The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1890-07-10
KISSING MANY BABIES.
A CLEVER WoMAN'S WAY OF SELL,
ING SEWING MACHINES.

Women play big part in selling sew
ing machines. Besides giving instruc-
tions, most sewing machine companies
engage them to draw up contracts when
machines are sold on the installment
plan. No matter how bright the agents
prospects may seem, q machine Is not
considered sold until the lease is In, and
in order to accomplish that much depends
on the skill, efficiency and personality Of
the teacher. One teacher writes Of her
experience among New York down town
people In this way:
II shall mover forget my first expert
ence. II any woman is anxious to get a
practical knowledge Of human nature
my advice Is to take . situation as
teacher on the sewing machine In An in
stallment district. Because I resented
one customers impairment and irrele-
want question: she called mo crank and
an old maid all In one afternoon. A
colleague informed me that the customer
had 1t I'm for me- and that she wouldn't
keep the machine II tho company made
her . present Of II. All right; VOL
sse,' said. When went to tho womsn's
house the next day she was crosser than
two sticks, and she concluded her vitu-
perstion by ordering mo and tho machine
out Of tho house.
AN MQUEsTTTvE CUgToNIR.
And this was the reason. When !
called on her tho first time. after asking
mo my age, my residence, the amount Of
salary received, she wanted to know
why didn't got married. told her In
words more emphatic than polite that .
twelvs-dollar-a-wesk girl would never,
never marry . nine dOllar-s-week man.
The wdtnan's husband was porter In .
store, and earned % . week. No won
der she never forgave me. This one OK
perisnce taught me . lesson, however,
and ever afterward when had custo-
mer like her on hand supplied myself
with tho patience Of Job, tho wisdom Of
Solomon, tho eloquence Of Webster and
the suavity of Chinese diplomat.
1.-THE tough customer also comes in
for a share Of my criticism. She is
woman who permits an agent to send her
a machine on trial, and down deep In her
heart never intends to keep 1t. This
customer always manages to get her
spring or fall sewing done up in this
way, and to manage her had to use my
very best verbal and thinking abilities.
Women who indulge in the petty arti-
fees are as easy to sound as an empty
barrel They are always commonplace
and very talkative. When came across
a woman of this class made 1t a point
to study her and her surroundings and
then would act. If she dotted on her
children usually began the campaign
by kissing the baby. While teacher for
the company I kissed babies Of every
nationality, to say nothing Of creeds. By
constant application 1 would get the
tough customer to sign the lease in a
week or ten days, and when that docu-
ment really was in my possession no one
was more surprised than myself.
DEFINITION OF SEVERAL TERMS.
AFRAID Of being cheated is the
thought uppermost in the queer GUS
TONER'S mind. She invariably proves to
be good little woman who has been i'm
posed upon by human sharks of every de-
scription. Once get her confidence and
the case is o. K.
4u0 Su5tOluCI 40 tL0 Ol10 WIZ
tried my patience and made me feel cross
after leaving her house. Dense stupid
ity is the definition Of thick in the sew
ing machine vocabulary. Twas with the
company six months before I could &C.
custom myself to the use of that word.
The thick woman could never learn the
attachments. Her awkwardness Is sim
ply Unborn, and all the manual training
in Christendom would never make an
operator out Of her.
Tho particular customer is another
who tried me a great deal. She is ono of
those women who go through this life
making other people miserable.
THE easy customer has . mania for
buying everything on the installment
plan. She would buy the earth that way
If 1t were for sale and, II one would give
her plenty Of time to pay for 1t. She
would close this week. only she has to
meet the payments on some silverware.
When the next week came her excuse
was that she had to make q payment on
bronze clock. Her husband was tho
one person who didn't know anything
about the debts she contracted. once
leased a machine to q woman who told
me after gave her the second lesson
that she was coming up to tho Office to
pay the full cash for 1t. Her husband,
she said, gave her the money. Like most
men he objected to the installment plan.
The next time called to instruct her
she astonished mo by saying she had
changed her mind about paying cash for
the machine.
"I wanted lace dress, 30 bought
it with the money he gave mo for the ma
chine. He won't find 1t out Tho no
referred to was her husband, Of course,
and he was employed as a bartender in
an uptown saloon. She arranged with
the collector to pay the installments
from the money she could save from tho
house.
1.-THE installment plan has its dark
side, but it has been real benefaction to
the poor. The discount allowed for cash
is so small that it is not much Of an in
ducement to customers. New York
Press