1670 
The RURAL NEW.YORKER 
November 8, 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. 
I was pleased to have your letter in¬ 
quiring after the George K. Higbie & 
Co., because I think we can report prog¬ 
ress. The potatoes planted by the men 
who were compelled to accept them were 
very poor indeed. In the first place, the 
I iota toes, in one sack in particular, in 
which one-fourth were seconds and three- 
fourths firsts, were greatly infected with 
stem-rot. The potatoes as they grew this 
Summer looked very weak, and when they 
were dug were exceedingly poor. The 
men in this county who grew them are 
very emphatic with their criticism of the 
George Iv. Higbie & .Co„ with their meth¬ 
ods of selling, as well as with the po¬ 
tatoes. I believe that this taught the 
farmers of this county a lesson, and that 
George K. Higbie & Co. will be very un¬ 
successful in attempting to sell anything 
which they have. 
You will be interested to know that 50 
farmers in this county refused their po¬ 
tatoes and employed one of the best law¬ 
yers in the county to defend their case. 
The case was first attempted through a 
local lawyer, who dropped it as soon as 
he learned the circumstances. A second 
lawyer tried the case, and he also 
dropped it after being informed of the 
condition of selling. The bank made a 
third attempt, but they made no further 
headway. About $1,000 or more was 
saved by these farmers by refusing to 
purchase worthless stock. 
County Agenf. N. e. gabber. 
The above report from the County 
Agent, of Bucks County, Pa., on the char¬ 
acter of seeds sold by Geo. K. Higbie & 
Co., Rochester, N. Y., requires no com¬ 
ment. It conclusively proves that farmers 
can protect themselves from being im¬ 
posed upon in cases of this kind, by pool¬ 
ing their interests and putting up a fight. 
It is to the credit of the local attorneys 
that they would not be a party to IIig- 
bie & Co. methods by attempting to col¬ 
lect from the farmers. The action of the 
Pennsylvania Bureau Agents is to be 
highly commended, and might well be 
imitated by those in other States. 
I have just read in The R. N.-Y. about 
the Chicago Portrait Co. and would like 
your advice, as I have let their agent 
take two pictures to enlarge for me. 
Agent’s name is F. W. Muesback. lie 
had lucky envelopes, as be called, them, 
and I drew one for $12.50, he said. If 
I would let him take the pictures he yvould 
mark the check $25 and I could get the 
pictures done for $25 cash. I have signed, 
and he told me these pictures would be 
as nice as the one he carried. Now I 
would like to know what I can do if the 
pictures are not as he said. This is their 
address: Chicago Portrait Company. 5095 
S. Wabash Ave.. Chicago. Ill. This is 
what is on one side of the paper T signed : 
“It is understood that this order cannot 
be countermanded.” I did not see that 
until after he was-gone. MRS. L. S. 
„ Ohio. 
If the pictures are not as represented 
when finished, we advise this woman to 
refuse to accept.them. The Chicago Por¬ 
trait Co. will no doubt attempt to frighten 
her with threats of lawsuit and all that 
sort of thing. We should like to see any 
concern go into court to collect a claim 
in a transaction which was the result of 
this crooked lucky envelope scheme. We 
predict the judge would make short work 
of the case. If such a scheme were sent 
through the mails it would be nipped in 
the bud by fraud orders. 
T am against a perplexing problem, 
and am going to ask you for advice. I 
have been selected as a movie star for 
the United States Film Corporation, of 
which ('apt. Frederick F. Stoll is the 
president. I am supposed to take a part 
in their photo play de luxe entitled 
“Determination,” and they agree to pay 
my way to the point of transportation 
free of charge and pay me $5 per day 
while learning. Rut before I receive 
their contract for this play I must take 
out 25 shares of their stock at $5 per 
share. The idea of taking out this stock, 
they say. is that they cannot make a 
success of the play if we do not incor¬ 
porate. They say this is the only way 
we cat make a success of the business. 
Ohio. w. S. 
We know little of the United Film 
Corporation, but on general principles we 
would not advise the subscriber to pur¬ 
chase stock in any concern on condition 
of securing employment in connection 
with your investment. We cannot say 
that the offer of employment by this con¬ 
cern is sucker bait to get his money, but 
we have found this to be the case in prac¬ 
tically every similar proposition that has 
come to us. If they really want W. S.’s 
services they will give him employment 
without the investment. Our advice is 
to hang on to the $125. 
I shipped one case of eggs to B. Seliger, 
172 Chambers St., New York. April 22, 
1919. He sent me a check which went to 
protest. I notified him and he wrote me 
a letter saying they had changed their 
banking house while I held the check, but 
if I would mail him the old check he 
would return me a new check. This I 
did, but he has never made any reply. 
The amount of check was $13.58. pro¬ 
testing. $1.40; total, $14.9S. Could you 
collect this? L. D. ii. 
New York. 
We could not locate B. Seliger, nor get 
any response to our letters, and sent the 
account to our attorney. He returned the 
claim as worthless. Mr. Seliger is no 
longer in business, and it is impossible to 
locate him. so that suit cannot be brought, 
although it is a misdemeanor to issue 
worthless checks. Mr. Seliger has been 
clever enough to cover his tracks. 
Will you let me know whether there is 
such a place as The National Fancy 
Goods Company, at 208 North Fifth Rt.. 
Richmond. Ya? I have mailed them $3.50 
for work and received a letter saying they 
had received the money and had sent work 
under separate cover, but have not re¬ 
ceived it. Have written them twice about 
it. but get no answer. I believe I have 
been swindled. Will you tell me what I 
co x 1 d do to recover the money? w. a. 
New Jersey. 
The subscriber will have to charge her 
$3.50 to experience. Letters to this con¬ 
cern are returned by the Post Office De¬ 
partment as unclaimed. There is no way 
to recover the money, but the transaction 
should be reported to the postal authori¬ 
ties in Washington. 
I enclose literature issued by the Syra¬ 
cuse Rubber Co. What is your opinion 
of this as a speculation? Do you know 
any of the officers mentioned? Where 
should I look for accurate detailed infor¬ 
mation other than that which you may 
be able to furnish? o. A. w. 
New York. 
This company was organized under the 
laws of New York State the early part 
of the year, capitalized at $300,000. one- 
half common and one-Jialf preferred stock. 
It does not appear in our report that the 
officers of the company supplied any capi¬ 
tal. but a stock-selling campaign through 
agents was inaugurated, and it is stated 
that $400,000 of the stock had been dis¬ 
posed of up to August, and that additional 
stock was being sold at the rate of $40,000 
a week. A building for the manufacture 
of tires is in the course of erection and 
the officers express themselves as expect¬ 
ing to start manufacturing tires in Novem¬ 
ber. The officers include a lawyer, a pro¬ 
moter. and the treasurer of the company 
appears to have been for many years con¬ 
nected with the large tire manufacturers 
at Akron, O. All are favorably spoken 
of. What are the prospects for the suc¬ 
cess of the proposed enterprise? The 
company has to face the competition of 
many well-established manufacturers in 
the line with practically unlimited capi¬ 
tal and a reputation established for their 
products. It is handicapped by the heavy 
expense of selling the stock jn this man¬ 
ner—as a rule at least 25 per cent of 
the proceeds of stock sold in this way 
goes to the salesman. The element of 
speculation is so high in putting money 
into the stock of a newly-formed company 
that it might be said to approach a 
gamble. The experience of the past in 
connection with such investments is not 
reassuring. If O. A. W. will consult his 
banker he will find he could not borrow 
five cents on the strength of such a stock 
as collateral. One feature of an invest¬ 
ment that many overlook is the desira¬ 
bility of purchasing stock that can be 
readily converted into cash if necessary. 
As a rule this is only true of stocks 
which are traded in on the stock ex¬ 
changes. The stock of highly profitable 
concerns is often an undesirable invest¬ 
ment. for this reason. 
“H’m, h’m!” grumbled Farmer Horn- 
beak. gazing down the rows. “So that’s 
the way you planted the corn, eh? Looks 
like you were staggering full of hard cider 
when you done it!” “Aw. them rows 
was straight when I planted ’em.” dogged¬ 
ly replied the hired man : “The hot sun 
has warped ’em; that’s all.”—Kansas 
City Star. 
Then You Can Add 
Another Bottom 
The same power that pulls a gang-plow 
of two dull bottoms will just as readily 
pull three well-sharpened bottoms. 
This has been proved at many of the 
U. S. experiment farms. 
A sharp plow cuts the soil with little 
resistance, speeds up the job and saves 
time, power and profit for the farmer. 
Sharpening plow-points is a simple, one- 
man job when you have a 
HUMMER GRINDER 
Pedals like a bicycle. No 
pressure required — no water 
or oil to cool the steel. The 
head swivels, making the most 
awkward tool easy to grind. 
The DIMO-GRIT wheels of the “Hummer” sharpen twenty-five times as 
fast as a grindstone, without drawing the temper. Plow-points, mower 
sickles, cultivator blades, ensilage knives, harrow discs, axes and all other 
cutting tools can be sharpened in a few minutes—easily and safely. 
The “Hummer” is built like a cream-separator—all-metal construction— 
dust-proof ball bearings—worm gear drive. 
SEND 10c FOR DIMO-GRIT POCKET HONE 
Send 10c in stamps for a DIMO-GRIT pocket hone. 
See for yourself how quickly it puts a keen edge 
on even the dullest jack-knife. 
Luther Grinder Mfg. Co. 
The Largest Makers of Farm Repair Tools in the World 
Dept. 125 MILWAUKEE, U. S. A. 
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hang. 5AStorm King Horse 
Blankets have been the 
leaders over 30 years. 
Closely woven from the 
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Look for the 5A trademark. 
WM. AYRES & SONS, Philadelphia 
Makers of 5A. Motor Robes 
A money-maker and hard work saver for land clearers and wood-cutting 
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*'/have tawedthrough five foot loltdeallegt at tho rat*( 
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America must burn more 
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V ~ r ' ' 
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, Government. 
v-'tf -X. 
404 Hawthorne Ave., Portland, Ore?" 
L 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a 
quick reply and a “square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
