1082 
Tht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
August  18,  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. 
Printers'  Ink,  a  progressive  publica¬ 
tion  devoted  to  the  interests  of  adver¬ 
tising,  prints  the  following  editorial  in 
its  August  2  issue : 
In  his  excellent  book  on  “Organized 
Co-operation,”  John  J.  Dillon  claims 
that  one  of  the  greatest  1)606618  of  agri¬ 
cultural  co-operation  is  that  the  move¬ 
ment  provides  its  own  capital.  He  states 
it  this  way  : 
“One  of  its  great  merits  is  the  fact 
that  it  provides  its  own  capital  by  in¬ 
dividual  saving  and  personal  abstinence 
■from  consumption  and  waste,  and  as¬ 
sembles  small  individual  savings  into  a 
productive  fund  to  be  used  for  the  good 
of  all.” 
Mr.  Dillon  sets  forth  a  significant  truth 
in  that  single  sentence.  What  he  says  is 
true  not  only  of  the  co-operatives,  but  of 
practically  all  businesses.  The  merchant, 
the  manufacturer,  the  publisher,  who 
earns  the  capital  for  his  expansion  is 
likely  to  build  a  most  substantial  busi¬ 
ness  structure.  It  is  a  significant  fact 
that  nearly  all  successful  companies 
started  small.  Those  that  start  big,  or  at' 
the  top,  are  not  nearly  so  certain  of 
achieving  lasting  success  as  are  those 
that  start  at  the  bottom. 
This  is  especially  true  in  advertising. 
Those  concerns  that  launch  their  adver¬ 
tising  careers  with  million  dollar  appro¬ 
priations  seldom  get  as  far  as  those  con¬ 
cerns  which  start  to  advertise  humbly 
and  build  up  their  appropriation  by  the 
process  of  steady  effort  and  careful  ex¬ 
periments.  The  reason  for  this  is  that 
these  latter  concerns,  like  the  co-opera¬ 
tives  of  which  Mr.  Dillon  writes,  are 
likely  to  be  able  to  earn  their  advertising 
appropriations  as  they  go  along.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  prove  to  them  that  ad- 
versing  pays.  They  know  it  pays  be¬ 
cause  it  is  bringing  in  the  money  to 
finance  itself. 
Get  a  business  on  that  footing  and 
there  is  no  doubt  as  to  it  future. 
An  agent  called  on  me  today  to  list  my 
farm  to  sell.  He  is  connected  with  the 
New  York  State  Farm  Sales  Company, 
central  office  located  at  Utica,  N.  Y.  His 
proposition  is  1  per  cent  of  the  asking 
price  to  be  paid  in  advance  for  advertis¬ 
ing.  Their  commission  which  is  9  per 
cent  to  be  added  to  my  asking  price  plus 
the  1  per  cent  for  advertising,  thereby 
making  the  purchaser  pay  the  commis¬ 
sion.  The  9  per  cent  commission  to  be 
paid  to  them  out  of  the  first  payment 
on  the  farm,  the  1  per  cent  for  adver¬ 
tising  I  retain.  Will  you  advise  at  once 
what  you  think  of  this  proposition?  I 
cannot  afford  to  risk  money  in  wildcat 
schemes  They  want  me  to  let  them 
know  at  once  so  they  can  place  my  ad¬ 
vertisement  in  their  catalog.  H.  B.  s. 
New  York. 
Again  we  advise  farm  owners  to  re¬ 
fuse  to  pay  the  1  per  cent  advance  fee 
required  by  New  York  State  Farm  Sales 
Company,  Utica,  N.  Y.,  when  listing 
farms  for  sale.  The  R.  N.-Y.  forced 
W.  M.  Ostrander  to  abandon  this  ne¬ 
farious  scheme  20  years  ago,  and  farmers 
have  been  warned  against  a  dozen  or 
more  Ostrander’s  imitators  in  the  mean¬ 
time.  ‘If  any  farmers  fall  for  the  latest 
scheme  in  this  line,  it  will  not  be  the 
fault  of  this  publication.  This  is  notice 
No.  3  on  this  company. 
The  Economy  Rug  Co.  of  Syracuse, 
N.  Y.,  I  am  sure  is  still  in  existence,  but 
fails  to  answer  my  letters.  Last  October 
I  wrote  them  that  I  had  material  for  a 
rug,  and  asked  them  about  shipping. 
They  at  once  sent  me  tags,  price  list, 
and  instructions.  I  sent  the  carpet,  paid 
the  freight  and  wrote  them  giving  size 
rug  required.  Waiting  a  long  time  and 
not  hearing  I  wrote  again ;  no  reply ; 
then  again,  I  wrote  three  friendly  letters 
and  three  weeks  ago  I  just  told  them  I 
would  give  them  10  days  to  decide  what 
they  intended  to  do,  that  the  way  they 
had  treated  me  was  not  business  or  court¬ 
esy.  I  was  going  to  have  an  attorney 
take  it  up,  but  my  husband  said  it  would 
involve  more  than  my  rug  was  worth.  If 
you  can  assist  me  your  efforts  would  be 
very  much  appreciated.  E.  S.  d. 
New  York. 
(We  have  written  Economy  Rug  Co., 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  four  letters  regarding 
this  transaction  during  the  past  three 
months  to  which  we  have  received  no 
reply.  Neither  has  this  lady  received 
her  rug.  About  the  most  unsatisfactory 
and  generally  undesirable  houses  we  run 
across  are  those  which  make  it  a  prac¬ 
tice  to  ignore  letters  and  complaints. 
Now,  again  let  me  assure  you  that  the 
article  published  by  The  R.  N.-Y.  is 
without  justification,  comes  from  a  preju¬ 
diced,  narrow  mind,  from  a  person  who 
Lead  sails  the  seven  seas 
shows  he  is  dishonest  from  the  fact  that 
he  is  encouraging  others  to  be  dishonest, 
that  there  is  an  altogether  wrong  impres¬ 
sion  created  by  the  article,  and  that  it 
does  not  warrant  your  serious  considera¬ 
tion  in  any  way. 
(Signed)  G.  w.  gakdner,  President... 
The  above  is  one  paragraph  taken  from 
a  letter  of  the  Anthony  'Wayne  Institute, 
Ft.  Wrayne,  Ind.,  to  one  of  our  subscri¬ 
bers.  Of  course  anyone  is  “dishonest” 
who  interferes  with  the  game  of  corres¬ 
pondence  school  pirates.  The  R.  N.-Yr. 
does  not  expect  to  earn  the  approval  of 
concerns  sending  out  slick-tongued  sales¬ 
men  who  by  strong-arm  methods  take  ad¬ 
vantage  of  the  inexperience  of  young  girls 
and  induce  them  to  sign  orders  for 
courses  without  consulting  their  parents. 
When  the  papers  ceases  to  be  “narrow,” 
“prejudiced”  and  “dishonest”  in  the  es¬ 
timation  of  such  institutions  we  shall 
feel  that  it  has  outlived  its  usefulness. 
We  sincerely  hope  that  time  will  never 
come.  The  Anthony.  Wayne  Institute 
still  holds  $25  of  money  which,  according 
to  our  standards  of  equity  and  justice, 
belongs  to  a  young  girl  school  teacher  of 
The  R.  N.-Y.  family,  and  we  once  more 
call  upon  President  Gardner  to  return  it. 
I  desire  very  much  to  secure  some  in¬ 
formation  about  the  reliability  of  the 
American  Show  Card  System,  Limited. 
Toronto,  Canada.  Is  their  proposition  a 
sound  one?  Is  there  a  fair  probability  of 
their  statements  as* to  earning  money  at 
home,  and  of  being  supplied  with  work 
by  them?  This  class  of  advertisements 
naturally  attracts  that  class  of  people 
who  for  one  reason  or  another  are  dis¬ 
qualified  for  the  ordinary  work  of  life, 
and  they  are  a  class  that  cannot  afford  to 
lose  their  money.  d.  w.  l. 
Connecticut. 
These  work-at-home  propositions,  as 
the  subscriber  states,  appeal  to  many 
people  who  are  not  able,  for  one  reason 
or  another,  to  take  up  the  usual  means  of 
gaining  their  living.  We  regard  the  plan 
to  teach  show  card  writing  by  correspond¬ 
ence  and  then"  that  the  party  taking  the 
course  will  be  furnished  work  at  home 
as  merely  an  “easy  money  scheme.”  We 
doubt  that  very  many  people  could  learn 
show  card  writing  and  do  it  effectively 
without  personal  instructions  and  train¬ 
ing  ;  also  that  work  at  home  could  be 
furnished  for  any  large  number  of  people 
who  might  be  capable  of  doing  the  work. 
We  may  be  prejudiced  against  corre¬ 
spondence  schools  promising  work  at 
home,  and  we  should  be  glad  to  hear  from 
any  of  our  readers  who  have  taken  the 
course.  If  it  puts  deserving  country 
people  in  the  way  of  making  an  honest 
living  we  want  the  information.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  it  is  only  a  scheme  to  get 
easy  money  from  the  afflicted,  we  desire 
to  save  the  many  people  who  are  making 
inquiry  about  it  from  wasting  their  small 
means. 
Can  you  inform  me  as  to  the  reliability 
of  the  National  Press  Bureau,  of  Buffalo. 
William  A.  Ileacock  managing  editor? 
New  York.  n. 
Ileacock  has  been  employing  one  “easy 
money  scheme”  or  another  for  the  past 
25  years  and  through  this  “National  Press 
Bureau”  he  proposes  teaching  newspaper 
correspondence  and  short  story  writing 
by  mail.  When  this  fails  to  pull  money 
out  of  the  pockets  of  those  ambitious  in 
literary  lines  he  will  no  doubt  have 
another  scheme  ready  to  launch.  This 
class  of  fakers  is  very  resourceful. 
I  inclose  a  circular  I  received  from 
Laboratory  Supply  Company,  2841  Ridge 
avenue,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  about  guinea 
pigs,  and  would  like  you  to  pass  your 
judgment  on  same  in  Publisher’s  Desk.  It 
would  seem  to  me  that  the  statements  in 
the  circular  are  very  much  overdrawn,  to 
say  the  least  of  it.  Could  you  give  your 
readers  some  information  as  to  the  prob¬ 
able  profits  in  raising  guinea  pigs?  You 
will  notice  that  the  Laboratory  Supply 
Company  promise  to  contract  with  the 
purchasers  of  breeding  stock  through 
them,  to  purchase  back  all  young  raised 
from  such  stock.  j.  a. 
New  Jersey. 
The  Laboratory  Supply  Company  is 
employing  the  “buy  back”  scheme  which 
has  been  denounced  many  times  in  this 
column  as  “sucker  bait.”  This  concern 
has  it  all  figured  out  how  a  fortune  can 
be  easily  and  quickly  made  with  guinea 
pigs.  If  any  breeder  of  these  little  ani¬ 
mals  has  found  them  over-profitable  we 
have  yet  to  hear  of  it.  The  Laboratory 
Supply  Company  has  no  established  re¬ 
sponsibility  that  we  can  find,  and  all 
these  “buy  back”  schemes  are  a  delusion 
and  a  snare. 
TAKE  away  the  lead  used 
in  steamships  and  they 
would  drift  perilously  on  un¬ 
known  seas.  Passengers  would 
be  in  danger.  Commerce  be¬ 
tween  continents  would  halt. 
Keeping  the  liner 
on  its  course 
Lead  is  on  the  bridge  of  the 
steamship  and  in  the  engine 
room.  It  is  used  in  making  the 
glass  telescopic  lens  of  the  sex¬ 
tant  which  helps  the  navigat¬ 
ing  officer  determine  latitude 
and  longitude. 
Down  in  the  bowels  of  the 
ship  lead  in  the  bearings  of  the 
machinery  is  helping  to  elimi¬ 
nate  friction  and  keep  the  ves¬ 
sel  moving  steadily  through 
the  waves. 
Lead  weights  that  do  not 
rust  are  on  the  back  and  breast 
plates  of  the  diver’s  armor, 
while  shoes  weighted  with  lead 
help  to  carry  him  below  the 
surface  and  keep  him  there. 
Lead  in  the  submarine 
Lead  is  used  inside  the  sub¬ 
marine.  Storage  batteries, 
mostly  all  lead,  help  to  propel 
the  undersea  craft  when  it  gets 
below  the  surface. 
In  the  generators  which 
charge  these  lead  storage  bat¬ 
teries  the  windings  of  wire  are 
held  in  place  with  lead-and-tin 
solder.  Hard  and  soft  rubber 
insulation,  electric  light  bulbs, 
and  various  electrical  devices 
also  have  lead  in  them. 
Even  keels  of  racing  yachts 
are  weighted  with  lead. 
The  protection  paint  gives 
But  it  is  as  paint  that  you 
are  probably  most  familiar  with 
lead.  You  have  seen  a  steam¬ 
ship  with  its  hull  a  bright  red 
from  the  first  coat  of  red-lead 
paint.  Such  a  paint  sticks  firmly 
to  metal  and  prevents  moisture 
and  salt  spray  from  corroding  it. 
White-lead,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  invaluable  as  a  protec¬ 
tive  coat  for  other  surfaces, 
such  as  wood  and  plaster. 
Property  owners  who  never  seri¬ 
ously  considered  before  the  impor¬ 
tance  of  the  phrase,  “Save  the  sur¬ 
face  and  you  save  all,”  are  now 
protecting  their  houses  with  white- 
lead  paint. 
Look  for  the  Dutch  Boy 
National  Lead  Company  makes 
white-lead  and 
sells  it  mixed  with 
pure  linseed  oil, 
under  the  name 
and  trade  -  mark 
of  Dutch  Boy 
White-Lead.  The 
figure  of  the  Dutch 
Boy  is  reproduced 
on  every  keg  of 
white-lead  and  is 
a  guarantee  of  ex¬ 
ceptional  purity. 
Dutch  Boy  products  also  include 
red-lead,  linseed  oil,  flatting  oil, 
babbitt  metals,  and  solder. 
Among  other  products  manu¬ 
factured  by  National  Lead  Com¬ 
pany  are  orange  mineral,  bearing 
metals,  lead  wedges,  lead  gaskets, 
and  sheet  metal. 
More  about  lead 
If  you  use  lead,  or  think  you 
might  use  it  in  any  form,  write  us 
for  specific  information. 
NATIONAL  LEAD  COMPANY 
New  York,  111  Broadway;  Boston,  131  State  St.;  Buffalo,  116  Oak  St.; 
Chicago,  900  West  18th  St.;  Cincinnati,  659  Freeman  Ave.;  Cleveland, 
820  West  Superior  Ave.;  Pittsburgh,  National  Lead  &  Oil  Co.  of  Pa.,  316 
Fourth  Ave.;  Philadelphia,  John  T.  Lewis  &  Bros.  Co.,  437  Chestnut 
St.;  St.  Louis,  722  Chestnut  St.;  San  Francisco,  485  California  St. 
