The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-16
The Pretty Book Agent.

The card was a delicate pink Bristol
board, and on il was the name in neat
type " Laura Langley" Down in one
corner were the lines in little letters,
"Agent for america Illustrated and
the Graves of the Presidents. - She
was a book agent. She had deep black
eyes, large and round, heavy brows,
long silken lashes, wealth of raven
hair and natures tint on her cheeks
looked like roses in the snow. When
she spoke her red lips parted and show
ed pretty white teeth. She had little
face and little round neck; her figure
was petite, and her hands small and
very interesting. She had the gayest
kind of a Cashmere shawl thrown loose
ly over her shoulders, and when she
spoke her eyes seemed to draw three
lines under her words, meaning that
they should be spelled in the largest
kind of capitals. She did not waste a
moment after entering the Eagle edito-
rial rooms, but clamped her book right
down on the desk, commenced turning
over the leaves, and in a wink her little
tongue was prattling away the merits
and beauties of the book at the rate of
speed of a limited mail train.
"Will you answer me few questions
if a book is purchased" asked the re-
porter
Yes, if they are of a proper charac-
ter and do not take up too much time"
al It's a bargain. Then to business.
You sell principally to gentlemen, don't
you?''
"To gentlemen almost entirely. Gen
tlemen sell to ladies. An attractive
young lady can do very much more
with a gentleman than a gentleman can.
The funny part of it is, the gentlemen
think we don't know them. Many of
them put on their sweetest smiles, talk
their prettiest, seem wonderfully inter-
ested in our histories, ask a hundred
questions not at all concerning the book,
and seem to think that we are to give
them sweet reply all the time. Oh,
we understand our customers, you may
rely on it."
"Then people generally take you as
common property, do theyP"
well, you may say they do. The
moment we enter any place on bust
ness, that moment the gentleman thinks
he has perfect right to say almost any
thing he pleases that is respectful, and
the wider he can divert attention from
the subject of book-buying the better
he seems to be pleased. l have no
doubt but what bookselling by subscrip-
ton is really one of the most trying oc-
equations for young ladies to engage
in. You must learn, first, never to
seem affrOnted; second, to consider
every gentleman a wit and a scholar;
third, that he is handsome and that you
feel kindly towards him in particular;
you must smile when he smiles and
answer all sorts of nonsensical ques-
tionS, always, however, remembering to
be 4 business woman of the world, re-
spectacle and willing to 90 to the very
outermOSt limits of decency, to the very
borders of racy, worldly dialogue-dia-
logue that has the smack of the French
salon, the piquancy of the grisette, the
sparkle of HousSaye, the. inference of
Sterne, and al the elements of talk
that is not vulgar or coarse, nor yet
chaste, elegant or strictly refined"
"Do you know any ladies who drop
ped by the wayside in this business5 5'
"Oh, yes. 1t is like in all other oc-
cupations, black sheep in every flock.
/ knew four beautiful young ladies who
were canvassing a city in New York
State at one time. All four were in
duced to go to Cuba with four adven-
turerS. They are now leading very fast
lives in Havana. There! L have not
spoken this much to a gentleman since
Pm in this business, and l guess | shall
have to 90"
The young lady handed the reporter
a pen and told him where to write his
name on the list with the other sub
scribers. After that had been done, she
looked around for more reporters to
conqueA and, finding none in at that
time, she arranged flower in her hair,
gave her jaunty little hat a touch to one
side, folded her books in paper, and,
with pleasant "good day." she softly
stepped out of the sanctum.-Reading
[ Pa J En0lP