Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1889-02-16
WHERE GOOD.HUMOR WON
Ii"w Drummer Who Kept His Wits ant
His Temper Made IA Sa e..

His Temper Made Il Sa e..
1T is great fun for me, - sad prom
inent New York business man the other
day, ito recall my early experience on
the road i'll the capacity of n CONNER
cial drummer ! remember striking n
small village up tie Hubs N. shortly
after starting out. During the evening
at the Eo.cl | got into CONVEX: alton
with two or three natives of the village
who We're standing around the office.
and, as is quite customary with young
and inexperienced drummers. | began
to re'er rather b astful,y TO the
achievements | hal made in the way
of sa'e s. The natives seemed to re
ceive everything in goo faith, and one
of them proposed as a ties of my abil-
ity as salesman that | Should
go to store in the village
and sell the propri tor thereof, who
loudly proclaimed his antipathy to al
drummers, II bill of goods. Ny pride
was touched, and | ally agreed to
do it, and agreed ais, to wager - on
the result. Five minutes afterwarl
found me with my grip-slck in my hand
on my way to tn stor' that had been
-
any CAM align | was inside the place.
1t was an ord ,nary village store, an |,
as thn time | speak of was in the mid
die of the winter, tn ere was n red-hot
stove il the middle of the flo II, and
GoLen lOungerS were sitting in a circle
about it. knowing, as thy did, the
prejudices of the proprietor with re-
srcct to commercial men, my entranc
was greeted with significant smiles and
nudges and winks, AMI whispered COM
ment passed around the rcle. | didn't
mind this, but went up at Onc2 to the
man who stood behind the counter
WHO answered the description that had
been given to me of the proprietor of
the store, and han led him my card.
He took the card, and, without
looking at it, slowly tore it into two or
three dozen pieces and scattered it on
the floor. The action was followed by
roar of laughter from the circle
around the stove. But | was not to be
beaten yet.
"'You shouldn't do that, I said, very
quietly; don't You know that those
cards cost MONEY =
"The proprietor glared at me for q
moment. and then, turIin9 t. young
clerk, who stood behind the counter IA
few feet away, he slid: Give this
Young man ; cents to pay for that
card.
This grim sally brought another
explosion of laughter from thu circle
around the stove, and dozen pair of
eyes looked over me curioIsly to see
4 1. Al l. A
take it at all l took up my card case
II second time, and selecting anoth r
card. offered it to the proprietor. This
made him mad, and he began to swear
What do yol mean, you impudent
Young dog, by handing me another
clrdr' And he Brought his hand down
with good deal of force on the
counter.
"'Oh, l repliel, Il always give two
cards for > cents.
This rather turned the laugh on
him, and after q moment he joined in
the laughter, and, taking the card,
rea it,
III talk with yOu moment he said,
if you'll come back III the store here
"Gou may he sure | went back. He
bDll me Jilut ne lldl Dcpn DuNlnR teas
and spices from one house for long
time, and that he was perfectly salts
fled with the fashion i'll which they
served him. He believed that he got
the lowest prices, AMI he didn't care to
change. asked HIM what prices h
paid for various articles in my roper.
tory, and told him. what / sincerely
believed, that if he didn't keep posted
from contact with various representa-
tives of the trade, it was quite improb-
able that he got the lowest figures.
He told me what he was paying, and |
showed him that | could sell the same
goods at lower prices, and finally came
away with an order. | won the wager
of 50 at the hotel, and the firm down in
New York, whose representatives had
called on this man in previous seasons
without success, sent me an encoarag.
ing letter"
VERMONT factories turn out 600, 600
snow-shovels per year. and New Hamp-
shire and Maine send the figures up to