Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-06-28

III is an ola saying that " before man
starts out to borrow money he puts on a
clean Shirt and the same principle holds
good in a majority of business affairs.
If man wishes to keep his credit good
he must make some show for it, as few
persons feel inclined to lend or help those
who do not try to help themselves; and
through neglect of trying we are prob
ably indebted to another truthful saving.
that "when man is going down hill
everybody is ready to help him along with
a KICK" but when going in the opposite
direction there are plenty to give him a
helping hand. Now, there is nothing
/ strange about this; for if one lends money,
he expects to get good security and is
entitled to it, and he would be very fool
ish to place it in the hands of a man who
showed, both by action and words, that he
was descending toward bankruptcy and
poverty.
There are, doubtless, many honest and
industrious men who have suffered severe
financial losses, and been sorely distressed
for means to meet their liabilities, through
carelessness in putting on a little polish,
not only as regards their persons but all
their surroundings. 1t is perfectly natural
that the holder of mortgage on a farm
should feel interested in seeing the latter
kept in good order. Broken down fences,
dilapidated buildings and poor crops are
not encouraging signs; but the opposite
are, and often promote confidence, which
will make the capitalist easy about fore
ing the collection of interest at the moment
it is due, or foreclosing the mortgage in
default of the interest. We know it is the
habit Of some to put on a poor face at
such times, in order to excite sympathy;
but money lenders are seldom influenced
by such devices, and to practice them is
to most men sure sign of weakness on
the part of the debtor, who is likely to
suffer from suspicion, which may or may
not be well grounded.
Suppose an Eastern capitalist has
money invested in Western farm mort
cages, and has resident agent to attend
to the collection of principal and interest,
as each falls due. Now, if the agent calls
on Brown for the interest on his mortgage,
and the latter fails to respond, the agent
will probably visit the farm and see how
things look, for the purpose of reporting
the prospect of obtaining the amount due.
If Brown has everything about the place
in order showing that he is not only in
dustrious, but intends to hold On to the
farm the agent will, without doubt, re-
port to his principal the facts and say that
Brown is good for the amount, but is, for
certain reasons, unable to pay at this
time. 1t is, perhaps, unnecessary to state
that hundreds of just such cases occur
every year; and the owners of such farms
obtain credit from paying attention to the
condition of their surroundings, when
otherwise they would be forced to give up
their possessions at a sacrifice.
This neatness of appearance does not
nd yxyIfh hI1t
hances the value of articles which he may
have for sale. This is especially true
upon the farm, and the purchaser of cat
tie or other farm products will feel the
influence upon his approach, where every
thing shows that the owner is up and
doing his work well, if not on an extern
sive scale. Great sacrifices on account of
pressure for money will not be looked
for at such a place, although the owner
may, in fact, be in great straits for little
ready cash; but his surroundings do not
advertise it to the world. We will ven
ture to say that farmer who attends to
the exterior of things in general, such as
clean stables and animals, clean yards
and buildings, and fences in good repair,
will obtain 5 to 10 per cent. more for the
products of his farm than one who neg
lects such simple matters.
If any one doubts the effect of external
appearance upon values in market or
elsewhere, let him try sending butter to
market in an old weather-beate firkin,
no matter how good the butter or clean the
vessel may be inside If this does not
satisfy, try some stained and dirty eggs,
or lf-plucked poultry. Producing
coed article is one thing, but selling it to
advantage is quite another, and the good
salesman generally makes the most money
of the two. This brings TO mind farmer
of our acquaintance who is noted for OBJ
tanning better prices than his neighbor
whenever he has a colt, horse or cow for
sale; in fact, he does quite a business Of
purchasing stock from others and selling
it again at an advance; and some of his
friends credit him with a great amount of
shrewdness in making bargains. He is
certainly shrewd, but it principally consists
in putting on a good looking exterior
He says that few minutes work with
comb and brush will add 10 per cent. to
the value of COW or horse in the eyes
of ninety-nine buyers out of every hun
dred and we do MT think he over-esti-
mates the importance of good looks. This
principle is potent in any branch OF trade,
and in every grade of society; therefore,
it is too important to be overlooked or
passed unhcel"d.-Y Y, 7. Sun.