750 
The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
May 21, 1921 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
All letters to Publisher’s Desk depart¬ 
ment must be signed with writer's full 
na'me and address given. Many inquiries 
are answered by mail instead of printing 
inquiry and answer, hence unsigned let¬ 
ters receive no consideration. 
The Federal Trade Commission is 
credited with the statement that the pub¬ 
lic is swindled out of $500,000,000 
through stock investments—half a billion 
dollars. From the report of the commis¬ 
sion it would seem that no class of people 
escape the clutches of the get-rieh-quick 
promoter. The easiest victims of the pro¬ 
moter are supposed to be doctors, women 
and farmers, while even the banker in 
many instances does not escape. “Tele¬ 
phone houses” are pointed out as a class 
of brokers especially to be avoided. These 
houses have a small army of salesmen 
calling prospects on the ’phone to induce 
them to buy some highly speculative or 
worthless stock. When a victim is 
landed the profit on the transaction is so 
large as to make the plan profitable. 
This is the class of stocks, too, that are 
peddled in country districts by salesmen 
and by flaming circulars through the 
mails. A very large percentage of all 
stocks sold by these methods are fraudu¬ 
lent. Therefore a safe resolution for 
country people would be to refuse to con¬ 
sider any stock proposition in this way. 
Too many invest first and investigate 
afterward. The reverse is the only sensi¬ 
ble course. 
A Federal indictment charging con¬ 
spiracy, operated by means of the mails, 
to defraud investors in the stock of the 
American Tire Corporation of Delaware, 
was returned yesterday against Dureil 
Gregory & Co., Inc., of 7 Wall Street; 
Rhode II. Gregory, John M. Gregory, 
Harvey N. Gregory and about 70 other 
brokers, representatives of the brokerage 
firm in this city. Brooklyn, Buffalo, Syra¬ 
cuse. Boston. Springfield. Mass.; New 
Haven and Providence. 
It was part of the scheme to defraud, 
according to the indictment, that the 
brokerage company planned to obtain an 
option to purchase the entire common 
stock of the American Tire Corporation 
at prices ranging from $2 to $8 a share 
and to sell these shares to investors at 
$10 a share, regardless of the market 
value of the stock. In order to induce 
their victims to purchase stock on the 
partial payment plan, the indictment as¬ 
serts. the conspirators represented the 
stock would be placed on the Stock Ex¬ 
change within a short time.—Daily Paper. 
The above case is typical of the pirates 
engaged in promoting worthless stock. 
The automobile and tire industries have 
been the favorite field of these get-rich- 
quick artists, second only to the oil game. 
The “woods arc full” of this class of pro¬ 
moters, and those having a little money 
to invest cannot be too cautious about 
parting with it. Take time to find out 
the record and standing of any concern. 
Your local broker will usually give you 
good advice, and the Publisher’s Desk is 
always at your service. 
I enclose some letters from John G. 
Sheridan, who seems to be the prime 
mover in the Clover Valley Butter Com¬ 
pany, formerly 1192 Kossuth 'Street, 
Bridgeport, Conn., but now of Holyoke, 
Mass. Will you see if you can collect 
this account? It amounts to $48. and I 
can use the money. J. t. s. 
Vermont. 
We have been unable to make the col¬ 
lection. The information is that John 
Sheridan has been doing business tinder 
several names, and running up bills in 
all of them, none of which are paid. The 
account is absolutely uncollectible and 
worthless. Pass by any solicitations for 
goods you may receive from either of the 
above names. 
I am again writing you concerning that 
pig deal which I had with the Suburban 
Live Stock Company, Waltham, Maes. 
They do not pay any attention to me, so 
I sent you the claim some time ago. I 
wish you could have this matter fixed up 
at once, for I cannot afford to lose that 
much money. The claim is $30.54. 
West Virginia. J. e. p. 
The ’West Virginia subscriber ordered 
three barrow pigs at $7 each. Suburban 
Live Stock Company shipped two barrows 
and one sow with C. O. D. charges $8 
each. J. E. P. not going to the express 
office himself, the pigs were accepted and 
paid for. He returned the pigs promptly. 
Hits letters asking for refund of money 
and ours in his behalf have been ignored. 
This is the record of the case as it ap¬ 
pears in our files. The Suburban Live 
Stock Company has been given every 
opportunity to refute the claims of the 
customer, but thus far has remained 
silent.. 
I shipped by American Express Com¬ 
pany, July 7, 1920, one bundle of bed 
quilts and two pairs of blankets and they 
got lost. I put in a claim about the first 
of September, and so far I have not heard 
from them. I did not place any value on 
them when I shipped them, but I made my 
claim for $G0. The agent said I would 
get $50 for them, but it looks to me as 
though I am not going to get anything. 
There were nine quilts and two pairs of 
blankets in the bundle. If you will try 
to collect it for me I shall be obliged to 
you and give you 10 per cent for collect¬ 
ing it. Get whatever you can out of 
them. I made affidavit to this and gave 
it to the agent, but I do not know if he 
sent it to the general express office or not. 
West Virginia. C. B. b. 
The express company does not do jus¬ 
tice to itself or its patrons when it delays 
settlement of a clear claim like this. The 
shipment was lost. The blankets and 
quilts had been used scarcely three 
months. Yet the express compauy first 
refused the claim, and then offered $35, 
which was refused. Eight months after 
shipment $50 was sent in settlement, this 
being the extent of the express company’s 
liability, as no value was given on the 
receipt. We are glad to help a subscriber 
in a case like this, and make no charge 
for the service, although we appreciate 
the spirit. 
I am writing to thank you for your 
kindness in taking up my trouble with 
the mail-order house. They sent me the 
waist at once after you communicated 
with them. I am glad you have a good 
opinion of this firm, although I cannot 
share it. I feel sure that I should never 
have reecived anything from them had it 
not been for you. It is quite different to 
have representative of a large and influ¬ 
ential paper inquire concerning a trans¬ 
action from when an unknown country¬ 
woman writes about a small order. 
We always feel that we have a real 
friend in The R. N.-Y. We have 
taken it for years, and expect to con¬ 
tinue it as long as we live. Just now 
we are again worried about daylight sav¬ 
ing. I enclose a clipping from our Daily 
Utica Observer, which causes us uneasi¬ 
ness. I hope you will do all you can to 
defeat this autocratic measure. I hardly 
know how we ever lived through the first 
two Summers of this time. Should it 
again be forced upon ns we shall move 
into the village and live by working for 
other people. mrs. s. c. 
New York. 
This letter shows the importance of 
replying promptly to letters of complaint 
and making adjustments. An unfortunate 
experience causes a loss of confidence in 
even a reliable house, and it is hard to 
convince the complainant that the errors 
occur through a mix-up and no intention 
of causing loss and annoyance. Country 
customers should have as much attention 
as large city ones, and a prompt report 
on a complaint goes far to establish credit 
and confidence. 
The Federal Trade Commission has is¬ 
sued a ruling against the deceptive ad¬ 
vertising of the B'ig Four Grocery Com¬ 
pany. Chicago, and others conducting 
similar schemes. A portion of the report 
follows: 
It was found that combination lots, as 
advertised by this company, consisted of 
some staple articles whose quality and 
price were well known to the public, but 
that, the greater part of the lot consisted 
of articles whose quality and price were 
not known to the public. 
Sugar was advertised at 41/)c per lb., 
flour at $7.98 a barrel, soap, 2c a cake, 
and Quaker oats at 4c per package, to 
lead the public to believe that all the 
groceries in a given lot were proportion¬ 
ately low. In order to get the low-priced 
articles, the purchaser was required to 
buy the entire lot. The trial developed 
that the articles whose quality and price 
were not known were listed 1 sufficiently 
high to give a satisfactory profit on the 
whole lot, the little-known articles being 
priced high to offset the low-priced, well- 
known articles. 
These deceptive practices have been ex¬ 
posed in this department time and time 
again, and it is a source of satisfaction 
that the Federal Trade Commission has 
now taken action against the deceptive 
practices. 
“Did the laundrymau find those cuffs he 
lost last week?” “No, John.” “The 
shirts are no good to me without the 
cuffs.” “Evidently he figured it that way, 
too. This week he lost the shirts.”— 
Louisville Courier-Journal. 
Tke Colonel Fooled Me Ag ain 
This Time He Did It Witk His Car 
Friday night I saw him down 
in front of Perkins’ hardware 
store with his car. VVe kind 
of joshed him a bit about how 
the old car was growing grey 
like his whiskers. With that, 
he smiled and said: ‘‘Just you 
wait.” 
Sunday morning—only two 
days later—he whizzed by with 
that car a beautiful jet black 
and shining like a bottle. Saw 
him at church and all I could 
get out of him was: “Did it 
myself. If you don’t believe 
it, ask Mrs. Colonel. She 
got a lot of new furniture 
out of a can of Lowe Brothers 
Vernicol and I got that new car 
out of a can of their Auto¬ 
mobile Color Varnish. If I 
can do it, so can you." 
And by Jimminy, I did. 
If I can do it, so can you. 
It’s sold by the best dealer in 
each town. 
-- 
wq Brothers 
510 EAST THIRD STREET, DAYTON, OHIO 
Boston New York Jersey City Chicago Atlanta Memphis 
Kansas City Minneapolis Toronto 
Factories: Dayton Toronto 
Dairymen! 
Get Top Prices for Youn Product 
G ET rid of the accumulated 
sludge, hardened milk, 
dirt, etc., in your dairy utensils, 
for bacteria lurks in these im¬ 
purities, and bacteria means in¬ 
ferior products and low prices. 
Clean your milking machines, 
separators, milk cans, pails, etc., 
with Grade No. 3 American 
Steel Wool. These softly wool- 
ed steel strands get into the cor¬ 
ners and crevices and then good¬ 
bye, bacteria! Use American 
Steel Wool for all your dairy 
cleaning, scouring and polish¬ 
ing. Beats wash-cloths, acids, 
powders, etc., a hundred ways. 
Nestle’s, Mohawk Condensed 
Milk Co., Borden’s and Shef¬ 
field-Slawson-Decker Farms 
are large users of American 
Steel Wool for dairy purposes. 
American Steel Wool is put up in one-pound packages and in 
Household sizes. If your dealer cannot supply you send us his 
name and 15c, and you will be supplied with a Household package. 
Department R 
American Steel Wool Mfg. Co., Inc., 9-11 Desbrosses St., New York City 
When you zvrite advertisers mention The R. N. - Y. and you ’ll get a 
quick reply and a “square deal. ” See guarantee editorial page. 
