The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-11-27
BIG MEN AS BUYERS.
Eecentricities of Blaine, Ingersoll,
Mckinley and Others.

Mckinley and Others.
I Great men display more or less &C.
/ cenuicity in buying. This at least is
/ the opinion Of a manager Of one Of the
] well established stores Of the city, who
/ has had many dealings with such dur
I ing his thirty years in business. says
/ the Washington Post
James O. Blaine was a customer of
I ours for many years he said. He
1 was a peculiar man. He bought a thing
/ because IL had for the moment appealed
! to his fancy and without the least
! regard for the fitness or utility of the
object purchased He was as great 4
/ terror To managers and 1oOrwalkers as
the man who orders fried oysters and
! mince pie for breakfast is TO walters.
I He used 60 come in the store estrOU
about for a few minutes and then ex-
claim, like that chair; send it to my
house"
Then perhaps I would have to ex-
plain to him that that piece of furniture
would not harmonic with the plan and
decorative scheme of his residence
Usually Blaine yielded to the better
judgment of managers or proprietors,
/ but there were times when he had his
heart set on having thing, and then
! he rebelled. 1 remember one day he
came into the store and selected a book
case that was not at all suited to the
interior arrangement of his house. This,
i explained to him. He admitted that
was right and seemingly abandoned
his determination to have the case But
as soon as / had turned my back he
beckOned to one of the store pOrters
and told him TO send the case up to his
house ] turned and saw him whisper
ing in an aisle to the porter, and
guessed what was up. However, I said
nothing, but at the same time Blaine
suspected that had caught on There
fore he said:
&c Did you ever hear the story about
the Irishman who went into barber
dasher's and asked to look at some
hoisery2'
It replied that I had not
d" We'll, he said. while the clerk was
showing him the hose the Irishman
slipped a pair in his pocket. This the
clerk noticed. and he ordered the Celt
TO return them forthwith The Irish
man tried hard to eVade. but seeing.
finally. that he had been caught red
handed he said: well. il yez saw me
take thin, and yez are lookn' at me
still Oi mustn't Oh suppose. return
thim' How''s that for a story
Il saw what he was driving at. pame-
ly, to ascertain by my reply whether
I had seen him give directions to the
porter about the desk. 7 had headed
him off so often that 7 thought it would
be well. for once, to let him have what
man was a stupid fellow and needed a
few lessons in diplomacy such as he,
Mr.. Blaine would be capable Of Civ
ing.
President Mckinley always bought
with one object in view and that was
to please Mrs. Mckinley. They would
frequently visit the store together. This
was especially the case at the time
when they were furnishing their home
in Canton. Mrs Mckinley was fastid-
iOUs as to cOlOrs, preferring the more
delicate shades. whereas her husband
was fond Of dark blues, reds and
browns. It was in the selection of such
things as upholstering goods, carpets,
rugs and curtains that they differed
most He would hold the samples up
to the wall and argue like a diplomat,
always gently and sOOthingly, however.
for one or two cOlOrS on which his
fancy had set. Sometimes he won. but
not often. Mrs. Mckinley generally de-
Gliding such matters in her own way.
"ROg IngersOll was as good a Christ
ian in his business dealings as any man
going. 7 remember once that we were
a little hard run for ready cash. We
had large outstanding accounts among
the number being a bill of $1,000 pur-
chased by Colonel IngersOll, which,
however. was not quite due. I there
fore sent our collector to him with in
structiOns 10 ask him for few hun
dred dollars on account, telling him 20
explain our situation, and in collecting
the money to under no circumstances
annoy the colonel. The collector
Feached Colonel IngersoIl's residence /
just as he and a friend were leaving,
walking rapidly in an opposite direc-
ton. At first the collector was at loss
10 know what to do. but, finally. he
decided to risk approaching him. hop
ing that he would not give ofTense. He
Fr-ra oil h. a. g.
take the two. and when he did so Col
onel IngersOI before he had time TO
announce his mission gave him to Un-
derStand that he was in a hurry and
could not under any circumstances be
detained.
''The collector said he would walk
along with him. As he did so he quiet
ly and politely explained the object Of
his call At this IngersOll stopped
short. returned to his home and in the
Hndest manner imaginable made out
a check for $1,000 the full amount. The
same day this collector called on a
popular preacher with a bill of like
magnitude. long since overdue in the
same polite manner. explaining that,we
were badly in need Of funds and re-
questing a few hundred dollars on ac-
count. WhereupOn the worthy divine
few into a high dUdgeOn, cavorted
about at a great rate. and writing out
check. flung it at the collectors feet
as he would have thrown a bone to
terrier Such. was the difference be
tween Bob IngersOlHs infidelity and
some mems Christianity.
THE closest. shrewest. hardest buyer
among the public men Of the last thirty
years was Senator John Sherman.
Whenever he came to your store or
you went to his house to do business
you could rest assured that he would
get the best end Of the transaction.
There was nothing mean nor small
about his buying, no splitting of pen
mics or any Of that sort of thing but
at the same time you could depend on
it that whatever you sold him would
be at bottom figures, with very little
margin of profit"