Telegram-herald., 1891-01-10

The sellen try 20 get On hustle. ous
ths buyers remain acisarn sad mac
tivs. 70 the hustle i largely expended
on cigars and the thsaterA The buyers
are psovokingly deliberate in exprssainx
their dssirss 70 plses orders- This y
owing 10 the fact, largely. that ths ssli-
ere are too many for them, numerically.
They viii not bay scrsw-hois. the
buyers. until they hare examined and
compared. Tho sellers move about
snxiously. eagerly. and II they ell
small order. it's taken - . good days
work. and they Are Atis6ed. The ssll'
ere are eli here; the majority OF the
buyers are yet to como. The former
have struck the attitude OF the spider
aud are waiting patiently for the nies.
The Shepard and Hartman blocks Arc
pretty we'll occupied by sellers displays.
The principal point OF attraction u the
display of tha Gum folding bed. Some
remarkably fine cabinet work 10 shown,
not TO mention the beds themselves.
The idea of Mr.. Gum seems TO have
been the construction of folding bed
that should look ~ unlike q folding
bed a. . table looks unlike chair. In
this he has succeeded surprisingly.
Some Of the specimens shown would DO
taken for bona hide side boards. or
china bricabrac cases, in fact almost
anything but . bed, and yet the exterior
appearance 10 but foil for one of the
most convenient and safe beds in the
market. A description of these beds 10
deferred to another time.
II ID rather surprising TO note the
number of outside dealers here with
sample lines, but what is moro surpris-
ing still, all of their offerings are copies
of the "Grand Rapids idea," both in
style, pattern and finish.
The Morton lobby was thronged last
evening, but business by common con-
sent was suspended, and the crowds
arranged into knots of three. and half
dozen, discussed everything but furni-
ture. Clerk Grant finds life burden
in caring for his good-natured guests.
He stacks them into rooms, six deep,
but neither his own sunny disposition
nor those of his guests are permitted to
become ruflied. They rather like the
sardine boxing process, and cheerily
make the most OF it.
The practice now so generally FOL-
lowed by manufacturers in singing
out exclusive dealers for their wares is
one of the safeguards of the trade.
1t prevents ruinOus competition be-
tween rival dealers in the same class of
goods, and protects both the profits and
reputation of manufactures. The
scheme hes grown from small be-
ginning until it now embraces all the
leading manufacturers. In large cities
sales are confined to one or two dealers,
who have the exclusive sale of Ger
tain line, while in smaller towns and
cities only one is thus favored. There
IS no injury to the purchaser resulting
| from this practice, although it is mild
form Of discrimination in trade. Both
buyers and sellers subscribe to its fair
ness and equality.
Quite an amusing series of incidents
occurred at dinner at the Morton yes
terday. Two of the Oldest and most
| experienced operators took seats at a
table opposite three gentlemen whose
dress and appearance Indicated that
| they were green at the Business. One
of the trio was more voluble than the
rest, although each tried to impress the
other with his own sagacity and the
tremendous magnitude of his business.
The chief spokesman, or rather the
chiefest, had dialect that unmlstak-
ably branded him as q survivor of the
| fugitives from Pharaoh. 81 hat yust
closed bargain he patronislngIy re-
marked" and of you don't gift it away,
will put you on. made deal today
by vich get hundrct marble top ped
room suits for dwendy-fif doIlars-dat
beats Cincinnati; don't id?'
'Some," remarked the man at his
left, '.but have scheme in my Office
| that beats your bargain"
"Whatis it?' asked the other two in
. breath.
81 pay a man s1S week who does
nothing but write letters. He writes
personal letters to everybody within
twenty miles OF my store, and you bet
he catches the farmers. Why, he
writes to all the manufacturers, and
the result is ! am now buying bed
stead for $l.l0 that always paid $l.65
for, and he has just ordered ten cars of
| them."
Every good" interposed the little
man with pimples on his nose, "but
you have trouble to get the names Of
the farmers. / don't; I stand iupwith
the ward politicians, and after elections
l get the poll books, and so catch
Democrats and Republicans both, to
whom mail my circulars, and they
never know how l learn their names.
Nav, the directory hant o marker Il,
the poll books"
Thus the conversation continued
until the Hebrew rose TO 90 from the
table, and as he passed out, he was
heard 10 say: "(iendIemen, come 10
Chicago ind will puy the drinks and
show you the best foldin-pcd in the
world. und / will show you the ele-
plant, too" The old operators had
learned point or two, entirely new to
them.
"This rallying of buyers and sellers
at Grand Rapids twice every year"
said foreign seller. "either means the
the making or breaking OF the city as a
furniture market. We don't come here
because we want to, but because We
have to, that's about the size of 1t. We
all recognize that this city IS the head
body and feet of the furniture trade
and We are obliged TO visit this city to
kNox, IN fourh 18th <ho xr<.oc~s..r, &c .