The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1888-12-26
OlD-TlME DRUMMERS.
How Business Was Done by the Ca1
twenty-five Years Ago.

OLD TIME ORUMMERS.
How Business Was Done by tho EaQ
Twenty-Five Years Ago.
"It was in July, 1865" said Francis
Etheridge, of Sprague, Warner & Co.,;
''that I first went on the road as com
mercial traveller. That was twenty
five years ago. There have been many.
changes in the way the business ls
done-for instance, nobody in those
days ever thought Of carrying twelve
pounds of samples. Practically We
carried no samples at all. We would
go to customer and talk business:
over with him, and he would tell al
how much sugar he wanted, and ct:
what price; or what coffee he wantedp
or the number OF kegs Of nails. Than,;
too, in those times we only made svoI
trips in the year. Nowadays COM!
petition has changed all of that. A
man must take with him at LEAST
seventy pounds Of samples. The pur.
chaser wants to SEQ exactly what Is the
quality of the goods he is buying, With!
his own eyes. The salesman must be-
able to show him. there In his store,
just what he is selling, and why ID 10:
better and cheaper than the buyer;
can elsewhere get. Instead Of twice
a year the purchaser must now Be;
visited twice a month. The e1plsns-.
tion Of all this is that the retail dealer
has been forced by competition 20
learn how to buy and sell moro cheap
ly. You can understand this better
perhaps when I tell you shat when I
first went on the road practically every
body I sold to took four snd SIX
months time to pay; now more than!
half the goods We sell are to puV-
chasers who take their discount for
cash. The work is certainly very
much harder now than it was q quarter
Of a century ago; competition has done:
that man low must work not ten:
hours but all OF his time II he wsnsgi
to succeed"
'.How do salaries compare in 1883:
and 1882"
1.-THE average Is much higher now:
than it was then. Or course speak
only for the wholesale trade IN gro
ceries, and in our trade ! believe that:
fully one-half the men on the road get
$4,000 year and more. OF course
this figure includes expenses-"
cat what do you estimate the aver
age expenses?"
cat least $1,500 a year. Now, in
1853 it was rattling good man who
got 1000 a year and expenses. Sal
aries all around are much more than
twice as good now as they were then.
Butyou must remember that in the '60s
We were all working in the dark; no
body knew what he ought to pay or
what he was earning. Now, with our
elaborate system Of reports and rec
ords, we know to the fraction Of cent
just how much profit has been made
upon each bill of goods and just how
much the salesman has earned in SELL
ing them. Salaries are adjusted Tor
each year upon the basis Of q mans
previous proved value to u.s."
"Do not many OF the men work on .
percentageP"
eyes, great many do. I consider
it the better way. and if I were going
out on the road again I would much
prefer percentage 10 salary.
= ''What are the largest salaries paia
to travelling men in Chicago. Mr..
EheridgeP''
81 don't believe there Is any body
getting more than $4,000 year, and
very, very few are getting that be-
heve there are five travelling men IN
the Chicago grocery trade who are
getting from $4,000 to $4,000 year.
Perhaps 100 men or more receive 5000
year and over. The average, though.
is about $4,000 course I am speak.
ing of good men"
'.Is work hard to get for good
salesman" i.
'No. Sometimes a man who 70 not
known in Chicago may have to wait 60
long as month before he finds an.
opening, but good salesman is about
as Independent as they make them"
There are some houses who do DoS;
send out travellers, are there not?"
"Yes. I do not think that they mako
any thing by 1t, however, for. the
houses which do send men out make.
thousands where the others make hun
dreds. Besides that they send ouS
collectors, who carry samples and she'
difference between these and the coms
mercial travellers is not always visible
to the naked eye."-CNieago Nesca