The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-11-29

tnOuBn Bn6 always remained on I'll
: most excellent terms with her kin
little brother-in-law, never crossed Mrs
. Abel's threshold again. She hud beel
too deeply stung-too bitterly insulte
there. T.
An Unknown lnd.stry.
"Add one dollar for boxing" sui
!, goods hn.se, WHO was giYiRg direction
iGr CHe entry of a bill of.g6ods, as re
porter was passing. The box was on
OF those large, cumbrous affairs witt
which Broadway pedestrianlsm ha
been OF late SO needlessly impeded ant
the seeming moderation of the charg,
't Zone dollar for boxing" arrested
the reporters attention.
'Do you mean to say that you onl,
charge one dollar to your customers foil
such a monstrous affair as that?" sale
the scribe.
"That's ALL" said the clerk. CAL
though there is wood enough in it for 8
small shanty, that's all it costs us, and
we charge it up at cost price. on, no.
it's not a new box,' continued he, in.
terpreting the reporters inuuiring look
''it's a secondhand pack king-case. but
just as good for all purposes us a new
one that cost not less than $3.50. Are
there many of them used? Oh, yes:
you would be surprised if I told YOU
the large quantities Of thkm that are
used by shippers of all kin fls of goods
Where do we get themp Why, the
repairing and sale secondhand
boxes Isl regularly established business,
and one firm alone has ur places and
| keeps a large force of men and horses
and trucks busy in collecting and de-
| liverlng boxes. Here's his card"
The reporter repaired to the princl-
pal stand of the dealer in secondhand
| boxes. The street up and down told
| of it, and III the vacant lot on one side
the pile of packing cases lowered high
| above the adjoining roofs. AS the re-
portel stumbled over the boxes into the
little Office and began catechising tho
clerk of the establishment messenger
boy squeezed past him and handed in Il
note. Passing it to the reporter the
clerk said: "Well, as to how we do
business this is about as good starting
point as you want. This note tells me
to have truck at No. So Greene street
at seven O'Clock, and, if you notice, it
is marked Sharp That means if our
truck should happen along at half.past
seven somebody else would have closed
seG6nd9EaafTr e65ndd:9Eaa rp6Xesnt A"'''s7, how MANY
"Where does your supply come
from?"
From al over. We don't know tho
minute we may be called upon to take
from a half dozen to round thousand
boxes off somebody's hands OF out Of
somebody's way. We refuse nothing
l., fSnl,
net, that Is if it is Il box. We take
them of all sizes, dimensions and shapes
and can't get enough Of them. We
pay the highest prices, all the way from
two to three cents up to sixty each.
Here's a lot," and the clerk, now tho
roughly interested, led the reporter up
a rickety flight of stairs and pointed
to a long tier Of brand new boxes;
''heIe's lot Of 5000 boxes made to
| order by regular manufacturer for Il
prominent candle dealer, and unfortu-
| nately when the whole lot was finished
and ready for delivery it was found that
they were short by only a half inch and
| the candle dealer refused to receive
them. His candles wouldn't 90 into
them, 80 here they are; we paid four
cents a piece for the lot, and by this
time next week you wont find one of
them here. There will be Il clear profit
on the transaction of not much less than
$500. The original cost was fifteen
| cents each. There's a load of them
going off now to one of the up town
fancy grocers. uethought them cheap
at seven cents, as they are just the
thing to deliver his orders with.''
"Have you regular customers from
whom you get and to whom you sell
boxes?"
"See that rack2" said the clerk,
pointing to set Of pigeon holes alpha.
betically arranged and filled with small
passbooks; "well, every book in that
rack represents steady and constant
customer. From most Of them we buy
one kind Of box and sell them back
another. They all have something Il
sell or want to buy something every
day, and sometimes often in the day
In the dull season we take boxes off th(
hands of the dry goods men, as they
have no room to store them and w
have plenty. We pay for them do o.
50 cents-repair them and sell then
again for 81. The smaller boxes W.
get from the grOcers and shoe dealer
and pay all the way from 80 to 81
cents"
"And now as to how you get rid 0
them?'
"There never seems to be any dini
Guilty about that. Everybody seems t.
want them. We sell to wholesal
grocers, soap manufacturers, station
ers, tobacco dealers, musical instru
, ment dealers, toy houses, 'most every
body. Some firms know that we ca
always suit them, and are constan
, buyers. We sell q single box, bu
mostly by the hundred and sometime
by the thousand. Some merchant
: charge the expense Of boxing to thei
l customers and some don't, but all AZ
' pear to have discovered the saving tina
Is made in buying secondhand boxe!
o and the business with US has assume
,, the regularity Of any other line Of trade
: We give receipts for all the boxes W
get and require the same for all "
3 deliver. Our statements are made OF
It monthly and settlements made as
!. any other business. We keep twent,
t. four carpenters constantly emplOye
It in repairing boxes or in making ne
d ones to order, and five teams are +
p quired in collecting and delivering
|s | We keen we'll insured but have tO Da