Evening star., 1898-12-17
SOMETHING ABOUT SILKS.
Ihey Are Not Only Cheap. but tn,
Varieties Are NJany

They Are Not Only Cheap. but the
Varieties Are Many.
From the New York Times
1T is funny thing about silks this
year. said the silk man. AT one time YOU
could say that such and such a silk was in
fashion because all the women were buyfrs,
that kind. but 1t isn't that way now Wo-
men are buying everything under the sun
in the way of silks. There are brocades
small-patterned silks, stripes-everythine
we can't say that we are selling more of
one KIND than another, because We sell
them all.
w omen like something differentY Well,
L guess you are about right there | had a
woman come In the other day and say that
her sister had bought such and such a kind
OF SILK at another shop, and she wanted d
SIX, but that 1t must be entirely different
Well, l showed her everything there was in
the shop. but the trouble was she didn't
Know what she did want, except that 1t
must be different from anything she had
ever seen. That is the way il is At one
une a man had his regular customers who
would always come to him for what they
wanted, and he could always supply them
but IL IS not SO now. A woman comes in
ana looks everything all over, and then
takes a sample. 1t is hard on q man who
is Judged by the sales he makes and the
Irm thinks he is no good if he can't sell.
ny, can remember the time, when /
meHt iiito the business as q boy, that women
were perfectly well satisfied if they had
only lew Kinds of silk to select from saw
Drown and a green and q blue and feW
colors like that. Now you can't get IN new
Things last enough for them and thew are
not satisfied at that. With the competition
II means a great deal. You can't have a
ieW pieces of certain kind of silk on hand
and where there is greater variety and n
larger STOCK there is more danger of loss
Iake Nght silks. At one time silks that
We're used for house wear in the winter
would do for outdoor spring and summer
wear. But there Is nothing of that kind
now. we nave to have a special variety
OF SILK for the spring trade Silks never
were so cheap. Last year they We're CHEAP.
er than they ever had been in the history
OF the trade. If a woman doesn't have a
oilh gown nowadays 1t is because she is too
Pdrtlcaiaf 10 hnd anything that suits her
Women are doing less of their own sbon.
ping now than they used to- They leave
more OF that to their dressmakars now
Ihlnk OF a girl letting any one buy her
Weuuins gown few years ago! She and all
the members of her family would make n
business of shopping for it, but there is
nothing of that kind now. Perhaps there 10
just as much sentiment, but the bride sim,
ply tells her dressmaker what she wants
ana she gets the goods, possibly a sample
nrst, the girl has great deal to say
about her gowns, but more likely she will
not see 1t until the material is in the honse
IhlngS are different, and we all faaI n
Ihe competition is SO great that the saIa-
ries OF The clerks are rot half what thew
were, ana now, where man would a num-
per OF years ago have had small shop of
Els own and make enough to support his
family comfortably, he has to take half
the money in the employ of some one else
on, yes, women spend more money than
they did, but they have more things for
which to spend It,"