Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1900-06-28
About Binding Irvine and Things.

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houses heaved a few rocks at the ne
FLECroR this week because in the
course OF its full presentation OF the
news Of the day 1t has told what the
state penitentiary was doing IN its
experiment Of making binding Irvine
and selling it direct to the farmers.
This paper has neither commended
nor condemned the experimental
has iven the information to which
the taxpayers Of Dickinson county
who help support the penitentlary
are entitled. The News and Chroni-
Gle seem to go on the theory that the
farmers Of Dickinson county are a lot
Of helpless children and that the abb
lene papers, and the News and Chron'
icle in particular, are their divinely
inspired Instructors; that II the ABB
lene papers do not print a piece OF
state news no farmer in the county is
going to hear Of it. That is just
where our contemporaries are most
gloriously fooled. Not a farmer in
Dickinson county is dependent en-
tirely on the Abilene papers for bis
information and 1t is the duty OF a
county seat paper to give all the in
formation possible concerning mat
ters Of general interest That the
REFLECTOR has done ard that 1t ex-
poets to do.
The absurd claim that the publica'
ton Of the truth about state expert
ment in which every tax payer is
directly interested financially is an
injury to merchants loses any force it
might possibly have when coming
from papers like the News and
Chronicle that in every issue, year
in and year out, carry huge advertise
ments advising the people OF Abilene
and Dickinson county to send to
Montgomerv.Ward, Sears'R oebuck
and other big mail order houses for
their supplies Of groceries, boots,
shoes, drygoods, queensware' wall
paper, buggies, wagons, implements
binding twine, clothing, hats, musical
instruments, drugs, books, notions
and in fact everything sold by mer-
chant in Dickinson county. The
Chronicle dares not print these ad.
vertisements in its daily for fear the
merchants would see them but puts
them in the weekly edition to send
out to the farmers, thinking it will
not be discovered by home adver-
Users. This advertising which is
largely responsible for the purchases
made in Chicago and Kansas City
through mail orders by those who
should patronize home dealers but is
paid for not in cash, as home mer.
chants pay for their advertising but
in supplies Of various kinds ordered
from the catalogue. The REFLECTOR
knows, for it throws propositions oil
that sort into the waste basket every
week, it being a rule Of this office
never to insert advertising OF mail
order houses.
The penilentiary experiment in
twine-making was made with a pur-
pose-it was to combat the trusts; it
was to make it impossible for any
trust to hold up the farmers OF Kan
sas on the price Of binding Irvine in
this state, Its purpose was laudable
and the only mistake made was, in
the REFLEoToR's judgment, in not
selling the Irvine to the dealers at the
outset and allowing them to make
the small profit they make on the
trust Irvine and yet furnish Irvine to
the farmers cheaper than they could
sell the trust Irvine. The REFLECTOR
Is against trusts, first, last and all
the time, and is for anything that
will curb the tendency Of trusts to
over-reach and 1t believes that when
the managers Of the penitentiary
Irvine mandatory understand the
business better it will do the farmers
good and dealers will have the same
profits as ever. There is not q Irvine
dealer in Dickinson county who oh.
jects to the facts being known. There
is not one who has intimated directly
or indirectly to this or any other
paper as to what should not appear in
Its columns; they are broad minded,
liberal wide.awake business men and