Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-05-24
introductory.

Introductory.
There is a vital force giving impulse and
direction to progress in the world OF Dusi
ness which may he known as the force OF
concentration. Its working are seen In
commerce, in manufactures, and even IN
agriculture but are especially noticeable
I'm the consolidation of railroads, whlch
has formed such a remarkable feature in
the history of the past quarter Of CEN
tury. and which is still going on even more
RAPIDLY than heretofore. BY this princi-
ple of consolidation the cumbersome and
costly organization of fifty little local rail-
road companies, with fifty presidents, fifty
boards of directors and fifty sets of officials,
clerks and agents are done away with, and
one competent manager, with an efficient
staff, conducts the affairs Of the consoli-
dated line fifty times better than before.
The advantages and economies of con-
centration, 50 strikingly illustrated by the
example of the railroads, are still more
obvious and more important in what has
been known as retail trade, where the
transactions Of fifty small dealers are con
solidated into one great business. The
gain is not only seen in tire conduct of the
traffic, as in the case Of the railroads, but
it is also seen in the buying and manufac-
turing of goods dealt in. Not only can
the goods be handled and sold as far less
expense and with far greater satisfaction
to all parties, but the reduction of invoice
cost in large lots Fl ON first hands is still
moro significant consideration. COncen-
tration in this branch of commerce breaks
down the distinction that has heretofore
existed between wholesale and retail
traffic.
Descriptive.
To brin. the concentrating principle
into practical effect in business three pri-
mary requisites must he secured: Firss,
an appreciativc spirit in the community !;
second, ample capital third, and most
indispensable of all, an organizing intelli-
gence, with genius for instituting order,
system and discipline. backed by unflinch
ing courage and persistence of purpose.
Philadelphia, the city of homes, with a
population accounted conservative. but
quick to understand and adopt better
conditions for the household, has furnish
ed the first requisite OF an appreciative
public. Mr.. John Wanamakcr has sup
piled the second and third terms of the
equation, the material resources, and the
mental and moral forces to make tho same
available. Tho working together of these
several factors has resulted in the marvel
Gus development of that aggregation of
agencies for tho supply of all human
wants, known throughout the civilized
world us Wanamaker's Grand Depot
Here business is carried on by the modern
methods, with all the aids afforded by
modern invention, by steam, by electricity,
by the pneumatic dispatch, and the best
appliances known to the arts. Here the
potent principle Of concentration and con-
sOlidation is fully carried out. Here the
requirements of the individual, of the
family, and of the community are supplied
from the first sources of supply, with no
intervening agencies whatever to pay tri-
butte to. Here all the wants that civili-
Zation imposes upon mankind are brought
into contact with all the resources that
civilization has developed for meeting
such wants.
Tho Grand Depot.
The phenomenal growth of the Grand
Depot marks an era i'm the history of trade
plainly pointing the way which the busi-
ness Of the future is destined to pursue.
Tho establishment occupies the square
between Thirteenth and Juniper streets,
extending through to Kelly street, with
an Arcade reaching to Chestnut street.
The ground floor OF the depot measures
two and a half acres. the largest single
floor area devoted to business purposes in
the world. The galleries and easements
together measure about two and half
acres, making five acres all told, packed
full for the most part from floor to ceiling
with the choicest products of the mill and
the factory. the furnace and the forge, the
workshop and the studio. To enter the
depot a. Chestnut street and proceed
straight through the main avenue to Mar
ket street involves a walk of over u hum
dlc'l and eighty yards, and there are very
few public avenues in the greatest cities
where so many people will be encountered
and SO much worth seeing will he met to
attract the eye. On All ordinary busy day
there will be twenty-five hundred people
an hour passing both ways under the
clock at the entrance Of the Arcade and
during pressing season, rs about Christ
mas time, it is within reasonable limits to
say that a throng of forty thousand visit
Ors surges through the main avenue daily.
As is very commonly remarked, view
Of the main floor from the antique gallery,
west Of the Chestnut street entrance, strik-
iDgly recalls the Centennial exhibition.
There is the same wealth Of display, cx-
tending about rs far rs the eye can reach,
the riches Of tho world brought together
from all lands and representing all depart
ments of art and industry. tastelnlly ar
ranged to bc shown with advantage. There
is tho SamencSS of SpaciOusnesS, and, what
is especially noticeable, the same ample
illumination, the whole place being light,
bright and cheerful. Then there arc the
same groups and crowds of sightsecrs NOV
ing about tho many aisles and avenues,
now gathering around some attractive ex-
hibit and again scattering through the vari-
Gus departments.
Such a general view will show that most
of these departments, forty-six in num-
Der, are arranged in circles about the
common centre. The centre is the heart
OF the establishment, the scat of activity
for the circulating medium, a vital tide
which flows to and from the extremities
ut the sales counters in 4 steady double
current during business hours The
veins and arteries of this system of circl,-
matte tubes radiatinS from this centre to
all parts of the depot, coming within con-
venicnt reach of every point in the place
where goods are sold. At these points
the articles SOLD and the money paid in for
the same are given into the hands of re-
ceiver, who inclOses the cash i'm a light
steel cylinder, having the interior diam
eter of a silver dollar, together with
statement Of the sale. and sends it flying
through the pneumatic tube to tho heart
of the house. Here the correct change is
made by experts, five and twenty in num-
Der, who have this for their sole business
the transaction is registered and tho rc-