306 
C»e RURAL NEW-VORKER 
February 24, 1917. 
Mr. My rick brings suit for $750,000 against 
The Rural New-Yorker and the publishers 
John J. Dillon and Herbert W. Collingwood 
Herbert Myrick says that tlie efTorts 
of The Rural New-Yorker to induce 
iiiin to pay back money collected from 
his own subscribers for paper certificates 
of stock, and fake buildin? certificates, 
have caused him damage through with¬ 
drawals of subscriptions to his papers, 
and of advertising placed therein, and 
through los.ses of new advertisements and 
new subscribei's, and that he has also 
sulTered, from these attempts to induce 
him to pay, damages to reputation of 
himself and his publications’ good name, 
credit in business, in the aggregate sum 
of $Tr)(),()0(). He brings three suits for 
alleged libel aggregating $750,000 against 
The Rural New-Yorker, .Tohn J. Dil¬ 
lon and Herbert W. Collingwood. 
The alleged libel is based on the pub¬ 
lication of the following matter: 
When Mr. Clarence Crooks bought a 
.$15 Orange .Tudd Building Certificate he 
was promised seven benefits. The sev¬ 
enth benefit was free advice in making 
further investments. Mr. Crook’s moth¬ 
er avmiled herself of this benefit and took 
Mr. My rick’s advice and inve.sted $000 
in five shares of the Orange Judd Pub¬ 
lishing Company. The price was a 20 
per cent, premium on the face of the 
stock. The principal asset behind it is 
the good will of the business, and it has 
|)aid no dividend in nearly three years. 
Mr. Myrick refuses to redeem the certi¬ 
ficate and return Mrs. Crooks’s money. 
Will the American farmer and the Amer¬ 
ican business man. through subscription 
and advertising patronage, support a 
publication that capitalizes the confidence 
of its readers and sells them gold bricks 
at 20 per cent, above par? 
“When I was local agent for one of hi.s 
paper.s, Herbert Myrick invited me to 
visit him in his private office in Spring- 
field. He held out flattering inducements 
to me to buy his stock of the Orange Judd 
Company. I paid Mr. Myrick personally 
$500 a share for several shares of the 
Phelps Publishing Company stock. I 
have received no dividends since .July 1, 
1914. I would be very glad to find a 
customer for that stock at a heavy dis¬ 
count from the cost.” L. A. G. 
Mas.sachusetts. 
“My mother has five shares of Orange 
.Tudd Company stock, on which no divi¬ 
dends have been paid since the European 
war began. She paid $120 per share for 
this stock, !i total of .$000. She would 
like to dispose of it at the best advantage 
pos.sible. Can you advi.se me what the 
stock is worth, and what is be.st to do 
about it? 1 have one building certificate 
(Myrick’s) which 1 paid $1.5 for; have 
received no dividends for several years; 
all I get 'on it is New England Ilome- 
stead subscriptions. Can you get this for 
me?" C. A. c. 
Rhode Island. 
Few publi.shers have ever stooped so 
low as to abuse the confidence of the sub¬ 
scribers to their papers by selling thern 
gold bricks in the form of paper certifi¬ 
cates. No successful publisher has ever 
done it, and probably none ever will. It 
is the last re.sort of a doomed enterj)ri.se. 
E. G. Lewis, of St. I.ouis; Succe.ss ^lag- 
azine and the Circle Magazine, of New 
Y’ork; Woman’s World, of Chicago; Geo. 
I;. Richards, of the Richards Publi.shing 
Company, Boston, and the Myrick publi¬ 
cations. are tin* cons])icnous examples of 
green goods traffic in their newspaper se¬ 
curities. I\Iyrick is the only .survivor. 
Like the others he met the first demands 
for payment in the evident hope that the 
calls would not be numerous, and it was 
cheaper to pay them than endure the pub¬ 
licity. Like the others, too. the time 
has come with him when he brazenly at¬ 
tempts to ignore the deniiinds of his vic¬ 
tims. None of these .stocks ever had any 
known i)ublic value. There was no mar¬ 
ket for them, and yet by personal i)er- 
stiasion and false representations. Myrick 
induced the very peoi)le whom he was 
l)ound to .serve to pay 20 per cent, above 
the face value for these stocks. The price 
was probably made on the theory that ro 
reiuM'sent the stocks worth above par 
would emphasize their value more than to 
sell them at their face. Few experienced 
investors would buy them at any price as 
an inve.stment, and no man familiar with 
the situation would pay anything ap¬ 
proaching par for them. Myrick has 
been helped in his fake schemes by the 
fact that he came into possession of an 
agricultural paper that was as.sociated in 
the minds of the people with an honored 
name. It was hard to conceive how he 
could iise the situation of a once respon¬ 
sible publication for a baser purpose. For 
the present he seems to have succeeded 
in his defSance of decency and honesty 
and ju.stice. The others of his class did 
the .same in their time, but there was an 
end to it. TJnle.ss Myrick breaks the rec¬ 
ord of fakers and redeems the gold bricks 
that he sold to the sub.scribers whom he 
was bound to warn against fake invest¬ 
ments. his days are as surely numbt'red 
as the other members of his class who 
have gone before him. 
On our demand on behalf of C. A. C., 
Mr. Myrick paid the amount due on the 
building certificate referred to in the 
last letter. It took five weeks to make 
the collection. It has sometimes taken 
longer to collect on these certificates, 
but Mr. Myrick contends that the certifi¬ 
cate holder must die before he or she is 
entitled to the full return on them. 
Mr. Myrick mu.st feel that a detailed 
record of his various financing schemes 
will help re.store the lost patronage of 
his papers, but is he also going to bring 
.suit agaimst the milk producers of 
New York and adjacent States for 
refusing even to allow hi.s paper 
into their homes 'because of his op¬ 
position to their intcrc.sts, and bis will¬ 
ingness to act as a mouthpiece for the 
depo.sed .Tacob Brill. When he is at it 
he might as well bring suit against the 
producers all over the State who resent 
his opposition to their efforts to improve 
the market and increase the price of 
their products, and, of course, he will 
bring an action against the adverti.sers 
who refused to advertise in his papers 
because he misrepre.sented the circulation 
of the Northwest Farmstead and collect¬ 
ed their money for advertising, part of 
which he was afterwards obliged to re¬ 
fund when the actual circulation of 
this paper was made known through court 
records. He must have suffm-ed loss of 
business and prestige, reputation, good 
name and credit also from the action of the 
Fnited States in bringing suit against him 
and convicting him in the courts on indict¬ 
ments growing out of his relations with 
that publication and the Post Office De¬ 
partment. He will probably want to re¬ 
cover a damage from the United States 
Government to make up the loss he su.s- 
itained in busine.ss and reputation in 
these experiences. 
The records of his suit against The 
B i'RAr, New-Yorker will be illuminating 
and interesting. The i)eop1e of Ihe conntr.v 
have a vague notion abotit the nu-merous 
fake building certificates issued by Mr. 
IMyrick, or by his authorit.v, but the Bill 
details will be instructive to the invest¬ 
ors and the public generally. 
Then there are .some who have not yet 
forgotten Mr. Myrick’s peculiar financ¬ 
ing of the Good llouselcecpUig ^fagazinc, 
while it was in his hands. The details 
of the system of finance, including the 
contract and sale of the magazine, and 
the disposition of the assets, will be il¬ 
luminating. 
Then his attempt to ffoat the stock of 
his Northwestern company above par for 
.stock which co.st him in the neighborhood 
of Sc. will form another interesting chap¬ 
ter of frenzied finance. 
Mr. Myrick declares in his complaint 
that he had assets and earnings in his 
Orange .Tudd and Phelps Publishing 
rompanies to justify the price asked for 
stock at the time it was sold, but that 
after .Tuly 1, 1914. priabmce and sound 
business methods required the di.scontin- 
tiance of dividends, and he confirms the 
complaints of his accusers that no divi¬ 
dends have been paid since. This leaves 
Mr. Myrick at his own confe.ssiou dis¬ 
credited as a financial expert, and as a 
.safe advisor to his readers in matters of 
investment, but it is more thaji that. Mr. 
Myrick .set himself up as a financial ex- 
p<Mt and as an advisor for men and wom¬ 
en among his own subscribers for the in¬ 
vestment of their small .savings. He ad¬ 
vised thetn and solicited them to make 
their investments in paper certificates 
owned and controlled by him. He got 
their money and their savings. Does he 
expect to convince a jury of twelve hon¬ 
est men after listening to his record that 
the taking and keeping of this money 
in exchange for certificates printed on 
his own presses was di.sinterested? Will 
he convince the jury that he is under 
no obligations to return these small sav¬ 
ings to the people who earned it in a 
lifetime of struggle and privation, and 
who tru.ste<l it to him, confident that it 
would l>e available for use in their de¬ 
clining years? 
In your issue of February 10th you 
call attention to the trouble which the 
McAlester Real E.state Exchange had in 
Utica. N. Y. In this city the company 
collected about $1(XK) from a group of 
half a dozen local [)eople who could ill 
afford to lo.se the money. Iv.ater they l)e- 
came suspicious, and had a car attached 
at Meriden. Conn. This was released 
after a few hours by the substitution of 
a surety bond. Later the attorney for 
the company came in and filed a plea in 
abatement to the .suit, claiming that the 
car did not belong to the company, but 
was the property of William Mulroy, one 
of its officers, and therefore Connecticut 
courts had no jurisdiction. Thi.s, not¬ 
withstanding the fact that it was pla¬ 
carded with the name McAlester Real 
Estate E.xchange, and notwithstanding 
the fact that this exchange on its letter¬ 
head shows this as one of the cars owned 
by it. This company guaranteed an In¬ 
dian land sale in March, but the gov¬ 
ernment authorities say there will be no 
such sale. We think you are doing a 
good job in showing up this company, 
and trust it will prevent others from be¬ 
ing duped by it. k. c. 
Connecticut. 
We hear of the operations of the Mc¬ 
Alester Real Estate Exch.inge from 
many points. We hope R. N.-Y. read¬ 
ers have had sufficient warning to cause 
them to avoid the scheme. 
T enclose you an “adverti.sement” upon 
which I would like some information. I 
called on these people at the address 
given, and they gave me a paper called 
the “Farm Tractor Era,” which explains 
their methods of .selling From what I 
can make out, what they want most to 
do is to sell territory, and cannot guar¬ 
antee when they will give you a tractor. 
They will take your order for a tractor 
and give you what they call “first mort¬ 
gage convertible six-per-cent gold bonds” 
for the amount of the tractor, which you 
are to hold until the tractor is put on 
the market, and Ihey agree to pay you 
.six per cent intere.st on these bonds un¬ 
til that time, when the.v can be ex¬ 
changed for face value for a tractor. I 
enclo.se one of their remarkable agency 
offers, this being .a State agency. They 
also have county agents, sub-agents and 
sales agents, which are worked on the 
same basis, but not putting >ip quite as 
much money. I would like to know es¬ 
pecially if this film is G. K., and if the 
tr.actor that they intend putting out i.s 
all right, and will do (he work, and if you 
think a person would be .safe in taking 
a small agency. c. n. K. 
Maryland. 
The Farm Tractor Era, a circular in 
newspaper form sent out by Elbert- 
Duryea I’arni Tractor Go., of Chiciigo. is 
about as bombastic a jiiece of literature 
as has been our privilege to examine in 
some time. It contains all the “.stock¬ 
selling dope” used by all (he other auto¬ 
mobile and tractor concerns previously 
referred to in these column.s, with a few 
additional features. The company is 
capitalized thirty million dollars, and it 
is alleged that a syndicate of bankers 
has purchased five million dollars- of the 
capital stock In fact, these promoters 
seem to think and and talk mostly in 
millions. A State agency for the sale of 
the tractors cam be sectired by a deposit 
of from $25,000 to $100,000 as an evi¬ 
dence of good faith and county, sub¬ 
agents and sales agents proportionate 
amounts. No mention is made in the 
Tractor Era of any factory or that 
.any tractors are actually being made, 
while it is announced that thirty mil¬ 
lions dollars of orders for tractors luive 
been taken. In all this seems to be the 
most gigantic stock-selling, agency-sell¬ 
ing scheme that has been launched in re¬ 
cent years. Our only advice to farmers 
is to allow tlu'se promoters to finance 
the proposition theni.selves, and those 
desiring to purchase tractors to go to 
the reliable manufacturers of tractors 
and not to any concern selling securities 
or agency rights. 
I sent the Richfield Dairy Co.. 219$ 7th 
Ave., New York, two 15-doz. crates of eggs 
and have had no returns for same. I 
have written them many times, but have 
not had any reply. If you can help me 
in any way let me hear from you. 
New York. S. M. N. 
E. FRANK COE 
Fertilizers 
1857-1917 
'^HE Business Far- 
mers’ Standard for 
over 60 years, and more 
pioaressive than ever. 
Better Facilities, Bet¬ 
ter Goods. Ask for new 
books on soils, crops 
and fertilizers. 
WE WANT MORE AGENTS 
Address Crop Book Dept. 
The GOE-MORTIMER CO. 
51 Giiambers St., New York 
SUBSIDIARY or 
THE AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL CO. 
This Steel Forse^ 
MV// Smve Urn Oomi In 80 
OnjfB on Tour Farm 
Make black¬ 
smith bills 
smaller by 
doing repair 
work at homo. 
OurForcoBore 
used by Farm¬ 
ers in every 
State and fore¬ 
ign Oountries. 
Blower is llj 
inches diam¬ 
eter. , Hearth 
is 30} inches 
high. Total 
height of 
Forgo 43 
inches. 
PosUlvely Guaranteed rrrre.’?.!^*;^^ 
much work as any forge costing twice as much 
and to be as represented or money refunded. 
SPECIAL OFFERS!! 
Until March 31, 1917. our special Forgo and Tool 
offers will bo of great iutereet to anyone needing 
a forgo. Superior goods at low prices. Prompt 
shipmontn. This offer may not appear again. 
Write today. Send stamp for Catalog Ko. It 
and testimonials. 
C. A. S. FORCE WORKS, Saranac, Mich. 
Nwwa^wv will UHJ////// 
WW pro¬ 
duce 
woldlnff 
host on« 
4 inch 
woffon 
tire or 2 
inebiroa 
rod. 
The best-built drills 
on the market- 
backed by 3.3 years 
manufacturinpr ex¬ 
perience. Equipped 
with Jessup force 
feed —positive and 
accurate. Lighte.st draft—box placed to 
rear of centre relieves horse of neck 
weight. Driven by both wheels—no side 
draft or loss in turning. Draw bars of 
heavy angle steel, no bending or twist¬ 
ing. Wood or steel frame—wood or steel 
wheels. Hoe, Single Disc and Double 
Disc Styles—meet every soil condition, sow 
an;/seed. Also Crown Traction Sprayers, 
Lime Sowers and Grass Seeders. Write for 
catalog—now! It’s a money-saver. 
Crown M(g. Co. 12 Wayne St., Phelps, N. V. 
E-B (GEISER) THRESHER 
Here is a small thresher with big capac¬ 
ity. Small enough for your own use 
and large enough for profits in custom 
work. Equipped with Wind Stacker and 
Feeder, can be operated by light tractor. 
We manufacture all sizes and styles of 
threshers. Write for catalog. 
Look for the E-B trade 
mark. It’s your guide 
to better, more profit¬ 
able farming. Ask for 
E-B literature. 
EniBrton-Brinlingh)ailniplBnignlCB.(ln(.) 91W. lrgnSI.,Rochlor/,lll 
iMcaso scad mo free literature on articles checked: 
Plow! 
1 Hay Tools 
1 
Harrow! 
] j Liitart 
, j 
Cullivaier* 
' T Gat Engintf 
j 
Mowar. 
Wagent 
J 
SpraadarJ 
[] 
Buggies 
] 
Drilla 
Auto Trailers 
I 
Plaolara 
Potato Maebioerf 
u 
Tractors, KoroteM 
engine Plows 
Steam Cjiginet 
Threshers 
Corn Sheliera 
Saw Mills 
Baling Presses 
Name 
Every once in a while we pet just this 
kind of a complaint apainst W. C. Owens 
of the Richfield Dairy Co. Our people 
will be wise to pass by his requests for 
shipments. We have sent his record to 
the Post Office Department. 
Addroaa 
When you write advertisers mention 
The Rural New-Yorker and you’ll get 
a Quick reply and a “square deal." See 
guarantee editorial page. 
