Los Angeles herald., 1892-12-25


presents ready by shipping clerks stu
pidity," and she cast withering glance at
the young man.
Every we'll, madam" was the superin-
tendent's reply. Il only wished to show
you by our records that we have made
every possible effort to send you the goods
you ordered and as you ordered them. You
may go now, Johnson" (this to the ship
ping clerk), "and hope l shall not have
occasion to call upon you for another ex-
PLANTATION"
Then, after directing through speaking
tube that the customer should have an
other bundle of yarn exactly like the one
that had been lost, he turned to me.
$50 you want to know something of the
holiday trade behind the scenes, do your
Well, the incident you have just witnessed
is not of very common occurrence consid-
ering the immense number of packages we
send out daily, but of course mistakes will
be made in spite of all our efforts to avoid
them. A more common complaint than
that made by the lady who has just left is
that of misdirection. The addresses of
two packages are transposed, and of course
there are two complaints. johnson, the
shipper had here, is very careful man,
and l firmly believe he packed the bundle
of yarn with the rest of the goods. Among
other things in the box were some majolica
vases and tea set. To save Ireakage the
goods were packed in excelsior, and the
little bundle of yarn, which was worth
only thirteen cents, was overlooked when
the box was opened. / have in mind two
or three instances in which the lost goods
were of considerable value, and the shipper
felt so sure they had been included&s di-
rected that l allowed him to go to the
house of the buyer and examine the dis
carded excelsior, with the result that the
missing article was found. In the inter
ests of discipline and trade, however, am
obliged to always assume the employee to
be in the wrong-at least in the presence
of the customer.
"How many customers do we have in a
day during the rush of the season. That
is hard to say Fully 100000 people pass in
and out of the store every day in Decem-
ber, but how many buy cannot say. Prob
ably 80 per cent buy something, though
large proportion of them make very small
purchases. You would be surprised if you
knew what variety of things suitable for
Christmas gifts can be bought for dollar.
Let me give you few instances.
Suppose you wish to remember each
member of the family of one of your friends.
You are not anxious to expend great deal,
foryou have many friends, but this friends
family consists of five members-father,
mother, young lady daughter, small son
and baby. For the father you may buy a
copy of one of Dickens novels, well printed
and bound in cloth, at twenty-seven cents;
for the mother silver thimble at thirty
five cents; for the daughter really artistic
calendar, with Scriptural or poeticalquota
tions, printed in tints, in excellent imita-
tion of water colors put up in neat box,
for MGrteen cents; box of Illuminated
note pa\er and envelopes for the boy at
eleven cents, and a colored picture book for
the baby at thirteen cents
Here is another list," and he handed
me slip, which is here reproduced:
For the father individual cup and sau-
Ger. ......................-.. 20
For the mother, cookbook. ............. q
For the boy. home game. 10
For the girl case of crayons. Is
For the baby, linen book. .....,,....,.,,, IA
Total. .......................... Sl w
Another was as follows:
For the father, silk handkerchief ~ 25
For the mother, material for a head rest
and a rag bag. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 80
For the daughter, fancy basket. ......... Is
For the baby, mug. g........................ Ii
For the grandmother, face heater, when
she has neuralgia. a....................... Is
Iotai. ......................... 81 w
Suppose you want to buy dollars
worth of presents for your friends little
daughter" he went on. "In that case you
can do very nicely as follows, and include
one useful article and some candy:
DOLLS tete-a-tete tea set. 25
LII hItcHeu.. ......,................. "a
Lttie uoil ....................... III
-hAIlSAS. ID
boA VI ptiuts. .......ss.......'.....s.. 10
Cahuy y............... .............'''...... III
iotal. ..'........... ......................... Sl w
"1f you want to get a dollars worth for
the boy you may take this list:
Robinson Crusoe. bound in cloth. ......... q
Leather or bead purse. se..................... 13
Knife. Observation-Disclosures. 25
Sauuy ........................... ~
. Dl w
"How many people do we employ at this