Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-03-01
THE CANVASSER.
Interesting Confessions by One
Who Has Reformed.
How Students are lnveigIed Into This
Kind of Work.
Tricks CT the Trade Exposed for enc
fit Of the Puhlc.

When man takes pains to tell you
that he conducts a perfectly legitimate
business, feel for your watch. You
may be sure at least that he wants to
Iinveigle you into something dishonor-
able, something that Il would take you
half n lifetime to live down. Such
man is most usually a general agent,
In hirer of canvassers, who fattens him
self upon their gains. Fear him, there
fore, who having got your soul into his
clutches is able to take your pocket
book also, writes Bartlett Brooks in
the Boston Transcript.
| In the early summer hundreds of
Igay, sturdy young collegians went
forth to the canvasSng field that
seemed white for harvest. Great were
Their expectations. But now daWnS a
gray disllusionment The harvest is
past, the summer is ended and they
have not saved money enough to pay
their way through the school year.
Even the exceptional and lucky ones.
| who sold copies of Mother, Home and
Heaven" to ali the women in Tunk
Hollow. come away dissatisfied and re-
morseful. They may stack up their
lhard-wrung tribute and glOat upon it,
lit al.
i To me there Is something pathetic
about this whole affair. 1t is plain
that no healthy young fellow ever sits
down deliberately of his own accord
and says, Go to, | will become n cam
vasscr." No, no, there must be a
II tempter, Il subtle man, a general agent
who can make figures lie in n hypno-
tizing manner, while he mOuldS the
hopeful young fellow like wax in his
hands. Trust me, the canvasser is not
Railways naturally depraved. He has
lstrayed, perhaps. but he may return
again. 1t is sad to think of the in
noeency which he has lost, and the
bird with Il broken pinon never scars
$50 high again but it hardens his moral
lfibers, even though he repent at last
There is hope, however, even for the
Icanvasser. Experto crede. | have
been one myself.
l was just out of preparatory school
| wanted to travel and see the world
1 wanted to work and reduce my flesh
Enter the Devil.
| He came disguised as a minister's
ison--a favorite disguise-and was gen
leral agent for Scours Bros. the pub
FISHERS of the Chappaqua Combination
IDrawing board, Writing-desll, and
Folding bed. | won't make affidavit,
lat this moment, that the machine in
lcludcd a folding bed, but the rest of it
Twas all there. 1t was n kind of porta-
bic kindergarten and hanging desk; an
article of great merit. Many n time
have | talked my mouth full of cotton
wool a-multiplying the merits of that
larticle. Pictures goes with it, col
lIege presidents recommend it, and it
even has religious feature of great
value. The whole contriVance is now
icontroled by the aforesaid minister s
Son.
This general agent told me, in con-
lfdence, how fortunes are made in the
lagency business. The Chappaqua
Coordination sold for $3.75, although
the price was only three seventy five
when one was making a sale. Now the
company generously allowed its agents
a commission of forty per cent. on
every desk sold, so if the agent made
!only three sales a day-and most of
1.-THE agents were selling an average of
six or eight a day-there you had a
cross profit of $3.50 for each days
work. This, however, was the mini
mum and footed up to only 1927 Il week.
Eut of course a really ambitious man
would try to equal the best records
and take his eight or ten or twelve or
ders a day and clear $50 70 SIS a week.
AS to expenses, they were merely
nominal Any live man could find some
good boarding mistress who would
gladly take one of the combination
desks in payment for a weeks board
so his expense would really be about
a week. barring incidentals.
When the minister's son had told
lme plain truths in a simple, off-hand
manner. there was nothing left for him
to do but to assign me a territory to
lcanvass and to give me instruction in
1.-THE gentle art of selling everybody
something that nobody wants. This
INSTRUCTION is called "the post and
ANY man who takes it faithfully and
lapplies it conscientiously can sell
.lspectacles to a blind man.