Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1885-04-09


| In no other part Of the world is can
vassing carried on so large Il scale as
in the United States, particularly in
the city of New York ADVERTISE
! mcnts can be read in almost every
daily issue of our metropolitan jour
mails offering employment to those who
will undertake this mode of gaining II
living. Yet it is an occupation that
not one in hundred will succeed in
/ 1t attracts that very large class who
have by some means or other failed
in what is generally termed "the gen.
teel profession, and so clerks, law
ycrs, authors, actors, artists and many
I clcrgymcn take to it. Canvassing APP
. pears at first very easy way of rcaliz-
| ing au income. Yet it is one OF the
most difficult; for man to he a good
"canvasscr' must in reality have Il
thorough knowledge of the world and
be keen Judge otcvcry-day life. No
matter what position in life u man
may be ln--brOwn-stOnc-m man
or lenement-housc mamie will not
generally deny, from mere vanity's
| sake, but what "hc's a reader al
though probably some have no little
difficulty in recognizing one author
from another In canvaSsing u book
the canvass0r must be able to freely
speak of the author and his works,
the illustrations, the binding and the
publishers.
"YOu -, said an old canvasscr 4
few days since to reporter, "whcn
you canvass book you have to carry
it with you. Consequently when you
approach the man or house "thG book
Canvasser' Is at once recognized, and
you get Il refusal in some shape or
other before you can hardly utter Il
word. Now, sir, you would be sur
prised at the success Of "wOmcn rs
canvassers'' they far outshinc the
men. The fact of being ono of the
gcntler sex is largely in their favor,
The sight Of neatly dressed and per-
haps good.looking woman tramping
around in search Of u livelihood
touches the tender impulses Of the
heart. The lady canvasscr gains
the cntrcc where the gentleman can
vasscr would fear to tread. As n rule
the former merely carries 4 prospcc-
tuS or II sample sheet of the book with
her. This, of course, can be conceal
ed or rolled up like document. She
calls on bankers, merchants and pco-
pie of leisure. The notice of 'nOpcd-
dlcrs allowed in the building she dis
regards. The janitor, the elevator
boys, the Office clerk or the domestic
servants can not, of course, tell her
errand, and she is politely ushcrcd
into the presence Of the party she
seeks without any difficulty whatever,
while the majority of men would have
been unccrcmoniOuSly denied admit
tancc across the outer threshold Once
in the presence of the boss the lady
Cowpcr dilatcs upon the merits of her
book with little fear of rebuff, for
most men have spirit of gallantry
in them; SO they listen patiently
whatever they may think-and pos
sibIy order the book. Female can
vasscrs are n pretty well-cducatrd
class They have bCccn school or
| llUSlC NNlNHNlNs vi NufN Nlt Ilutl
gentlcmcn's daughters. In dress they
are neat, not gaudy, and have u re-
served, modest style Of manner which
always commands attention. Ii she
is middlc-aged she is perhaps a widow
lady who lived in Southern aillucncc
before the war, or a forsakcn wife, or
IN cN-opcra singer; and should she
find the listener in the melting mood,
she will drop II few remarks about
financial or domestic troubles, Hun
drcds of Wall street men have met
these ladies, and hundreds have or
dcrcd books from them they never
cared for, or expected to see, purely
from feelings OF respect, admiration
or sympathy.
Sewing machines were another
difficult article to handle. ! refer
went on the old canvasscr, "tO the
time they were not so common as
now, when man had to be well post
ed about their working gear and the
different improvements being con-
stantly made. | remember one who
was known among the canvaSsing fra
ternity as the Bump Man He was
very successful with the machines,
which he attributed to his knowledge
of phrenology, and this will show you
the many devices men resort TO in
ccnvassing. For instance, if this
Bump Man should call upon wo-
man to solicit her order for sewing
machine he would, while making a
sale, at intervals break of in the CON
ycrsation and look admiringly at her
children. Then he would say, 'Ex-
cusc me, madame, but | have made
phrenology study in my days ofpros-
pcrity and that child has very fine
head, it will gam some lofty position
in the world Then would he, while
the mothers eyes lit up with pride,
examine the juveniles Uranium and
forctcll for it great success in some
high-sounding profession. Praise the
child and capture the mother for a
customer, was his saying, and many
orders he got in this manner "-Ne'O
YORK. Graphic.