The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1906-09-08
BY CHARLES N. CREMDSoN
lauthor of "Taes OF the Road" Etel

by Joseph B. Bowes(

I ing good, Cunt, unless you make it
outen good stuff
Now, sir, do you know" said Wat
kfns, turning to the cloth maker, this
Black Joe I'm telling you about told
me how he started in that little town
and afterwards went to Lincoln, Ne
braska, and then to Kansas City, and
then to Saint Louis, and how he, a me-
gro, who couldn't read or write, had
made a snug little fortune. He built
up his business by making good stuff z
Well, that may be all right" per-
sisted the cloth manufacturer, for
ham sandwiches, but it won't do In
business
Must Keep Up Grade.
There / don't agree with you," said
a retail shoe merchant You know my
business is one in which you can tell
quicker than in most any other,
whether or not the material is good.
a shoe must stand hard wear Now,
I've been buying shoes for % years
and I've finally got all my business
placed with just a few houses. I've
cut out a good many Of them because
| I've found out by experience that a
great many of them did not hold up
their stuff. I've had lots of manufac-
turers in my day use good stuff when
! first began to deal with them and
make lasts that were good-1ookers.
They would keep UP the appearance Of
the shoes they made but, little by lit
tie, cut the quality Of the stock so
much that finally have had to drop
them out.
Now, you see, there are a whole lot
of people in business who think they
are doing well if they can hold the
same volume of business from year to
year. Now. contend that man is
not making success in his business
unless he is making his business grow
| The factory that makes the principal
| line carry was almost nothing when
[ began to do business with it. The
head of the establishment used to be
a mere cobbler out in Colorado. The
old man, when / meet him now, enjoys
firm, which is now stocked for two
millions, has big retail stores all over
the United States. One of taem is To-
Gated in Denver.
lone day, said the old gentleman,
when | saw him last. I met an old
miner in my Denver store. He came
up and shook hands with me and ask
ed me if / knew him. said that his
face looked familiar but that couldn't
quite place him. Don't you remember
that pair OF boots you made for me
up there in Golden?" he asked. .YoI
charged me SIG for them but they
were bully good boots. | kicked on the
price when / got them but never had
a kick coming on the boots
Cheap Goods Net Wanted.
s.Well, sir. that man saved a few
hundred dollars in that little town and
went down to Boston to make shoes.
When was talking to him the Other
day he said, ] know what a good piece
of leather is. learned that at the
bench and I've always made it rule
above all things else, to put gooo
leather into my shoes and, to be sure.
I'VE always had them made by the
very best workmen could get
Now that, gentlemen, is why this
man has built UP shoe business OF
over six million year"
Eyes, that may be all right" argued
the cloth manufacturer, but what are
we going to do for all of these people
who don't have much money and who
must have something cheap"
well, there's a great big mistake
there" continued the shoe man Re-
people want something cheap. They
don't. They want something good.
They buy stuff that is cheap only be-
cause they think they haven't enough
money to buy something good. Now,
| want to ask you, is it not better for
man to have one pair of shoes made
out of a piece Of leather that will give
him a years service than to have two
pairs of shoes made out of that same
piece of leather split in two, as they
do it nowadays, which will not last
him more than six weeks pair? This
is the kind Of manufacturing that ID
done a great deal to-day. Too many ars
striving to make something cheap In
stead of making something good. You
can look at all Of the very large con.
Germs in this country and you will find
them to be reputable concerns that are
manufacturing good goods.