Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-09-08
Taking Stock.

One of the most graphic incidents in
he tale of 'Locke Amsden. or the
Green Mountain Schoolmaster," is the
trial OF a cas- in which the old-fash-
toned ''store keeping system is anus
ingly delineated. The trader sued one of
his customers to recover the value of q
cheese, which he swore most positively
that he had sold him. The defendant
confessed to buying a grindstone, but
swore as positively as did the plaintiff
that he never bought a cheese of him
in his life. Both parties were honest
men, and the whole difficulty, which
eliminated in q neighborhood row,
arose from the defective methods of the
trader. He knew nothing of double
entry, he didn't understand single en-
try; he could neither read, write nor
cipher with any fuency, but he did keep
his accounts after a fashion. When he
sold a cheese he drew a circle against
the mans name. When he sold a grind
stone, he also drew a circle, but put a
dot in the middle, the latter to repre-
sent the crank shaft on which it hung.
In the case litigated, he really had sold
a grindstone, but failed to put a dot in
the circle of his entry. This incident
well illustrates the carelessness and in
efficiency Of the business methods of
thousands of retail dealers in every de-
partment of trade. A ''good stand'' in
country trade a generation and more
ago would almost u itself without any
brains, and prove a paying investment.
A dealer who got a good living out of
his store, kept his store full of goods
and found a respectable surplus Of cash
or ''good accounts on hand at the end
OF the year, never cared to probe
his business any deeper. He
neve knew how much money
he made-in fact, he never considered
the question. If the remarkable notion
had seized his mind of ascertaining the
percentage OF his gains, he could by no
possibility have determined the ques-
ton. Such a thing as ':taking account
of stock would have appeared a hercu-
lean task. Your old-fashioned trader,
with his groceries OH one side of the
store and his c%alicoes on the other.
would have laughed derisively at the
idea of measuring up his molasses, OIL,
ETC., as a basis OF determining his bust
ness standing. He knew that he was
making money; the community rated
hlE as a prosperous merchant, and that
was enough for him. But times have
changed, and yet there are country
merchants to-day who do not take ac-
count Of stock, or take stock" in the
city merchants shorter phrasing, often
er than once in five years. But in city
and country all merchants doing a con-
siderable business take stock as often as
once year, while some of the larger
dry goods houses of this city take stock
twice a year. In the wholesaling or re-
failing of every kind Of merchandise
''taking stock'' is an absolute necessity
in these days of sharp competition, in
order to determine upon which side of
the loss and gain account the balance
is to fall, and resultantly whether the
business has been a paying or losing
one. Everything turns upon the inven-
tory. Bookkeeping in a great dry
goods store is now the marvel of elabo-
%rateness and perfection. Every bit of
lace and dozen of buttons is so focused
under ingenious figures that it can not,
paper, stray far out of place in the
columns of sales and profits. But, as
will be seen, figures, while they will not
lie, because in this business they are
not juggled with, still they will not go