Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-03-23


who gets such q letter as thatl
Again, charge you, tell the whole truth
about anything you sell. Lying CONNER
cial travellers will precede you. Lying
commerci ial travellers will come right after
you into the same store. Do not let their
Unfair competition tempt you from the
straight line. 1t is an awful bargain that
man makes when he sells his goods and
his socl at the same time. A young man in
one OF the stores OF New York was selling
some silks. He was binding them up when
he said to the lady customer, "It is my
duty to show you, that there is fracture
in that silk" She looked at it and rejected
the goods. The head of the firm. hearing
of it, wrote to the father Of the young man
IN the country, saying: Come and take
your son away. He will never make
merchant The father came in agitation.
wondering what his boy had been doing,
and the head men of the firm said "Why,
your son stood here at this counter and
pointed out fracture in the silk, and OF
course the lady wouldn't buy 1t. We are
not responsible for the Ignorance of GUS
toners. Customers must look for them
selves. Your sor will never make a mer-
chant" sis that all?"..said the father.
"Ah I lam prouder of my boy that l ever
was. John, get your hat and come home"
But it is almost night, and you go back
to the hotel. Now comes the mighty tug
for the commercial traveller. Tell me where
he spends his evenings, and will tell you
where he will spend eternity, and l will tell
you what will be his worldly prospects.
There is an abundance of choice. There is
your room with the books. There are the
Young Mems Christian Association rooms.
There are the week night services of the
Christian churches. There is the gamb-
ling saloon. There is the theatre. There
is the house Of infamy. Plenty OF places
to go to. Bat which, o immortal man,
which? o God, which? "Well," you say,
T xpil will
theatre" Do you think the tarrying in
that place until IL o'clock at night will i'm
prove your bodily health. or your financial
prospects, or your eternal fortunes2 No
man ever found the path to usefulness, or
honor, or happiness, or commercial suc-
cess, or heaven through the American the
atre. ''Well," you say, II guess, then,
will go to-I guess l will go to the gambl-
ing saloon" You will first go to look
Then you will go to play. You will make
$100, you will make $500, you will make
$1,000, you will make $500. Then you will
money so as to start anew. You will make
$50, you will make 800, you will make
5000. Then you will lose all. These
wretches of the gambling saloon know how
to tempt you. But mark this: All gamblers
die poor They may make fortunes
great fortunes-but they lose them.
"Well," you say, "if l can't go to the
theatre, and if can't go to the gambling
saloon, then I guess-I guess will go to
the house of infamy" Commercial trav-
elers have told me that in the letter box at
the hotel, within one hour after their ar
rival, they have had letters of evil solicita-
tion in that direction. 1t is far away from
home. Nobody will know it. Commercial
travellers have sometimes gone in that evil
path. Why not you? Halt! There are
other gates OF ruin through which a
man may go and yet come out, but
Sprinrr which
him in forever. He who goes there is
damned already. He may seem to be
comparatively free for u little while, but
he is only on the limits, and the sa-
tanic police have their eyes upon him to
bring him in at any moment. The hot
curse of God is on that crime anG because
of it there are men whose heaven was
blotted out ten years ago. There is no
danger that they be lost; they are lost now.
look through their glaring eyeballs down
into the lowest cavern Of hell. o destroyed
spirit, why comest thou in here To-day?
Dost think I have the power to break open
the barred gateway of the penitentiary
OF the damned2 There Is a passage in
Proverbs I somewhat hesitate to read,
but do not hesitate long: cat the win
dow of my house l looked through my
easement and beheld among the simple
ones, / discerned among the youths,
young man, void of understanding, pass
ing through the street near her corner
and he went the way to her house in the
twilight, in the evening, in the black and
dark night. Ho goeth after her straight
way, us an OK goethto the slaughter or as
fool to the correction OF the stocks, till u
dart strikes through his liver"
But now the question is still OPEN
Where will you spend your evening? o
commercial travellers, how much will you
give me to put you on the right track?
Without charging you q farthing I will
prescribe for you u plan which will save
you for this world and the next, il you will
take 1t. Go, before you leave home, to the
Young Mems Christian Association OF the
city where you live. Get from them letters
of introduction. Carry them out to the
towns and cities where you 90. If there be
no such association in the place you visit,
then present them at the door of Chris
tian churche, and hand them over to
the pastors. Be not slow to arise in the
devotional meeting and say: lam a COM
mercial traveller. l am far away from
home, and l come in here tonight to seek
Christian society" The best houses and
highest style Of amusement will open be-
fore you, and instead Of your being de-
pendent upon the leprous crew who hang
around the hotels, wanting to show you all
the slums OF the city. on the one condition
that yea Will pay their expenses, you will
get the benediction OF God in every town
you visit. Remember this, that whatever
place you visit bad influences will seek you
out. Good influences you must seek out.
While l stand Lere / bethink myself of a
comm msrcial traveller who was member OF
my church in Philadelphia. He was a
splendid young man, the pride of his wild
owed mother and Of his sisters. 1t was his
JOY to support them, and for that purpose
he postponed his own marriage day. He
thrived in business, and after awhile
set up his own household. Leaving that
city for another city, had no oppor-
tunity for three or four years of making
inquiry In regard to him. When I made
such inquiry, 1 was told that he was
dead. The story was, he was largely
generous and kind hearted and genial and
social, and he got into the habit of "treat-
ing" customers and of showing them all
the sights of the town, and he began rapid
ly to go down, and he lost his position in
the church of which he was member, and
he lost his position in the commercial
house OF which he was the best agent, and
his beautiful young wife and his sick old
mother and his sisters went into destitu-
rion, and he, as result of his dissipation,
died In kirkbride Insane Asylum.
o commercial travellers, pray for you
the all sustaining grace of God. There are