The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-02-09
PhiIadeIphia's Fine
Commercial Mdsedm

MERCHANT OF manufacturer who
A wishes to trade in a foreign mar
~ ket must first know, in specific
a. terms, the nature and value of that
market. Granted that its trade will re-
nav the effort of securing 1t, he must
know exactly what the market requires,
what it can offer in return, what are the
business houses to deal with, and what
are the conditions on which business is
customarly done. The Philadelphia
Commercial Museum contains collections
which supply these various requirements.
They are classified under the following
heads:
Raw Products
(a) Geographic arrangement of COL
(b) Monographic arrangement OF coll
lections.
Manufactured Articles
(a) Arranged in lines of manufacture.
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The raw product collections show at a
glance what Is produced by any given
country, and what it has to offer by
way of a return trade. IT, for instance,
a merchant wishes to inform himself on
Mexican trade, he will find in the Mexi-
can department of the Commercial Mu-
scum samples of the henequen. maguey,
sisal and other commercial fibres, the
hides, woods. cotton, gums, resins, woods,
countries are represented in the same
way. If the merchant is interested in
one particular line of raw products, such
as wools. tibres, woods. tanbarks, gums
resins. etc. he will find monographs
collections Of all these in which the pro-
ducts of all the world are brought to-
cether for comparison. The collections
of raw products are made practically
useful by scientific and technical labora-
tories, where complete tests are made,
with special reference to the industrial
value of any given product. The USE
fulness of this work Is well established
in many countries, and merchants are
continually sending samples of exporta-
BILE products, In order that the museum
| may report on their usefulness for the
American market.
Having shown the producing capacity
of any given country, the museum shows
also the consuming capacity by coi!ec-
tons of the goods that are most sale
able. These are actual samples Of what
| is in the market, selected with great
care by experts of the museum. Textiles,
hardware. clothing. household goods, cut
/ lery, provisOns-everythi that Is inn
| ported--are represented in these samples
| collections. With each sample is found
| full information as to place of manu-
! facture, price, terms of sale. distribu-
/ ton, etc.
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To the general business community
| the resources of the museum are made
! available by the bureau of informa ion,
| This bureau is actively reporting trade
/ conditions existing In other countries to
| leading manufacturers and merchants
! i'm every part of the United States. The
general impression given by the muse um
| exhibits must be supplemented by full.
7 specific aud timely market reports in
order that business may result. There
| fore, to the manufacturer of hardware
| wishing to deal In Mexico, the bureau
! will furnish a full report, stating what
| lines of hardware are most sacable: +:
| where and by whom made how much is
| sold and at what price, tariffs, freights
and methods of packing; and careful adj
/ vice concerning the business firms best
| fitted to handle the line or to undertake
| the agency. The same information Is
! at hand for cotton goods man about
| Africa. for a furniture man about
| Europe, and in short for any manufac-
turer and exporter concerning any mar
ket in the world. These reports are is
sued at a nominal fee. sufficient to recoup
the museum for the expense of prepar-
| ing them. General reports are periadi-
| caly issued to chambers Of commerce
| and also to the press.
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| Inc preparation OF lllN|t reports cntallS
| a great amount of labor, elaborately or
ganized and systematized. The trade
literature of the world is gathered into
a special library. Here will be found
| hundreds Of trade and technical journals,
| In fully twenty Languages, together with
| shipping and market reports, statistical
| publications of all countries, export and
| import mlnfests. etc. This informa-
| tiOn is indeNed by a card catalogue sys-
TEN, and every fact that has practical
| business value finds II way at once into
the hands of Il body of experts, who in
| cludo il at once in the individual reports.
/ This Information Is the basis of an eX-
| tensive correspondence carried on i'm n
dozen languages with chambers of COM
| merCc, special agents and individual
| merchants in every part OF the world,
The museum. being Immediately under
municipal control, and therefore disln-
terested and impartial In the informa- :
don secured and given out. awakens the
confidence of merchants everywhere, and
Is able to tell the American manufac-