The Wadsworth dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1892-1899, 1897-06-30
Wadsworth Dispatch,
FualfsAsD
50 90 Per Annum,
tiE DRUMS UP A

employment That Yields More Than S..
COO a Year and Expenses.
/ am wiling to bet that you cant
guess what | do for a living in ten
guesses, remarked a well dressed
man on the Empire State ex1l
the other day.
Tie proposition was rather
strange. The man was one of a half
hundred mon just like him who sat
about the a reading, smoking or
playing cards. There were no ex-
ternal'features to indicate the mans
business, but the CASUAL traveller
would have said that he was a tray
cling man for some large firm, pos
slbly carrying a dry goods or shoe
line. Lhe newspaper man had made
his acquaintance at the station, and
boarding the train had taken his
seat beside him. Theman seemed to
know hat be was talking to a re.
porter-in fact, it is probable that
he CLEANED that information from
some of the newspaper mans friends
at the depot. After a cigar Or two,
during which tine the conversation
had been about commonplace things,
the mar suddenly braced up,
knocked the ashes from his cigar
and shot the question at his seat
mate. The latter admitted the prob
able truth of the statement and then
asked the natural question.
II am a professional traveller.
No, l do not presume that you IN
derstand NE, but l will explain.
The Americans are travelling peo-
pie, not tourists, but hustling trav-
elers. That's premise No. l. Second
ly, foreigners are in the habit of
visiting America to see the sights.
l thought of this, and went to the
general passenger agent of a great
western railroad and unfolded my
idea.
at is this: There is always a
sharp competition for passenger
traffic west of Chicago. The various
roads leading across the plains adj
vertise extensively in eastern mag
azines, have bureaus in New York
and Boston, and send agents to the
landings of the Atlantic steamships.
The purpose of these various kinds
of advertisements is to persuade
tourists--English, French, German
or any other foreigners who have
come to see America-to ros the
continent to the Golden Gate over
the lines of a particular company.
Occasionally there is a young and
unsophisticated married couple who
need advice as to hotels and routes
In a word, l am a personal ad-
vertiser. ] board the train at New
York at least twice a week. / spot
the travellers, get acquainted with
them and then in%sinuatingly ask
them where they are going. After l
learn l ask them if they have ever
ridden over such and such a road.
OF course they haven't, and | re-
mark casually that l am going west
as far as Chicago by the b. and b.,
which is always the same road that
they intend to patronize. Then they
ask me if / know anything about
the lines west of Chicago. / always
do, you can bet, and ] tell them that
| am an old traveller, and that l
have always found tho best service
on tho B., NJ. and w. l crack the
merits of the road up to the limit.
| get q salary of $1,000 a year for
doing il, besides my expenses, paid
to me by tho road. Then | continue
acquaintance until | get to Buffalo,
andI tell them that know the east
ern agent of the B., N. and W., 10
Gated in that city, and that think
that | could, through my friendship
with him, lit them out with tickets
over the b., M. and w. to Denver
or Frisco Or any place they want to
so.
1T generally works, and e
them safely ON board the train and
then suddenly remember that l have
left my grip at the Iarcel stand. 1
go back to get it, wait until the
train has pulled out and then board
the next train for New York, where
| repeat the operation.
Incidentally | get u commission
from two hotels IN Chicago tor rec
ommendiu. travellers to patroDize