1478 
October 4, 1919 
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. 
The coming season promises to be an 
active one in the raw fur industry. Prices 
of skins are high and dealers are appeal¬ 
ing to trappers for shipments more ur¬ 
gently than ever before. We want espe¬ 
cially to caution shippers in this line with 
regard to the class of houses sending out 
glaring circulars quoting high prices for 
skins. Such quotations amount to noth¬ 
ing, because the receiver can undergrade 
the skins if he is so disposed and return 
the shipper as much or little as his in¬ 
terest dictates. The shipper’s only safety 
is to ship houses with known standing in 
the trade and having a reputation for 
fair and honorable dealings. Another 
precaution which shippers can use to ad¬ 
vantage is to mark the package “hold 
separate” until returns are received. 
Then if the price is not satisfactory the 
skins can be returned. This practice 
should obviate all controversy. 
Please print this letter as a warning 
to the readers not to part with their 
money to the Atlantic Art Co., 82 Court 
Street. Brooklyn, N. Y. Their agent, 
II. McNeill, calls with a sample of a 
photo—reproduced. The samples are very 
well done and are of a size that the agent 
can carry in his pockets. One is very 
much taken with the samples, and it is 
very easy for the agent to procure an 
order, and one signs a contract. I gave 
him a photo of a child dressed as a daffo¬ 
dil. and a photo containing three heads. 
The sum of $4.96 was to be paid when 
the proofs were shown. The proofs ar¬ 
rived in time and they were size 14x20. 
I told the artist, as he styled himself, 
that the pictures were to be of the size 
the agent displayed. I was assured that 
evervthing would be done as I wished. 
The photo of the child dressed as a daffo¬ 
dil arrived, and imagine my horror at 
seeing purple leaves and pink petals on a 
daffodil. Her stockings were pink, and 
she was standing on a lawn of the most 
wonderful shade of green. The picture 
was 14x20, and I am now convinced that 
the samples were the work of a first-class 
house and faked as the work of the At¬ 
lantic Art. Co. I never saw the repro¬ 
duction of the three heads. I don’t want 
to. if they were like the daffodil. One 
of my neighbors gave them an order and 
ordered a frame. She paid $13 for hers, 
and got a very cheap substitute. Her 
picture was a nightmare. My advice to 
the readers is this: If one wants any¬ 
thing done go to a good reliable house 
where one is sure of satisfaction. 
New York. u. M. H. 
The above letter is a fair sample of the 
experience of country people who have 
dealings with the agents of the so-called 
art houses. If there are any worse pirates 
roaming about the country than these 
picture agents, we have failed to hear of 
them. The pilfering is in such small 
amounts that they escape the meshes of 
the criminal laws. 
Please advise me what to do with this 
claim from the Wilbur Stock Food Co. 
The contract'T signed was similar to the 
one mentioned on page 1146, August 26, 
1916. with the sucker bait of a horse 
blanket. I tested the tonic and same not 
being as represented, I so wrote E. B. 
Marshall and asked for instructions re¬ 
garding return of the balance of his tonic. 
I have received no instructions to ship 
tonic, so still have same in my possession. 
The advertisement appeared in the - 
- that I clipped the coupon from. 
Now the National Collection Co. write 
they are going to take action. F. w. w. 
Connecticut. 
The Wilbur Stock Food Company ad¬ 
vertising offer on which this farmer bit 
was entirely too liberal to be true. The 
offer was in effect he was to try the tonic 
for a stated time and if not satisfactory 
he could return it and keep the premium 
which went with the goods without 
charge. This was some three years ago, 
and the subscriber is still being pestered 
with threatening letters from an alleged 
collection agency, while the letters in all 
probability are mailed from the office of 
Wilbur Stock Food Co. or its successor, 
E. B. Marshall Co. This advertising has 
been persistently refused by Tiie R. N.-Y. 
and repeated warning has been published 
as to the unfair methods of the concern. 
I read in last week’s paper how one. of 
your readers was worried about receiving 
a picture framed and made by Chicago 
Portrait Company. I want to trouble you 
The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
with my own experience; the latter part I 
have told to my friends many times. About 
10 years ago I lived in Youngstown, O. 
One of these Chicago agents begged me 
to take my little boy’s picture to enlarge. 
I signed, and he agreed if it was not good 
I should not take it. But, alas, another 
man brought it and I scarcely could see 
any resemblance to the former picture. I 
refused to accept it. lie became angry 
and told me they had a lawyer in every 
town to make people take them, and he 
would attach my husband’s wages. I was 
worried, but I told him if that was a sam¬ 
ple of their work they needed a lawyer in 
every town. Well, I never heard of him 
again. Now I am living on a farm, so for 
the last seven years have been a faithful 
reader of The R. N.-Y., and one day last 
Summer a year ago I took a few minutes 
off before dinner to read the Publisher’s 
Desk, and read about the Chicago Portrait 
Company being a fake. Just about one 
hour later a man with a picture drove in. 
I let him tell me all his good points. I 
even drew a lucky envelope, and when he 
thought he was ready to sell me the pic¬ 
ture I handed him Tjie R. N.-Y.’ item on 
the Chicago Portrait Company. He Tead 
it and turned pale; then he wanted to 
know if 1 believed that lie, and I told him 
I knew The R. N.-Y r . knew what they 
were talking about, for I had come near 
getting stung 10 years ago with the same 
company at the same old business. He 
left, calling the paper a liar. I told him 
to deny it through their paper and de¬ 
feud themselves, but of course this he 
could not do. I want to thank you for 
your good work and tell you we have all 
confidence in your paper and hope you 
will keep up the good work.. Wishing 
you continued success. MRS. E. A. I. 
New Jersey. 
We publish the above letter because of 
the human interest in the story. All 
right-meaning people will rejoice because 
of the way Mrs. I. trapped this traveling 
parasite. The R. N.-Y r . feels compliment¬ 
ed in being denounced by such fakers. If 
they said complimentary things about us 
we should feel we were not doing our duty 
or serving farm people in the way we 
should. 
I am going to take advantage of Pub¬ 
lisher’s Desk to ask you if the Anchor 
Manufacturing Co. is reliable. They offer 
me a rebuilt 1917 or 1918 Ford in A No. 
1 condition for $100. Their address is 51 
East 42d Street, New York City. 
New York. b. ii. I. 
The Anchor Manufacturing Co. has no 
established responsibility that we can find. 
The offer to sell a rebuilt Ford automo¬ 
bile in “A No. 1” condition brands the 
concern as a “gyp.” Any Ford car in 
the condition described will sell for much 
more than $100—and any car that is 
only worth $100 is a poor bargain any¬ 
how. The public is safe in the conclusion 
that Anchor Manufacturing Co. is not 
offering Ford cars for less than they are 
worth. 
Since the above was put in type we 
note the following in the New York Sun, 
which evidently refers to the Anchor 
Manufacturing Company’s operations: 
The District Attorney’s office issued a 
warning September 22 against a “manu¬ 
facturing concern” which is said to have 
operated from an office in East 42d St. 
and which the District Attorney declares 
has been sending letters to various parts 
of the country offering to sell rebuilt Ford 
automobiles for $100. Several complaints 
have been received by the District Attor¬ 
ney, among them a letter from Dr. M. M. 
Cloud of Kingsport, Tenn., who says lie 
sent $50 in part payment for a car and 
got neither the car nor the money. The 
Federal authorities would also like to find 
the manufacturing company, as there are 
charges of using the mails to defraud. 
Protect your 
com from tire. 
Don't Let Your Profits go up in Smoke 
E VERY season there are hundreds of farmers who 
toil to raise a corn crop, and then see it all de ¬ 
stroyed by fire, because their cribs didn’t protect 
them. Can you afford to run this risk, when you can 
own a Securo Metal Crib at no more than the cost of 
wooden construction ? 
SECURO STEEL CORN CRIBS 
SURE PROTECTION AGAINST 
RATS, MICE, FIRE, MOLD, ETC. 
Neither fire, rain, snow, rats, mice, birds, insects or thieves can harm 
the corn in a Securo Crib. The saving from loss on one season’s crop 
will pay for a Securo, and then you have a crib that lasts a lifetime. 
The Securo Crib is practically indestructible. It is built of heavy corrugated iron, 
rust proof. It is easily erected—easy to fill—and needs no repairs. A patented 
system of ventilation acts as suction and draws air through the grain, keeping it 
dry and free from mould. Write for free catalog and prices. With labor so 
scarce and grain so high in price, it is more important to plan to save all tho 
grain you raise, than to plan for bumper crops next year. 
Write for Free Illustrated Catalogue 
It will come by return mail, as we want you to have it. 
Affpnfc Wnntprl We want live agents to 
/agents yv antea sell our line of 
teed Farm Equipment. Liberal commissions and active 
co-operation given. Write for particulars. 
The Farm Equipment Co. 
906 Keyser Building Baltimore, Maryland 
iJHHI 
COLONIAL 
armer 
■ i 
It WEIGH* 
- OHIO- i 
1 \ 
Y ur paper has helped me to collect 
payment for a case of eggs, which I ship- 
pel to a certain firm last Spring. This 
firm claimed they sent me check for eggs, 
which I did not receive. They agreed to 
send duplicate at one time, but after that 
they would do nothing about it—would 
not answer my letters until I finally wrote 
them saying I would put the account in 
your hands for collection. I received a 
reply, also check for the eggs, very quick¬ 
ly. I wish to thank you for using the 
name of your paper to collect this ac¬ 
count. ~ J. H.L. 
New York. 
We are glad the use of our name served 
so good a purpose. Shippers are entitled 
to prompt payment for their products, and 
any house that neglects to do so' should be 
avoided. Losses and errors arise from 
just this practice of permitting accounts 
to run in arrears, and usually terminate 
in a total loss. 
The Judge : “So you claim you robbed 
that delicatessen store because you were 
starving? Why didn’t you take some¬ 
thing to eat instead of stealing all the 
cash out of the register?” The Accused: 
“ ’Cause I’m a proud man, Judge, an’ I 
make it a rule to pay for everything I 
eat.”—Credit Lost. 
No Moisture 
You are not buying water, but just soft velvety 
flakes of salt when you order 
COLONIAL 
SPECIAL FARMER'S 
SALT 
Compare a 70-lb. sack of our salt with a 100-lb. sack of 
common salt and you will note that ours is larger. 
It will pay you to try Colonial Special Farmer’s Salt, 
and if your dealer hasn’t got it, write us. 
THE COLONIAL SALT COMPANY 
AKRON, OHIO 
Chicago, Ill. Buffalo, N. Y. Boston, Mass. Atlanta, Ga. 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a 
quick reply and a “square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
