East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1907-12-09

TT = W MOTT Il
Every patron of the, mail order
boures SHOULD take the time TO Feaa
carefully the following article taken
from the Dry Goods Reporter. Of
Chicago, OF November 80! 1t Is graft
flying to know that the government
Mas at last taken steps to protect the
people who. are in the habit of send-
hg their hard-earned cash to tne
HGet the money first" houses; X
There is something doing" 'thess
days in retail mail-order circles.
This is probably due originally to the
fact that there is not enough doing
10 far as business Is concerned. In
the- case of Sears, Roebuck & Coz
events are happening thick and fast.
In the first place the firm is busy
with ANEW kind of rotary machine
that automatically lays off 10 per
cent of the employees for three days
and then reinstates this 10 per cent
and lays off another 10 per cent. In
other words 10 per cent OF the em-
ployes go on three days vacation
every 80 days. This is due to the fall
ing off In business since the late fl
nancial 'unpleasantness struck the
country. -.-.--------..----
Gross Sales Decrease S2,5O0,0OO. d
The management OF the firm adj
init that the gross business the last
hah OF the current year will be about
$500, 600 less than year ago. For
the first time In its history the great
maiI-order concern finds itself trav-
cling backwards instead OF forwards,
so that Il Is not surprising II this re-
verse motion SIS conducive Of d'zzi-
ness among the officials. s
The preferred stock of Sears, Roe
buck 4 Co. has also been going
Through some -'stunts" this week and
on Wednesday Il executed thrilling
toboggan slide that made the gallery
veil itself black in the fact. 1t peri
Formed a backward somersault down
a flight OF stairs and landed four
steps further down towards the cell
lar. From T5 the stock dropped to
II on only four sales. How much
further It would have slumped II more
had been offered is a matter OF pure
conjecture z
Great Matinee Performance.
Here is the story OF the great We'd
nesday matinee performance:
, Sears-Roebuck preferred closed
October 26 at rs; % shares sold oc-
tober q Mt "a: 1S shares sold octo-
ber 81 at Tsll; shares sold Octo-
Der q at 20; III shares sold October
81 at IL. \
This Is aThistory in the making.P
The closing price of II is tpe lowest
point the stock has ever reached.
On Friday the preferred stock of
Sears, Roebuck a. Co. began another
sensational deoline and inside of an
hour had fallen four points under the
low record of Wednesday Sales Of
small lots were sufficient to break
the price point and at IL o'clock
the stock struck CT. This y 30 points
under the price at which the stock
was floated Is months ago. e"
Indicted by Grand Jury.
But we are anticipating the story.
on Tuesday the federal grand jury
M Des Moines Iowa, indicted Sears,
Roebuck & CO. on three charges OF
using the mails to- .defraud. r. One
count was that the firm has sold
white lead that. was made by another
when II claimed In the catalogue to
make the stuff itself. Evidence is
said TO have been submitted that GER
tain white lead was made OF ground
clay. A second and third count had
something TO do with rings which
are said not to have been all the pur-
chaser supposed they0would be from
reading the eloquent descriptions in
the "big book" The case will be
tried at a coming term of court and
the mail-order firm VIII have a
chance to tell The people Of iowa
something about how mthey make
white lead and enlishten the untutor-
ed mind on different kinds of rings.
This has beenran eventful week
for the great, $4,000, 600 mail order
house, but there's destiny that
shapes our ends and II the interest
ing episodes OF the present week are
a foretaste OF further developments
the final denouemeht may be unex-
pectedly thrilling. f