The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-04-24
BUSINESS IS BUSINESS.


How the Honest Hollanders Sell CT
gars to Strangers.
II had little experience in Holland re-
Gently which showed me- said Prof.
Frank Bartlett, that business list business
all the world over. l was walking through
one of the principal squares of Rotterdam
smoking cigar, when / was approached
by a well-dressed, middle-aged man who
had an unlighted cigar in his hand. He
stopped me, and in good English asked me
for light l gave him a light and was
about passing when he said: I see
that you are smoking Dutch cigar Would
you mind telling where you bought it
and what you paid for it?' Though some
what surprised at the request, 1 told him
l had bought 1t at a large shop in Hoog
street. and that 1 had paid 10 cents about
cents American money! for 1t. The reason
l asked he said, is that they do not deal
honestly with visitors here You should
have got a better cigar for that money
If you wish I can show you the place
where get my cigars and where you can
get twice as good a cigar for the same
price as the one you are smoking. AS 1
had intended to lay in supply of cigars
for few days at least, and as l had moth
ing else to do, I agreed to go with him.
He led the way through quaint and
crooked streets and over many canals to
tiny tobacco shop in a narrow out-of-the-
way street. We entered the shop, and my
newfound friend had a brief conversa-
tlOn IN DutCn WIN the woman DenlnQ
the counter, which resulted in the pro-
duction of a box of cigars from a
shelf near by. Taking my cigar gently
out of my hand, my mentor shifted at it,
and with sudden gesture of disgust
threw it out of doors. He then took a
cigar from the box and offered it to
me to try, saying that it would not cost
me anything. While was smoking this in
a tentative way he had another CONVERSE
ton in Dutch with the shopkeeper, and
then, having apparently arrived at some
compromise, he told me with a glad light
in his eyes that she had agreed to let me
have the whole box of fifty for 4 guilders
about $3.50 and seemed very much panied
when told him did not care for SO
many as 1 had to pass the custom house
in day or two. 1 finally bought half the
box and departed.
THAT afternoon I was standing in front
of the statute of ERASMUS, Smoking one of
my newly acquired cigars, when 1 was ap-
preached by respectable-looking man who
had an unlighted cigar in his hand and
who politely asked rife for a light When
he got his light, he asked where I had
bought my cigar and what I had paid for
it. It dawned upon me then that in this
country of the slow Dutch I had run up
against form of enterprise that would do
credit to our own good town, and the hui
NOR of the situation $50 overcome me that
l laughed then and there. To the man with
the cigar 1 explained to his evident dis
gust, how l had been already taken in,
and he went away after remarking that 1
should have got better. cigar for the
money l paid During my stay in Rotter-
dam l was tackled several times by these
ropers-in, and hugely enjoyed telling them
of the manner in which l bought my cigars:
but always made point of letting them
light their cigar first. They all seemed to
have a poor opinion of the cigars 1 had