The Dickinson press., 1899-07-15
They Reply to Mr.. Smith.
Aurora, ILL. Iulv {.

Aurora, Ill.,, July 5, 90.
EDITOR PREss:-We have received
your marked copy OF The Dickinson
PRESS of July lst and note the article
either written or inspired by Mr.. F. NJ.
Smith, Broncho, N. D., complaining of
his treatment from the Aurora Wool
Securing Mills and casting some reflect
ions on their methods of doing business.
Having given him space in which to air
his grievance, may we ask from you the
same courtesy in making certain explana-
tions which he does not touch. Last Tuly
Smith shipped us twenty one sacks Of
wool, net weight $500 pounds, he
said he had been offered II cents for it
at home. We made him returns a few
weeks since which we're not apparently
satisfactory and under date of June goth
he wrote us that he would have gotten 16
cents for it before shipping. In the
article in question he is quoted as saying
fore shipping. Now we do moi know lust
what niche. friend Smith occupies in the
esteem of his neighbors at home for YER
acity and uprightness of character; We
do not know him personally, never hay-
ing had the pleasure of meeting him to
our knowledge but should we be called
upon to classify him in a biological coll
ection of the little things we meet we
could do so readily. Ofthese twenty one
sacks of wool Smith shipped us, he wrote
| at the time that one load had been tipped
over into the river, part were fshed out
the same day, the balance remained-he
does not state how long. When recover
| ed the feeces were opened and spread
out on the prairie to dry and in resacking
hay, strap, seeds, dirt and what not were
all bundled in together - though he
made no mention of this. What was lost
by being blown away was compensated
for by liberal quantities of dirt. When
the wool reached us six other sacks re-
sembled dead pulled stock and was SO
| classified by professional sorters., the
wool had lost all its vitality, was harsh
and dead and had been driven full of
sand evidently by your North Dakota
zephyrs of proverbial fame, yet our
friend wrote US that these woods were
very clean and worth fully u cents, in
deed he had been offered this for them.
His wool shrank 6I-o3 per CEN in scour-
ing when it should have shrunk e per
cent, for it graded largely medium, and
it carried a very large defective sort,
1t seems to us that friend Smith carried
the hallucination that everything which
| WClll llllO q "oOl SoNh was "OOl dllu DIS TIC
avows, was worth II cents per pound.
Watered stocks are sometimes profitably
negotiated, watered woods, and sanded,
may be too at times, but it was a grave
misconception on Smiths part to send
them to a securing mill, for here each
fleece must be undone to separate the
different qualities of wool found therein;
any irregularities are readily detected
and they must return to plague the in
was defrauded. From the article in
question it seems he was offered II cents
for his 90 wool but is holding it for a
quarter more; we would strongly advise
| him not to hold it too firmly, if the wary
buyer can be inessed into. offering him
three-sixteenths, Smithy better take it
run home and quietly close the front gate.
Yours Respectfully :
AURORA Wool SECURING MILLS,