Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1894-08-14
AEonthly Asrction Trade JournaI--A,t-.
gust, 1899.

ionsthe last prge, and the endorsements OF the
'Rouss System in the bottom lines of our
Monthlies. vii read ther, the records and
the experiences OF men who hav ben stund aud
tlgerd in the gantlet of g Credit,' under the
old, the rotten, the barbarie system. o viii
read, how tina hay grown yung agen, lighting
over the battles under the great and the mod
ern methods, o vii find their brain afire
with that enthusiasm that urges them up and
on until tina can Sc their way clear, where tina
laf to scosn and derisiou, the competition that
faces them.
viii lind the cuntry felo from the eros
roads, his brain afire, burning up with enthu-
siasm that matches al the complex problems
that masters al the possibilities of the past and
future, in this system that wins 90 out of an
even 100,
1 want to read the records of fellows that
hay cum from the cornfieId at so cents a day,
such lines as thes; "one year ago, 1 was work
ing at Sl5 month and fed myselE-nobody
knu me, not even from the next farm Now.
am scraping in the cold, solid STUFF at the
rate of Slo0 day, and only had $50 to begin
WITH
Ifther is in this little short stretch aud scope
and space of time anything NOR precius to me
that 1 hay ever behelf, it is the "Rouss Sys-
SSAAAs lSGl SO IlEGQ Oh nlJe, lnaE i tnlnk
cad sleep for six months. The moment
get into bed, my brain revels in that other
fairyland, that dreamland of xtacy, wher 1
cary out my future fortunes, out of the o5 per
cent. Net Spot Cash Before Delivery. That is
the talk that makes giants out of dwarfs, that
makes masters of fellows who wer yesterday
nobody.
he was stragling past, our front on Broad
4 IA -
little tiket, $1.45 per dozen. He remarkt to
himself that that was one of the trade winers
that this great big hous parades ITO rope in
the unwary." AT the dor, he simply inquired
for the Hat Dept, was told tina wer on the
18th flor, to take the elevator. When up in
that department. he saw, that he had made a
mistake-he was among the mems straw
goods. He was permitted to walk around.
thru, and nobody paid any attention to him
until he met one of the carrier boys and askt
for the Ladies Straw Hats, when he was shown
down to the Fifth Flor. He acosted the man
ager of the dept, regarding the bait in the
windo--"Yes, u fu left; had better take
what we hav or tina will al be sold outgoing
very fast" The merchant told him, that he
did spose that he had NOR than he had in the
windo, and that it was only liClc trap TO
catch passing trade; Kelly told him that he
had about 30 cases left. He took six cases
with the proviso that he shud sci them in his
town at 10 cents. He said that competition
was very clos in his town and that the sharp.
shooters were cutting them at garter of a
dollar as sort of "gtv away" He sed that he
wud sci them at 20; Kelly told him, plain and
blunt that he cud not hav them unles he wud
promis to sci them at Is cents to which he
M IJa III,
ment with great big ticket, 10 cents; tha
lasted just 10 minutes, telegsaft for the bal
ance of them, and the anser was sal gone.''
He rote Letter saying that he thaut he un-
stood the mercantile bisnes but found that he
did not-that that 10 cent ticket was the cor
ner stone of his mercantile career Hundreds
of peplc who had never herd of him before
wer running in ther after thos hats What
simple little leson this is-that of tickling the
public poket-book, How fu men viii lern
this. This felo point blank refused to buy the
hats unles he cud name his own price We
cared nothing in the world what profit he cud
makeo them, but for the broad mark we
mud make on this felo's history and we did
and it is one of the practices of our dept. men
as wei as our salesmen to point ont what big
levers thes socdolagers viii prove, if tina viii
Just put on this onest, little percentage. 1t
brings the cash, it brings popularity and pros
perity and prestige; iteleyates him away abuv
al competition-the mony viii rain down out
OF Heven if the ssuf is cheap ennfsrAt 20
oents he wud hav made little more profit but
wun never hay ben herd of agen. Now we
fetch him over every week; if We havn't enul
advertisements in Hats we hav others in our 80
departments that vii choke up his little shop.
1t is the short cut. Thes record smashers ON
our last page prove that. It is simply the
turning down of the old system for the mod.
EN- methods.
There was another silent sermon in the abuv
episode and that was this: That he had ben
buying of clos cash houses, and considered
himself final authority on everything. The
little Ad in the windo stagerd him, and he
was loath to lern anything from men who
were able to teach him. he had usually baut
his straw goods from first hands, and regulars
We had gotten them under the Red Flag. And
what did this magnificent leson that had
coanged the whole cors of his busines life in an
hour cost him? Absolutely less than nothing,
Insted ofbeins an xpense,it paid him profit
A nu era had dRwned upon his brain-sum.
thing that he had never dreamd Of before
simply comon hors sense, bold down in two
words -the ability to buy rite, and the com
on sense to sci cheap. In other words, un
derby, undersel, scrape in the cash,
The "Rouss System" which has revolu
tionized the mercantile community of our Gun
try is in xact reverse antagonism to the cen
tury old lifelong methods, ava bak, far int,
time. Their idea was to make to make tn
most of eyry sale. caring never a continents
for the advertisement, swelling their capita
with evry turnover, increasing the amount Q
their welth, by eyry days chaiking down o.
the swet-book; richer and richer tina CRU, yea
after year in anticipation and dimagiuation.-
AT eyry inventory, ther was AIDED so much in
convertible stuff to the asets, and so much de
certinty to the liabilities. 1t was simply
qestion of a little time, how long tha cud stan
it, rich, as tlla thaut tiiemselys to be. Th
hundred percent did not pan oht as tina chalk
it down; tina wer getting porer insted of richer
tina wer changing asets into an unown coniod
/ ity cald "Aladdin's Lamp that stuf Whic
r never cumf to lite, in that-dream book tha
never givs up that which is enterd in tho
mTisfy, 1TafTy r,ao,aa S,F faars and ev-at III,