Daily Republican., 1884-06-09
Quite q Calling.

The business Of a " drummer" or CONNER
cial traveller is quite calling, and many
persons suppose, like they do In many things,
that the occupation 10 An easy as we'll Us o
profitable one. In consequence of this belief
many young men work hard to procure po.
ation on the road, but ottentimes before the
first trip is halfthrOugh they become hes rtily
sick and dlsRusted with the business and re-
turn as soonas possible to other occupations.
here are however, many successful men In
this particular line who have built up good
trade, after years of hard labor, and, as re-
suit they can enjoy the business to its fullest
extent. Those who are engaged In the bust
ness, and their number is legion, are among
the busiest men to be found anywhere; espe-
ciaily IL this fact noticed In the ~pring orFall
| of the year, when they start out with fresh
supply of samples, embracing all the latest
various houses which they represent. They
wond their weary way and ply their trade
without regard to weatner;in fact, they take
advantage of q stormy day, when people
are unwilling prisoners In their own homes,
from the inclement weather and muddy
streets, by calling on the country merchants,
| who would he found stretched out on his
| counter with bad attack OF the blues. At
| this point the drummer would rub his hands
with evident aatisfact' on at thus being en-
abIed to show his goods without the fear of
| being molested very often by customers -
" hilc unstrapping his immense pack the
salesman keeps upa constant conversation,
ana by the tiu,e the goods are displayed he
has the merchant deeply interested before
| he (the merchant) knows 1t. and by glib
promises Of fs,r weather In short time,
| which generally bring brisk sales, bill of
! goods is soon purchased and tho ''dru inner"
| Is happy. The Spring trade this year was
unusually dull and numerous complaints
| were heard on every side. Owing to the back
wardncss Of Spring business everywhere ap-
peared to he " ttattened right OUT and In
consequence, the merchants were slow In
making their purchases, and the saiemen's
lot was not pleasant one One Of the best
\ salesmen starting out from Pennsylvania g
Quaker city who had returned from an ex-
| tended Western trip. was recently heard to
| remark that he mover, during his career,
| which covered period Of about 20 years
! knew trade to be so fiat. He further stated
that sit was II cold day whom he got left, but
he must admit that on this tip he had not
made expenses and came home dsgusted
| for once In his life.' As the weather was
cool about the time no returned, g 1t was a
cold day for him" The main point of success
| In the life ofa commercial traveller Is the
trst thing to learns and those starting out on
" the road' for the first time soon become
cognizant OF the fact, that In order to be
| successful and tide over all difficulties, he
must carry with him IN addition to his stock
| in trade, o full stock of bottled sunshine, in
order to start out Mt the beginning OF she
week with bright hopes in his face, II they
are not In tho heart. That this Peninsula is
| lrccoanzed as a lucrative field, is borne out
! by the fact that fully $50 drummsrs compete
for its trade; more than half of these are
from Philadelphia about third from Balti
| moro, while Wilmington and New York con-
tribute small number to the list. Wheth.
er the nercha Is are benefited BY this small
army or not. 1t Is hard to determine, ,butthere
are many among them who depend solely
upon the drummer for their goods, and sell
dom leave their native town on II purchasing
trip The raj lroads and hotels, however, are
benefited very materially by the large num-
bcr of travelling statesmen, and they reap an
important advantage. As many as ten Of
these drummers have been known to stop ut
one hotel in Peninsula town on one day,
and, while the unmber docs not often roach
to 60 largo o figure. there is hardly town
on the Peninsula that has not at any time
one or more commercial travellers In 1t. A
| salesman who commands good trade, and
knows Eow to deal with his patrons, Is mas.
| ter Of the situation, and can easily command
la high salary, but to one who 10 not IN adept
hand, he had better tarn his attention 10
something more inviting.