Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-10-26

Yet is there the faintest shadow Of a coming
change? On the contrary. In one of the last
public speeches he made, at a banquet in
Hanoi, NJ. Richaud exclaimed: "Renounce the
mercial hberty!' The subsidized newspaper
adds that this was followed by triple salve
ACCOMPLISHMENTS" do not believe 1t. Or
If is true, then the colonists of Hanoi should be
refused Christian burial, for they are suicides.
evil thereof. HENRY NORMAN.
WALL OF THE TRAVELLING MAN.
The Man With the Potato Bug Eradica-
tor COnfides in a ''Star" Reporter.
''This is an article that you really cannot AZ
ford to do without" said the travelling agent,
drawing from his gripsack a small continuance
of diabolcal aspect with coils of very fine wire
attached to it. ut is a potato-bug eradicator,
representing the only existing means by which
the deadly attacks of that insect-more correctly
designated as the Colorado beetle-upon the
Hibernian tuber may be successfully defeated
Every suburban resident, like yourself, who
cares to grow patch of the vegetable should
have one."
But the potato bug season has passed" re-
piled the out-of-town reporter for The STAR,
mildly.
The very reason, my dear sir, why you
should buy one of these machines without de-
lay. The bugs have gone; but do you suppose
that they no longer exist? Plough up the al
ready hardening earth, and you will find them
IN the burrows, asleep for the winter; in the
spring the sun will warm them to life again,
Just In time to begin upon your sprouting
plants and reproduce their kind in swarmng
myriads. Therefore you want to be ready for
them with your destroying engine prepared for
their reception when they appear. You give
your order now, and it will not be necessary
for you to pay anything until April, when 1
will come again and lay the wires of the eradi-
Gator"
Lay the wires?'
along the rows of the sprouting potato
plants, sir, with separate attachment for each
plant-the wires being arranged with refer
ence to a small electric battery like this placed
at one corner of the potato patch, that con-
tnuous current will be made to pass through
and about all the plants
And will the current kill the bugs?"
1T ONLY NUMBs THEM
Hardly. II you could afford dynamo capa-
BILE OF generating an alternating current Of,
say 10 volts, immediate death to the bugs would
be the result, supposing that each beetles re-
sistance is not more than % ohms; but the ex-
pense of such an apparatus would be greater,
perhaps, than the profit on a patch Of potatoes
that you have to hoe yourself would warrant.
1t was announced recently by q learned ento-
mologist, however, that the development of the
potato bug had been found to be hindered by
electromagnetic currents, and it is this dis
covery that has been applied by the eradicator
l am selling. Although the electric fluid, con-
Quoted in this way, will not actually destroy
the lives Of the bugs, their development is
sufficiently impeded by it to deprive them of
their destructive power. You can readily un.
derstand how the constitution of even the most
| robust Colorado beetle would be slowly vet
surely undermined by a current Of electricity
continually passing through him. 1t is easy to
comprehend how he would gradually droop,
lose his appetite and shrivel up until there was
very little of him left to do any harm"
1t must be great" admitted the newspaper
man, this eradicator of yours. Unfortunately,
l haven't foot Of land to grow potatoes or
anything else upon. That patch, which you
evidently supposed was mine, belongs to the
| next door neighbor."
''You might have told me that before" said
the agent, replacing the diabolical looking con-
trivance in his gripsack. "You may think gas
is cheap, and l won't deny that such is the case;
but you would find the truth painful one il
you were in my business"
"Why, isn't 1t profitable
NAV. There used to be money in it fifteen
| years ago, but there is SO much competition
| nowadays that you may consider yourself at
the top of the profession if you earn s25 a
week."
"And yet see advertisements in the papers
| every day guaranteeing from ESQ to s10O q
| week to agents who will drum for one thing or
another"
FIGURES THAT LURE
"Thats only bait hung out by people who
want to get their stock on the market. Per.
| haps you don't know that there are loo, 900
| canvassers and travelling statesmen in the
United States today. $4,000 Of them are book
agents and next in point OF numbers come the
| fellows who sell patented articles, like myself.
This sort Of canvassing has increased so much
during the last few years, you know that at
present nearly all such articles are sent out
that way. Atraveling agent sells on the INSTALL
ment plan or for cash. II he sells thing for
cash be gets 40 per cent as commission; II on
the installment plan he receives 20 per cent
upon delivering the order to his firm. There
are 10000 women canvassers in the country:
they usually confne themselves to such things
as books, photograph albums, silver ware, cor
sets, and dressmaking charts. They do not
care to sell heavy books, scientific, historical,
| and the like, but only light literature, such as
poems and the latest novels"
Don't the people who buy on installments
"Quite frequently. The firms that do an in
| stalmlent business count upon losing about 8
| per cent on sales that way; but they make il
up by adding something more than per cont
to the price Of everything. The instlalment
folks don't get left to any great extent, you can
depend. few threats, are in most cases, ef-
fective, where prompt payments are not made.
| The dealers have the law all on their side. In
| stallment purchasers always suppose that an ar
| ticle bought in that manner and half paid for
is one-haf their property, butt it is not so. The
law says that IL belongs to the dealer until the
last dollar is paid And the dealer is very apt 10
grab it II failure in payment on the very nail
gives him the chance. Many firms make . big
profit by doing business in that way. Certain
classes people are never sold to on installments
because they have been found generally unrelia-
BILE; among these are barkeepers, hotel walters,
laundry employees and hired stable men. But
see your next door neighbor who owns Q Do
tato patch coming out Of his house. I must
| catch him on the fly and sell him bug eradi-
| Gator If I can; 90 ta-ta."
Written for TEE EvExne srAn
Child Faith.
How beautiful 10 SEQ the little child,
Beside Its mother, low In prayer,
While through the easement pour the moonbesms
mild,
Upon It kneeling there.
Upon the upturnsd face. 20 fair and pure.
It ssemeth in that mellow light,
Divine and happy knowledge 10 allure.
From far Oh regions bright.
Al though With each low lisping word e read
Strange truths, unknown 10 cosrser clay.
A. though some angel on IL lace had shed
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