, 1905-02-09
AS DOGBERRY SAID
MERCHANTS WORDS CAPABLE
OF MISREPRESENTATION.
Folly Of Writing Letter In Haste and
Anger Well Observation-Disclosures
Man Placed Himself in unenviabIe
Position.

Through his W aggressiveness a
wholesale merchant placed himself
on record a few days since as being
everything despicable in the category
of meanness. A country customer
had overstepped his credit limit and
turned a deaf ear to the entreaties OF
the wholesale merchant to have the
accoun balanced, A dozen letters
were sent to the stupid customer, but
he failed to answer them The pa
thence of the jobber became exhaust
ed, and he directed his credit man to
send a hot" letter to the contrary
customer. The credit man sought a
stenographer and dictated the follow
ing letter:
Dear Mr.. W.: We are again
obliged to direct your attention to the
overdue condition of your account.
We have repeatedly sent you state
ments and notices. but you have neg
lected to respond to them. Mr.. k,
the president of this firm. has directed
the writer to again ask you to kindly
give this matter o Il attention. If
you cant send the whole amount (you
owe us 1890 overdue accounts) send
us at least a part, in order to show
your good will and to prove that you
are loyal to our interests. Our own
creditors are clamoring for their
money and unless our country cg-tom-
ers pay promptly we cannot hope to
meet our obligations. Please let us
hear from You soo as possible.
Thanking you for past favors, we are,
very truly yours,
x Mercantile Co.
Per Greene"
Just as Mr.. Greene had signed the
letter preparatory to mailing it Mr..
K. stopped at his desk and c',served
the letter. He perused it gu Y. and
his face soon turned crimson with
rage. 1t was not his idea of handling
an Indifferent customer; he wished to
have the tardy n ~listless debtor Sc
verely handled without the stuffed
gloves of diplomacy. X. was a product
Of the old school; he was sturdy and
square in every particular, and de-
manded the same from his associates
ard acquaintances. His pursed lips
portrayed to Greene that the letter
was not in tune with the immediate
policy of X. The latter lost no time,
and he did not mince matters. Tibet
letter wont do; it's entirely too mild
to send to such a troublesome man as
w. We will not felicitate him any
more" And KS voice o S with his
anger. He walked to the stenog-
rapher's desk. The latter OWNED the
task before him, and was all prepared
for the work. Take this dictation.'
shouted K. with the accents of an auc-
tioneer. And this is what he dictat-
ed:
Dear Sir: You have exhausted
every ounce Of our patience by your
dilatory and Indifferent method of
mistreatment. We have stood by you
in years gone by and bolstered you
when everyone else deserted you. You
have forgotten our kind treatment and
you reward us by the most discour-
teous and irritating treatment you can
devise. We are sick Of you and your
style; we are through with you. You
have promised to send us money and
you never sen 1t. We have nine let
tiers from you in which you promise
to send the money "in a few days"
You have paid no attention to the last
dozen letters we sen you. Why such
Indifference? Why such contempt
ible meanness? Now the question that
confronts us is: Who is a contemplate
migrate? Who is a sneaking cur? Who
is a sycophant at buying time and a
tyrant at paying time? And most i'm
portant of all, who is a despicable
liar? am, very truly yours,
x Mercantile Co..
per l. ]. X, President"