1442 
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. 
There has not yet been time fully to 
test the result of our suggestion of last 
week to send December renewals as soon 
as the blanks arc received by mail, but 
the early indications are favorable. We 
are sending the blanks in installments, 
and if all find it convenient to return 
them promptly it will save us much trou¬ 
ble and expense, and save annoyance to 
you from errors. To those who can so 
favor us we express our thanks in ad¬ 
vance. 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
perhaps save some Rural readers by a 
little notice in Publisher’s Desk? 
Connecticut. g. a. c. 
This refers to II. 1.. Barber. Chicago, 
a notorious promoter of speculative and 
worthless stocks. If Barber ever offered 
a security to the public of any known 
value, we have no record of it. But we 
have a record of many of the other kind. 
The Connecticut subscriber seems to be 
in no danger of nibbling the bait of such 
promoters. 
December 10, 1921 
'DROP FORGINGS TAKE THE GUESSWORK OUT OF YOUR STEELWORK.’ 
You will see by enclosed clipping F, G. 
Lewis is still on the job trying to make 
us corn belt farmers rich. I wish there 
was some way to make him pay back 
what he got from wife and me while he 
was at University City. i. w. s. 
Illinois. 
What does Publisher’s Desk think of 
the offer of 1,000 acres of land and 
$1,000,000 said to be made by E. G. 
Lewis to the University of California for 
its use? The land is in the Palos Verdes 
Rancho, near San Pedro, and if he or 
any other promoter develops those hills 
as Lewis promises he will be occupied for 
some time to come. w. g. ii. 
California. 
Publisher’s Desk thinks that Mr. Lewis 
has no million dollars to give anyone, and 
no 1,000 acres of land with any value for 
the same purpose. We do not think that 
he ever will or ever expects to make any 
such offer in good faith. Lewis’ stock in 
trade is to gain an element of respect¬ 
ability from individuals and institutions, 
that he may be able to fake and deceive 
the people and get money from them for 
his fake schemes. When he was at Uni¬ 
versity City, near St. Louis, Mo., he 
worked the confidence game to the limit. 
He worked professional gentlemen, large 
newspapers and periodicals, b a n k s , 
schools, colleges and even churches. There 
was no element of human nature, high or 
low, worthy or selfish, that he did not 
use to extract money from the weak and 
gullible. He got the money a-plenty— 
$12,000,000. This friend. ,T. W. ,S.. was 
one of the victims. He is playing the 
same game in California. Few of our 
friends are in danger, but we would re¬ 
gret if he got a new chance to swindle 
a single one of them. 
Several weeks ago you warned your 
.1 have taken several shares of stock 
from the L. R. Steel Service Corporation, 
who have their office at 327 Washington 
street. Buffalo, N. Y. I have made sev¬ 
eral attempts to find out about them, but 
without success. Could you advise me if 
this corporation is a reliable concern and 
what their financial standing is? 
New Jersey. h. t. s. 
The L. R. Steel Co.. Inc., was organ¬ 
ized under the laws of the State of Dela¬ 
ware in 1019 for the purpose of conduct¬ 
ing chain stores selling merchandise from 
5c to $1. The capital stock of the com¬ 
pany is $10,000,000 of preferred stock, of 
which something over $9,000,000 have 
been sold, and 100.000 shares of common 
stock of no par value. In addition several 
subsidiary companies have been fenned, 
including L. R. Steel Service Corpora¬ 
tion, its function being to market the 
stock of the parent corporation and sub¬ 
sidiaries. Then there is the Steel Realty 
Corporation, L. R. Steele Co., Ltd., a 
Canadian corporation, etc. It would 
seem that the original idea of Mr. Steel 
in forming the company to conduct chain 
stores has been pretty well lost sight of 
in the maze of interlocking corporations, 
which bids fair to surpass the accomplish¬ 
ments of E. G. Lewis and C. V. Greene 
of Boston in this line. The elements of 
high finance in these promotions cause 
those of conservative tendencies to shud¬ 
der at the millions of stocks issued by 
these organizations and sold to the public. 
The chief asset in the stock-selling game 
of all concerns selling stock to the public 
is the success made by other houses in the 
same line. This line of argument is most 
effective in inducing those without experi¬ 
ence to risk their savings in new and'un¬ 
proved enterprises. To invest in any 
stock on this basis that another man or 
another organization can duplicate the 
success made by someone else, perhaps 
under very different conditions from those 
which exist now, amounts to a gamble. 
The Steel enterprises compose a gigantic 
speculation, and those who are approached 
to purchase the stock should consider it 
in this light. 
readers against a portrait company of 
Chicago. You might add to your list the 
Lexington Art Institute, 469 Atlantic 
Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. Their method 
is not exactly like that of the other com¬ 
pany, but the result is the same. The 
plan followed in our locality was this: 
The agent calls, showing a really hand¬ 
some picture, supposed to be hand work 
on silk. You give them the picture you 
want copied and pay for the silk they are 
supposed to use. That is all that is re¬ 
quired of you. except that your friends 
are supposed to see the finished picture, 
but if they want one they are $25. In 
about a month they bring what they call, 
if I remember rightly, a proof of what 
your picture is to be—size. etc.—and it 
looks as though the result would be very 
satisfactory, 'but you are then told that 
particular kind of work (embossed Con- 
tura aquarel portrait) to be framed 
properly should be done while it is wet, 
they showing a completely and nicely fin¬ 
ished picture, beautifully framed. Yours 
is supposed to be. finished in exactly the 
same way. They have a catalogue of 
frames, and of course you order one. 
The result is the same as the other com¬ 
pany ; you are cheated. The frame, mis¬ 
erably put together, is worth about 50 
cents; work just as miserable, no “em¬ 
bossed affair,” apparently never saw a 
piece of silk. Letters to them are ig¬ 
nored, showing they have no intention of 
making good; so it occurred to me that 
your paper might prevent others from 
being defrauded, as they seem to canvass 
in country places. MRS. G. G. C. 
New Jersey. 
The picture concerns are all alike in 
that the agents secure the order for the 
portrait by one trick or another, and the 
ultimate object of all of them is to sell a 
frame with the picture at an exorbitant 
price. When an agent of these so-called 
“art institutes” approaches it is time to 
whistle for the dog. 
As you will see by the enclosed, Bar¬ 
ber of Chicago is at it again strong. 
Can’t you help him along a little, and 
Find enclosed letter that I have re¬ 
ceived from Roger Fur Company, St. 
Louis, Mo. On November S I shipped by 
insured parcel post one raccoon hide to the 
firm, which I valued from $7 to $8. and 
they have only sent me 75 cents, which I 
do not think is right. They claim it is 
an early catch, but in this State the sea¬ 
son starts in October for raccoon, a. s. 
New Jersey. 
Not having seen the skin, we cannot 
say whether a fair return was made by 
the Rogers Fur Company. Our experi¬ 
ence with all the St. Louis raw fur houses 
has been unsatisfactory, however, and it 
it always a good plan to request that furs 
be “held separate” until returns have 
been received. Then if the price is not 
satisfactory the shipment can be returned 
or reshipped to some other house desig¬ 
nated by shipper. 
Can you tell me anything about the 
United Fertilizer and Lime Companv, 
214-215 Merchants’ Bank Building, Syra¬ 
cuse, N. Y. ? They have been selling 
stock in this section at $10 a share. They 
claim to furnish fertilizer to their mem¬ 
bers at about half the usual price. Anv 
information you can give me will be 
greatly appreciated; it looks too good to 
be true. n. h. d. 
New York. 
In other words, if you buy stock in the 
United Fertilizer and Lime Company it 
will then sell you gold dollars for 50c. 
There is nothing like 50 per cent profit in 
fertilizers, and an obscure concern of this 
sort, begging for capital, cannot buy fer¬ 
tilizing materials at as advantageous a 
price as the large and strong fertilizer 
companies. The representatives of the 
company therefore brand themselves as 
being willing to deceive farmers in order 
to secure stock subscription. We have 
before expressed the opinion that this 
company was formed by C. H. Stromblad 
as a basis for another stock-selling 
scheme. 
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