Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-01
THE TOPICAL TALKER.
A Remarkable Figure in the Religious Field
Some Remarks About Newspaper Ad.

l
Some Remarks About Newspaper Ad.
vertising.
THE Rev. Father Mollinger, of Troy Hill, is
wonderfully active man considering his years.
How old he is do not happen to know pre-
cisely, but he is good way past the allotted age
| of man, and yet he vigorously administers his
| Parish, gives audiences to an immense num-
Der Of sick persons who come to him daily for
advice and help-both Of which he gives lib
erally-and yet has time to get into his car
riage and be driven to the most remote parts
of Pittsburg on errands generally of charit-
| able nature.
Yesterday when he drove past me on Smith.
field street behind good-looking pair of bays
1 was reminded that had seen him nearly
every day in Pittsburg for some time past.
These journeys to so old man, and in addi:
tion to such unusually heavy labors at home,
must be very trying But Father Mollinger
looks well and strong.
\ =x=
THE travellers on one of the railroads enter
ing this city have doubtless noticed rather
novel advertising device in the shape of white
mile posts, on which are inscribed in black let
ters the number of miles from certain Pitts
burg firm. These posts were erected week or
SO ago, and they certainly have attracted
good deal of attention. Everybody admires
shrewd advertising.
But it is astonishing what care is taken with
the writing and illustrating of newspaper ad.
vertisements as compared with the customs in
favor dozen years ago or less. Now the big
gest advertisers and those who get the most
out of advertising employ men of brains and
artistic ability to write and draw advertise
ments. A New York advertising agent told me
the other day that there are dozen literary
men known to him, who are also known to the
public by their books, who are not above
writing advertisements for proprietary articles
and the like. As to artists, it is no secret that
the soap trims who advertise 80 prodigiously
employ frst-class men.
A lady said to me the other day, looking up
from magazine she held in her hand: "Why,
here's somebody's been copying Palmer Cox's
little Brownies in an advertisement" but an
examination proved that the work was from
the pencil of Mr.. Cox himself.
Hss
The improvement in advertisements is a
thing to be thankful for. The pictures especi.
ally show wonderful advance Hatchet-
hewn wood cuts are not often seen in connec-
tion with patent medicine or other advertise
ments. The before and latter taking''
style of displaying the merits Of Toodle's hair
raiser is no longer in favor.
1t is not at all impossible that the day will
come when the advertisement pages of a news
paper will show as much literary ability and
artistic taste as the news and editorial pages
do to-day. There is considerable room for i'm
provement in advertising still. The value of
many advertisements Is frittered away in care
less, pointless writing, but the number of such
efforts is steadily diminishing. AS the truth
that newspaper advertising exceeds in value
all other kinds of advertising by several hun
dred per cent becomes more widely understood,
the necessity of composing advertisements
with care will become apparent to everybody.
Axh
THE New York advertising agent to whom
have referred above, told me that he had found
it quite interesting to watch the various eff
fects of differ ent styles of advertisements on
the public. One small story in this connection
may be worth telling.
II was in the early days of campaign of ad-
terising to boom proprietary medicine and
the prospects were not bright. Every modern
plan for recommending the article had been
tried, and still the sales were fat. Then it oc-
CURED to the advertising agent to try an au-
dacious movement. He prepared heavy at
tack on the medicine in question with doctors
afidavits and so on to back it up. This. attack
he published in every large paper in the land.
The public became interested. The attack
elected an answer in defense, and the latter a
rejoinder. So the war ragged for several weeks
and astonishing to tell the sales of that medi-
cine grew from the very day the first attack
was published, and the foundation for an i'm
mense fortune was laid.