Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-24
MANY LINES OPEN
| FOR HOME HOUSES
Star Special Opens a Vista of
Opportunities.
LESSON AT LYNCHBURG
What the Little City Has Accomplish
ed by Clever Advertising.
$50, 900 A YEAR FOR PUBLICITY
Local Capital the Thing-Possibilities
of the Future-Notes of the Trip
Train Register.
$50, 900 A YEAR FOR PUBLICITY


Special From STAFF Correspondent.
DANNILLE, Va, September 24.-Since
leaving Lynchburg the Greater Washington
special has been traversing an entirely diff
ferent commercial field from that between
Lynchburg and Washington. / speak of it
as different because south of Lynchburg
the merchant of Greater Washington en-
counters sharp competition with that town
In the various jobbing lines. This should
not be matter of encouragement, how
ever. / am convinced that, after our
city gets to moving ahead at good speed
along the commercial highway, there are
many lines in which the Washington houses
may compete in this section with goods
from Lynchburg.
There good many lessons that
Washington, a city of 323, 600 population,
may learn from Lynchburg, a town of 25,-
600 people. First and foremost, don't for
get-if this disparity in size has a tendency
to amuse-that Lynchburg is the second
richest city in the United States for it's
population. standing second only to Bridge
port, Conn, which heads the list
Up to about three years ago Lynchburg' S
commercial growth had been steady but
not particularly swift, and was unsatisfac-
tory to the business community So the
heads together and decided to advertise
They have been doing it ever since at the
rate of $4,000 a year. The board of trade Is
SO satisfied with results that, If the same
amount of publicity they are now obtaining
for the city cost 100000 a year, 1t would be
just as cheerfully paid
When Lynchburg first began her advertis-
Ing campaign she had nearly 400 statesmen
r on the road. AT the end of the first year
OF extensive paid publicity getting the out
of-toWn sales had increased more than 30
per cent, although the sales made by the
travelling men had increased only about
per cent
Smiled in Concert
This was enough for the good people Of
Lynchburg. They smiled In concert and laid
plans to spend some more money in adyer-
Using. They simply figured 1t out that the
difference of % per cent between the gain
in Out-of-town sales and the gain in orders
taken by the travelling statesmen was new
trade, due entirely to the advertising cam
paign.
The second year Of the campaign brought
similar results, with just about the same
sort OF an increase over the previous year.
Last year-the third of the campaign of
pubEcity-Lynchburg had some five hun
dred travelling men on the road and the
out-of-town business increased more than
y per cent over the year before last. This
remarkable growth OF nearly " per cent
year is traced directly to the advertising
campaign. And consequently more money
Will be spent next year in city advertising
than ever before. Pretty good. Yes?
Talk about prosperity! Why, 1 saw splen-
did new factories that couldn't start up be-
cause houses cannot be built rapidly enough
to house the employees, and l heard Of at
least dozen other factory projects that
have been shelved for the time simply
because Of this same Over-busy condition of
affairs.
1t occurred to me, after some conversa-
ton ! had with number of the leading
business men of Lynchburg, that 1t would
be good thing to establish boot and shoe
jObbing house-or any other variety Of job
bling house, for that matter-in Greater
Washing ton-backed by local capital or
managed by local intelligence and appeal
ing TO local sympathies. I found out that
many new jobbing houses have been start
ed in Lynchburg during the past five years.
OF these houses, 40 per cent have been
formed by local retailers and in the re-
naming co per cent outside capital and