Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-11-01
4 LIBRARY OF SECRETS
Nine Thousand Volumes Which Con-
tain the Public and Private Rec
Ords of Business Men.
How the Facts Regarding d Mans
Standing in the Merchants
World Are Obtained.

f'Think Of pile of 5000 books, each
filled with secret information about mer-
chants and business men from the great
lakes to the Golden Gate, and from Mar
itoba to the Rio Grande! But that is
what We have here"
The speaker was gentleman connect
ed with the Dunn Commercial agency on
LaSalle street.
"That library" he sai6, ''is the joint
work of thousands OF agents scattered
ell over the territory I have named. The
history Of all the business men of conse
quence are there, with much information
about each not found in the directory
which We issue to our subscribers.
''Half century ago, when this institu-
ton was founded, this commercial agency
vas crude affair. It has now become
an immense and, at the same time, very
| perfect machine. IF q man comes from
some remote poin5 in the southwest,
northwest, or anywhere, and applies to a
| Chicago merchant for credit, we can in
form the merchant in very short time
who ard what the customer is, and to
what extent he is to be trusted. If we
don't happen to have the information in
our books We can get it in q few hours by
| telegraph. If Chicago man goes 10
Europe and wants TO buy d ,esses for his
wife at Worth's, in Paris, Worth sends
TO OFT agency there, and soon has full in
formation as to the standing of his Gus
toner at home, and whether he can safe
iy give him credit. 1t would be the same
way if he asked for credit in any other
city in Europe.
| This information is collected By agents
both local and travelling, whose business
it is to find out all they can about the
merchants and businessmen in their dis
tricts. The facts upon which merchants
are rated In our dir eotory are generally
ATTAINED fl ON the merchants themselves.
| The agents ask them what their stock is
worth, the amount of their assets and
liabilities and upon those facts the rat
| ing is made. Some merchants may put
the value Of their stock, for instance, too
high, and in such cases the agent tones it
down according to his judgment. AS a
rule, merchants do not hesitate to give
ali the facts necessary, and give them
correctly. If a mans business is in good
condition he is very willing to make the
fact known and be rated high. When a
man hesitates to show up his business or
beat about the bush we always know there
is something wrong. The chances are
that he is going to fail before very
long.
A mans rating in the directory is a
public matter, comparatively speaking,
but the in formation in our little library
of 5000 volumes is not public, except
that it IS at the disposal of our subscri-
bers. For instance, if man comes from
some other state to buy goods in one of
the big Chicago houses, the credit man
would look in the directory and gee how
he was rated. He knows something about
the man then, at least enough to guide
him in his treatment of the customer.
He turns him over TO salesman who
shows him through the stock anc helps
him make his selections. While this is
being done message is sent the CONNER
cial agency, and in few minutes the
credit man of the house knows how
much to give the customer on credit, or
whether he has gotNo let him down as
easy as possible by Offering him per
est. off for cash and informing MIN
gen = that the house can't sell him on
any other terms. This system saves the
buyer and seller a great deal of trouble.
It used to be that q Chicago merchant
who went to New York to buy, unless he
was we'll known there, was met with the
| Qu0SbIOh' w HC are gCui HAc yOuA
friends? How much are you WORTH
and whole list of questions wherever he
went to buy. Now that is all unnecessary.
The New York merchant has no trouble
in finding out all he wants to know about
his customers.
"The private information which We
furnish covers not only the buyers actual
business or financial condition but his
moral standing. If he CANDLES, specu-
lates, plays billiards when he ought to be
attending to business, or is careful
shrewd business man.. attending closely
to business, and likely, therefore, to be
successful, we know it. If he is not a
good manager, who can gather things to-
gether around him and keep them there,
but is loose and wasteful, the fact is noted.
It is not difficult for our agents to ind
out ell these things. A mans reputation
among his immediate business associates
will generally tell all that"