346 
February 22, 1010 
•The RURAL NE 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
Wliat sort of a man is F. B. Mills, 
Itosehill, N. Y.? Last year I sent for a 
packet of his Twelve Hundred to One 
white seed bean. He stated and showed 
by a cut that it would grow in a bush or 
dwarf tree form. I found out by harvest 
time that what he sent me was nothing 
but the common medium white bean. I 
also sent him the price for a packet of 
very fine cherry tomato seed (that is what 
lie advertised), and I never received any 
word or seed from him. I have just re¬ 
ceived his seed catalogue for 15*15). 
Rhode Island. s. b. n. 
The subscriber answers his own ques¬ 
tion ; the transaction is characteristic of 
Mr. Mills. His extravagant advertising 
of just common beaus in such a way as 
to make the public believe he had some 
wonderful variety is characteristic of 
him. too. S. B. II. was only saved an¬ 
other disappointment at harvest time iu 
not receiving the “cherry tomato” seed 
ordered. 
Can you give me any information as to 
the reliability of the Farmers’ Standard 
Carbide Company, Inc., executive offices 
Canastota, N. Y.? One of their agents 
has been in this territory trying to sell 
shares at the rate of $10 a share, no one 
person being allowed to take less than 
$50 worth or more than $100. C. E. T. 
New York. 
As far as we can learn this company 
has no plant for the manufacture of 
carbide or any other product. The name 
is adopted, no doubt, 'vyith special view 
of selling stock iu the company to farm¬ 
ers. Farmers have many times been de¬ 
ceived by nice-sounding names, and some 
better basis for the investment should be 
shown before parting with $50 or $100. 
A pertinent question would he to ask the 
salesman what part of the $50 or $100 he 
gets, and what part goes into the treasury 
of the company—provided there is a treas¬ 
ury. 
I am enclosing a letter from the Auto 
Owners’ Tire Association. Chicago, Ill., 
and would like your advice as to ordering 
tires from them. They have given tne a 
free membership in their association 
which cost $10 so I could get the tires at 
a discount. E. E. C. 
New York. 
The very name of this concern is a pre¬ 
tense and a sham. There is no associa¬ 
tion, and the pretense of one is made to 
sell cheap tires. The membership fake 
lias been exploded many times. Those 
who nibble on the “bargain price” tire 
bait are pretty sure to get stuck. All 
tires look alike to the average automobile 
owner. It is only the expert who can 
judge of the value and wearing qualities 
of a tire by its appearance. Therefore the 
only protection or safety for the ordinary 
automobile owner is to purchase a tire 
with a reputation and an honorable and 
substantial manufacturing house behiud 
it. The woods are full of “gyp” tire con¬ 
cerns. Beware of them! 
interest to it. and now the commissoin r 
house has sent me a check with 10 per 
cent off the first bill for collecting it for 
me. If you think this belongs to me I 
would like to have you collect it. p. t. 
Maine. 
This is the third case we have had 
where a commission house makes a 10 , 
per ceut charge for collecting a claim 
from a transportation company. The 
only cost to the commission house would 
be the small expense of postage and time, 
which are always incidental iu every 
business. A commission merchant is not 
a collection agency, and we doubt that 
Kingman & Hearty can legally retain the 
fee. The amount involved hardly war¬ 
rants the shipper in taking the case to 
court. We are asking Kingman & 
Hearty for the refund of this commission 
charge without any hope of getting it, 
but we see no good reason for deducting 
commission for the sale of goods and 
another commission for a little service to 
a customer. The other two houses mak¬ 
ing this collection charge are II. Morgen- 
thaler A Co., Cleveland, Ohio, and C. A. 
Watson & Sons, Chicago. 
December 11. 1018, I went to L. Kap¬ 
lan Ilygrade Auto Exchange, 1657 Broad¬ 
way, New York City ; there I looked at a 
Dodge car and asked him to run it out in 
the street so that I could look it over, 
and put up the top. He said he did not 
want to run it out in the street, as it was 
raining, and he did not want to get it 
wet. I asked him if he would have it 
ready for me by 10 o’clock the.next day. 
He said he would if I bought it. I said 
that I wanted to sec it outside, and if it 
was all right, and the top was all right 
and in good shape, and the motor was in 
good condition that I would buy it. He 
said if I bought it and it was not in first- 
class condition, top and all, lie would 
cheerfully give me my money back, so I 
gave him $50 in cash and my check for 
$000. He gave me a receipt and a bill of 
sale. The next day I went up there about 
nine o’clock and he had two men working 
at it then ; he had them run it out on the 
street and then I and my son-in-law 
looked it over and I found it in very poor 
condition. The mechanic said he did not 
dare put over three quarts of oil in the 
oil tank; if he did it would smoke. Then 
we put up the top and that was all worn 
out and full of holes, and there was one 
hook off that holds the hood over the en¬ 
gine, and two handles off the doors, so of 
course the car was not satisfactory to 
me. I told Mr. Kaplan that he misrepre¬ 
sented the car to me, and that 1 was not 
suited at all, and that I did not want it. 
I asked him to pay me back my money 
and check, and he said he had sent the 
check to the bank and could not do it. I 
told him that he said if I was not per¬ 
fectly satisfied he would give me hack my 
money and check, and now he refused to 
do it! so 1 stopped the payment on the 
check and told him that if he gave me my 
$50 I would say no more, lie refused to 
do it, so I left him and went home. What 
can be done to make him give up the $50? 
• New York. . L. J. D. 
The above is quite typical of the experi¬ 
ence of cotlntry people when they come to 
New York City and fall into the clutches 
of second-hand dealers. The horse and 
wagon trade were full of this class of 
“gyp” dealers some years ago. and now 
the automobile and me trade is infested 
A big auto came our way with a man in 
back seat who said he Avas crippled, so 
could not leave the machine. I was asked 
to come and talk with him. He had a 
wonderful oat to sell; one sows 1% bush" 
els to the acre, gets 1*5 bushels. )' hy 
didn’t he make it !>S. our bargain counter? 
I told him I took The R. N.-A. He 
promptly told me that was a fake ^paper, 
turned the machine and left. Now. I 
have all sympathy for a cripple, but this 
one should sell Bibles. W. S. 
Pennsylvania. 
Everyone sympathizes with a felloAV 
citizen who has lost the use of his limbs, 
but when a cripple capitalizes his infirm¬ 
ities and plays on the sympathies of the 
public to sell goods of any kind by mis¬ 
representation he sacrifices the respect of 
all right-thinking people. The infirmities 
of this agent seem to have been the strong¬ 
est asset of Geo. K. Higbie & Co., Roch¬ 
ester, N. Y., in selling ordinary oats at 
$,” per bushel. But the wickedest part of 
the scheme is to advise farmers that only 
1 V, bushels of seed per acre of this “won¬ 
der variety” is necessary. The only other 
seedsman we ever knew who was guilty 
of such claims was .T. A. Everitt of In¬ 
dianapolis, in selling the old Miracle 
wheat which he renamed “Marvelous.” 
It will be remembered that Everitt finally 
landed in the Atlanta penitentiary as a 
result of his various fake seed schemes. 
I am enclosing some papers of a rail¬ 
road claim for damage on 20 barrels of 
apples shipped last May to Kingman A 
IIeartv, Boston, Mass. I wrote to the 
Boston & Maine Railroad and they added 
with the same class of fakers. Their 
plan is to promise and guarantee any¬ 
thing and everything iu order to get a 
deposit from the buyers. This class of 
dealers have no responsibility and cannot 
be held to their agreements. When a de¬ 
posit has been made on any agreement 
signed, the farmer has no redress unless 
the dealer has made himself liable to crim¬ 
inal prosecution. In this case the de¬ 
posit of $50 is lost. We have reports of 
many such transactions, and we are pub¬ 
lishing the record in this case as a warn¬ 
ing to our readers in a general way, and 
as to L. Kaplan in particular. We do 
not want to give the impression that all 
dealers in used automobiles are in this 
class; there are many good, responsible 
men engaged in this line; but all farmers 
coming to the city to buy second-hand 
automobiles should be on their guard to 
avoid the “gyp” dealer. 
Willie was in a bad temper. His 
mother had just discovered that there Avas 
not a clean nightshirt ready for him to 
,Avoar. “Never mind, Willie,” she said, 
consolingly. “You will have to put on one 
of your sister’ snightgowns tonight.” 
“What! a girl’s?” snorted Willie, draw¬ 
ing himself up haughtily. “Yes. Why 
not?” asked mother, in surprise. “I won’t 
wear it!” declared the small hoy. “I’d 
rather go to hed raw!”—Christian Mes¬ 
senger. 
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(36) 
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