Evening star., 1894-03-31
IN HOTEL CORRIDOR S

A gentleman hurried into the writing
room at La Normandie yesterday morning
and, sitting down, placed his umbrella at
the side Of his chair. Taking his key chain
from his pocket he attached 1t to the rain
shedder by q small catch. Then he began to
scratch away at his correspondence. An
occupant Of the room had been very much
interested in the novel means the stranger
had taken to secure his umbrella and re-
marked upon It.
Yes. know It looks funny to see . man
lock himself to an umbrella" said the new
conner. but 1 adopted the scheme a long
time ago. I'm a commercial traveller and
always carry an umbrella wherever / go.
After I had lost countless dozens Of them
by leaving them in places. visited my wife.
who gave me a very handsome one and at
the same time bet me a watch against a
pair of earrings that ia lose II in sixty
days. / took her up and the very next day
left the parachute in Hilton & Co.'S store
in New York. Luckily. / recovered 1t the
same day, and then the idea struck me
that 1 would win that watch by fastening
my key chain to the article whenever I sat
down anywhere and fastening it by other
means to my hat or coat when / was
obliged to leave 1t. I won the watch and
have saved lots Of money by reason of the
umbrellas have not been compelled to buy
since 1 adopted the scheme. 1t is the only
system ] know OF by which an absent-mind
ed or preoccupied man in my profession can
keep an umbrella twenty-four hours"
Novelty in advertising in the west runs
to the practical illustration Of manufactures
or the business generally that may be
carried on about the premises" said AL
bert Turner of Terre Haute at the Riggs
House yesterday. Nearly every laundry.
for instance. has its collar and cuff polish
ing machines set up and in full operation in
the show windows and other lines of busi-
ness adopt similarly attractive object les
sons to draw custom.
"In Cincinnati the other day, however,
came across a crowd that was banked up
In front Of shoe store on 5th street. In the
window was shoe stitching machine at
work. 1t was complete in every particular
and was run by electricity The workman
| in charge of it was apparently an expert.
for he turned out pair of shoes about
every two minutes. l stood there and
watched a dozen pairs of shoes in patent and
other kinds of leather and of different
styles made in one window and instantly
displayed for sale in the next. l tell you.
that is getting practical advertising down to
fine point"
''The most surprising things to me in this
country are the farms in the billy portions
of the east and SOUTH" said Horace T. Har-
ris. an English agriculturist, at the Airing
toA w nat mean Is tue way tne FARMERS
till fields full Of rocks and stones. l have
Just seen hundreds Of acres upon which the
grain Is coming up in profusion whose sur
face is covered with boulders from the size
Of an egg to the size of your hat. l can't
understand such a state of affairs at all.
II had field like the ones allude to on
my estate in England and should SOW it in
grain before removing every discernible
stone from it beforehand, my neighbors
would think had gone daft. Yet am told
that the harvest gathered from such fields
In this country is very plenteous and profit
able. II this is so, 1t Is certainly a very
reprehenstble policy that allows the rocks
to cover so much ground upon which grain
would grow and thus make the harvest COM
mensurately greater. Some of your re-
formers who seem to be so willing to reform
and turn upside down all your other sys-
TENS should start a crusade for clean fields
among the farmers. Why, have seen fields
under cultivation that could almost be fenc-
ed in If the stones on their surfaces were
piled up around them"
'-The south and west trade congress that
Is going to meet in my town next month
will be a good deal more important than
most people imagine" said Richard Sewell
of Wichita, Kan, at the st. James. Its
chief object will be to facilitate the ap-
proach Of closer business relations between