The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-11-28
Seeking Work in the City.

! ,
of his abilities, he concludes he viii at
tach himself to some wholesale grocery
house. His ideas concerning a young
man connected with a wholesale grocery
house are indistinct, but be argues in q
general way that there would be writ
ing TO do, and writing IS his long suit.
It is at this stage Of his career that
he falls prey to the man who puts this
/ advertisement in the Help Wanted" col
unrns of the daily papers:
Intelligent, ambitious, hon
est young man TO do collecting; light,
pleasant work; good pay. call at p.
m, room 796 Fake Building.
The young man from Cherrydale IS
green. He is also ambitious, firmly be-
lieves that he is intelligent, and has uu-
limited confidence in his integrity. So
he answers the advertisement. arriving
at the Fake Building half an hour be-
fore O'Clock, and putting in the time
in the hallway near the advertisers door.
This door ne watches jealousy, fearing
that some other unemployed ambitious.
intelligent young man VIII beat him TO
It and nab the job Of Tight and pleasant
collecting
At 9 O'Clock the young man knocks on
the door, which Is bare Of any clew By
way Of sign giving an indebt 70 the bust
ness transacted behind il, is told to en-
I
at desk Uttered with papers, letters,
and printed slips This man is the ad-
vertiser. He IS busy, OF appears to be.
He waves the young man TO a chair
scarcely glancing up, and the young man
sits politely and unsel1shly on the ex-
IRENE edge thereof, holding his nat fl m
ly on his knees.
We'll sir?" he interrogates.
/ Il called in answer to your advertise
ment stating you wanted young man
to collect"
Il see, I See" says the man, reject
lively, stroking his chin and measuring
/ the applicant with hts eyes. 'I see,
see" Then he artfully, deiicately leads
up to the subject, the real subject. He
unfolds bit by bit the intelligence that
he is general agent for a great Work
he always speaks Of it as if using q
/ capital Wa Work which is a household
necessity and destined to occupy a place
| on the center table Of every home in the
land. He does not want the young man
/ to sell the Work, the Work sells itself
! The young man is needed in the enter
/ prise to merely carry the Work around
and take the orders from eager house
wives. It requires no outlay OF capital
/ and the young man will receive 40 per
cent on all orders. The general agent
! advises the young man to consider the
! proposition and call again next day at
8 D. m.
The young man considers. He puts in
( most of the night considering. In the
morning he counts his cash. Then he
/ decides to try It. And why not? Forty
| per cent on all sales, household neces-
! sity, eager to buy, why, Of course 1t is
easy money. He can sell 80 worth Of
! books a day sure. That would be g.
Four dollars a day, 81 week more
than he could make in a month on the
farm out at Cherryda1e
/ So at 3 D. m. he is again at the door
| Of 795 Fake Building. Why general
/ agents for books choose the hour of s
| p. m. TO transact business is not clear
It may be that the tide of hope is set
/ ting outward from the human heart at
8 p. m, and that human creatures are
more likely to attempt tasks which
! promise small reward at that hour It
! is the popular hour, at all events
The young man from Cherrydale IS
anxious to begin work The agent
| praises his good Judgment Of an opening.
It is plainly broad path TO easy cir
/ cUmstances and ultimate independence.
Then he approaches the question of IN
outfit. An outfit consists Of a prosre
tus Of the great Work, with full direc-
tons and a supply Of order blanks. Of
course, the agent is responsible to the
publishers for the outfit, so he must re-
quire a deposit Of g. which will be re-
turned upon receipt Of the first order
from the custodian of the outfit. or, if
! he becomes convinced after a fair trial
I that he cannot make the venture paw
At the bare mention of such an improb-
able contingency the general agent snn' les
I knowingly. The young man IS somewhat
taken back by the g proposition as his
funds are low. but he finally becomes
possessed of the outfit and leaves the
office of the agent with the book under
his arm and hope sending out several
new shoots in HIS heart
The young man carries the valuable
Work to his room. There he sits down
and looks it over. It is entitled Naval
Triumphs of Our Nation and the Heroes
of Hundred Years" In the front part
of the book IS pasted a yellow paper
headed, General Directions. Confden-
tial to Agents Tear this Out When You
Have Learned It." Is leads off with
'tjolly" calculated to raise the spirits or
beginners. citing how Napoleon Wash
ington, Gladstone, Lincoln Grant. Pat
rick Henry, and others began life as
book agents. Then it gives directions for
approaching all sorts Of people in their
various moods
Between the pages he finds more vel
low slips They post him as to the ar
gument he must advance as he shows
the advantages of the Work over all
limitations to the eager listener, who will
ultimately subscribe.
The next morning he tears the yellow
slips ont Of the Work and starts cut TIE
creeps back TO his room at night foot
sore, crestfaIlen. heartsick He has tried
all day to sell book. but She house
wives were eager only to close doors IN
his face and hurry back to Kitchens or
washtUbs On rear porches. The direc-
tons on the last slip in the book kept
recurring to the young man an day after
each failure. and that alone nerved him
to nut in the entire day. The contents
Of that last yellow slip had been:
Never give up. Tackle the last man
with the same vigor and assurance that
you displayed with the first. even if You
have worked all day without selling
single book Remember, the last man
may Be the one you are 10 king fer
Do nor be discourag ed at one 6ay's fail
ure. The next day msy be far diTeren-+
The difference IS not apparent to the
Young man from Cherrvdale. however
except that people appear more eager
than ever 70 avoid him He tries varl-
Gus subterfuges TO gain admission into
houses without making his business
knows. General directions had emrha
sized the necessity IF doing this he
even holds the work under his coat and
does succeed tn getting into the hallway
Of several houses. bat this dodge only
despens the aversion IF housewives Ana
the second day ends ike he first
Two days Of failure settle the voang
man. On The third at D. m ne vieits
the general agent and says Be 5efiars7
ne viii take his s. back
"Have you given the Work fair
triai2 asks the agent. caI5}y. unsyurs-
thetcaly and far different fr-fn he
warm friendly manner q three dss