The Portland daily press., 1870-03-08
Important Letter.

MEDITATION RETREAT,
Mach /, 1870.
My DEAR COe1A HAssAN,
90 Exchange Street:
1t has been a custom of mine to write my
friends birthday letters, and put in as much
good sound advice and warning as could dis
til on to about two sheets of paper. And, Co
gia, you must not be offended if saw some
plain things to you. You are now q year old
1t is twelve months since you were launched
upon the commercial sea of Portland. Your
birth differed from that of many. Other COM
mercial houses are born babies, and either
slowly grow to maturity or scken and die of
cramps or internal combustion, or something
else, but your birth, like that of tabled cbarac
tiers, and like that of our honored ancestor,
Adam, was anomalous. You came Tito exist-
ence ull-grown; your advent was made with
sound OF trumpet and drum. The bill-po
and the newspaper foretold your corning,
though in some what vague, oracular language.
Commercial astrologers pretended to find the
failing star in the ascendant. They found con-
functions in the heavens foretelling your
speedy dissolution. There were a choice few
who saw in these predictions the overflowings
OF superabaudant gangrene. But Cogia, when
crowds rushed to your magic number s'99 I"
and all creation aud the rest of mankind SEEM
ed determined to leave with you all their bic.
lures of MIR. Lincoln and Mr.. Chase, then was
jealousy rampant; then, trembling with ire
did merchants send forth their hand bills de-
Glazing you "peripatetic swindler;" then did
they roundly declare in the same breath that
your goods were yalueless, and that they cost
t,cace what you were selling them for. And,
joining In the cry, one respectable literary pa
per did connect your name with the funny
word "humbug," referring, no doubt, to the
likeness between your store and hive of bees
But, Cogia, am glad you never lowered your
self to notice OF ugly, slanderous words; you
remembered what l taught you when You
we've a boy, about the more than uselessness of
quarrelling with little black and white animals
with bushy tails.
But Cogia, honestly think you have made
some m stakes-yeu have kept too many kinds
have ranged creation over for something else
to sell, and when at last you put in that lot OF
army caps, thought it was a step too far
Then, again, you buy too many of one kind of
goods. Didn't you have one hundred thou
sand collars on hand before you bought that
other lot OF eighty-five thousand? Now, how
many necks are there in Portland-did you
stop to calculate? Again, don't you think you
have advertised too much? People will saw
they have to pay for this advertising.
One word OF warning-don't fall into the
common blunder Of advertising your goods as
going at less than cost, because any one with
half an eye knows one of two things is true of
such NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. they lie, or thew paid
more for their goods than they ought to-
nave much more would like to say, but
reserve 1t for another time. Wishing YOU a
continuation of your great success. I remain
your old friend and teacher,
AMrNADAn PEDAGoeuE
give this letter of my quondam teacher az
received it, though there are one or tn O things
I would like to cut out am gratified by lis
approval of my course in severely letting alone
those who forget that no man ever built sub
stantial house by trying to tear down his neigh
oors houses. But l had confidence in the peo-
PIE, and believed that time would settle these
little questions; end time has. have lived to
see the very house that advertised me as a
swindler, prove bankrupt, and do what re-
quires more brass than ever hope to muster,
dduertize its own stock as bankrupt and itself
as selling regardless of cost.
In the matter of large lots, I do purchase lots
Of goods regardless OF quantity if only they are
I cheap enough, and my friend forgets that /
supply not only all Portland but my goods &c
to every hamlet in the State, and that have
regular customers in New Hampshire. Yer
mont, Massachusetts, and occasional orders
| from all over the country, and that my custom
| ers lay in their collars by the hundred when
I sell them nice article for 10cts. box-the
| same they have been accustomed to pay 25cts.
for.
have written my old teacher regarding ad.
vertisiDg that by actual figuring am satisfied
| that each dollar expended for this purpose has
increased my trade twenty dollars, and there.
fore the more advertise the cheaper can af.
ford to sell; and here 1 would add, 1 should ad
vertise more but have really as a rule ad
all the business my store was capable of ac-
commodating.
Now, good friends, if you are not tired Of
this long story let me tell you these things:
always sell at a profit, never have too prices
l never buy an article for my store unless
| get it at less than the market price, alway,
| sell at slight advance on the cost to me-
| shall always be glad to see old customers or K
| see new ones, and remain the public's servant
COGIA HAssAN,
80 Exchange st.