Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1889-07-06

ROBERT WEEMS TANSILL-
Mr.. Tansill, the founder of the house
of r. w. Tansill & Co., is still a young
man, although he has been in active
business for over quarter of century,
and is now numbered among those sue
cessful and prosperous business men OF
Chicago who have acquired wealth and
independence through their own talents
nnd exertions. Mr.. Tansil was born in
the State of Virginia in 1874. His
mother died in 1916, and his father
being an officer in the U. S. Marine
Corps, the duties of which required
cruises of three years duration. the
subject of our sketch was practically
left an orphan when less than two
years Of age In 1861 he accompanied
his maternal grand parents, Weems.
to Illinois, where he decided to remain.
Mr.. Tansill is the lineal descendant of
the Rev. Mason Locke Weems, who was
at one time the rector of Pohic. General
Washington's church, and is Familiarity
known as the historian of the revolution.
His works included, among many 9th
ers, the life of Washin gton which con-
s sSn,z'nS On n' Jan Uun 1, n"'i 1867
he married Mary E. Motter, of Clayton,
ILL.,, and it was in this town that he
first engaged in the cigar business. At
an early date he became convinced that
Chicago was the coming city of the
west, and in 1868 he decided to remove
his business to that city, where, in the
great fire of 1871, his entire capital was
swept away. Like great many other
of Chicago's young business men, he
was not crushed by this misfortune, but
making fresh start in busin ess, paying
his creditors 100 cents on the dollar, he,
for number of years conducted one OF
the largest cigar factories in Chicago.
The enormous growth of his business,
covering as it did the whole country, to-
gether with the increased demand for
manufacturing and shipping facilities.
caused him to transfer the manufacture
of his cigars to New York, the wisdom of
which move has been demonstrated by
the continued expansion of his business,
30 that he now enjoys the distinction of
having the largest mail order cigar
house in America.
The causes of Mr.. Tansill's success are
not hard to find. He is a man of orig
inality and action. In carrying out an
idea he has the rare faculty of adapting
the means to the end, and once satisfied
of the soundness of his plan, he exc
cutes it theoretically. These qualities
are perhaps best illustrated by his
unique achievement of building up and
maintaining a great business with
out drumming. It is needless to
say that this desirable result could not
have been brought about had he not
possessed an intuitive genius for
advertising. It is Mr.. Tansill's pol
icy to. in all cases, do better by his
patrons than he agrees to do, but back
of all this remains the fact that he is far
too shrewd to expend brain and money
in pushing an article which lacks the
merit to back up its claims. His goods
are never allowed to deteriorate, no
matter what the demand for them may
be. The wisdom of his policy is dem
onstrated by enormous business
which he has developed.
Mr.. Tansill is probably better know,
to the smokers of the country as the
originator of the celebrated ''Tansilrs
Punch" This brand he placed on the
market nearly q quarter of q CEN
tury ago. Its popularity was phe-
nomenal from the start. Its sales
have beea unparalleled in the his
tory of the cigar trade, and it is recog.
nixed to-day by the smoking public a.
the leading 5 cent cigar Of the o. s.