Graham guardian., 1909-08-06
RATES OF LEGAL ADVERTISING
AUGUST 6. 1909.
A BUNCO GAME

A suit that will be of special in
terest to gas engine dealers and that
portion of the implement trade
handling this class of goods, was re-
Gently decided in Chicago in favor
of Charles A. Stickney & Co., st.
Paul, Mimi, manufacturers of gas
oline engines, against Sears, Roe
buck & Co., one of the largest cata-
logue houses in the country.
In 1906 the Stickney Co. entered
into contract with the catalogue
house for the sale of certain num-
ber of engines which were to be
taken within two years, ending
April 80, 1908. The mail order
house at the expiration of the con-
tract had purchased only about one
third of the number of engines con-
tracted for and the Stickney Co.
made a formal demand on them to
take the balance which they refused
to do on the ground that they could
not dispose of the engines.
The Charles A. Stickney Co. then
brought suit for damages for the
amount that would have been made
on the deal had the contract been
completed. AS a defense the mail
order house claims, among other
allegations, that the engines were
not up to their standard and did not
make good" The gas engine
manufacturer then introduced vari-
Gus catalogues published by the mail
order house by which it was shown
that they had purchased engines of
certain horse power from the Stick
ney Co. and then advertised them
as engines of higher horse power.
1t was also shown, by correspond
ence, that Sears, Roebuck & Co. had
attempted to involve the Stickney
Co. in the transaction and that they
were asked by the catalogue house
to change their repair charts and
instruction books to correspond
with the new horse power ratings
given by the catalogue house. Let,
ters from the mail order house were
introduced in evidence in support Of
this charge and copies of letters
from the Stickney Co. to Sears,
Roebuck & Co., in which the Stick
ney Co. refused to be party to the
transaction and pointed out the
danger and risk of following such q
course.
The Charles A. Stickney & Co.
were awarded $10,000.00 damages.
The strong point of this contro,
versy is the proof of irregular prac,
tice of mail order houses, as shown
by the correspondence placed in evi.
dence by the Stickney Co. and the
catalogues Of the mail order house.
For instance: an engine of % h. p,
was listed as 3 h. p.; one of AZ h. p,
was listed as 5 h. p.; one of 6 h. p.
was listed as z h. p; one of 8 h. p
was listed as 10 h. p.; one of IL h.
p. was listed as 13 h. p; one of Il
h. p. was listed as 16 h. p. The
Charles A. Stickney Co. produced
and introduced as evidence, differ,
ent catalogues published by Sears
Roebuck & Co., at various times
showing conclusively that this de.
ception had been practiced. 1t is
not to be wondered at that, consid
ering these catalogues in conjunc,
ton with the correspondence be-
tween the two concerns on the sub
ject, the jury agreed on verdict
for the Charles A. Stickney Co.
The engines in question were
made especially for Sears, Roebucl
& Co., from special designs. ant
were put out under various names
like Howard, Universal, Kenwood
etc. They were not the standard
engines turned out by the Charles
A. Stickney Co 1t is estimated
that Sears, Roebuck & Co. made
from $500 to $4,000 additional oil
each engine by means of the highe,
rated horse power.
1t is needless to say that tn
Charles A. Stickney Co. are not a
the present time handling thei
goods through catalogue houses.
The above is an evidence of tn
manner in which the big mail orde
houses of the country do business
For instance, the Gila Valley farme
finds that he needs three-hors
power engine for use on his farm
either to pump water or as a motiv
power on his baler. He gets tn
price of the kind of engine ne want
from the local Healer then turns I