The Portland daily press., 1888-01-07
COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS
Hon. w. W. Thomas, Jr., Addresses
Them.

Over $50 members Of the New England
Commercial Travellers Association met at
the Revere House Thursday afternoon and,
after selecting officers for the year. swapped
stories and interchanged greetings until din
ner was announced az o'clock. Among the
guests were Governor Ames, ex-Speaker
George A. Marden of Lowell, Hon. K. w.
Kinsley Of the board Of railroad eommls-
sloners, aud Hon. w. W. Thanas OF Port
land, Me, ex-United States minister to
Sweden. After an excellent dinner, Hon.
w. w. Thomas, Jr., when called upon, and
spoke as follows according to the Globe:
Hon. w. w. Thomas OF Portland was next
called upon. He made the most picturesque
speech Of the evening, saying: II had the
honor to serve the nation as consul during
the administration Of the first Republican
president, Abraham Lincoln, and was by
same capacity during his term Of Office. II
it had not been for civil service reform |
should probably not have been with you
this evening. Uaughter) There are en-
vOyS extraordinary, ministers plentpOtenn-
airy, cOnsuls generals, consular agents, and
what-nOt, but when you sift their duties all
down what are they but drummers whose
firm is the United States, for which their
best time and effort need be given. There Is
much that is interesting about the Northland
from which recently came. Before went
there was strong In protection belief, but
when l saw upwards of SS,OO0,OO0 worth OF
American goods coming into Sweden alone
ut good profit. could not help becoming q
believer in free trade-in Sweden. / had
the good fortune during ihy eonsulship to
promote our commercial interests by one
piece Of ingenuity that has proved valuable
to our exporters. Under the Swedish law a
tax was imposed upon goods that commonly
were considered canned goods, but upon
consulting the law found that the appliea-
tion had been wrong. Translated, literally
ii read not ''canned" but hermetically sealed
goods. l thought the matter over some time
Our trade in preserved meats had largely
sorbed the profit. One day l went to the
customs agent and said: SuppOsing goods
Theoretically sealed should be opened before
going through the custom house, what we-sd-
be che result? Why, replied the former.
they would not be liable to duty. And as
regards the size Of the opening? l added,
drawing him out. That would be regulated BY
the importer, was the answer The result Of
that Interview may be seen to-day. When
cargo of American canned goods Is inspected
by Swedish custom officer II Is first handed
to an employe Of the importers agent, who
takes hammer, i'm the head Of which Is a
small sharp needle. One blow on the tin
head of the can punches a hole. Then it
goes into the inspectors hands, and the mo-
ment he is through with II another Yankee
agent claps piece CT solder over the hole,
and IN this way tax Of over two cents a
pound Is evaded.
And now word about the drummer. One
year It was my COED fortune 70 go far into
the land Of the midnight sun. We climbed
high cliff rising thousands Of feet above
the country around, and looked out over the
scene below. At our feet lay the Arctic
ocean, stretching In blue immensity to the
distant pole. No sound Of its breaking surf
reached onr ears. IL was II o'clock at night.
Slowly the hour passed. We saw the sun
llnger on the horizons edge red ball OF Gre,
and thena trembling as IL shaking the
glistenlng waters from it, il gradually com
nenced to rise. We stood with barred head
IN speechless wonder. Slowly its beams
frightened the distant cliffs In a splendor
That they had not known before, back 20 the
power OF life and order that rule the universe
In such silent glory. but silence was broken
by strange voice. IL was that of Yankee
drummer who was selling patent photo
graphic apparatus. He showed me speci-
men print which resembled fOrcibiy the face
OF the president Of the evening. (Applause.)
John Haskell Butler was the concluding
speaker. lie confined his remarks 10 con-
gratulatory statements VI the associations
condition.