Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1889-04-01
Carroll s. Page.

, supply the demands of their great
business. He received a liberal edu-
cation in his youth, and experience
sharpened the ability with which ma
+ ture endowed him, until to-day Mr..
Page is one of the keenest and most
successful men in Vermont, and a
self-made man in the best sense of
the term. He was originally in the
tin and stove business. and as an in
cident to that business bought and
sold calf-skins. las his father had done
before him.
In 1864 the total number of skins
he bought was about 5000. These
are the untanned hides, with the hair
on. In line with the systemizing
and classifying which has revolution
lied business during the last qnarter
of century, Mr.. Page conceived the
idea of asserting the skins he bought
into different grades, qualities and
weights desired by tanners to supply
the demands for leather for specific
purposes. He developed a remarka-
BILE aptitude for his work-as, indeed,
he has for all the various branches of
business, whether commercial, finan-
cial or political, in which he has been
engaged.
He soon began to extend the area
Of his operations to meet the increas-
ed demand for assorted skins. In
1880 the active management Of the
stove and lumber business was as
| signed to other hands, and he devot-
ed his time and energies chiefly to
his calf skin business. He began to
instruct his buyers, and through them
the butchers and farmers everywhere,
in the ways of taking off calf's pelt
SO as to preserve it in perfect con-
dition. Printed directions were scat
tered over the land. Buyers were
sought in all parts of the country, land
cash furnished them on a satisfactory
guaranty. In 1881, his books show
that he had $50 buyers. To-day, the
number has increased to over 500.
His receipts have grown from 5000
skins in an entire year to more than
$4,000 in one month. Mr.. Pages
books show that 92,224 skins were
received in single month. Consign-
ments come in in lots varying from
a single bundle of 10 or ID skins to
carloads of 5000 to 1000.
By successive engagements, the
"hide-house" a complete and conve
nient structure, on siding of the
Vermont Division of the Boston &
Lowell Railway, has reached the di-
mansions of 24O feet in length by 80
in width, with basement for storage
and chamber for dry stock. In this
building over 100000 calf skins are
stored, conceded by competent judges
to be the largest stock, at least dou-
BILE that Of any other dealer, all grad
ed so uniform in weight, that no skin
in any pack will vary one-half pound
from the center weight.
1t is quite incomprehensible to one
who has never inquired into the mat
ter that calf skins should be collected
from all parts of the country-tens,
hundreds and thousands of miles dis
tant-sent to town in the heart of
the mountain region of Vermont, to
be sorted and graded, and then, pos
sibly to be re-shipped to the very To-
cality from which as rough hides they
originally came. The explanation in
part is this: No tanner, even if he |
were favorably situated for preserv
ING skins in warm weather, could, with
out great effort and care, collect !
enough of the special grades and quail
tiles to supply his wants. This has
become business of itself. Cool |
water and air are so necessary for
preserving skins that business like |
Mr.. Pages could hardly succeed in
localities lacking these prerequisites.
Furthermore, there was business sa-
gacity, capacity to see and embrace
an opportunity which favoring natur-
al circumstances greatly aided. A
business integrity that descends to
no "tricks of the trade" like mixing |
clay with the salt to add to the weight
of the skins and enhance profits, has
also had no unimportant part to play
in Mr.. Pages success. We account
it a remarkable and noteworthy mat
ter that business so novel, exceed
ing S25O,OOO yearly, has been built
up and sustained by Vermont Yam
kee, away up among the hills of La
noble county.
And the last "cause' is not the
least: Mr.. Page believes thoroughly IN
the efficacy Of ADVERTISING. Much of
his success he attributes to persistent
advertising, ana he allows no oppor-
tunity to advertise his business to
pass unimproved. He is to-day by
all odds the best advertised hide
dealer in this country, and, as the re-
suit and In justification of it all, he is
one of the most successful.
Are you going to travel? If so you must be very
careful of your health, your doctors bills will
cost you more than your travelling expenses A
bottle of Sulphur Bitters will protect you from all
sickness incident to change of climate.-Ecening
Telegram.