The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1909-08-26
$4,000 TAKEN FROM
KIOWA COUNTY ALONE
Revival Of Patent Gate Contract
Scheme Worked in Illinois
in Early 'kiNetieS
Special to Daily Leader.

Special to Daily Leader.
El Reno, Okla, Aug. 2G-This city
S said to be headquarters for bold
.ealers who sell "c-ude oil burner"
contracts along the lines that the fa
nous White gate patent WIS hing
sold at Bloomington, Illinois in 1903
as.
A query from Hobart from a prom
nent business man brought the startl
ng information that $4,000 has been
aiken ont of Kiowa county by the con
ern the price paid for contracts
D sell' varying from $500 to $500
It is simple in purpose, each pur
haser of an "oil burner being sup
losed To sell some neighbol anyone
no Will purchase. the man sending
he customer get ing anywhere from
hirty to fifty per cent of the amount
aid in the original purchase. each
ime il is said can be half cash. that
he purchaser. when he sells his
riend. may have his note back as his
'ce according to the agreemenf.
Each man who gets a contract is at
1nce a member OF the company. the
ID endless chain over and over again
one law clerk at Hobart is icclared
. have made S7500 selling contracts,
hilo another man was unfortunate,
aying been charged win alior some
cw hundreds of anothers money to
make the purchase When corue"ef
or the money he was going 20 pay
& when 1--WE sold one of the burner
ontracts
Al last report he han not sold
Two farmers i'm southwestern Okla
9oma traded their farms for contrac S
md went flat broke trying to induce
thers 70 take them. Dishe1rtcned
recording TO local paper, they went
VI TO TcNs to try and get some cheap
ands and begin life over again
Sa Urday last at Hobart, q travelling
man was asking aid th9t he might get
his g'ips and agin take The road as
= salesman according TO ordinary bus.
ness rules. When appealed to expose
he methods by which the concern
operates. he s'oically said he woul.
axe his medicine and not allow sour
grapes to interfere with 9nvofr V1c
I'd "bilked' him. although he admi
id he had been done good and plen.
ty"
Agents seem to have travelled over
III Of western Oklahoma, attorneys.
armers. all sorts Of people, in fact
,haying become enamored with the
came one Western Oklahoma farmer
is alleged to have sold to others suf
'icent CONTRACTS TO make his part OF
the deal net $4,000. but, like all
fairy tales, when chased about for
confirmation, the lucky one always re-
ides in the county beyoni, like the
milk sick of We olden times.
Vague records of several operations
re known because of banking tr1ns-
actions, but no one knows just how
when or where he deals are closed
S the head men seem to have a pen
hant for cash transactions. and al
CIV no advertising.
II will be remembered that old
bloomington gate deal drove many
who had always been solid in business
'nto the fascinating scheme. which
down to fac s, was nothing more or
less than to sell a man a right to sell
mother for a stipulated sum-say ST.
200 The one soli to pay $500. an
,Ot his note back m tho FIRST custo
ner each man sold always getting
lalf of the fee for the Gus ome~ he
brought back All understood the
leal if did not REQUIRE falsehood. and
he game proceeded until Tie man whr
started was worth millions, but Fed
raj authorities bounded the tr1il SC
loosely i eventually fell through feal
Of being in the tolls, although there
vas no record of the mails ever hay
ing been wrongfully used
In the deals now going on in West
ern Oklahoma there has been little
publicity, ana efforts TO run down tC
the corner tree for Information have
50 far been fruitless. Ha