Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1889-02-15
WHERE a6og-Hgasa WaE
How a Drannrner yTllo Kept BIS wits ana
his Temper lEads safe.

How a Drummer sVll3 Kept BIS wits ana
his Temper l1aIs SAFE
cit is great fun for me. " SAID a prom
inent New York business man the other
day, "tO recall my early experience on.
the road In the capacity of q CONNER
c1al drummer. i remember striking
small village up the Hudson, shortly
after starting out. During the evening
at the hotel j got into conversation
with two or three natives of the VILLAGE
who were standing around the Office.
and, as is quite customary with young
and inexperienced drummers. i began
to refer rather boastfully to the
achievements i had made Ia the way
of sales The natives seemed to re-
ceive everything in good faith, and one
of them proposed as a test of my abiI-
ity as a salesman that I should
go to store in the village
and sell the proprietor thereof, who
loudly proclaimed his antipathv to all
drummers, q bill of goods. Ny pride
was touched, and I readily agreed to
do 1t, and agreed also to wager So on
the result. Five minutes afterward
found me with my griP-sack in my hand
on my way to the store that had been
referred to, and before I could plan
any campaign / was inside the place.
as the time L speak of was in the mid
die of the winter, there was a red-ho5
stove in the middle of the floor, and a
dozen loungers We're sitting In a circle
about 1t. Knowing, as they did, the
preJudlces Of the proprietor with re-
spect to commercial men, my entrance
was greeted with significant smiles and
nudges and winzs, and whispered COM
ment passed around the circle. / didn't
mind this, but went up at once 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 handed 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
a 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 gIared at me for q
moment, and then, turning to young
clerk, who stood behind the counter
few feet away, he said: Give this
young man B cents to pay for that
card
"This grim sally brought another
explosion of laughter from the circle
around the stove, and a dozen pair of
eyes looked over me curiOusly to see
how I would take the rebuff. I didn't
take it at all. I took up my card case
a second time, and selecting another
card, offered it to the proprietor. This
made him mad, and he began to swear.
What do you mean, you impudent
card?' And he brought his hand down
with good deal of force on the
counter.
"'Oh,' I replied, q always give two
cards for cents.
"This rather turned the laugh on
him, and after moment he Joined in
the laughter, and, taking the card,
read it.
" III talk with you moment, he said,
If you'll come back In the store here
"YOu may be sure L went back. He
told me that he had been buying teas
and spices from one house for a long
time, and that he was perfectly salts
fed with the fashion in which they
served him. He believed that he got
the lowest prices, and he didn't care to
change. I asked him what prices he
paid for various articles in my roper
tory. and told him, what I 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 I could sell the same
goods at lower prices, and finally came
away with an order. I won the wager
Of S. 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 encourage
ing letter"