306 
«5>ic RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 23, 19iS 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
World's Work for February, under 
the heading, “The Professional Man's 
Investments,” relates the financial ex¬ 
periences of a doctor who classifies the 
schemes in which he has been entrapped 
as follows: “Enterprises' conducted by 
business men who are playing a .sharp 
game and those conducted by honest men 
who really plan and hope to win. In the 
fir.st case the money is lost quickly and 
in the second case there is a long-drawn- 
out anxiety.” So the doctor concludes 
the dishonest scheme is the lesser of two 
evils. The enterprises in which he lost 
his money included : A mining company ; 
a sanitarium for consumptives; Long 
Island lots and a pecan grove in the 
South. Professional men as a rule are 
easy, prey to profe.ssional promoters, but 
the lesson in the doctor’s experience ap¬ 
plies with equal force to people in all 
walks of life who are inclined to part 
with savings on the strength of the repre¬ 
sentations of an oily-tongued salesman or 
the alluring arguments read in the pro¬ 
moter’s prospectus. 
In regard to C. J. It. of Maryland 
in I’ublisher’s Desk, page 134. tell him 
to beware of D. B. Cornell & Co. Me 
are $20 poorer since the gallant Mr. 
liooker called here three years ago. I 
was awav and he persuaded my husband 
to list his home for sale for twice the 
amount it is worth, “as a rich New 
York part.v had passed and admired the 
place and' would surely buy it before 
April 1 following.” Mr. Looker got his 
fee and we got beat, but we do not ask 
for sympathy, for we read and still read 
The It. N.-Y. and knew better. 
Pennsylvania. iras. j. s. 
Our hindsights ai'c always better than 
our foresights, but as this good wife sug¬ 
gests. there is little excuse for any reader 
of The R. N.-Y. falling for the Cornell 
company bait as handed out by h:s “man 
Friday”—J. J. Looker. The $20 picked 
up in this way makes an easy living 
for both Cornell and Looker, to say 
nothing of the money many farmers are 
wheedled out of on the withdrawal fee 
scheme previously explained in this de¬ 
partment. 
As we take your paper, and I have 
read what one man thinks about the 
Atheneum, Ft. miyue. Ind., I als<> would 
like to e:^ress my opinion of this school 
or institvition ajid its business practices. 
A year ago. when I was conducting ex¬ 
aminations in a country school. 10 miles 
from my home, their agent called on me. 
He came in and sat down until part of 
the spelling examination was completed, 
then while I was waiting for one pupil to 
get ready for spelling, he came up to the 
desk and began talking about _ the 
Atheneum. I had just heard of this as 
a business correspondence school. lie 
talked until nearly one o’clock, and I was 
beginning to think I would have no time 
to eat dinner. lie said that I could get 
much better pay in business, that he was 
selling the course at half rate just until 
the next day, and that I could probably 
got a position by .Tune. I told him that 
I could not - afford the course, that I 
needed my money at home. He asked 
where mv familv lived, said that he 
would be' glad to talk to them, if they 
were near, and then reminded me that 
tins was just a special rate, a great bar¬ 
gain just for that one time, and that I 
ought to know what I wanted to do. and 
be able to make up my own mind. Finally 
I signed the nine acceptances for the 
sum of $181. to be paid monthly, $20 per 
month. I told him I could not pay any 
until March S. Then I began school, 
scarcely realizing what I had done, but 
glad that he had gone. That night I 
decided that I could not take the course, 
so wrote to my mother and had her write 
telling them so. She did. but they never 
wrote to her. They wTote to me. saying 
I had signed a contract and must pay. 
They sent me a set of bookkeeping _ at 
once. I sent it back. They wrote saying 
I must pay and that the supplies would 
be sent to the Dead Letter Office if I 
did not send for them in a certain time. 
They threatened to take the matter to 
court. I took a few lessons. They were 
ju.st the same as I had in high school 
and I have never finished, although I 
have managed to pay them all. I know 
the last lessons are new to me, but it 
would take a long time to finish them, 
and it would be much easier, better and 
cheaper to take a course at a business 
school. The supplies they have sent 
would not cost $5 and the instruction 
would not cost $10, while I have spent 
$181. I do wish I could get some of it 
back to use for school next year, H. p. 
New York. 
Here is the experience of a young 
woman with the very laudable ambition 
to secure a broader education. Her story 
is not only typical of the “Atheneum” 
but of all the other correspondence course 
schemes that have come to our attention. 
H. P.’s money is gone—we cannot get 
it back, and with it has perhaps disap¬ 
peared the chance of an education better 
to fit herself for the battle of life. If 
there be any greater para.sites than the 
promoters of correspondence course 
.schemes, we do not know where to find 
them. 
In November I answered an adver-j 
tisement in the “Baltimore Sun” for 20 
IVhite Leghorn pullets at GO cents each 
from the Eagle Hatchery, York, Pa. 
IVhen I got them they were all nearly 
dead with roup and could not turn them 
out with my chickens. They weighed less 
than a pound each. I shipped them back 
and paid expressage both ways. The 
seller refuses to give me one cent back. 
I wrote him several times and sent bill 
to justice of peace. The manager is W. 
R. Frey. His plea is the Adams Express 
Company is responsible for them, but 
they are not, for the birds all had roup 
and three were dead. The express com- 
1)3ny could not keep them alive. 'Will 
you see what you can do with this firm? 
Maryland. mkp. AV. n. J. 
Results 
TVe have warned our people against 
W. R. Frey, Eagle Hatchery, York. I’a., 
before. 'When irresponsible poultrymen 
are denied advertising space in farm 
papers they go to the daily papers, where 
they are received with open arms, 
do not mean to infer that all daily papers 
are indifferent to the character of their 
advertisers, or that all poultry adver¬ 
tisers in. daily papers are irresponsible. 
Give Mr. Frey and his kind a wide berth. 
Some time ago I purchased from the 
M’'ilson Auto Specialty Company one E-Z 
Ford Starter, with the undei'stauding 
that if it did not give complete satisfac¬ 
tion after 30 day.s’ trial I could return 
same and company would refund the 
amount which I paid, $7.50. I received 
this “starter” and at once installed it on 
my Ford car. I kept it on the car ex- ^ 
actly 10 days; during this time I gave 
it a fair trial. I found that this “starter” 
was absolutely worthless for the follow¬ 
ing reasons: First, there is not space 
enough on the Ford car to permit its 
lU'oper action. This resulted in damage 
to the fan and radiator of my car. Sec¬ 
ond. the “starter” was d(‘fectiv_e in ma¬ 
terial. in that a spring which is' a part 
of said “starter” and absolutely essential 
to the proper working of same, did not 
have the required elasticity, therefore 
“starter” did not work properly. This 
must be a defect in material or workman¬ 
ship or both, therefore “starter” does not 
come up to the guarantee. For these and 
other reasons ' I returned the said 
“starter” to the IVilson Auto Specialty 
Company, expecting that they would re¬ 
turn the $7.50 which I paid them. Up 
to the present time I have not receivM 
the money. I am sending you all letters, 
etc., that I have received from them, in 
hope that you may be able to recover the 
money. I hope you will have as good suc¬ 
cess with my claim as you have had with 
othei’s. E. F. L. 
Maine. 
Couiii 
Here's ihe'Wat^ to Get 
Gie Best Results-Hse a 
JOHN£X>£ERE 
VAN BRUNT 
Fertilizer Disc Drill 
Y ou get bigger yields with less seed when you use a Van Brunt 
Drill because you get all of the seed in the ground at an even 
depth. The crop matures evenly. Every fertile seed produces 
—no seed is wasted. You utilize every foot of land no barren 
spots. It is wartime thrift to use a Van Brunt Drill. 
Features That Mean Extra Value 
h 
li 
The M’ilson Auto Specialty Company 
contend the starter was not returned until 
30 days, and therefore refund is refused. 
IVrhaps there was delay in delivery by 
the express company which would give 
the company this pretext for avoiding 
their guarantee. Concerns that are in¬ 
clined to be technical in the interpreta¬ 
tion of guarantees are good ones to avoid 
and E. F. L.’s experience would justify 
the suspicion that the "Vk’ilson Auto Spe¬ 
cialty Company are willing to take ad¬ 
vantage of any pretext for refusing to i 
return the money as agreed. ^ 
There is yet due me 1,50 shares of stock 
of the Sequoyah Oil and Refining Com¬ 
pany from the brokerage house of L. H. 
Cooke (S: Co., 42 Broadway. New York, 
which I have* been unable to get, IVill 
yoxi see if you cannot secure for me the 
stock for which I have paid? H. F. o. 
New York. l 
Our efforts in the subscriber’s behalf 
have not resulted in the securing of the 
stock in questipn up to this time. In 
the meantime “The Financial "World” 
reports that another client has preferred 
criminal charges against L. H. Cooke, as 
a result of which Mr. Cooke has been held 
for the grand jury on a larceny charge. 
According to this publication, Mr. Cooke 
has been engaged in promoting a num¬ 
ber of concerns, the stock of which is of 
very doubtful value, ard predicted that 
Mr. Cooke has now reached the end of 
his rope in substituting promises for the 
stock which his customers have purchased 
and pail for. 
“Would you advise a man to go into 
politics? ” “You haven’t any choice in 
the matter,” replied Senator Soi-ghum. 
“Every American citizen is in polities. 
The question is whether you are going 
to leave it to the office seekers or whether 
you are going to study affairs yourself. ! 
step up to the polls and attend to busi- I 
ness.”—IVashington Star. 1 
The patented adjustable gate force-feed used on all Van Brunt 
Drills insures good seeding. Coarse seed, medium seed or very small i 
seed can be planted with this machine. The feeds are adjustable to han- | 
die any size of seed frorp alfalfa to the larger bearded oats, peas and beans. 
All the ground is seeded —no choking up in the seed box. When you 
adjust the flow through one seed tube you regulate it to the same extent 
through every one of them. The force-feed compels the seed to leave the 
seed box in an even, continuous stream, but the seed is not crushed. 
No clogging up —the Van Brunt successfully plants seed in mud, 
gumbo or trash. The seed is protected from the time it leaves the 
seed box until it reaches the bottom of the furrow. 
Disc bearings guaranteed to last the lifetime of drill. Furrow openers, 
the hard-working part of any drill, are made of highly polished steel. 
The highly perfected fertilizer feed caps distribute without clog¬ 
ging or choking, all kinds of commercial fertilizers, in any quantity ' 
that you desire. 
Grass seed attachment can be furnished. It sows broadcast or in 
drills, as you desire. Van Brunt Drills are fur- I 
nished in any size and with equipment that will j 
meet your requirements. 
The Van Brunt is the choice of thousands of 
farmers in the large grain growing belts. It has 
proved to be a profitable investment for these 
farmers and it will for you. 
Get These Valuable Books Free 
Get special literature descriptive of the Van Brunt Fer¬ 
tilizer Disc Drill. It tells all about the construction and 
operation of this implement—shows you plainly wherein it 
excels. Also get our big 156 page book, “Better Farm Im¬ 
plements and How to Use Them.” This tells all about a 
full line of labor-saving farm‘machinery. Worth dollars. 
To get these books state the implements in whic*^ 
you are interested and ask for package FD-335> ^ 
JOHN DEERE, Moline, 111. 
