1366 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
September 13, 191D 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
All letters to Publisher’s Desk depart¬ 
ment must be signed with writer’s full 
name and address given. Many inquiries 
are answered by mail instead of printing 
inquiry and answer, hence unsigned let¬ 
ters receive no consideration. 
I bless the day when I subscribed to 
The R. N.-Y., because it carries out the 
principle of fair play in actual practice, 
and not. simply with ink and paper. I 
have read a good many farm papers, but 
The R. N.-Y. is the only one I have seen 
that is actually as good as the name guar¬ 
antee implies, in every way. j. w. 
Ohio. 
The above letter and the many ex¬ 
pressions we receive of the same nature 
are more of an encouragement to those 
who are carrying on the detail work of 
Tiie R. N.-Y. than the writers may be 
aware. The work in connection with 
Publisher’s Desk is sometimes discour¬ 
aging, and it is a great satisfaction to 
have such expressions of appreciation and 
assurance that farmers distinguish be¬ 
tween a pretended and real unselfish ser¬ 
vice in their interest. This expression 
is the result of an adjustment secured 
on an order for seed corn which proved 
to be so inferior as not to be fit 'for plant¬ 
ing. The seedsman is one not permitted 
to advertise in Tiie R. N.-Y. 
I am a director in our local trust com¬ 
pany, the only farmer on the board. I 
get many circulars from stock or bond 
brokers. Some give “inside tips” on cer¬ 
tain propositions. Maybe they are gen¬ 
uine. Maybe not. Recently I have re¬ 
ceived two circular letters about the 
Terminal Oil Co. of Houston. Tex., backed 
by the Houston Bank & Trust Co. Cir¬ 
cular says all red-blooded Americans 
gamble a little. Can I be a sport and 
take a risk? It further says if I can’t 
afford to lose, then don’t buy their shares, 
but with Ben Garrett back of the Ter¬ 
minal Oil Co. we can’t lose. Oil is all 
around their holdings, so why is it not on 
theirs? Just received a marked copy of 
the “Pathfinder,” which contains a long 
account of this same projected Terminal 
Oil Co. We bank directors are picked 
out for suckers. It seems to me the 
Houston Bank & Trust Co. can be in 
better business than backing up a pro¬ 
jected oil company. Our banking laws 
here in Pennsylvania are strict in mat¬ 
ters such as this. A friend died recently 
in Philadelphia. He had a disagreeable 
job and worked hard for years. lie fought 
in the Civil War for three years, un¬ 
flinchingly 'facing the enemy. Among the 
few effects he left was a lot of correspond¬ 
ence which shows he was a heavy pur¬ 
chaser of so-called oil stocks in Texas, 
Oklahoma and other Western sections. 
They offered him a bonus on all sales to 
his friends. He spent hundreds of his 
hard earnings in visionary oil companies, 
getting nothing in return but waste paper. 
He could not repulse this enemy (the oil 
stock broker) in his later years. I own 
valuable property. I spent $3,000 last 
year in improvements. I need a tractor, 
a farm truck, a new binder. Two good 
horses. Some repairs must be made. Now 
wouldn’t it be silly, to say the least, to 
accept these allurements and send money 
down there when my farm and equipment 
can use all I can make for several years? 
Moral: Spend your money at home. 
Pennsylvania. H. L. d. 
There is no discounting the logic of 
this farmer and bank director. Our quo¬ 
tation from Financial World a few weeks 
ago shows that the Houston Bank & 
Trust Co. has no depositors, and there¬ 
fore does not come under State super¬ 
vision. This so-called bank and trust 
company, as we understand it. might more 
properly be called a stock promoting 
house. Perhaps there is no way to pre¬ 
vent the concern from using this assumed 
name, which is well intended to deceive 
the public. A bank or trust company is 
understood to come under State super¬ 
vision, and this inspires a degree of con¬ 
fidence from the public, which is not war¬ 
ranted in this case. II. L. D. expresses 
our sentiments fully with regard to the 
promotions of the Houston Bank & Trust 
Co. as well as all other stock selling 
schemes promoted in the same fashion. 
The Old Dominion Realty Co., 437 
Fifth Avenue, New York, has agents in 
our county trying to find buyers for lots 
in Westbury, Long Island. They give 
free transportation to New York and re¬ 
turn, including board, to induce pur¬ 
chasers to see the lots. Tell us what you 
know about this in Publisher’s Desk. 
Virginia. D. n. R. 
We do not know the Old Dominion 
Realty Co., or where the Westbury lots 
are located. The one thing we are sure 
of is that if the lots were any bargain 
the realty company would not need to go 
to Virginia to sell them. Long Island has 
been the victim of more fake real estate 
schemes than any other place we know 
about. It is usually the most worthless 
lots that are sold to people at a distance 
—sometimes as suburban to New York 
City, and often the same lot has been sold 
to several individuals in succession. Af¬ 
ter one purchaser discovers he has been 
stung he stops making payments, and 
another sucker is found to take the same 
bait. It is a safe bet that the lots in 
question are being offered in Virginia at 
several times their actual value. 
For Your Kinds of Roads 
We have published so much about E. G. 
Lewis and his various schemes that the 
opinion of an editor recognized as a 
financial authority may prove refreshing. 
The following is from the current issue 
of Financial World , and published under 
the heading, “In the Land of Fairy 
Finance.” 
awakening of a dreamer. 
When considering the proposition. E. G. 
Lewis, of Atascadero, Cal., makes to sub¬ 
scribers of his “Illustrated Review” to 
buy his personal notes and receive with 
them a participation in some of his min¬ 
ing enterprises, it is well to bear in mind 
his disastrous financial operations at the 
time he was located in St. Louis. At that 
time Lewis promoted a mail order deposit 
bank, sold stock in his magazine, the 
“Woman’s Magazine,” and also property 
in a suburban development. All this 
financing occurred while the big Fair was 
being held in that city. All these schemes 
went out in a blaze of resentment and re¬ 
criminations, Lewis charging that he was 
being persecuted. In the end the real 
reasons for the disastrous ending of all 
his propositions concerned his investors 
less than the fact that they were out of 
pocket a considerable amount of their 
capital. Lewis went to California and 
started a new magazine and a colonization 
scheme and as success came to him he has 
again started dreaming about new worlds 
to conquer with the capital of subscribers 
to his publication. Time has not cooled 
his power of visualizing profits ■which 
runs in the n’tli per cents. It must be 
borne in mind that there is a great gap 
between one’s vision and actualities, into 
which it is quite easy for the investor to 
sink his capital and this occurs more often 
than otherwise when following a dreamer 
rather than a doer of things. 
We, however, do not share the popular 
view of the Editor of Financial World 
that Lewis is a “dream.” His record in¬ 
dicates that he is a cool, calculating get- 
rich-quick promoter. 
Can you give information about the 
Chicago Portrait Co.? Their agent was 
here yesterday and I began to think he 
was a fake. He had envelopes, and in 
some were checks for $12.50. My hus¬ 
band drew the lucky one, so he said lie 
would paint two pictures for the $12.50 
and put the pictures or work rather in our 
home for people to look at, as he said 
there were so many people asking through 
your paper to send them a sample, and lie 
said of course they could not do that, so 
they took this way of advertising their 
goods. If anyone around here asked 
about their work they would have the 
paper refer them to us to look at the 
pictures. I never saw any such thing in 
your paper. He said we did not need to 
take the frames, but I see on the slip 
that we shall have to take the frames. 
Could I cancel such an order, or will I 
have to take them with the frames? I 
have written a letter to them and told 
them not to make the pictures, as I would 
not accept them. I am quite worried 
about it and don’t feel as if we could 
afford to pay a big price for frames. 
New York. mrs. c. b. 
It would seem that the Chicago Por¬ 
trait Co. agents are active again with 
the fake “lucky envelope scheme.” We 
have exposed it before. If some one 
would take the pains to have these agents 
arrested for promoting a lottery scheme 
we believe the charge would be sustained. 
It amounts to a petty swindle. We never 
heard of anyone drawing one of the “un¬ 
lucky envelopes.” Portrait agents are the 
worst class of pirates that infest country 
districts. They are always good talkers, 
which gains them a bearing. Our advice 
is to call the dog when one of them ap¬ 
pears. 
Do you know anything of the reliability 
of the Franklin Paint Co., whose adver¬ 
tisement I enclose? j. L. H. 
Pennsylvania. 
Another subscriber reports having or¬ 
dered 1G gallons of paint from this house 
and was shipped 40 gallons, which he 
rightly refused to accept. This might 
have been due to a mistake; but it is a 
trick of this class of paint houses to ship 
more than was ordered. We do not 
recommend dealing with the concern. 
Severest service to which tires can be subjected is country 
road service. Those roads you travel in your cars 
some are good—some are bad—others worse. 
So—if you want best tire service—you require tires 
that are specially built to take roads as they come. 
Racine Country Road Tires 
are scientifically made for country 
road service. They are carefully 
extra tested through every step in 
their construction, so you may be 
sure they have the needed extra 
quality. 
Racine Country Road Tires— 5000- 
mile guarantee—more than pay your 
money back in mileage. 
For Your Own Protection Be Certain Every 
Racine Tire You Buy Bears the Name 
The Best Potash Fertilizer 
The JOYNT Brand 
Pure Unleached Hardwood Ashes 
A complete muI sure fertilizer for all growing’crops. 
They solve the problem. Especially adapted for top 
dressing worn out grass and meadow land and for seed¬ 
ing down have no equals. Increase your hay yields 
while prices are high. AGEKTS* WANTED 
Correspondence invited. Address John Joynt, Lucknow, Ont., Canada 
References: Bradstreets Agency or Bank of Hamilton, Lucknow, Ont 
WkM I A O C C" C Richest Feed Lowest Cost 
IVI U LHOO ELO Write For Special Price 
NEW YORK MOLASSES COMPANY. 30 Church St., New York City 
Wanied-A Practical Farmer .f,’"", 1 ,' 1 
tilizer salesman during the fall ami winter months. 
Must furnish good references and lie well acquaint¬ 
ed with the counties of 1). tchess and Columbia of 
Eastern Now York. ADV., 5849, care Rural New-Yorker 
South Jersey Farms For Sale 
BLACK & DAVENPORT REALTY CO. 
IVaeli Street ... Iliimimintun, N.J. 
D A 13 D KT I C Standard size. AI 
DUrt rtE.K-0 Elm hoops. Tlioi 
ougfdy’seasoned material. KOBT. GILLIES, apdlim, V V. 
Apple 
oucfily season 
Arronle* Mason sold 18 Sprayers and Autowashers one 
Hgolllo. Saturday. Profits. $.\i>0 enoh. Square Deal. 
Particulars fhkk. ltUSl.Elt COMPANY, Johnstown - , Ohio 
A money-maker and hard work saver for land elearers and wood-cutting 
contractors. One man can move it from cut to cut. Simple and reliable. 
Hundreds in use all over the U. S. When not ia use for wood cutting, the 4 H. P. motor will 
run mills, feed mills, feed cutters, pumps, etc. Quick deliverU . from over 
" My Wadi taw it cutting xond ftr ttu than 3 itnti _ 100 point a throughout 
ac,rd."—F. J. t?HHam,. Bumi. Or,. M the United States. 
’Thavttaiuidthrniihfiw fnl ulidaak to;> attht rau f 
tf ont flit a minutt. '*— N. F. Mjtrt, Latin, Calif ) 
America must burn more 
wood for fuel. One Wade 
will do 10 men’s work at 
one-tenth the cost. Write 
for free Book, “LIow Dan 
Ross cuts 40 cords 
a day,” full de¬ 
tails and spec¬ 
ial price. 
\/1 ^ 
j Used and \ 
J specified j 
'hbutheU.S./J 
, Government. 
WdC. 
404 Hawthorne Ave., Portland, Ore!" 
