Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1903-06-26
81 PER YEAR.
An Answer.

An Answer.
!, MR.. FARMER:-Lest you go astray
! under the delusion that all you see in
81 tne papers and some of what you hear
| aoout the trust made Deeripg and the
ANTITRUST Minnie" is true and moi
intended to deceive; I shall take II
upon myself to correct some of the
Intentional errors.
! () The prediction that there will
be one hundred trust canvassers in
the territory contiguous to Cresco
this week is wild and scandalous and
written wholly to mislead.
i ~ The company does not say that
repairs will not be supplied after the
first year. They say that repairs will
not be furnished free after the first
season unless defective. This, too,
you see, was written wholly to deceive.
| 81 The International Harvester
Company contract is the same as the
contracts of the Individual Harvester
Company's contracts, and have been
for years with the exception Of one
minor change, viz: The cash discount
period is shorter. So the agent who
signs their contract is no more liable
10 De made an embezzler or theft now
than the agent who signed their
contract in 1902.
(4) You can get any machine in
town without paying cash or note
unless, indeed, it be Mr.. Lyons ma
chimes. 1t is foregone conclusion
that he will ask for one OF, the other,
as you will notice In his. last para
graph he says: 81 will take my ma
chine back and surrender to the pur-
chaser his notes or return him the
money he may have paid. The copy
of the order published in the PLAIN
DEALER is correct exactly; the same
as Mr.. Lyons has used to sell hundreds
of machines. Isn't it queer his
concience has just commenced to
bother him.
Now Mr.. Lyons says: CATER having
sold binders and mowers in this COM
munity for the past thirty years he
feels it is not claiming too much to
assume that he surely ought to know
something about what constitutes
good binder and mower. He honestly
believes the Minnie is the best bind
er he has ever seen or examined.
In another place he says: "The
Minnie has not been changed one
particle in 16 years"
Since it has been for 16 years the
best binder on the market, why has
Mr.. Lyons been deceiviDg you by sell
ing you an inferior article as the best
when he knew as well as he now knows
the construction and mechanism OF
the Minnie"
Perhaps little history Of the plant
that manufactures the minnie"
would be Of interest and benefit to
the farmers OF this community.
Originally it was the Minneapolis
Harvester Company and then it was
sold to the w. A. w. Harvester Com-
pany. The company who made the
Walter A. Wood single apron harvest
er which was one of the greatest frauds
ever perpetrated on the farming
public of the country. Their next
move was to manufacture the wonder
ful Minnie. But like all good
things the minnie" had to die
young. 1t showed marked signs Of
poor financial health early in 1895, but
benderly nursed in the hands Of re-
ceiyers managed to worry along for
about year when it succombed to the
dread monster bankruptcy. Repre-
sentatives Of the dead "Mlnnie" were
sent out with instructions to ship
back to the play house harvester
works all repairs from all agencies and
the instructions were carried out to
the letter except In cases where the
agent would prefer to buy the stock
outright to protect his patrons as was
the case In Cresco. All was quiet at
this one-horse harvester works for a
period Of three or four years until
some speculating freaks, who had got
loaded down with q lot Of nnsaleable
grass twlne (their own product) cons
ceived the Idea of buying the old plant
property, etc., and by resurrecting
tiMinnie" with few changes SO as to,
make it bind with grass Irvine, palm
off on the unwary farming public this,
stock OF bunglesome stuff.
What assurance have you, Mr..
Farmer, that this "wild catn institu-
tion will continue to manufacture
harvesters after they have unloaded
their stock of grass twine. And since
knowing their tactics the last time
they went to the wall, who would be
SO optomistic as to believe that when
they discontinue to manufacture the
harvesters, they will send out repairs
to the various agencies for the acom-
mediation Of their patrons. You have
had some experience in buying harvest
ers and mowers with no substantial
assurance Of reputable firm as manu-
factu.ers. Too many Of you remem-
Der getting let down on the Esterly
binders and mowers, recommended by
their agent as absolutely the best on
earth, with the strongest kind of a