422 
71k  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
March  10,  1923 
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. 
Complaints  by  persons  whose  invest¬ 
ments  in  the  United  Stores  Groceries 
Company  aggregated  $25,000  that  A.  T. 
<  lark,  president  and  promoter  of  the 
company,  had  disappeared,  caused  the 
police  today  to  try  to  determine  Clark’s 
whereabouts.  Waiters,  store  clerks  and 
grocery  men  who  said  they  had  invested 
in  the  company  with  the  understanding 
that  they  would  be  appointed  managers 
of  stores,  comprised  the  complaintants. — 
Poston  Daily  Paper. 
Just  another  “chain  store”  promotion 
by  which  gullible  people  have  been  re¬ 
lieved  of  their  savings.  It  is  said  that 
the  chain  store  idea  has  furnished  more 
easy  money  to  get-rich-quick  swindlers 
than  any  other  line  of  enterprise  in  re¬ 
cent  years.  All  sorts  of  stores  have  been 
started  on  the  plan  of  selling  stock  in 
the  community  in  which  one  of  the  chain 
stores  is  to  be  established.  And  usually 
with  no  more  security  than  the  word  of 
a  stranger,  with  a  gift  of  gab,  men 
classed  as  hard-headed  business  men  have 
fallen  for  such  schemes.  After  repre¬ 
sentative  business  men  have  subscribed 
it  is  easy  for  the  promoter  to  catch 
smaller  fish. 
I  enclose  a  bill  for  $31  due  me  from 
I.  11.  Murray,  130  West  Crocus  Hoad. 
Wildwood  Crest,  N.  .T.  I  have  sent  him 
bills  for  a  long  time,  but  I  cannot  get 
him  to  answer  me.  Will  you  see  what 
you  can  do  for  me?  w.  N.  b. 
New  Jersey. 
Mr.  Murray  ignores  all  requests  for 
payment.  He  also  ignores  demands  from 
attorneys,  and  maintains  an  evidently 
serene  indifference  to  just  accounts  due 
parties  supplying  him  with  material.  We 
give  the  record  for  the  benefit  of  other 
readers.  If  Mr.  Murray  wants  orna¬ 
mental  trees  or  privet  hedges,  do  not 
till  his  order  without  cash  in  advance, 
and  it  will  probably  be  safer  to  let  him 
look  elsewhere  for  his  supply. 
Please  note  inclosed  from  the  American 
1  dscount.  Society,  120  West  42d  Street. 
New  York  City.  Will  you  kindly  advise 
me  if  this  society  is  O.  Iv.,  and  if  mem¬ 
bers  really  get  the  discounts  as  claimed, 
or  are  the  goods  marked  up  for  the  pur¬ 
pose?  'While  the  membership  fee  is  not 
large,  still.  I  hate  to  get  stung,  w.  G.  w. 
New  Jersey. 
lty  joining  the  above  so-called  “so¬ 
ciety”  and  paying  a  “membership  fee,” 
you  are  offered  a  discount  of  from  5  to  10 
per  cent  from  certain  stores  in  the  vicin¬ 
ity  of  the  inquirer,  which  are  listed  in  the 
circular.  The  stores  do  not  appear  to 
be  of  the  highest  order  in  the  community, 
and  we  can  see  no  reason  why  any  store 
should  give  a  discount  to  a  purchaser  be¬ 
cause  of  the  fact  he  or  she  paid  a  mem¬ 
bership  fee.  to  this  organization.  Of 
course,  if .  the  firm’s  prices  are  higher 
titan  they  should  be,  then  the  discount 
offered  is  only  a  sham.  This  is  only  a 
variation  of  the  other  membership 
schemes  that  have  come  and  gone  in  the 
past  30  years.  The  R.  N.-Y.  has  been 
advising  its  readers  to  leave  them  all 
alone.  All  have  proven  a  delusion  and  a 
snare,  and  we  can  see  nothing  in  this 
one  to  cause  us  to  believe  it  will  prove 
an  exception. 
We  are  in  receipt  of  the  inclosed  cir¬ 
cular.  My  wife  is  a  direct  heir  of  the 
Anneke  Jans  Bogardus  estate.  Do  you 
know  anything  about  the  inclosed  cir¬ 
cular?  w.  P.  R. 
New  York. 
We  have  many  inquiries  regarding  the 
above  estate,  and  other  alleged  estates, 
which  form  the  basis  of  an  appeal  to 
those  of  the  same  name  for  a  fee  to  secure 
a  fortune  for  the  heirs. 
Iu  this  particular  case  the  property  in 
question  is  owned  and  held  by  the  Trinity 
Corporation  of  this  city,  which  corpora¬ 
tion  has  held  title  to  the  land  for  more 
than  200  years.  It  would  be  a  difficult 
matter,  indeed,  to  show  that  the  Trinity 
Corporation’s  title  to  the  property  is  not 
good,  and  even  if  if  were  possible  to  do 
so,  it  would  be  still  more  difficult  for  the 
heirs  to  establish  a  direct  lineage  from 
Anneke  Jans.  In  order  to  do  this  it 
would  be  necessary  for  those  making  the 
claim  to  the  property  to  establish  their 
claim  by  submitting  birth,  marriage  and 
death  certificates  covering  three  genera¬ 
tions,  at  least,  of  their  direct  descend- 
ency  of  the  said  Anneke  Jans,  which,  in 
view  of  the  laxity  of  recording  vital  sta¬ 
tistics,  would  be  very  difficult  to  do.  We 
do  not  advise  anyone  to  part  Avith  any 
money  on  these  alleged  associations  of 
heirs  with  a  view  to  securing  fortunes  in 
this  Avay.  Such  associations  appeal  to 
us  more  in  the  light  of  an  “easy  money” 
scheme  for  some  lawyers  Avho  are  not 
very  busy  in  their  profession. 
Remember  “Sauatogen,"  that  all  the 
magazines  were  carryiug  full-page  adver¬ 
tisements  of  several  years  ago?  Where 
is  if  now?  Funny  hoAV  such  a  wonderful 
preparation  could  have  suddenly  dropped 
out  of  sight.  To  us  Avho  have  watched 
these  things  come  and  go  for  years,  the 
silly  side  is  only  too  evident.  We  can’t 
even  enthuse  over  Coue.  I). 
New  York. 
There  is  much  food  for  reflection  in 
the  above  reference  to  “Sanatogen.” 
Most  people  have  forgotten  this  product 
that  was  so  familiar  to  all  magazine 
readers  back  in  1914  to  1915,  and  con¬ 
troversies  regarding  its  merit  appeared 
in  the  public  press.  The  product  was 
advertised  to  haAre  wonderful  Arirtue  as  a 
food  and  tonic.  The  best  information 
The  R.  N.-Y.  could  get  about  it  indi¬ 
cated  that  it  had  little  to  justify  the 
claims  made  for  it,  containing  essentially 
the  same  elements  as  cottage  cheese.  It 
Avas  harmless  at  least,  but  the  final  Arer- 
dict  is  contained  in  the  fact  that  “Sana- 
togen”  has  disappeared  from  sight.  Sen¬ 
sational  advertising  will  sell  a  worthless 
article  for  a  time,  but  even  continuous 
advertising  will  not  keep  alive  an  un¬ 
worthy  article  or  fake  scheme.  This  has 
been  demonstrated  time  and  time  again. 
It  Avas  illustrated  by  the  old  “seedless” 
apple  and  “Wonderberry”  fakes,  and 
Avhere  are  the  “Memory  Training”  and 
“Efficiency”  courses  advertised  so  pro¬ 
fusely  only  a  year  or  more  ago?  Now 
correspondence  courses  in  etiquette  haAre 
the  SAvay,  and  Avhat  fad  will  follow  re¬ 
mains  to  be  seen.  “Truth  in  advertising” 
has  a  long  A\-ay  to  go  yet  to  eliminate  all 
the  buncombe  from  the  advertising  sec¬ 
tions  of  the  daily  papers  and  high-class 
periodicals.  Much  of  the  advertising  to 
catch  easy  money  has  just  enough  truth 
that  it  is  difficult  to  brand  it  fraudulent. 
Publications  that  are  not  Avilling  to  ex¬ 
ploit  their  subscribers  for  the  benefit  of 
unfair  advertisers,  and  incidentally  their 
own  profit,  do  not  accept  advertising  of 
the  doubtful  character  referred  to. 
About  a 
cement  water  trough 
A  cement  water  trough  is  substantial  and 
permanent.  Keeps  water  sweet  and  clean. 
Easy  to  build.  All  you  need  is  sand,  stone, 
ALPHA  CEMENT  and  a  little  reinforcing.  Fol¬ 
low  the  simple  directions  in  “ALPHA  CEMENT 
— How  to  Use  It,”  a  104-page,  practical  Hand¬ 
book  that  the  local  dealer  has  for  you.  It 
illustrates  a  score  of  other 
useful,  permanent  improve¬ 
ments  for  home,  yard 
and  farm. 
Alpha  Portland  Cement  Co. 
EASTON.  PA. 
140  South  Dearborn  Street,  CHICAGO 
NeAv  York  Boston  Philadelphia 
Pittsburgh  Baltimore 
Ironton,  Ohio  Battle  Creek,  Mich.  St.  Louis 
Plants  at:  Jamesville,  N.  Y.  Cementon,  N.  Y. 
Martins  Creek,  Pa.  Alpha,  N..J.  Manheim,  W.  Va. 
Ironton,  Ohio  La  Salle,  Ill.  St.  Louis.  Mo. 
Bellevue,  Mich. 
The  guaranteed 
PORTLAND 
;3*A0E  mark  ftEGISteW0 
ment 
An.  advertisement  of  a  receiver’s  sale 
of  automobile  tires  and  tubes,  stock  of 
the  Hydro-United  Tire  Company,  Potts- 
toAvn.  Pa.,  reveals  the  fact  that  this  com¬ 
pany  has  been  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver 
for  seA’eral  months.  The  organization 
appealed  to  us  as  a  stock-selling  scheme 
from  the  start.  The  reputation  and  re¬ 
cord  of  the  promoter  was  bad,  and  on 
this  basis  Publisher’s  Desk  warned  its 
readers  against  putting  money  into  the 
stock  and  the  advertising  for  the  tires 
Avas  refused.  *  The  tires  in  themselves 
may  have  been  all  right,  but  the  adver¬ 
tising  of  the  product  might  be  construed 
into  an  endorsement  of  the  company  and 
its  stock -selling  methods.  Time  demon¬ 
strates  the  wisdom  of  the  policy. 
Can  you  give  me  any  information  re¬ 
garding  the  U.  R.  Steel  Service  Corpora¬ 
tion?  I  have  paid  $100  down  and  am 
paying  $10  per  month  for  10  months  on 
two  shares  of  7  per  cent  cumulative  pre¬ 
ferred  stock  of  Steel’s  Department  Stores. 
Inc.,  with  Avhieh  there  is  a  bonus  of 
share  of  common  stock  of  Steel’s  Depart¬ 
ment  Stores  Holding  Corporation  of  Dela- 
AA'are.  Before  T  pay  any  more  I  Avould 
like  to  know  if  it  is  a  safe  investment, 
also  all  the  information  you  can  give  me 
regarding  the  company.  51.  P.  C. 
Massachusetts. 
We  have  many  times  during  the  past 
two  years  given  our  views  of  the  Steel 
promotions.  Recently  L.  R.  Steel  has 
Avithdrawn  from  the  enterprises,  and  it 
is  iioaat  reported  that  the  Baltimore  offices 
of  the  company  have  been  closed  as  a 
result  of  an  investigation  by  the  Blue 
Sky  committee  and  the  Attorney-General 
of  Maryland.  The  closing  of  the  office 
Avas  a  strategic  move  of  the  management 
to  frustrate  further  action  by  the  author¬ 
ities  whose  duty  it  is  to  protect  the  in¬ 
terest  of  the  residents  of  the  State 
against  fraudulent  investments. 
ta  Farms  along 
Ohio  Railway 
’  H-artofV>rgu»a- 
lCtetn  the  Heart  ExceUent 
a,nfaU  abund  t  and  Dairy 
able.  ear 
An  Farms-  Sm*  stating 
rated  far®  ***  Mana6er. 
«*  T-.?t  a*.  *■»*«• 
gresapea*-  » 
id,  Virginia. 
The  Farmer  Bis 
Own4  Builder 
By  H.  Armstrong  Roberto 
A  practical  and 
handy  book  of  all 
kinds  of  building 
information  from 
concrete  to  carpen¬ 
try.  Price  $1.50, 
For  sale  by 
THE 
RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
333  W.  30th  St.,  N.  I 
New  Selling  Plan 
CUTS  Fence  COST 
Peerless  Fence  which  for  25' 
years  has  been  famous  as  one  of 
the  highest  grade  fences  on  the  mar¬ 
ket  is  now  sold  DIRECT  FROM  FAC- 
TORY-TO-FARM  with  all“in-between”pro- 
fits  cut  out.  This  means  a  clear  saving  to  you  of 
almost  one-half — Peerless  prices  now  cut  almost  in 
two!  Never  before  have  you  been  able  to  buy  Peerless 
Products  at  such  exceedingly  low  prices.  For  example: 
Peerless  Farm  Fence,  per  rod,  17  cts  and  up 
Barb  Wire,  80  rod  spool  .  $2.47  i  Lawn  Fence,  per  foot  ...  7et» 
Steel  Gates,  each  ,  .  .$3.65  I  Steel  Posts,  each  .  .  .  22  c is 
Hoofing,  100  sq.  ft.  roll  .$1.25  I  Paint,  per  gallon  .  .  .  $1,19 
Write  for  Money-Saving  Catalog 
Over  100  pages  of  money-saving  prices.  Don’t  buy  Fencing,  Gates,  Roof¬ 
ing  or  Paints  until  you  get  our  New  Catalog.  See  for  yourself  how  much 
you  can  save.  Remember  Peerless  Fence,  Gates,  Roofing,  (12) 
Paints,  etc.  are  extra  high  quality — you  can’t  get  better  at  any 
price — everything  you  buy  from  Peerless  Factories  is  guaran-  , 
teed  to  please  you  or  you  get  money  back.  Take  advantage  of 
this  opportunity  to  save  money — Avrite  for  catalog  today. 
Peerless  Wire  &  Fence  Company, 
Dept.  4312  Cleveland,  Ohio 
Factories  at  Cleveland,  O.,  Adrian,  Mich.,  and  Memphis,  Tenn. 
