914 
June  30,  1023 
PUBLISHER’S  DESK 
AAe  are  advised  that  Anthony  A. 
Scheib.  vice  president,  Carl  B.  Anderson, 
secretary  and  treasurer  and  Morton  B. 
Hawkins,  president,  respectively,  of  the 
Hawkins  Mortgage  Company,  Portland, 
Ind..  were  arrested  by  Federal  authori¬ 
ties  on  a  charge  of  having  used  the  mails 
to  defraud.  Scheib  and  Anderson  gave 
•bonds  of  $7,500,  and  Hawkins  $10,000. 
I  should  like  to  know  what  information 
you  can  give  me  in  regard  to  the  Farm¬ 
ers’  Standard  Carbide  Company  of  Platts¬ 
burgh.  N.  Y.,  and  15  AVest  37th  street, 
New  York  City.  My  brother  and  my¬ 
self  took  some  stock  in  this  company 
three  years  ago.  Representatives  of  the 
company  came  to  us  last  September  and 
said  that  they  wanted  some  stock  to  take 
into  the  State  of  Ohio  so  that  the  com¬ 
pany  could  do  some  business  there.  On 
these  representations  the  agents  induced 
us  to  take  more  stock  at  $100  per  share, 
and  the  salesman  promised  to  return  in 
15  days  and  bring  us  our  money,  allow¬ 
ing  us  $150  per  share  for  all  our  old 
stock.  They  took  the  certificates  with 
them  and  never  came  back  with  the 
money.  The  names  the  agents  gave  are 
C.  Fried  and  S.  Moses.  Mr.  Fried  said 
he  was  the  originator  of  the  company, 
and  Mr.  Moses  was  to  be  made  secretary 
soon.  They  got  my  brother  and  myself 
in  between  $6,000  and  $7,000.  Repre¬ 
sentatives  came  later  and  said  that  they 
were  going  to  divide  the  company’s  big 
lemon  and  promised  to  bring  us  $7,500 
by  the  first  of  the  year.  AVe  are  farm¬ 
ers  and  have  to  work  hard  for  our 
money.  w.  A.  B. 
Pennsylvania. 
It  is  distressing  indeed  to  see  well- 
meaning  and  hard-working  farmers  bun¬ 
coed  out  of  their  hard-earned  savings  in 
this  way  by  the  sleight-of-hand  perform¬ 
ances  of  high  pressure  salesmen  of  this 
sort.  Going  back  to  the  original  in¬ 
vestor  and  selling  him  more  stock  by 
methods  such  as  described  in  the  above 
letter,  is  generally  known  in  the  under¬ 
world  of  finance  as  “reloading.” 
We  have  many  times  given  the  history 
of  the  promotion  of  the  Farmers’  Stand¬ 
ard  Carbide  Company,  organized  by  Geo. 
A.  Stromblad,  and  after  he  had  gotten 
to  the  end  of  his  rope  in  connection  with 
the  stock  selling  scheme  he  turned  the 
management  of  the  company  over  to 
Samuel  Null.  Stromblad  seems  to  be  a 
babe  in  swaddling  clothes  as  compared 
with  Samuel  Null  as  a  stock  promoter. 
He  claims  to  be  entirely  ignorant  of  the 
methods  employed  by  the  salesmen  pull¬ 
ing  off  such  deals  as  that  described  by 
W.  A.  B.  To  give  him  credit  for  sin¬ 
cerity  as  to  his  ignorance,  would  be  a 
sad  reflection  on  his  intelligence  and 
business  sagacity.  Our  observation  leads 
us  to  the  conclusion  that  Mr.  Null  is 
past  master  of  the  art  of  putting  over 
deals  such  as  the  above  without  leaving 
any  trace  of  his  personal  connection  with 
it.  The  same  sort  of  a  deal  was  put 
over  a  Maryland  farmer  something  more 
than  a  year  ago,  but  the  activities  of  the 
District  Attorney  of  the  county  where 
the  farmer  resided  resulted  in  Mr.  Null 
agreeing  to  refund  the  farmer’s  money, 
which  he  afterwards  did.  AVe  under¬ 
stand  that  the  Farmers’  Standard  Car¬ 
bide  Company  is  seeking  a  license  to  sell 
securities  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  which  we 
trust  the  State  officials,  in  the  interest  of 
its  citizens,  will  have  prudence  enough 
to  withhold. 
If  the  stock  salesmen  Fried  or  Moses 
appear  again  in  the  county  of  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  in  which  AV.  A.  B.  resides,  he 
should  promptly  swear  out  a  warrant 
for  their  arrest,  charging  them  with 
perpetrating  a  fraud  and  a  swindle. 
For  several  months  I  have  been  re¬ 
ceiving  letters  from  the  Anthony  Wayne 
Institute,  Fort  AVayne,  Ind.,  but  never 
paid  any  attention  to  them.  The  rep¬ 
resentative  stepped  in  January  29.  I 
am  a  rural  school  teacher,  this  being  my 
first  term  of  experience.  He  said  he  was 
the  extension  registrar  for  the  Anthony 
AVayne  Institute  and  then  of  course 
started  to  question  me.  He  asked  if  I 
expected  to  stay  in  the  teaching  pro¬ 
fession  and  I  said  yes.  Then  asked 
what  line  I  had  decided  to  take  up,  etc. 
He  asked  if  I  would  rather  take  a  busi¬ 
ness  course.  He  said  I  could  take  a 
correspondence  course  right  along  with 
my  teaching  and  by  June  they  could  give 
me  an  office  job  with  $150  a  month  as  a 
salary.  Since  I  think  about  it,  it  seems 
almost  impossible,  but  you  see  he  hardly 
gave  me  time  to  think  it  over.  He  said 
if  I  would  give  one  and  one-half  hours 
study  each  evening  I  could  get  it,  but 
at  that  I  don’t  think  it  could  be  obtained 
7ht  RURAL  N 
by  four  months  study.  He  said  self-de¬ 
pendable  girls  were  what  they  wanted 
and  asked  if  I  was,  of  course  I  said  I 
was;  that  is,  I  had  to  earn  a  living,  so 
he  got  out  the  contract  and  asked  me  to 
sign.  I  read  it  over  aftd  it  seemed  all 
right.  I  asked  how  much  the  course  cost 
and  he  said  the  price  was  $300,  but  a 
scholarship  was  being  given  for  $185, 
and  wanted  me  to  enroll.  He  also  asked 
my  age  and  I  told  him  18  years.  I 
asked  whether,  if  I  signed  it,  I  could 
withdraw,  and  he  said  he  didn’t  want 
me  to  think  I  couldn’t  do  it,  but  still  he 
didn’t  want  me  to  wait  until  I  saw  my 
parents.  So  I  signed  the  paper  and  he 
took  it  away  with  him.  He  also  made 
arrangements  for  the  payments,  and 
asked  me  to  pay  $25  down  which  I  did. 
Pennsylvania.  miss  b.  a. 
The  above  letter  reveals  the  way  young 
girls  are  taken  advantage  of  by  the 
agents  of  these  correspondence  school 
promoters.  Anthony  AA’ayne  Institute  and 
the  Atheneum  both  of  Fort  AVayne,  make 
a  specialty  of  young  girls  who  are  start¬ 
ing  out  in  life  by  teaching  school.  They 
are  easy  victims  for  the  experienced 
salesman.  The  Anthony  Wayne  Insti¬ 
tute  has  consented  to  cancel  the  contract, 
for  which  we  give  the  concern  no  credit. 
The  girl  is  under  age  and  has  no  re¬ 
sponsibility  in  the  contract  anyhow, 
while  she  might  have  been  frightened  into 
paying  more  money,  but  for  The  R. 
N.-Y’s  advice.  The  $25  deposit  the  An¬ 
thony  AA'ayne  Institute  has  refused  to  re¬ 
turn.  AVe  hope  the  record  will  save 
other  young  girls  from  falling  into 
such  a  trap. 
The  Consumers’  Service  Co.  of  South 
Bend,  Ind.,  has  agents  traveling  through 
here  selling  stock  to  build  gas  and  oil  sta¬ 
tions  to  furnish  their  patrons  with  gas 
and  oil  at  five  to  six  cents  under  prevail¬ 
ing  prices,  and  offer  from  6  to  12  per 
cent  on  money  invested.  They  claim  to 
have  a  station  in  AArashington,  Pa.  AVould 
you  give  me  any  information  you  can? 
They  have  sold  quite  a  lot  of  bonds. 
Pennsylvania.  b.  b.  p. 
..  Our  advice  to  farmers  in  such  cases 
is  to  let  the  concern  desiring  to  install 
the  gasoline  station  finance  the  proposi¬ 
tion  itself.  How  the  Consumers’  Service 
Co.  can  furnish  gas  and  oil  at  five  or 
six  cents  under  prevailing  prices  and  pay 
dividends  from  6  to  12  per  cent  is  like 
eating  your  cake  and  having  it  too.  The 
proposition  sounds  “fishy.”  Consumers’ 
Service  Co.  has  no  financial  rating  that 
we  can  find. 
AVill  you  collect  a  small  account  of 
$7.66  due  me  from  A.  Paleias,  175  Madi¬ 
son  Avenue,  New  York  City.  I  sent  him 
eggs  during  September  a  year  ago,  and  he 
has  never  paid  me  for  them.  The  amount 
involved  is  small,  but  profit  is  also  small, 
and  I  cannot  afford  to  lose  any  amount. 
Can  you  help  me?  b.  u. 
Any  person  who  is  willing  to  let  a 
small  bill  of  this  size  stand  against  him 
is  a  pretty  good  person  to  put  down  on 
the  list  of  undesirable  parties  to  whom  to 
make  shipments,  and  the  record  is  suffi¬ 
cient  without  any  comment.  AVe  will 
do  all  we  can  to  collect  the  account. 
I  have  been  a  subscriber  for  your  paper 
for  two  years  and  am  much  pleased  with 
same,  especially  with  the  interest  and  in¬ 
formation  given  in  the  Publisher’s  Desk 
page,  although  I  have  never  used  it  per¬ 
sonally  before  this  date.  I  am  very  de¬ 
sirous  to  know  your  opinion  of  the  Stand¬ 
ard  Business  Training  Institute.  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.  Do  you  think  a  course  in  traffic 
inspection  through  them  would  be  a  good 
investment?  They  advertise  a  course  for 
$70.  with  a  guarantee  of  a  position  fur¬ 
nished  at  close  of  course.  c.  F.  u. 
Ohio. 
AVe  have  no  confidence  in  the  claims 
of  the  promoters  of  correspondence 
courses  to  teach  such  subjects  by  mail, 
and  the  promise  of  a  position  on  the  com¬ 
pletion  of  the  course  is  the.  “bait”  to 
catch  the  $70.  The  Rural  New-Yorker 
is  one  of  the  few  publications  which  ac¬ 
cepts  no  correspondence  school  advertis¬ 
ing, 
I  inclose  receipt  and  letter  I  mailed 
to  Poultry  &  Pets  Magazine  Company, 
326  River  street,  Chicago,  Ill.  My  wife 
subscribed  for  this  magazine  at  the  Madi¬ 
son  Square  Poultry  Show,  and  I  cannot 
understand  this.  R.  G.  R. 
Connecticut. 
All  mail  addressed  to  the  Poultry  and 
Pets  magazine  is  returned  with  the  infor¬ 
mation  that  they  cannot  be  located  by  the 
Postoffice  Department.  All  mail  addressed 
to  them  is  sent  to  the  dead  letter  office. 
The  subscription  price  was  $1.50,  and 
no  doubt  a  nice  little  sum  was  realized 
by  these  subscription  agents. 
EW-YO  RKER 
When  a  Farmer’s  Wife  Goes  Shopping 
I  am  a  farmer’s  wife,  and  very,  very 
occasionally,  I  have  a  6S-cent  dollar  to 
spend  for  new  furnishings  for  the  house, 
new  clothes  for  the  children  or  myself, 
while  my  husband  more  and  more  seldom 
of  late  farm  years  buys  new  machinery 
and  the  like  with  which  to  keep  going. 
The  county  seat, — one  of  the  smallest 
cities  in  the  great  Empire  'State — is  six 
miles  distant  from  our  farm,  and  here  we 
go  to  buy  the  supplies  for  house  and  land 
which  can’t  be  put  off  any  longer.  This 
town  is  the  center  of  a  rich  farming  sec¬ 
tion — the  land,  not  the  farmers — and  de¬ 
pends  a  great  deal  on  outlying  districts 
for  trade.  For  a  year  past  the  mer¬ 
chants  of  my  home  city,  like  a  thousand 
merchants  everywhere  else,  no  doubt, 
have  complained  of  slow  times.  The  peo¬ 
ple  have  not  had  money  to  spend,  par¬ 
ticularly  the  agricultural  communities. 
The  local  railroad  shopmen  were  among 
the  long  strikers,  and  of  course  were  out 
of  the  buying.  The  few  well-to-do  of  the 
city  went  to  yet  larger  cities  for  their 
clothes  and  interior  decorations,  as  such 
always  do ;  and  as  a  result  of  this  the 
tradesmen  of  the  county  seat  felt  pretty 
blue  and  wondered  when  in  time  things 
would  pick  up. 
A  while  ago  we  at  this  farm  decided 
that  we  would  have  to  rob  a  bank  or 
something  and  go  buy  some  articles  long 
needed.  Among  these  were  numbered  a 
kitchen  cabinet,  a  sewing  machine,  a  por¬ 
celain  enameled  range,  a  corn  planter  and 
various  less  costly  things  of  every  day 
use.  I  straightway  hied  myself  to  town 
to  buy  a  kitchen  cabinet  of  well-known 
make — the  one  with  the  lowering  flour 
bin — prepared  to  get  it  and  take  it  home 
with  me.  I  had  decided  on  a  white  enam¬ 
eled  affair,  largest  size,  which,  in  my  5-lb. 
mail  order  catalogue.  wTas  marked  at 
$49.50,  plus  freight.  But  I  didn’t  want 
to  wait  for  my  cabinet  to  arrive  by 
freight,  and  I  was  willing  to  pay  perhaps 
$10  over  the  freight-plus  price  for  hav¬ 
ing  the  use  of  it  meanwhile.  AVell,  to 
make  a  long  story  short,  the  smaller  size 
cabinet  of  the  make  and  style  I  wished 
was  $77.50  at  the  town  dealer’s.  I  didn’t 
even  inquire  the  price  of  the  size  I  want¬ 
ed.  I  went  home  with  feathers  drooping 
and  ordered  my  cabinet  of  the  big  mail 
order  concern — in  white  enamel,  the 
largest  size,  for  $49.50,  plus  freight.  The 
farmer’s  68-cent  dollar  couldn’t  trade 
with  the  home  merchant  in  that  instance. 
Next  the  sewing  machine.  I  hankered 
for  one  of  the  new  table  models — not  yet 
sold  in  the  big  book — so  trustfully  I  was 
taken  down  to  the  leading  furniture  store 
where  a  good  make  was  sold.  The  model, 
a  rotary  head  and  looking  like  a  plain 
walnut  table  stand  when  not  in  use, 
would  be  handed  me  for  $85.  Our  old 
machine,  which  is  still  usable,  although 
no  more  a  parlor  ornament,  cost  exactly 
$13.50  25  years  ago.  I  decided  that  $85 
was  more  than  any  farmer’s  wife  had  a 
right  to  pay  for  a  machine  which  could 
perform  no  tricks  in  keeping  except  sew. 
so  I  had  the  old  faithful  cleaned  up  and 
it  now  seems  good  for  another  25  years. 
I  was  willing  to  pay  $50,  but  isn’t  that 
enough  for  one?  I  am  assured,  however, 
that  no  civilized  woman  thinks  of  paying 
less  than  $65  for  any  machine  in  these 
free  and  easy  times.  And  yet  potatoes 
were  35  and  50  cents  a  bushel — if  you 
dug  ’em — last  Fall ! 
A  new  kitchen  range  !  How  I  wanted 
one !  My  mother  bought  the  one  we  are 
using  over  30  years  ago,  and  it  does  good 
work  today  —  but  what  woman  doesn’t 
want  one  of  the  cheerful,  easily  cleaned 
porcelain  ones  of  1923?  Well,  I  was  no 
exception.  Once  more  I  blissfully  fliv- 
vered  to  town,  certain  that  a  French 
gray  range  in  one  store  window  would  be 
mine.  “How  much?”  I  asked,  with  a 
bold  front.  “Two  hundred  and  fifty  dol¬ 
lars,”  the  clerk  responded  negligently. 
My  husband’s  protecting  arm  caught  me 
as  I  staggered  from  the  shock  of  so  many 
dollars  all  together.  “Good  heavens !”  I 
cried  from  a  full  heart,  “I  wasn’t  asking 
how  much  rent  you  pay  on  this  building 
evety  month  or  what  your  income  tax  is 
- — do  you  mean  to  say  that  yonder  gray 
iron  stove,  to  burn  wood  and  coal  only, 
is  $250?”  “Yes,  madam,”  answered  the 
clerk,  regarding  my  hnsband  pityingly. 
AAre  are  still  using  the  black  utensil  of 
honorable  make  which  my  mother  bought 
30  years  ago  for  $38.  And  yet  they  say 
young  folks  are  marrying  and  going  to 
housekeeping  the  same  as  usual ! 
It  was  my  husband’s  turn  next.  He  need¬ 
ed  a  corn  planter.  A  neighbor  had  bought 
one  for  around  $50  several  seasons  ago. 
He  priced  the  thing  at  a  hardware  store. 
“AA’e  can’t  tell  you  the  price  today,”  re¬ 
plied  the  proprietor,  “as  corn  planters 
are  going  higher  every  week.  We  do  not 
like  to  quote  the  price,  as  it  will  surely 
be  10  per  cent  under  what  you  will  have  * 
to  pay.  The  last  one  I  sold  was  $95.  but 
they  jumped  again  last  week,  and  I  un¬ 
derstand  are  going  up  again  this  week. 
Great  little  planter,  though !”  My  hus¬ 
band  is  still  drilling  his  corn.  This  may 
be  another  unprofitable  season  of  the 
vintage  of  last — on  the  farm  ! 
So  this  is  my  tale.  The  home  mer¬ 
chants  wonder  why  they  don’t  sell  the 
goods  on  their  shelves.  At  the  same  time 
the  mail  order  catalogues  announce  one 
of  the  bright  years  in  their  history. 
Farmers  are  supposed  to  buy  machinery 
to  plant  with  before  there  is  any  guaran¬ 
tee  whatever  of  cost-back  returns  from 
the  crop  planted.  Most  of  us  prefer  to 
trade  with  the  home  dealer  where  we  can 
see  the  article  wanted,  and  take  it  home 
immediately.  But  home  prices — at  least 
in  the  writer’s  vicinity — are  not  for  farm¬ 
ers  and  their  68-cent  dollar.  AA’e  are 
urged  on  every  hand  to  patronize  county 
tradesmen  because  they  help  pay  home 
taxes,  support  the  home  town  and  are 
neighbors,  whereas  the  mail  order  con- 
corn  does  nothing  but  give  you  your 
money’s  worth  for  just  about  half  what 
you  would  have  to  hand  the  local  mer¬ 
chant.  In  cases  of  the  kind  I  have  men¬ 
tioned,  there  would  be  no  choice  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  buyer.  She  would 
either  have  to  go  without  or  buy  a  sew¬ 
ing  machine,  a  cabinet  or  a  stove,  for 
one-half  or  two-thirds  less  than  demand¬ 
ed  by  the  home  stores. 
Under  these  circumstances  it  is  evi¬ 
dent  that  the  estrangement  between  local 
tradesmen  and  farmers  will  deepen  in¬ 
stead  of  improve.  Farmers  are  in  the 
habit  of  taking  produce  to  town  to  sell  to 
grocers  and  being  beaten  down  to  the 
last  penny  for  their  pains.  Rather  than 
take  the  load  back,  they  sell  to  local  town 
grocers  for  less  than  they  could  ship  the 
same  food — -but  they  profit  by  the  lesson. 
If  it  also  finally  percolates  to  them  that 
home  prices  on  purchase  are  two  and 
three  times  more  than  they  should  be, 
farmers  may  be  depended  upon  to  stay 
away  from  the  logical  trading  center 
more  and  more,  sending  their  money  to 
the  mail  order  houses  instead.  Whose 
fault  is  it — and  who  will  profit  more  by 
such  unnatural  buying  in  the  end? 
HELEN  S.  K.  WILLCOX. 
News  from  the  Ox-team  Express 
Here  we  are  again  not  breaking  the 
speed  records,  but  we  are  still  alive  and 
on  our  feet,  so  why  should  we  worry?  AVe 
left  our  Winter  quarters  Decoration  Day 
at  Englewood,  Col.,  spent  a  couple  of 
days  in  Denver,  saying  goodbye  to  the 
friends  we  made,  then  trekked  north  to 
Greeley,  Cheyenne,  etc.  A\rhile  writing 
this  we  are  going  through  the  sugar  beet 
belt,  where  the  farmers  get  $5.50  per 
ton  for  the  beets  next  Fall,  so  the  sugar 
magnates  can  pile  up  millions.  If  the 
farmers  have  any  beets  to  sell  they  get 
$5.50  per  ton  with  a  promise  of  a  bonus. 
The  bonus  may  be  $1  per  ton,  and  if  they 
are  good  to  the  sugar  refiners  and  do 
not  grumble  too  much  they  mav  get  an¬ 
other  bonus,  as  they  say  that  al‘l  depends 
on  the  price  of  sugar. 
All  we  heard  the  first  week  of  June 
was  one  farmer  asking  another  if  the  hail 
got  him.  Coming  through  Kansas  late 
last  Summer  we  heard  more  or  less  of 
people  losing  their  crops  by  hailstorms. 
AA  e  could  not  comprehend  that  hail  could 
affect  so  many  crops  and  so  many  people. 
We  often  saw  hailstorms  in  the  East,  but 
a  few  days  ago  we  were  in  the  middle  of 
a  real  genuine  'Western  hailstorm.  Since 
then  we  can  believe  anything  anyone  ever 
will  say  about  hail.  AA"e  had  just  pulled 
into  the  town  of  Brighton  when  the  clouds 
above  began  to  move  in  all  directions. 
The  merchants  and  their  clerks  came  out 
from  the  stores  and  everyone  stretched 
their  necks  towards  the  clouds  above.  I 
heard  one  man  remark,  “That  will  bring 
hail  sure,”  so  we  thought  it  best  to  get 
under  cover  if  possible.  By  the  direction 
of  some  young  man  we  hiked  off  to  the 
tourists’  camp  grounds.  AVe  arrived  there 
just  in  time  to  get  under  the  grove  of 
large  ash  trees,  unhitch  and  cover  the 
oxen  with  tarpaulins  when  the  hail  began 
to  drop.  AA'e  had  good  shelter  by  the 
trees,  and  still  if  one  hailstone  hit  one 
anywhere  one  knew  something  hit.  While 
passing  along  the  highway  there  are  Al¬ 
falfa  fields  on  both  sides.  One  field  was 
stripped  of  all  its  foliage,  while  on  the 
other  side  of  the  road  fields  were  un¬ 
touched.  Likewise  with  the  beet  fields. 
The  early  part  of  June  is  the  season  for 
taking  the  first  cutting  of  Alfalfa.  Those 
fields  that  are  cut  before  hail  strikes 
them  make  a  good  grade  of  hay,  but  those 
that  have  been  hailed  are  not  worth  the 
labor  of  stacking. 
AVe  had  planned  to  start  on  our  last 
lap  of  the  journey  May  1,  but  on  April 
17  we  lost  one  of  our  motors.  Jerry,  the 
youngest  of  the  trio,  ate  too  much  new 
Alfalfa  just  peeking  out  of  the  earth, 
and  bloated.  In  less  than  15  minutes 
after  noticing  it  he  was  dead,  so  we 
were  set  back  a  month  securing  another 
ox  and  training  him  to  what  is  expected 
from  him.  AATe  searched  the  Denver 
stockyards  three  days  to  get  one  suit¬ 
able,  and  then  we  did  not  get  a  prize. 
He  is  a  purebred  Hereford,  and  his  name 
now  is  Diamond.  He  is  about  three  years 
old,  and  looks  like  a  calf  aside  of  the 
other  two.  I  paid  for  1,300  pounds 
when  I  bought  him. 
All  that  glitters  in  not  gold,  neither 
does  all  that  looks  green  make  good  pick¬ 
ings.  There  are  acres  and  acres  of  this 
A\Testern  land  that  from  a  distance  looks 
as  though  it  would  make  good  grazing, 
but  alas,  when  the  cattle  are  turned  in 
on  it,  they  turn  up  their  noses.  Weeds 
and  more  weeds;  the  names  and  different 
kinds  of  weeds  are  too  much  for  my 
botanical  education  There  are  nettles. 
Russian  thistles,  and  others.  A  few  days 
ago  a  native  thought  I  was  looking  for 
land  to  locate.  I  told  him  if  anyone 
offered  me  a  piece  of  farm  land  here  for 
nothing  I  would  shoot  him.  We  shall 
soon  be  in  the  foot-hills  of  the  mountains, 
the  people  tell  us  there  now  are  stretches 
of  75  miles  between  towns,  and  we  will 
be  going  up  all  the  time.  At  this  writing 
we  are  near  the  Colorado  State  line ; 
then  will  enter  Wyoming.  J.  c.  berrang. 
