The Project Gutenberg eBook of Radio razz This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title: Radio razz Author: Jack Woodford Release date: July 28, 2024 [eBook #74145] Language: English Original publication: New York: The Frank A. Munsey Company Credits: Roger Frank and Sue Clark *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RADIO RAZZ *** RADIO RAZZ By Jack Woodford I have always liked to hang around old Doc Edwards’s radio store in the evenings; not, particularly, because of any great interest in radio, for I have a five tube set of my own with which I can pick up everything from Kahoolawe to Nansen Sound and I could just as well stay at home and try for the Eiffel Tower; but it’s the way old Doc Edwards sells ’em that gets me. You see, the “Doctor” comes from Edwards’s days as a veterinary surgeon; but old man Edwards was never at heart a veterinary surgeon, he was in reality a horse trader. When horses got to the point where people began to consider saving the last remaining specimens for zoological gardens and historical societies, Doc Edwards turned to radio. And oh, what a radio salesman he is! To begin with, he won’t have a new set in his store, or, if he does have to stock a few new sets now and then, he invariably marks them “secondhand,” for he hates anything that has a fixed price on it. Not a set in Doc’s shop has a price tag, and not a set but what he may vary the price from one hundred to one thousand per cent. And I wish you could see him sell them. All he aims to do is to get _some_ cash out of any one who comes in the store, and, leave it to him, he never fails; at least, I never saw him fail except once, the night he had matchmaking in his head. You see, Doc is a kindly old cuss, and it isn’t so much that he wants to make a whale of a lot of money as that he just naturally enjoys a shrewd bargain. After he’s made one he’s as happy as a lark, whether any more customers come in or not; but, if he makes a bad bargain, the best thing to do is to go home, for Doc won’t be worth talking to for the rest of the evening. One of Doc’s pet theories is that if you use a real good super-hetrodyne set, on a clear, calm night, sitting in a dark room with all light excluded, there is a way of tuning that permits you to see the whole solar firmament in the mouth of your loud speaker. I’ve always thought that that was a lot of bunk, but--well, we’ll see. One night I dropped into Doc’s store around eight thirty to watch him make a few “trades,” as he invariably called his sales. He was looking kind of glum, and I surmised that he must have turned a pretty bad bargain somewhere along in the afternoon, and wouldn’t be worth while talking to that evening, and I was just about getting ready to go home again when in came the prettiest girl I ever laid eyes on. She was about twenty or thereabouts, and dressed up to the minute. “Want to look at a five tube set, neutrodyne circuit,” she said to Doc. “Yes, ma’am,” replied Doc, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. He loved to bargain with women because they were so much shrewder than the men usually. “I got some of the finest five tube neutrodynes in the city, madam; of course, they’re all secondhanded, but, most of ’em is as good as new, and I guarantee every set to work; if it don’t you’re at liberty to bring it back and have it fixed free of charge, or get another one, just as you like. Anyone who has done business with me will tell you that Doc Edwards is strictly on the square.” “Yes,” agreed the young woman, looking at me curiously out of the corner of her eye, “several people I know in the neighborhood have spoken very well of you to me; I have every confidence in you.” She lowered her head for a moment after this remark, and Doc shot a glance at me in high glee, a glance which said “Watch me!” I, however, was busy watching the girl. I must admit that it had been a long time since I had seen a pretty woman who interested me so much. She was the kind that even I, confirmed bachelor that I am, would have considered furnishing up a flat for and being led off, bound willingly hand and foot, to the altar. “Now here is a set,” began Doc, leading her over to inspect a real secondhand outfit, in fairly good condition, though a little old. “You can pick up the whole United States with this, and possibly some points in Europe. I’ll guarantee it absolutely, and if you can’t get the Coast after you’ve had it thirty days you may bring it back to me and I’ll return your money.” The girl looked interested. “How much?” she inquired, glancing over at me in a confidential sort of way as much as to say, “You won’t let him take advantage of me, will you?” I smiled back reassuringly, and thought I detected just the faintest answering smile. “Well, I’ll tell you,” said Doc. “I like you somehow, you’re the kind of person who will boost my business in the neighborhood, so I’ll just let you have this set for a hundred and nine dollars and fifty cents, which, you can see, is dirt cheap.” The girl looked a little surprised. “Why,” she stammered, in patent confusion, “I couldn’t think of paying that much for a set; fifty dollars would be my limit.” Doc looked pained and took out a corn cob pipe and lit it before replying. “Well,” he said, at last, “I’d be losing quite a bit if I let you have it that cheap; but, as I said before, once in a while I make an ‘advertising sale,’ that is, I let some one have a set real cheap because I think he’s the sort of person who will boost my business in the neighborhood. Now, if you’ll promise not to tell any one how much you paid for this set I’ll split the difference between your price and mine with you, making the total cost of this excellent set, to you, and to you only, seventy-nine dollars and seventy-five cents; and, at that price, you’re getting a set below cost.” Still the girl looked a little doubtful. She glanced over at me, and I was sure I detected the faintest suggestion of a companionable smile this time. “Well,” she hesitated, “may I try it out for a few moments?” “Certainly,” said Doc, for this tickled him; he considered a customer seventy-five per cent. sold if he could get them to tuning a set themselves. He took the set over on the counter and hooked it up with the immense aerial he maintained on the roof, and with his fixed ground. Just as the girl started turning on the lights the door opened again and a young man came in with a large bundle under his arm. Silently he placed the bundle upon the counter and started unwrapping it. When he had finished there stood, exposed to view, one of the finest little three tube “unnamed circuit” sets I ever saw. It looked as though it was brand new; one of the sort of sets that was dear to Doc’s heart, for he often told me that it was much easier to sell a poor set that was shiny than a good set with the varnish worn off. “Want to sell you this set,” said the young man airily. He was that sort of youngster whom clothing manufacturers often use to drape their wares on in advertising matter. Tall, straight, black shiny hair as revealed when he suddenly jerked his hat off on observing the presence of a lady in the place, and clear cut, well chiseled features. Doc looked at him and then looked over to where the girl, oblivious to everything was turning the dials on the five tube neutrodyne back and forth. “Well,” said Doc grudgingly, addressing the young man, “I can’t give you very much for this set; you see, it’s an unnamed circuit and--” “And that’s the best part of it,” interrupted the young man. “Right now everyone is buying the ‘unnamed circuit,’ and you know it. However, if that’s the way you feel about it--” He started calmly to wrap up the set again. “Well, wait,” interrupted Doc, “I didn’t say how much I’d give you yet, did I? Never go away without getting the other man’s figures first. How much do you want for it?” “How much will you give me?” snapped the young man. “You’re selling the set,” Doc reminded him. “Will you give me sixty-five dollars?” Doc looked pained. “There’s a law in this city,” he said, “against highway robbery; surely you don’t want to take advantage of a man of my years? Somebody’s gone and told you about my soft heart. It’s cost me many a dollar I’ll tell you!” Wordlessly the young man started again to wrap up the set “Wait, wait,” said Doc, hastily. “I’ll give you fifty dollars for it” “Nothing stirring!” snapped the young man. “I will come down a little though; I’ll let you have it for fifty-five.” Doc looked very sad, and I, full knowing that the argument might last half an hour, summoned up all my courage and walked over to the young lady, who had thus far been unsuccessful in securing an out of town station. “May I help you?” I said, with my heart beating like a trip-hammer in my breast, frightened to death for fear she might answer frigidly “Sir!” But she did no such thing. “Why, that’s very kind of you,” she said graciously, turning a smile upon me that made me feel quite certain that I could pick up Piccadilly for her without any trouble. To cover my confusion I turned to the knobs and started frantically to turn them. Sure enough, very shortly, came the words “Cocoanut Grove,” and then a crash of sounds, but I knew I was close to a California station and I began to feel a little of the excitement which comes when you’re very near a station like that. To give himself a chance to think things over, and also for the psychological effect upon the young man, Doc walked over to where we stood tuning and took me aside. By this time I had the station almost in line and I turned the set over to the girl to finish the job, which she started to do with much interest. “Listen,” said Doc to me in an impish whisper. “What do you think of those two? Prettiest girl in the neighborhood and finest looking young man around here. If I could bring them together I’d give the girl that five tube set for a wedding present; it would make a peach of an advertisement for the store, eh, what?” “Suppose,” I suggested coldly, and with some heat, “that you just attend to your own business, which is cheating helpless young people who come in here to buy and sell radio sets.” Doc looked pained for a moment, then he burst out laughing and slapped me on the back. “So that’s the way it is!” he roared. Then, in an aside: “All right, you know I take the address and phone number of every customer; there may be a chance for you; hope to goodness there is. She is the kind that would keep a man from loafing around radio stores at night and casting aspersions on the proprietors.” With that he was gone, back over to where the young man stood frowning at the set he seemingly hated to part with at the price offered. I went back to the girl’s side, a little bolder now after the effect of my first effort. “Perhaps we can get Frisco, too,” I suggested. “Here, I’ll show you how to go about it.” With that I took one of her dainty little white hands--it felt as soft and cool as the petal of a rose--and placed it upon the dial. Putting my arm around behind her back I took her other hand and placed it upon the potentiometer. She colored and laughed prettily, and I colored and trembled frightfully, but, sure enough, after a moment we began to hear squawks which sounded like Frisco. Hurriedly I threw the dials out of adjustment; I had no intention of picking up Frisco so promptly. I wanted it to be a long-drawn out process. Presently I heard Doc making the concluding remarks with which he always wound up a sale or a purchase, and suddenly, at this juncture the girl, apparently forgetting me, spoke up. “Well, Dr. Edwards,” she said, “I like this set, but I won’t pay you one cent over fifty dollars for it.” There was an air of very definite finality about her remark, and Doc did one of those surprising things which make it interesting to watch him. “Sold,” he said, without further quibbling. I happened to have been in the store the day he bought the set the girl was taking, and I knew that he had paid forty-five dollars for it, so I didn’t say anything, as I certainly should have done it he had charged her too much for it. “Will you wrap the set up for her?” asked Doc. “Certainly,” I agreed quickly, “and carry it home for her too if she’ll let me.” She blushed and smiled prettily, but answered nothing. Silence is ample consent, I said to myself. As I finished wrapping the thing up and put it under my arm Doc was counting out fifty-five dollars to the young man. A strange thing happened then. The young man picked up a five dollar bill and put it in his billfold; the rest of the money he shoved back at Doc Edwards. “Why!” breathed Doc. “What’s--what’s the idea?” “It’s yours,” retorted the young man angrily. “Mine?” “Sure,” snapped the young man. “That lady is my wife; I’m paying for her set. I suppose if we came in here to exchange a three tube for a five tube set you’d have soaked us about twenty-five dollars to boot. We heard all about you, you old horse thief, before we came over here; so, for once, you can consider that you had something put over on you.” I stood there with my mouth gaping as the young man walked over, snatched the bundle out from under my arm--and then suddenly another strange thing happened. I dreamed that I was looking into an immense loud speaker and that I could see all the stars in the heavenly firmament at once, and some of them were jumping around playing leap-frog; acting, in fact, so as almost to bear out Doc’s theory which I had so often scoffed at. THE END [Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in the June 27, 1925 issue of Argosy All-Story Weekly magazine.] *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RADIO RAZZ *** Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed. Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. START: FULL LICENSE THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license. Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. 1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others. 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States. 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed: This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License. 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided that: • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.” • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works. • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work. • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. 1.F. 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem. 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause. Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life. Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS. The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate. While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate. International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate. Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. Most people start at our website which has the main PG search facility: www.gutenberg.org. This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.