The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-05-28
10 THE GROCER WHO SELLS IT.

TO THE GROCER WHO SELLS 1T,
1t really seems like folly to attempt to
say anything bearing the brand of advice
to that true autocrat of the breakfaa.
table-the grocer. He is power within
himself, and It is to his little temple thai,
his neighbors generally come for block;
around that they may hear his word
Of wisdom and carry home some new
idea concerning religion or politics i'm
ported to them over barrel Of applet
or sack Of potatoes. Like the bee that
sucks honey from every flower that
blows, he has drained every intellect In
his vicinity and stored away in his own
knowledge cells stray tit bits of brain.
eulled by argument and exhortation from
great variety Of sources In short, he
knows 1t all. That is, he thinks he does.
But he doesn't.
Our temerity, therefore, leads us on to
give a few pointers to 'the grocer who
sells IT," or course he will know what
''ltp means In this connection. There Is
only one "It" In our straight talks to the
Trade-it is Columbia River Salmon. And
while you, Mr.. Grocer, may be, generally
speaking, a quick-witted and well-inform-
ed man, we are prepared to prove that
on the subject of Columbia River salmon
you are very densely ignorant. Stand
up, and listen to the indictment.
Now, Friend Grocer. come to think
about 1t conscientiously, what do you
know about salmon2 You know that It's
q fish, and you know It's packed In a tin.
You've got perhaps dim recollection
that II is put up somewhere on the Pacific
coast, but one thing you are sure Of,
It's just salmon, and all salmon is the
same, and there's no difference to talk
about, and what's It got to do with US
anyhow, and there you are! We want
to ask you something. Suppose you live
somewhere In the Mississippi Valley, and
man came In and wanted to tell yea
that a mud cat was every bit as good
on eating FISH as channel cat, how
many kinds Of an idiot would you take
him to be7 Suppose, again, a Jobber
came and offered you canned corn from
Texas at the price OF Maine corn, and
was willing to make an affidavit that one
was Just as good as the other. and It
was all corn, anyhow, you'd believe him,
wouldn't you? And yet you are gulled
Into believing stranger propositions than
these, every time you buy case of salm-
on from your jObbeE
In the first place Of all the salmon that
annually swim into the rivers and
streams of the Pacific coast from Cali
fornia, to Alaska, there are from twenty
to thirty different varieties. Each variety
In taste, appearances, and habits differs
entirely from any other. Into the estuary
Of the Columbia River. one Of the widest
river mouths In the world, with its mil
lions OF tons Of fresh water running
many miles into the ocean, come the
salmon that We are here to talk about
Even these are divided into three classes,
all Of them. however, finer in every re-
spect than any other fish caught on the
continent. First OF the trio is the peer
less Royal chinook, Weighing all the way
from twenty-five 10 eighty pounds and
the most beautiful and symetrical thing
ever drawn out of the water. Then the
Blueback, then the steelhead. Differins.
as we tell you. In degree. but all posses
sing the stamp Of excellence never appar-
ent in salmon captured elsewhere. Don't
take our word for It. Look into some
trade paper. and II you don't md corrob-
oratlon there. get your jObber down to
his honor, and ask him,
And now we reach the question that
you probably want to ask us, Where
does my interest In all this come inG
buy salmon. and sell salmon. The con-
numer doesn't kick. l make my little
profit, and everybOdy's happy" waA
a minute. The consumer is beiQg rapidly
educated in this matter. He Is being
taught that he should no longer rob his
family by paying the top price for an
article sold him by fraud. but innocent
fraud. on your part. Perhaps you have
been selling him columbia River salm'
on" for years when you never had
genuine Columbia River salmon IN yous
store. Maybe your iobbef has been play
lne the same game with you. You see,
he has been educating you. ana you have