Milford chronicle., 1888-04-13
A PEDDLER'S METHODS.
Ways That Are Dark and Tricks That
Arc vain-A Successful Peddler Must
Have just Enough Self Confidence.
Up Stairs and Down.

Up Stairs and Down.
"Good peddlers, like successful men in the
higher walks Of life, are born, not made" I"
said the particular member Of the fraternity
whom a reporter questioned on the subject.
He was loaded down with rugs, door mats,
feather busters and other articles until he
looked like a perambulating house furnishing
store. ANY or all of the articles under which
he struggled he offered to sell on ''time pay
1nents Of fifty cents a week, and when the
reporter gently but unhesitatingly declined
the offer, the peddler looked so unutterably
disgusted that the reporter offered him a
chair and some refreshments. Soon the two
were engaged in a conversation which
brought forth the observation made above.
"No," ," he continued, "a peddler is naturally
a good peddler, and no amount of training
OF trying viii make good one of a man who
hasn't it in him. On the other hand, a good
peddler is generally good for nothing else on
earth. Let him try to stop peddling for any
other business and the chances are ten to one
that he'll make a fizzle OF it"
MADE A SUCCESS.
''Now, 1 am born peddler, and at peddling
have at last made a success, where in all
things that I tried before failed l went to
twelve years ago-I have been successfully a
lawyers clerk, bookkeeper in an importing
house, clerk in a dry goods store, driver of a
delivery wagon, car driver, elevated railroad
guard, waiter and peddler. It's four years
since found my true vocation, and I've done
pretty we'll"
s'Does a good peddler make much moneyTn
the reporter asked guardedly
dar Il nrrn
a week. Some, a few, make more, but the
majority make less Anybody that's good
peddler, though, should be able to make S25
a week without any trouble and be able to go
out on Sunday for a good time.n
'sWhat characteristics must good peddler
possessm
"Oh. a great many. Self-confidence, or
check as it is called, is the most essential
Without it no peddler ever peddled with
success. But too much Of it is even more
fatal for his prosperity, for in addition to
failure he often gets broken head. No, he
must have self-confdence, but not too much
just enough, you know. Then he must be
a acharacter reader-know just to whom he can
sell and whom not, who will stand a stiff
price and who must be offered the goods at
cut rates.
''To be a good peddler you must also have
a firm, yet gentle disposition. You must al
low nothing to deter you when you see a per-
son to whom you feel you can sell. No mat
ter what he or she says, you must persevere.
This is where the firmness comes in. The
gentleness is necessary, so that you may, un-
der no circumstances, lose your temper. It
doesn't pay. If the door is slammed in your
face, swearing will only make matters worse.
The people next door will only laugh at you.
No, you must preserve a dignifed silence
and smile indulgently as you turn away.
Then you can sell to the neighbor. Her SYM
pathy will be aroused, and by patronizing
you She thinks she can administer a rebuke
to the unmannerly woman next door and
shine by comparison"