298 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 16, 1924 
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 think so well of the ideals of your 
paper, that I quote from your articles 
and editorials, in my classes. You see, 
1 m not an honest to goodness farmer, but 
1 have the interest of the farmer at heart. 
1 believe that the coming generation 
should know and appreciate the farmer s 
viewpoint. It may be that some of them 
will “carry on” the good work. 
Wishing you all the success you deserve 
so well, for the coming year, I am, 
New Jersey. s. k. k. 
We frequently get reports that The 
I t. N.-Y is used for class work in schools. 
What better -work can a conscientious 
teacher do than acquaint the city boys 
and girls with the sources of their food 
supply? 
Columbus, O., Jan 5. (Associated 
Press).—Dwight Harrison, former Nice 
President of the R. Ij. Pollings Company 
of Ohio, was sentenced to three years m 
the Ohio Penitentiary and fined $D,OUU 
bv Common Pleas Judge Robert P. Dun- 
can, this morning, lie was found guilty 
several weeks ago of making false state¬ 
ments concerning the holdings of the 
Phoenix Portland Cement Company ot 
Ohio, which stock was being sold by the 
Pollings Company. 
This conviction is the first of the after- 
math of the Pollings promotions. And 
yet many people will listen to the siren 
tongues of stock salesmen when they 
come around selling fraudulent wares. 
In sympathy with your good work 
among fake land investments, you may be 
interested in checking up the enclosed for 
future reference. “Yours till the last dog 
is hung.” ' ,, °* 
Rhode Island. 
The enclosed is a circular of Seminole 
Plantation Co., with offices in New York 
City, promoting a unit orchard proposi¬ 
tion in Florida. The claim is that 100 
acres in oranges and pecans yield the in¬ 
come of a millionaire.” No one should 
continue to struggle among snowbanks in 
the North if there are such easy riches 
to be achieved in Florida. The rule is 
those who go to I lorida, lured by sucn 
promises of riches, return in a short time 
wiser but poorer than when they went. 
tions blindly close their eyes and recom¬ 
mend these proven “gyps” of the farm 
seed trade to the confidence of their read¬ 
ers. R. B. P. seems to have a keen in¬ 
stinct for detecting frauds combined with 
flattery. 
Three officers of the Gearless Motor 
Corporation, convicted of using the mails 
in schemes to defraud, were sentenced to 
the Federal Penitentiary at Atlanta, Ga. 
They were Duncan McDonald, presi¬ 
dent, sentenced to serve one year and one 
day; Frank A. McClintoek, secretary, 
sentenced two and a half years, and R. R. 
Starnes, treasurer, sentenced two and a 
half years. In addition to the prison sen¬ 
tences, Judge Robert M. Gibson, who im¬ 
posed them, added .$100 fines each. About 
$1,500,000 was involved in the scheme on 
which the men were found guilty. 
The United States District Court was 
jammed with stockholders of the corpora¬ 
tion who had invested in the concern and 
lost their money, many of them witnesses 
in the case. 
Attorneys Charles B. Pritchard, Thom¬ 
as M. Marshall, and former Judge Steph¬ 
en Stone made a plea for the men. espe¬ 
cially McDonald, whom they said did not 
handle the sale of stock. W. Ileber Dith- 
rich, who prosecuted the case, declared it 
was a diabolical scheme to defraud, and 
the men should be punished. McDonald 
was the inventor of the steam motor.— 
Pittsburgh Chronicle. 
Our only comment on the above is a 
reiteration of our advice to pass by these 
speculative enterprises. Many inquiries 
were received from readers who were in¬ 
clined to invest in the stock, but we em¬ 
phatically advised against putting money 
in an enterprise of the kind. 
Would you let me know whether the 
Geo. Waver Company, 929 Broadway, 
New York, is a reliable firm or not? He 
claims to be a dealer and broker in bank¬ 
rupt sales. I sent them an order on 
Nov. 10 for $10.68, which were to be 
Christmas presents. Then, Nov. 17, I re¬ 
ceived a card from them acknowledging 
our order and saying that it would be de¬ 
layed a few days as they were tempor¬ 
arily out of some items, but would ship 
order promptly as soon as they got all 
articles, but we haven’t heard a thing 
from them. J-E. 
Our investigation resulted in finding 
that George Waver was no longer at the 
Broadway address, and the Post Office 
Department had no record of a new ad¬ 
dress for him. It is very evident that he 
started up a little business without any 
financial responsibility and has gathered 
in considerable money without making 
any effort to ship the goods ordered, as 
we have had many complaints of this na- 
Enclosed you will find a clipping of an 
advertisement of the American r leld beed 
Co., Dept. 530, Chicago, 111. Not finding 
their advertisement in your paper, the 
question arises in my mind as to whether 
they are reliable and their seeds of high 
grade. Recently I received a letter from 
the A. A. Berry Seed Co., Clarinda, Iowa, 
enclosing a packet each of W bite Blossom 
Sweet clover and Red clover, together 
with a circular describing their seed book 
and all the information it contains. The 
circular also contained this bit of flattery, 
“We asked a banker in your community 
for the names of a few of the most pro¬ 
gressive farmers in his section. Your 
name was given. This is a fine compli¬ 
ment to your ability as a business man 
and farmer. Our business is largely w ith 
men of your type. This makes business 
a pleasure, etc.” They may want to be¬ 
come acquainted and do business with me, 
but I shall consider your advice before 
sending off to Clarinda for bargains, oi 
the American Seed Co., either, b. b. p. 
Ohio. 
As nearly as we can make out the 
American Field Seed Co., Chicago, is an 
outgrowth of the old American Mutual 
Seed Co. that operated in Chicago some 
few years ago. It was closely allied with 
A. A. Berry Seed Co.. Clarinda, Iowa. 
The advertising and methods of the two 
concerns were identical, as was the record 
of the two seed houses in selling a low 
quality of seeds containing a high per¬ 
centage of foreign matter and noxious 
weed seeds. One of the deceptive prac¬ 
tices was to advertise clover and Timothy 
mixed in order to fool the farmer as to 
what percentage of each he was buying. 
This same practice is followed still. The 
R. N.-Y. exposed these deceptive methods 
for years. The New York Experiment 
Station issued bulletins showing the poor 
quality of the seeds shipped by these con¬ 
cerns into New York State. In 1920 the 
Federal Trade Commission issued orders 
to these firms to “cease and desist” the 
“false and misleading” methods and 
charged them with selling seeds of low 
germination, containing much weed seeds 
and other impurities. In spite of all this 
public information many farm publica : 
ture against him. If he starts up in some 
other location, do not favor him with 
your orders. 
Meriden, Jan. 29.—Irving R. Hough 
and Charles J. Doherty of the Hough Fur 
Company of this city, were charged with 
fraud in the police court today and were 
each held in bail of $1,500. The com¬ 
plaining witness is Mrs. M. B. Lippin- 
cott of Red House, Nev., who alleges she 
was defrauded in a shipment of furs 
worth $800 to the Meriden Company- 
Local paper. 
These arrests were the result of extend¬ 
ed investigation by the Post Office De¬ 
partment, State police, and private de¬ 
tectives of the American Railway Ex¬ 
press. We have had numerous complaints 
and made frequent references to the meth¬ 
ods I. R. Hough Fur Corp. was using 
in dealings with country people. The as¬ 
sertion is made that Hough was not 
known to have paid even the minimum 
prices mentioned in his circular; that • 
they failed to hold goods separate; that | 
they had the goods in use before the 
shippers had a chance to get them back. 
This is the record made in complaints 
coming to us. 
One of our correspondents, a dealer in 
raw furs, says: 
“I would state for the benefit of ship¬ 
pers of raw furs that if they don't want 
to be included in the sucker list to light 
their fires with these high-priced circulars 
that are flooding the country, and to sell 
to the modest advertiser.” 
Buffalo Better Business Commission 
reports that Mark Harris, the promoter 
of fake and worthless stocks for 20 years 
past, has finally been forced to close up 
shop as a result of pressure from the 
State Attorney General’s office, acting on 
information furnished by the Commission. 
Harris has been exposed in this depart¬ 
ment persistently. If he ever sold any 
legitimate securities we never heard of 
it, and in all probability the money he 
swindled investors out of would run into 
millions. 
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