The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-06-21

ON EMNS4 the year look up 10
\(NcSY him and admire him
e sSS the storekeepeTis in
financed bv him and is swayed by ms peTsua-
sive movers. and he either inspires confidence
an his fellow-nan or makes HIM lose laitn III
him On the streets Of seven-eighths Oh inc
towns and villages Of this county 10 -
marked object He laughs ne IalAs' 10 III
sinuates himself into the good grsces OF inc
very best people. and invades ther hol non
and fresides. casting an influence wl1ch IS
other for GOOD or for bad On the raliroau
platforms in the railroad. depots' on inc ran
road trains all over this continent. we hhu
him. There is no place where ne uoes ho'
90 and WELD hismighty influence.
Who and what are these men 10 question
which modern society must ask ITSELF anC DC
careful about the answer 1t gets; Are they
what many of our very good people suppose
them TO be-a wild. thOughtless' reckless SET
intent only on selling Dlil OIL locus n.ia
ing good time, not caring VINO or WHat are
their companions, INDUCING III all sots OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS and folly! -.
As one who has spent eighteen years OF has
life among them, l answer very emphauGally
No" They are men OF superior intellect
nush perseverance and tenacity of purpose,
selected by the house for whom they 90 Dusi,
ness. men who can be trusted 70 work well
and faithfully for their employers interests
while far away from his eye; men to whom he
intrusts money, railroad tickets ana samples
amounting 70 hundreds: yes. sometimes 10
Thousands of dollars; clean, straightforward,
honest upright men. OleaiE you
saw. ''Yes. clean" / answer. and as
an example / take the house with winch
/ am connected. We employ sixteen or these
men. | have charge of them. and as look
them over YOU would find it hard TO pick out
sixteen cleaner. straighter men IN any walk OF
life and the cleaner and straghter they are
the better for their house. The business OF
to-day is done on such close margins that no
house can afford to employ any but
clean. straight men who give the
strictest attention to business. The day
of the hummer drummer" is past.
The man who formerly held his trade by treat
ING. wining and dining his customers Is fast
pnssing away and will soon be entirely athlng
of the past. Our house, for one Will not EN-
ploy man If we know HIM TO be drinking
man. no matter what his record as salesman
NAV have been, or what promises he makes.
That there are wild, reckless, dlSsoute men
among the commercial travellers still, admit.
That often young men. and even older ones,
exposed to the temptations that beset the
man away from home and all It's tond associa-
tions and the safeguards which III throws
around him, sometimes fall, and often COM
init acts they would not at home, and are
guilty of grievous and many sins, do not
question; but the majority OF the travelling
men of to-day are strong, clean, able, upright
men. -
What credit is it to a man to be morally
good al home, who has a good, true wife
mother. or sister to set before HIM every
morning "A good sweet meal, to send him out
TO his DAYS work with the benedlctlon OF q
pure wOman's kiss on his lips! Busy he Is all
day, pushing his work, so he may get back to
the home where wife, children and mother
are waiting TO welcome him. How different
the surroundings of the commercial traveller .
In the hotel at his breakfast table often sits
the temptation which does not assall the man
at home On the street, in the railroad depot,
and on every occasion, temptation assais him.
Instead of being at home surrounded by wife
and family, at night he has to again face terri
BILE temptations Take seven-eighths OF your
stay-at-homes. place the same temptations be-
fore them, and they would fall at the INST
step.
Ihaye said that these sixteen men under my
care are as clean AS any ordinary sixteen men
Won would meet Like conditions prevail in
other houses and lines of business Men are
in them lust as good as these, Just as strong;
men of great ability, large resources, able to
stand by themselves. men selected specially
for these characteristics; picked men from the
men around them. Are they not specially
adapted TO spread the kingdom Of our Lord
and Master as they travel from city to city,
from town 10 town, from village TO village,
from hamlet to hamlet: They are men who
are able 10 overcome difficulties and handle
their fellOw-men.
But YOU ask Are not these men opposed to
the Church and TO Church work? On the
contrary many only stand waiting to be asked
to 90 to the church. In the smaller towns
Sunday often is a dull day 10 the commercial
travellers Nothing to do. no place to go.
they sit around the hotel during the hours Of
church, like the laborers who stood idle be-
cause no man hired them.
commercial traveller sat at breakfast in
country town with three others. As he left
the table he invited them 10 call in his room
They did SO. On the table lay an open Bible
One asked rs that your travelling COM
panion:n When he answered yes. all spoke
up and by turn admitted that they had occu-
pied, when at home, one position or another
in their different churches and through the
influence of that open Bible all attended
church that day. In another town. at the
supper table Of q hotel sat two St Andrews
Brotherhood men. At the same table were
four commercial travellers. One Of the Broth
erhood men determined to try and get the
crowd 10 attend evening service He knew
none OF them, but by few well directed
questions opened the conversation, invited
them to attend church, and they all did so.
saying they were glad of the invitation and
opportunity.
Meeting young man few DAYS since.
formerly a member of the same Chapter as
myself now commercial traveller. asked if
he attended church. and he answered Yes
always when on the road" Another member
OF the hrst Chapter with which | WAS con
nected: when he went on the road. travelling
through small villages and 10 mills III the
south went speaking. preaching and talking
OF the work Of the Brotherhood In one of
our large cities last fall met man who was
carrying ON mission in one of the hardest
quarters OF the city. He told me that the
greatest help he got in his work was from
commercial traveller who came regularly when
IN the city 10 help him. And who has done
more Tor the work and the spread of Christ's
klhgdom among men than he whom we all
hohor and love, because he has given up his
business and gone solely into the Masters
commercial traveller, aud are there not nun
nefs' yea hundreds. like him among them.
oniy waiting 70 be called into the worky-John
M. Locke IN st. Andrews Cross.