1318 
November 5, 1921 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
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. 
Last week we published the charges of 
the Federal Trade Commission against 
the Chicago Portrait Company, Chicago, 
relative to the “lucky envelope” scheme. 
We now quote from the same report bear¬ 
ing on the fraudulent deceptive methods 
in selling a frame to go with the picture : 
That the agents of respondent in 
soliciting orders in the course of its said 
business, exhibit to prospective customers 
a portrait in a frame with glass, in such 
manner as to create the false impression 
in the minds of such customers that the 
prices at which respondent offers to make 
reproductions of photographs cover the 
cost of the portraits, together with the 
frames and glass in which they are de¬ 
livered. and though the contract which 
the customer is induced to sign, as set 
out in Paragraph Five hereof, contains a 
provision to the effect that the price men¬ 
tioned does not include frames or glass, 
this provision is not called to the atten¬ 
tion of the customer, hut the representa¬ 
tion is made by such agents that the por¬ 
trait ordered will he delivered in a suitable 
frame, without acquainting the customer 
with that portion of the contract which 
provides that the customer must pay a 
“reasonable price” for the frame in addi¬ 
tion to the cost of the portrait; that there¬ 
after the portrait ordered is delivered to 
the customer in a frame by an agent of the 
respondent other than the one which se¬ 
cured the order, the compensation of 
which delivery agent is dependent on 
commissions from the sale of frames; and 
such delivery agent sells the frame to the 
customer at a price greatly in excess of 
its true value or worth, or refuses to 
leave the frame and delivers only the por¬ 
trait. Other representations of a false 
or misleading nature similar to those de¬ 
scribed in the above paragraphs are made 
by agints of respondent in the course of 
its said business as a means of effecting 
sales of portraits and frames as afore¬ 
said. 
It has always been our understanding 
that the biggest profits of these portrait 
concerns came from selling a cheap frame 
at exorbitant price. Since our repeated 
warning against these portrait houses 
now has the sanction of the national 
Government, we trust that none of our 
people will again fall victims to these 
schemes. And remember when a por¬ 
trait agent presents himself that none of 
them is worthy of confidence. 
worked to get clear of them. In the 
meantime I had made them two or three 
two-case shipments. They remitted for 
all but the last, and wrote nice “eome-on" 
letters for further shipments. I replied 
that I was waiting for payment for last 
shipment. They replied that their last 
remittance covered all shipments. Their 
correspondence names “Vineland Farm¬ 
ers’ Corp.” A . c . L 
Indiana. 
V e wrote the so-called Vineland Farm¬ 
ers’ Corporation about the claim, and re¬ 
ceived request to have our representative 
call. The request was complied with. 
The proprietors of the concern admit re¬ 
ceiving the two cases of eggs and not hav¬ 
ing paid for them, but make the prepos¬ 
terous excuse that there was a shortage 
in the previous shipments from A. C. L. 
which they did not discover until returns 
were made. This is a new excuse. The 
eggs should have been examined when re¬ 
ceived, and if a shortage existed, deduc¬ 
tion should have been made at the time. 
The name Vineland Farmers’ Corpora¬ 
tion would indicate that this was an or¬ 
ganization of farmers or poultrymen from 
Vineland. X. .T. As a matter of fact, it 
is composed of just Nathan Klipstein and 
Samuel Schatten, doing business under 
the title of “Receivers and Distributors.” 
thus avoiding the requirements of the 
commission merchants’ law. This ship¬ 
per trusted the corpoiation, with the un¬ 
derstanding that it was composed of 
poultrymen, and no doubt many others 
have done likewise. We want to make 
the facts and the record on the shipments 
in question clear to our readers for their 
future guidance. 
money to collect fiom .T. 
173 West Street. New York. 
I inclose Turner’s letter and program. 
Is this a new Ostrander? If this chap is 
straight and honest I would send .$10. 
but I fear it is only another case of “run¬ 
ning a separator.” f. w. 
New York. 
The proposition enclosed to get $10 ad¬ 
vance fee for the sale of the farm by 
Cloverland Farm Agency, O. F. Turner, 
proprietor. Powers, Mich., is a new varia¬ 
tion of the Ostrander scheme. lie prom¬ 
ises to return the $10. provided he does 
not furnish the owner with a buyer at his 
price and terms within six months. This 
is too liberal! What chance has a man 
in Michigan to sell a farm in New York 
State? Keep your $10. 
I have some 
R. Rowe, 173 
for produce shipped him during August. 
It consisted of 40 baskets of carrots, and 
I prepaid the expressage on it. I was 
getting $1.75 from other commission mer¬ 
chants at the time, making $70 due me 
from Mr. Rowe. Will you get the money 
for me? j, r. 
New York. 
This man is not listed as a commission 
merchant, and results indicate that he is 
one of the dealers soliciting shipments 
from country people with no intention of 
paying for same. Our first letter was de¬ 
livered to him; our second is returned 
with the information that the Post Office 
Department is unable to locate him, as 
he “moved and left no address.” Under 
the circumstances it is doubtful if any 
made, as it will be 
to locate Mr. J. R. 
means considerable to 
emphasizes again our 
to look up the rating 
collection can be 
almost impossible 
Rowe. This loss 
the shipper, but it 
oft-repeated advice 
before making 
parties. 
shipment to unknown 
here selling 
were after me, 
There are agents around 
automobile stock. They 
but before buying I want your advice 
and I would like to know whether there 
is such a company as the Page Victor 
Automobile Company. I am enclosing a 
few circulars. \y. c. s. 
Pennsylvania. 
There is such an organization as the 
Page Victor Motors Corporation, with of¬ 
fices at New York City. The only activi¬ 
ties of the company that we have been 
able to discover, upto this time, have been 
the efforts to sell stock in the corpora¬ 
tion. What the future of the organiza¬ 
tion may be we cannot foretell, but we 
should regard putting money into a new 
automobile enterprise at the present time 
as very much of a hazard. The stock of 
many of the established manufacturers 
can be bought at low prices at the present 
time by those who want to speculate. 
Vineland Farmers’ Corporation, 332 
Greenwich Street. New York, wrote 
me, soliciting shipments. I replied that 
nothing less than “market” price would 
interest me. They replied with enclosed 
letter. They remitted promptly, 2c under 
market, which was fairly satisfactory. I 
made another shipment of five cases 
which they cut 5 to 8c under market. At 
this I knew they were unfair, and I 
We have had a number of complaints 
recently regarding the alleged deceptive 
methods of the agents of the Wills Pro¬ 
ducts Co., 110 West 40th Street, New 
York City. This concern is a jobber or 
distributor of paint products through 
agents. In response to our efforts to ad¬ 
just one of these complaints we received 
the following letter from the firm : 
Replying to your letter of October 10, 
we wish to state that, due to the fact that 
we were unable to make a satisfactory 
adjustment with Mr. R. or his employer, 
the matter has been placed in the hands 
of our attorney for further action. 
THE WILLS PRODUCTS COMPANY. 
It appears as Mr. R. contends that he 
agreed with the salesman to try a sample 
of the paint—one gallon of white paint 
and enough roofing paint to cover a roof 
Gxl2 ft. He signed an order specifying 
“one keg” roofing paint and “one keg” 
white paint, the capacity of the keg not 
being specified. He received a bill for 
$87.25, and refused to accept the goods 
from the freight station. It seems to be 
the standard trick of agents selling paints 
in this way to get the signature of the 
farmer to orders for a barrel, a half bar¬ 
rel, a keg, etc., without specifying the 
number of gallons. Many farmers think 
of a barrel as 31 *4 gallons, while in the 
paint and oil trade a barrel is around 50 
gallons. The failure to state the number 
of gallons on the order might be consid¬ 
ered evidence of bad faith when there is 
a dispute, as in this case, as to the agree¬ 
ment with the salesman. 
( Actor (seeking board and room) : 
Surely your mistress cannot object to 
an actor with just one little dog.” Maid: 
“She ain’t got no objection to the little 
dawg, sir.”—Credit Lost. 
Feed is wasted on a 
Sick Hen 
Good poultry houses cost real 
money nowadays. Good stock and 
breeders aren’t, cheap. But the 
modern farmer is counting results, 
not simply investment and he knows 
that barrels for coops and barnyard 
scrubs don’t pay profits at the end 
of the season. Your kitchen range 
should show just as true profits. It 
can if you consider it from the view* 
point of service instead of initial 
cost as we have in building the 
Sterling Rang e 
The few extra dollars a Sterling costs, 
like chickens, will come back to roost 
in fuel and food saved. 
Let us tell you about it. A postal will bring 
you full information. 
SILL STOVE WORKS 
ROCHESTER, N. Y. 
Buy 
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It enables you to pasture fields, rotate crops and conduct farming 
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SEND 10 CENTS FOR THIS BOOK 
Contains farmers’ account pages, crop, live stock and insurance 
records, inventory, memorandum, calendars, fencing charts, postage 
rates, etc. Illustrated. Vest pocket size, flexible leatherette cover, 
bent postpaid tor 10 cents, com or stamps, to partially cover cost. 
Especially valuable to farm owners. 
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773 Union Arcade Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
New York, Chicago, San Francisco. Memphis, Dallas 
When you write advertisers mention The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a 
quick reply ond a “square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
