Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1891-02-10

BILE oblivion. BE admitted tho ruth Of this,
Iuthg cudn't jump out Of the swamp q one
and he hadn't the merry to cut ut twenty-five
per cent. BE was going to try II anyway on q
small scale, and II Il workt wei he would be =
genuine Raqueter. Among his purchases wns
lot OF gloves at 20 cents; the riter urged him,
TO take the entire lot that itwud the biggest
kind Of an adv. to scatter them a among his
peple at %. mo, ther wasn't that many pc
plc therr-fe took IL dozen, and week after
the balanee-b but tina wer sold. When be next
visited our headquarters, the gioy transaction
cam mp and he wns askt If he had kept his
promise Of IS per cent awe, {" he sed, we
began the sale att and tina run after 'em so
fast and the clerk sed Il was an informal nom
sens TO sci 'em at 25s so we put 'em at 50. and
tina al vent was mortified and turned
upon him sharply, "Whcrc's yor promls to
sell ut IS per cent, and where yor big adv. at
IS centsan Hecandidly admitted that he hadn't
the curage or the backbone to Civ goodn ava at
25 when tina were richly worth so. He wasn't
blIt for Rackcter; he lack the iron vii and
let go; he never got ont Of the swamp. Here
la the dlferenc between IL try and vii. Rid
ley and Macy Wud sci at one dollar no mater
II the article was worth nve. the cared lite for
eyrything TO them. Many time thes terrific
sledghamers wer worth an entire page OF the
sunda paper that cost thousand dolarst
Ono in while, old personal friends who had
long known the ritter, In prosperity as vel as
adversely, wud cal in our little ratrap in Church
etreet Owe cald it the iron bllding), and noting
the crowd that always choked us mp In the
crampt quarters, wud So, THAT article at the
doe ~ ST, rs
yes, invariably anserd. but wher will be the
advertisements The simple idea of an adv. in
that shape seemed never to have struk thes
clever, good-harted wclwishers. Att we sold
out before noontime; at 10 It wud have lasted
week. at we made dozen sales. each cap
turing a customer; at 10 but one sale without
any addition to the list OF patrons.
One of our old time byers struk lot of dolls
at 15-a big lot it was. too-hls mouth waterd
and his eys glistcnd US he remarkt that it wd
be big leder at 2OI my conscience, that's
SO per cent; clear out of my line. Wei cut
them at 16I" He swore 1t was a pity TO thro
them ava at that. as he cudn't buy the goods
at first hands for %. simply scd: g. am
hting for trade and popularity, and mean to
get up thcr as quik as can. and the Ave per
cent. vii count uptin the largely and rapidly
increasing aggregates, but the, big talking adycf-
tisement is everything. We felt the irresistible
fore of that triphamcr at evry jump. The tel
tale tickets stared peple in The face and tina
stopt and bant; the little fish and the big fish
swarncd in and multiplied while the I'VE per
cent. Aggregates dubbed and trebIed and quad
rupled. With the dolls at 20, or, as the old
timer insisted, 25. we wud still be down thcr in
that unforgoten little 10 by 40 of Church street.
struggling with competition with the old-Eash-
toned ideas of comercial warfare; upon the
modern, agresiv, decisiv hye per cent. we swept
with mercantile sWiftnes unparalleled in the
annals of modern history. The heven born Hus-
tier shud carefully read agen thes Lessons from
life, as the causes of success and failure lay
coiled up in this very nutshell, twenty ave
! per cent. cash and tho unanserable adv, or
| hfty and nothing more" One is popularity
and prosperity from the very jump, the other
| inevitable dry rot and oblivion, and this xausts
the subject.
| Bloomingdale's obscure little shanty- of lively
| years ago, under the old laws contrast straug-
ly with Their present magnificent monumsat,
covering blok, under the modern methods ;
aud our iron 'front.' of Church street cud esiIy
be placed in the Babel of Broadway 26S times.
in comparison with other Broadway stores
around US, 1t contains scventy-two, each 25 by
100. Simply the difference between the quik
i've per cent. and the dragwheel of ten.
Clos, keen buyers are rarely final authority
in selling as tina xausted the subject of rok-
bottom in buying tina generally drift to the other
xtretne aud insist npon all the tariff the article
will fetch aud thus lose that which is worth one
hundred times the profit, the advertisement, the
merit and the big chances Of success.
The mercantile rapid transit: Underby-
Underscl.
CHARLES BROADWAY RoUSS,
] New York City