The daily gazette., 1876-12-06
Matching Il Pattern
WHY A CERTAIN YOUNG DRY GOODS
CLERK Is LOOKING FOR 4 SITUATION.

One of The fascinating young men oi
San Francisco, in a dry goods store, is in
trouble. 1t is the custom in the establish
mcnt from which he has just been dis
missed to discharge man who fails t.
sell to three successive customers. "Swap'
ping" is the expressive technical term by
which this failure is known in the dry
goods business, The rule is not universal
but it is by no means exceptional in dry
goods stores. However unjust it may be
it has a wonderfully stimulating effect on
the elegant young men amendable to it,
and when they cannot sell goods ii is 4
safe inference that the customer is either
supernaturally obduratc. inpccunious ol
miserly.
The young man referred to had ''frst
CALI last Friday morning; that is, the first
customer who entered the store was by
the rules of rotation his exclusive victim
Next morning this privilege would fall
to the end of the list. The first customer
''swapped' him and went out without in
vesting a cent. The second was in an
equally unpropitious state of mind, and
retired without efiecting purchase. On
the decision OF the third hung his fate
His ample cheek blanched as she darken-
ed the doorway, for more unlikely pur-
chaser could not without difficulty have
been found. An old striped shawl was
thrown carelessly over her shoulders and
partially concealed roll of calico which
the palpitatory heart of the clerk instinct
lively felt that she came to have matched.
Now if there is anything in the dry goods
business more soul narrowing han an
other it is to match goods. The exact
shade and texture have to be found, and
last, but not least, the price must CORE
spond. A feeling of sickening despair per-
vnpafn1 fhn haa VII acf Af
fortunate clerk as he asked, "Well,
ma'am?"
She laid down five yards and half of
calico of an eccentric pattern, and init.
mated that the success ofa great dl ess-
making enterprise hinged on her fortune
in finding another yard and half of the
same material.
The eyes of six cXpectant clerks were
upon the doomed man. He felt that the
crisis of his peril had come. With an ap-
pearance of calmness that belied the
trumoil of his feelings, he divcd under
the counter, and handed ont endless rolls
of calico varying from the radiant straw
berry and moss-marked, to the soberest
gray. But he came not within thirteen
supplementary collars of the required
pattern. He burrowed i'll the cavernous
depths of lower shelves, and ransacked
upper ones from the top round of a giddy
Step-ladder, but he found it not. An
hour and a half had gone by, and his
stock was nearly exhausted. The pro-
prietor of the store and the k-keeper
death struggle. Six times the wearied
lady started for the door. and six times
he called her back and resumed his fren-
Zlcd search The last calico was un-
rolled, and he was about to drop his hat
ana step down and out, when happy
thought struck him.
excuse me, madam" said he there
is one ! overlooked. Let me see that
goods and he took her bundle and, di-
wing tunder the counter. hacked off
yard and half with the energy and
of rekindled hope.
"Here It's madame; exactly whatIyou
required" said he, confidently, spreading
out the purloined goods.
She looked attentively at him for five
minutes. at does look like the pattern"
said she but still / think it's not what ]
want. Its a good deal coarser than
mine. If can get anything nearer to
the pattern I'll come back and take it.
Good morning.
She did come back in an hour, but not
to buy the goods. He tried to dodge he
hind the counter, but with the keen
Sightcdness of womanly revenge she
spotted him, and he was ANONYMOUSLY
hauled out and arraigncd before his en-
ployer The worst of ii was that the lat
ter, in view Of the Improbable energy
shown in his attempt to effect a sale, had
concluded not to discharge him. With
the evidence of his guilt SO unmistakablc,
however, it would be fatal to the dis
cipline of the house to keep him, and he
was promptly dismissed. Until the old
lady succeeds in getting warrant for his
unrest his mamr is charitablY Snnnrcsscd