Technical 
Supply Co., Mines & Minerals Co., In¬ 
ternational Educational Publishing Co., 
International Correspondence Schools, 
International Poultry Sales Co.. Inter¬ 
national Land Co., North Electric Street 
R.v. Co., Scranton & Binghamton Ry. 
Co., Victor Typewriter Co., Hover Incu¬ 
bator Mfg. Co., Lackawanna Coal & 
Lumber Co., Lackawanna Coal & Laud 
Co.. Coal Lands Securities Co.. I)u Pont 
Railway Co., Tippecanoe Securities Co., 
Crescent Coal Co., Paint Creek Collieries 
Co., National Limestone Co., Red River 
I,and Development Co., United Stores 
Association of Philadelphia, Lackawanna 
Securities Co., Enterprise Coal Co. and 
the Scranton Life Insurance Co. The 
authorized capital of these companies is 
about $150,000,000, of which there is ap¬ 
proximately $100,000,000 outstanding. 
In addition, Foster recently organized a 
Domestic Science branch of the school 
business with a capital of $20,000,000, 
but did not have time to dispose of much 
of this stock. 
Our records show The Rural New- 
Yorker advised its readers against in¬ 
vesting in the stock of Foster’s iuter- 
prises as far back as 1910 in spite of the 
fact that the Textbook Co. and the Cor¬ 
respondence School were paying good 
dividends at that time. 
Chas. E. Todhuuter, 127 E. Front St., 
Cincinnati, O., was arrested on embezzle¬ 
ment charges. It is claimed Todhunter 
acknowledged receiving two carloads of 
onions and stated they sold for $234, but 
settlement was not made with the ship¬ 
per. The consignment act of Cincin¬ 
nati provides that such a transaction is 
embezzlement, and punishable with a sen¬ 
tence of one to four years. If shippers 
could afford to follow up a transaction 
in this way, it would have a salutary ef¬ 
fect on the trade in general. The reliable 
commission houses are glad to have fraud 
definitely established as it weeds out the 
dishonest dealers. 
I bought a tire from the Akron Tire 
Co., 1612 Broadway, New York City. 
It ran about 50 miles and blew out. I 
returned it and asked for a new one, and 
the second one ran seven or eight miles 
and blew out. I shipped it back to them 
and they said they had no use for “junk” 
and refused to make adjustment on it 
saying “If a tire does not run 35(H) miles 
you get another (candidate for the junk 
pile) by paying one-half price.” Do you 
think this an honest way of doing busi¬ 
ness? Have you received any complaints 
of the dealings of this company? If you 
have I think it would protect others to 
publish them in your excellent paper. 
New York. A. L. c. 
We wrote the Akron Tire Co. in the 
subscriber’s behalf and another tire has 
now been received by him. We have had 
quite a good many complaints regard¬ 
ing the Akron Tire Co. and the record 
of transactions with this firm, which we 
have on file, is such that we could not 
recommend any of our people to send or¬ 
ders to the concern for tires or other 
automobile accessories. As a rule the 
houses in this city sending out circulars 
quoting cheap prices on tires and acces¬ 
sories are to be avoided. Reliable houses 
in the trade do not make any promise 
of saving any larger percentage on tire 
bills. Responsible houses sell only first 
grade of standard goods at a fair price 
and by patronizing such houses our sub¬ 
scribers will not only save money but 
save themselves a great deal of annoyance 
as well. 
I enclose two checks that came back 
marked “no funds.” One is for $9.45, 
and one for $1.24. They were given my 
boy for carrying a carload of bees across 
the Muskingum River. He worked hard 
one whole day and all night. The work 
was done for It. A. Nusbaum of the Con- 
neaut Lake Bee Company, Conneaut 
Lake, Pa. A. L. c. 
Ohio. 
The records on Mr. Nusbaum show 
that he left Conneaut Lake last Fall. He 
left a number of debts unpaid and can¬ 
not now be located. This work was done 
by a high school boy and the money 
meant considerable to him. It shows the 
advisability of insisting upon cash in 
payment for services of the kind. 
The Federal Stores of 109-115 West 
26th St., New York City, seem to be the 
latest mail-order stores trading on the 
success of Sears, Roebuck & Co. in order 
to sell stock to the public. The literature 
forwarded by subscribers refers to a spe¬ 
cial offer, telling how common stock in 
the company may be secured “free.” We 
assume the plan is, that if preferred stock 
is bought, the common stock will be given 
as a bonus. It costs no more to print 
certificates for preferred stock than for 
the common stock, and so far as we are 
able to discover, one has as much value 
as the other. The ragman will put the 
same valuation per pound on both. From 
the comments made by farmers forward¬ 
ing this literature, however, we think the 
public is in no great danger of parting 
with its hard-earned money in exchange 
for these stock certificates, no matter how 
beautifully they may be engraved. 
Will you kindly give me your opin¬ 
ion of the inclosed letter and pamphlet 
of the Madden Silent Wheel Corpora¬ 
tion? m. M. 
Pennsylvania. , 
This seems to be some form of a pat¬ 
ent wheel designed for the purpose of do¬ 
ing away with noise in the operation of 
street cars, which are principally used 
in cities. The device seems to have been 
recently patented, and may or may not 
prove a success later. There is no good 
reason why those interested in the pat¬ 
ent should not experiment with the de¬ 
vice and speculate in its promotion; but 
we see no reason why the public should 
take part in the promotion gamble. 
Certainly no one will call it an invest¬ 
ment in the present state of its develop¬ 
ment. The letter and prospectus con¬ 
tain the usual promotion inducements. 
The opportunity is limited to a limited 
number of persons. The vanity of the 
person addressed is supposed to be flat¬ 
tered by the distinction of selection. The 
privileged few are to be selected from 
different localities. The profits are to be 
extraordinary, and the time to get in is 
limited. The president of the company 
is Edward C. Madden, at one time Third 
Assistant Postmaster General, and later 
an apologist aud employe of E. G. Lewis, 
the notorious St. Louis promoter and 
custodian of “other people’s money.” 
J. J. D. 
The Old or New Moon. 
Will you kindly explain the signifi¬ 
cance of planting potatoes in the new 
and old moon? Some farmers claim that 
the results showed a difference, yet in 
all my reading not one author has men¬ 
tioned the sowing of seed according to 
the moon, but when the ground is ready 
to receive it. w. b. 
West Camp, N. Y. 
We cannot explain it, because we have 
never been able to see that the moon has 
any influence upon the growth of pota¬ 
toes. We realize that some farmers will 
dispute this, aud claim to have evidence 
of what the moon does to crops. We 
have heard them talk, but never could 
see any real scientific basis for their ar¬ 
guments. The men who have spent most 
time in studying the workings of nature 
seem to agree that the moon has no 
particular influence upon plant growth. 
We are inclined to take their word for 
it. It will hardly do to say they are 
prejudiced because if it could be demon¬ 
strated that the moon helps or hurts a 
potato crop the discussion of the fact 
would be a scientific discovery that would 
make any man famous. Personally we 
do not believe it makes any difference 
whether the moon is old or new but we 
have no scientific facts to argue the 
question. 
The Strong Arm Hay Hoist. 
It has been truthfully said that this 
is the age of machinery. Everywhere, 
in any branch of any industry, machine 
work is rapidly supplanting hand labor. 
Business men have come to the realiza¬ 
tion that machines are more dependable, 
more efficient, performing a higher qual¬ 
ity and a greater amount of work than 
can be accomplished by manual or an¬ 
imal labor. The American farmer, ne¬ 
cessarily a business man, is not less quick 
to note the advantages of the application 
of machinery to his business of farming. 
Severe manual labor in the field, du>ring 
a strenuous time finds a uihn’s physical 
powers lessened at the close of the day, 
craving a rest of body and mind. Conse¬ 
quently there is lessened inclination, also 
capacity, for reading aud study of the 
many immediate problems which con¬ 
front the average farmer of today. One 
of the many farmers who has brought 
machinery to his aid in the solution of 
the “help problem,” is March Farring¬ 
ton, of Delaware County. Owning and 
operating a large dairy farm, also hav¬ 
ing had some difficulty at times in ob¬ 
taining suitable help, Mr. Farrington has 
devised various means whereby his most 
difficult work may be accomplished by 
power. Most noticeable among these is 
his apparatus for unloading hay. This 
device consists of a nine horsepower gas¬ 
oline engine with a friction clutch pul¬ 
ley to facilitate starting, hoist, hay fork, 
tackles, ropes, pulleys, etc. The hoist 
used is of a two-ton, drum construction. 
The drum of the hoist is operated hy 
means of a friction clutch, which is in 
turn controlled by a small pull rope in 
the hands of the operator. The hayfork, 
track, etc., are arranged identically as 
those arranged for horse power. When 
the load is driven on the floor the fork 
is operated in the usual way. The en¬ 
gine is started. The friction clutch of 
the hoist is then slowly but firmly en¬ 
gaged. This revolves the drum winding 
up the rope and accomplishing the same 
result as though it were being drawn 
by a team. The mows in Mr. Farring¬ 
ton’s barn are large aud roomy with a 
track extending the length of each. This 
arrangement is desirable since it allows 
one to draw in aud dump for a day with¬ 
out mowing away, giving an extra man 
or two in the field. This may be done to 
July 24, 1915. 
an advantage when the weather condi¬ 
tions are unsettled with a large amount 
of hay in the field ready to be taken in. 
The mowing away can be done in the 
early morning while the dew is on, also 
it is cooler to work in the heating mows 
at that time. 
The unloading device, Mr. Farrington 
states, saves the expense of at least two 
men, and is superior in every way to the 
old method of unhitching the team to 
rull the fork. j. d, king. 
Delaware Co., N. Y. 
Precipitant for Cesspool. 
Is there any product made that will 
act as a precipitant to a cesspool’s con¬ 
tents? j. M. M. 
Bel Air, Md. 
I am not quite clear as to the mean¬ 
ing of your question since the coarse, 
heavier, portion of a cesspool’s contents 
are being constantly precipitated, and 
the liquids are constantly draining away 
through the porous soil. A cesspool in 
gravelly soil which had taken the entire 
drainage from one dwelling for about 10 
years was recently uncovered in my 
neighborhood; about 18 inches of semi¬ 
liquid, black, practically inodorous sludge 
was found at the bottom, and the cess¬ 
pool, which was about eight feet across 
and 10 feet deep, would evidently have 
served its purpose for many years yet. 
The soil was an open gravel, without 
hardpan. The organic matter in potable 
waters may be precipitated by adding a 
little lime, if they are not already alka¬ 
line, and then adding alum in the pro¬ 
portion of from a half grain to a grain 
per gallon of water to be purified. This 
method has long been used to purify 
water for domestic use, sometimes in con¬ 
nection with subsequent filtration, but I 
do not know why one should wish to pre¬ 
cipitate the solid matter in a cesspool. 
M. B. D. 
Questions About Minerals. 
1. Are there any appliances for locat¬ 
ing mineral? 2. What is the color and 
nature of rock silver is found in? 3. 
How much metal to the ton of ore would 
there have to be to pay for getting out, 
under favorable circumstances? 4. 
Where can I get reliable literature on 
mineralogy? a. m. c. 
1. Many instruments and appliances 
are offered for sale which are claimed to 
be useful in discovering mineral deposits. 
The only attraction which can be exerted 
by metals or minerals upon such an in¬ 
strument is that of magnetism. Iron, 
nickel and one or two other metals are 
magnetic, but gold and silver are not. 
Therefore there are no instruments by 
means of which gold and silver, or other 
non-magnetie metals can be recognized 
if they are hidden from view under¬ 
ground. 
2. Silver occurs in veins and irregular 
replacements of widely different character 
and inclosed in rocks of almost any color 
or composition. Its most common miner¬ 
al associates are gold, pyrite and galena 
in a gangue of quartz, calcite or siderite. 
3. This question can only be answered 
by a competent engineer, after examining 
the particular deposit. It depends upon 
nature of the ore, difficulty of mining, 
scale of operations, accessibility to trans¬ 
portation, aud numerous other factors. 
Some deposits of ore worth $2 a ton or 
less are worked at a profit, and some in 
which the ore is worth $25 or more are 
not of present economic value. 
4. Standard text-books on mineralogy 
are: Mineralogy, Crystallography and 
Blowpipe Analysis, by Moses aud Par¬ 
sons; Dana’s Mineralogy, Useful Miner¬ 
als and Rare Ores, by Alexander McLeod 
and (on the nature of deposits) Economic 
Geology of the United States, by Hein¬ 
rich Ries. GEO. OTIS SMITH, 
U. S. Geological Survey. Director. 
“Black Oil.” 
On page 726 there is a reference to 
“black oil” as a preventive of roup, and 
when painted on roosts prevents mites 
breeding. Dealers here do not know it, 
say it is crude petroleum. Do you know 
anything of the real merits? G. H. s. 
New York. 
I understand black oil to be a low- 
grade petroleum product used as a lubri¬ 
cant about machinery. It is cheap and 
in the nature of a by-product. Like all 
thin oils, it is effective vermin killer and 
has been recommended by a correspond¬ 
ent as a sure cure for mange on a dog. 
I do not know how it could be used to 
cure roup, but have no doubt of its effi¬ 
cacy as a lice and mite killer, m. b. d. 
