The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-12-20
BUSINESS
men ARE
I. DELIGHTED
Over the Flattering Condition of the
Retail Holiday Trade and
:, They. Say
BUSINESS b WASNEVER SOGOOD.
Shoppers Throug the Streets and Re-
tail Stores-Better Grade Of
Goods Being Purchased.

Never before has there been such &c
tivity In the shopping district OF this
city. All the retail stores are taxed to
their utmost to handle the army OF
seekers after holiday soods. An Intel
llgencer reporter continued his stroll
through the retail district last night
and his talks with business men brought
out facts of the most encouraging ma
,ture concerning the condition Of the
holiday trade, much In the same strain
as the Information given by other mer-
chants on the previous evening.
The crowds on the streets and in the
stores last evening were even greater
than on the previous night. The side
walks presented the appearance of q
gala day and in some places the crowds
we're so great as to render the streets
almost impossible. The stores are
putting forth their best efforts and they
never looked more attractive. Compe-
tition wakes keen and the rivalry for
holiday customers has spurred the mer-
chants on to their best efforts.
The Window Displays.
The shop windows are all handsomely
decorated and with more ingenuity than
has ever before been exhibited In the
city. The myriads of electric lights in
the windows shed lustre on the streets
and emblazon forth the fact that the
store room is teeming with articles for
the selection Of the purchaser of Christ
mas presents. Everybody seems to be
happy, including the seller and buyer,
the latter because there Is no dearth Of
articles from which to select and the
former because OF the consciousness Of
the fact just stated and because bust
ness is good.
To- interview merchant these hall
cyon days is nothing short OF a task.
All IS hustle aud activity and it is TO-
variably the case that the reporter had
to walt until his man was through at
tending to the wants OF customer.
Business is most satisfactory" is the
general cry md the crowded stores were
ocular proof of the veracity OF the mer-
chants statements.
Selling Better Goods.
Mr.. John Frledel said business was,
on the whole, favorable. I'm good
many respects it is better than last
year. find the retail trade not quite
so good, but the wholesale trade is much
better than last season. Some days are
better than last year and some are
worse, but the average will be about
the. same as last year. We had great
trade last year and as business appears
to be about as good as 1t was then, I
have no complaint to make The ten
dency is to buy better class of goods,
small wares not being SO much In de-
mand us In former years"
Frank Stanton-"It would be utterly
impossible for us to handle any more
trade than we are handling at present.
We are kept busy from o'clock in the
morning until II o'clock at night. Each
night 1t Unnecessary for me to telegraph
for more goods to keep up the stock.
The profits, however, are not so good
as in former years on account Of COM
petition being sharper. The quality OF
merchandise we sell, however. is great
ly in excess OF any former year"
Plenty Of Money.
Albert Dittmar-"The volume Of bus
iness is up to last year SO far and that
means 1t Is as good US 1t ever was dur
Ing the holiday season. Books are in
great demand and the people are buying
better class OF books than ever before.
The better books are always purchased
first and 1t is during the few days pre-
ceding Christmas that the cheaper
quality has the call. Business indi.
Gates that there is plenty of money in
circulation and prospects are coed .or
rccord.6realslug year"
VIII Gutman-"Trade Is all that could
De desired and expect to do n volume
Of business as great as last year, the
biggest year in our history. The peo-
pie appear to have the money and they
are spendlng,it with n prodigal hand"
NJ. J. McFadden-"I have been sick
and therefore cannot tell how this
years business will compare with that
Of other years. 1t Is 4 pretty safe guess,
however. that this years business will