Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1894-08-15
Monthly AUCTION Trade JournaI--Au-
gust, 1894.

want eYry eye that scans thes lines TO read
patiently, carefully and critically, the records
on the last prge and the endorsements of tn e
"RousS System" in the bottom lines of our
Monthlies. vii read ther, the records and
the Experiences of men who hav ben stund and
tagerd in the gantlet Of Credit under the
old, the roten the barbaric system. U will
read, how tina hay grown yung agen, fighting
over the battles under the great and the mod
ern methods. L viii find their brain afire
with that enthusiasm that urges them up and
on until tina can Sc their way clear, where tha
laf to scorn and derision, the competition that
faces them.
U vii find the cuntry felo from the eros
roads his brain afre, burning up wi h enthu-
siasm that matches al the complex problems
that masters al the possibilities of the past and
future, in this system that wins 80 out of an
even 100.
want L to read the records of fellows that
hay cum from the cornfeld at 80 cents day,
such lines as thes: zone year ago was work
ing at Sl5 a month and fed myself-nobody
knu me, not even from the next farm. Now,
I am scraping in the cold, solid stuff at the
rate of 500 day, and only had $50 to begin
with
If ther is in this little short stretch and scope
and space of time anything NOR precius to me
that hav ever behelf it is the "Rouss Sys-
tenn" | feel so tired of mite, that l think
cud sleep for six months. The moment
get into bed my brain reves in that other
fairyland, that dreamland of xtacy, wher
cary out my future fortunes, out of the % 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 struggling past our front on Broad
way, and his attention was cald to a modest
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 tha wer on the
10Th flor, to take the elevator. When up in
that department he saw, that he had made
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, a fu left; . had better take
what we hav or tha vii al be sold outgoing
very fast" The merchant told him, that he
did sposc that he had NOR than he had in the
windo and that it was only little trap to
catch passing trade Kelly told him that he
had about 30 cases left. He took six cases
with the proyiso 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 a garter Of a
dollar as a sort of "giv away" He sed that he
wud sci them at 20; Kelly told him, plain and
blunt that he cud not hay them unles he wud
promis to sci them at Is cents TO which he
agreed. He sung them out on his front pave
ment with a great big ticket, 10 cents; tha
lasted Just 10 minutes, teleg-aft for the bal
ance of them, and the anser was al gone"
He rote a Letter saying that he thaut he un-
stood the mercantile bisnes but found that he
did not-that that IS cent ticket was the cor
QeI SlOuc VI MS mtlCoulllV NditOI. 4AbAuAON9
of peple who had never herd of him before
wer running in ther after thos hats. What a
simple little leson this is-that of tickling the
public poket-book, How fu men vii 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
make on them, but for the broad mark We
mud make on this felos 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 vii prove, if tha vii
Just put on this onest, little percentage. 1t
brings the cash, it brings popularity and pros
perity and prestige; it elevates him away abuy
al competition mony vii rain down out
of Heven if IL. ssuf is cheap enuf. At 20
cents he wud hay made little more profit but
wun never hay ben herd of agen. Now we
fetch him over every week; if we hayn't enuf
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. 1t is simply the
turning down of the old system for the mod
elm methods.
There was another silent sermon in the abuy
episode and that was this: That he had ben
buying of clos cash houses, and considered
himself final authority Oh everything The
little Al in the windo stagerd him, and ht