davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09
MAIL ORDER EVIL
ITS RISE is NOT THE RESULT OF
LEGITIMATE DEMAND.
DUE ENTIRELY TO GREED
And 1t Feeds Upon the Prosperity
of the Country Towns-A
Menace to the
Nation.

copyrighted, 1906, by Alfred c. Clark.)
AS the years go by we are more
than ever brought face to face with
the vital question of trading at home.
During the past decade the habit of
buying goods abroad has grown to
such proportions that the country
merchant may well feel alarmed at
the pfobable outcome unless something
is done to forestall the great calamity
which viii surely result therefrom.
Trade conditions rs years ago were
satisfactory. At that time catalogue
houses were entirely unknown and
country merchants were "monarchs of
all they surveyed" so to speak, in the
lines represented, and the people were
prosperous and happy. Perhaps not
so much because they generally had
money enough to meet their wants,
but because of the contentment that
prevailed throughout the country at
that time. The farmers raised good
crops, generally, and received good
prices for what they had to sell. They
sold their surplus stuff to the local
merchant and bought what they
wanted; and this was the height of
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09

The last time this country had a
tariff for revenue, as free from pro-
lection as any tariff could be, was
from 1S46 to 1861. That was a period
of great prosperity. The census bu-
reau has just published a special re-
port on national wealth by decades,
and these figures show that the ma
tional wealth more than doubled from
1850 to 1860, increasing from $7,135,-
7S0,22S to SIG, 159, $1,000 That is an
increase of over 1876 per cent. during
the time when a low tariff and what
the protectionists call free trade pre-,
vailed. During the latter decades the
increase was nev nearly so great,
and from 1880 to 1890 was only so per
cent, and from 1890 to 1900 was less
than SO per cent, and during the past
four years since 1900 the increase will
be but little over so per cent. for the
decade to 1910 at the same ratio of
increase as for the past four years.
1t is claimed by the stand-patters
that all the prosperity this country
has enjoyed is through pr~otectionism,
but neither the Mckinley bill while It
was in operation, nor the Dingley bill
now, can compare as prosperity pro.
ducers with the Democratic tariff for
revenue period for 1850 to 100. How
will our protectionists explain thes
off ciai dgures?
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09
"UNTIL TOMORROW"

A week passed and, just as I was
within sight of my limit Of patience,
Bromwell Ellersly appeared at my Of
fee. 81 can't put my hand on the
necessary cash, Mr.. Blacklock-at
least, not for a few days. Can count
on your further i~ndulgence?" This in
his best exhibit of old-fashioned court
liness-the gentleman through and
through, ignorant of anything useful.
Don't let that matter worry you,
Ellersly," said /, friendly, for | wanted
to be on a somewhat less b~usiness-like
basis with that family. "The markets
steady, and will go up before it goes
down"
Good" said he. "By the way, you
haven't kept your promise to call"
I'm a busy man." said l. "You
must make my excuses to your wife.
But-in the evenings. Couldn't we get
up a little theater party-Mrs. Ellersly
and your daughter and you and T.
Sam, too, if he cares to Gomez"
Delightful" cried he.
whichever one of the next five
evenings you say" l said. Let me
know by tomorrow morning, will
your" And we talked no more of the
neglected margins; we understood
each other. When he left he had ne
gotiated a three months loan OF
twenty thousand dollars.
They were SO surprised that they
couldn't conceal it, when they were
ushered into my apartment on the
Wednesday evening they had fixed
upon. II my taste in dress was some
what too pronounced, my taste in my
surroundings was not. | suppose the
same instinct that made me like the
music and the pictures and the books
that were the products of superior
minds had guided me right in archi'
lecture, decoration and furniture.
l was pleased out Of all proportion
| to it's value by what Ellersly and his
| wife looked and said. But, though !
watched Miss Ellersly closely, though
tried to draw from her some com
ment on my belongings-on my pic
lures, on my superb tapestries, on the
beautiful carving of my furniture
| got nothing from her beyond that first
look of surprise and pleasure. Hell
face resumed it's statuelike calm, her
eyes did not wander, her lips, like q
crimson bow painted upon her clear,
white skin, remained closed. She
| spoke only when she was spoken to,
and then as briefly as possible. The
| dinner-and a mighty good dinner Ii
was-would have been memorable for
| strain and silence had not Mrs. Ellers'
ly kept up her incessant chatter. ]
can't recall a word she said, but ad'
mired her for being able to talk at all
knew she was in the same state as
the rest of us, yet she acted perfectly
at her ease, and not until | thought II
over afterward did | realize that she
had done all the talking except an
swers to her occasional and ~cleverly'
sprinkled direct questions.
Ito be continued.)
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09
CHAPTER x.-continued.
M1HzaeE5V NQS q

WHAT En- -CQnLlHu
But my vanity was not done with
me. Led on by it, l proceeded to have
one of those ridiculous generous inn
pulses"-I persuaded myself that
there must be some decency in this
liberality, in addition to the prudence
which I flattered myself was the chief
cause Il have been unjust to Roe
buck" l thought. 81 have been mis-
judging his character" And incredi-
BILE though it seems, l said to him with
a good deal of genuine emotion: 81
don't know how to thank you, Mr..
Roebuck. And, instead Of trying, l
want to apologize to you. l have
thought many hard things against
you; have spoken some Of them. l
had better have been attending to my
own conscience, instead of criticising
yours"
THANK you, Blackjack" said he, in
a voice that made me feel as If were
a little boy in the crossroads church,
believing l could almost see the an
gels floating above the heads Of the
singers in the choir behind the
preacher. Thank you. | am not sur
prised that you have m%isjudged me.
God has given me a great work to do,
and those who do His will in this
wicked world must expect %martyrdom.
I should never have had the courage
to do what / have done, what He has
done through me, had He not guided
my every STEP"
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09
A Resurrected Politician.

The Chicago Chronicle, which is
nearly always or the wrong side Of
every political proposition, lately said:
When the people get through with a
man it is for good and for all. There
is absolutely no resurre ction for a
buried politician Wrong, as usual.
Look at Congressman J.. w. Keller of
Springfield, o., who was elected
speaker in 1881 and made such a mess
of it that he was retired in disgrace
when his constituents had another
chance at him, and now the Republi-
can party has reelected him in 1904,
and again reelected him last year. A
buried politician is just as good as
any other to vote as the trusts and
corporations tell him, and the Chroni-
Gle, which is owned by the corpora.
ton interests, should know it.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09

1t seems that It could be easily
pointed out to him that II there wa5
no town near him and he had to drive
20 or 30 miles to take his produce to
market and haul his groceries the
same distance home, he could easily
see that his land would greatly depre-
ciate in value and the disadvantages
he would encounter on every hand
would be very disastrous to his time
and he would gladly spend his money
at home to divert this calamity.
One of the most potent levers with
which to control trade in country To-
calities is the liberal S of printers
ink, coupled with intelligence in I'D
vertising the wares of the merchant.
The catalogue houses employ the best
talent obtainable to write their adver-
tisements and spend large sums of
money in this way. Besides advertis-
ing judiciously they advertise on a
large scale and consequently get the
business. The old saying that you
must fight the devil with fire" will ap-
ply in this case. The home merchant
must advertise. He must do more than
say: Come to Smiths to trade,
cheapest place on earth" He must
describe his merchandise as he would
in private conversation over the coun-
ter to a customer, and then quote the
price. This will nearly always act as
a clincher and will at least put him
on a standing with the catalogue
house. In fact it will give him an adj
vantage over the catalogue house, for
in almost every case he can sell the
same grade of merchandise cheaper
than the catalogue house can sell it.
This is not mere theory but a state
ment of fact, for the reason that the
country merchants business is oper-
ated at a very much less expense than
that of the mail order merchant.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09

There are a thousand and one items
of expense which the city merchant
has to meet that are entirely unknown
to the country merchant.
The time is rapidly approaching
when people who patronize mail order
houses will be looked upon as soon
ers' by the solid and influential citi-
zens of all commonwealth and will
suffer ostracism at their hands.
Cities and towns are built by COM
bined efforts of the residents thereof;
not by foreign capital. So too are our
churches and schoolhouses built. 1t
may be true that in many instances
eastern capital has been employed to
make improvements in the west, but
always with good round interest to
the lender of the money. No one ever
heard of a case where an eastern man
or firm contributed to western enter
prise for the fun Of the thing. Nor
did you ever hear of a case where any
mail order or catalogue house ever
contributed to any church building
fund. Nor yet did they ever build or
help to build any of our schoolhouses.
You eve heard of a case of this kind
and you never will. All these eastern
sharks care for is your dollar, and
you know it, and when they have got
ten that they have no more use for
you. Then why should you patronize
them? You can go to your home mer-
chant any day in the year and if you
are short of change, he will extend
you credit. If you are sick and un-
able to work the home merchant will
see that your family is p~rovisioned
until you get on your feet again. He
will do all of this and at the same
time furnish the same grade Of goods
at the same or even at a less price.
Will the catalogue merchant do this?
A society could be organized and
designated as the Peoples Protec-
tive Association" An organization
of this kind could be perfected In
every town and hamlet in the coun-
try. Merchants and business men
would push these organizations for
the reason that 1t would be to their
interest to do so. After the organiza-
ton is formed and things are running
smoothly questions of the day may be
discussed, and also matters pertaining
to the welfare Of the immediate local
ity may be brought UP which will in
clude the important question of trad
ing at home. OF course it will be ad.
mitted that this question will have to
be handled with gloves on. But there
are men in business in every town
who are equal to the emergency and
no trouble is anticipated in getting
the farmers and others who buy Of
mail order houses to listen to reason.
Teach the farmer to love his coun
try, his town and his people; make
him realize that they are his; that
they are a part Of his being, his life.
Teach him that 1t is to his financial.
moral and social interest to buy his
goods in his home town, and II he be-
8 nan he will do 1t.
j. y. aET.T.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09

stood idly turning the leaves Of q mag
azine. / threw my cigar into the
frepkee. The slight sound - s 1sy1ek
made her Jump. and l saw that, under
meath her surface of perfect calm, she
was in a nervous state full al tense as
my own.
you smoker" said I.
Sometimes" she replied. ut is
soothing and ~distracting. l don't know
how it is with others, but when l
smoke my mind is quite empty"
Its a nasty habit-smoking,"
said L.
do you think so?" said she, with
the slightest lift to her tone and her
eyebrows.
Especially for a woman" l went
on, because l could think of nothing
else to say, and would not, at any cost,
let this conversation, so hard to begin,
die out.
"Your are one of those men who
have n code for themselves and an
other for women" she replied.
I'm a man." said l. "All men have
the two codes"
mot ALL" said she after a pause.
"All men of decent IDEAS" said l
with emphasis.
Really" said she, in a tone that
irritated me by suggesting that what
I said was both absurd and unimpor-
tant.
ut is the first time I've ever seer
a respectable woman smoke" l went
on, powerless to change the subject
though conscious l was getting tedi
Gus. I've read Of such things, but
didn't believe"
THAT is interesting" said she, her
tone suggesting the reverse :
"Ive offended you by saying frank
ly what l think" said l. "Of course
it's none Of my business"
ooh, no." replied she carelessly
I'm not in the least offended. Preju
dices always interest me-"
l saw Ellersly and his wife sitting
in the drawing-room. pretending tc
talk to each other. l understood thai
they were leaving me alone with hei
deliberately, and l began to suspect
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09
Ito be continued

and noticed the prize. She glanced
about her and then took the banker
chief. Around the corner she stepped
into her automobile.
"There," said Mr.. Milburn, what
did l tell you?"
"You win," said the man that has
the other end of the bet.
lust then they heard the woman
speak to her chauffeur. Il lost my
handkerchief, john" she said, but
found 1t again on that mail box.
Wasn't l lucky"
Hold on" said the man who had
bet with Mr.. Milburn, when the auto
had gone. II don't know whether !
lost that bet or not"
"To tell the truth, neither do IT. 70
piled Mr.. Milburn.
Then I think you both ought to pay
the bet said another member Of the
party.
And 50 It came to pass.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09

viii you try to be friends with
met" said | with directnesa
She continued to look az me In that
same steady, puzziing way.
"Will your" | repeated.
81 have no choice" said she slowly
/ flushed. What does that mean?"
| demanded.
She threw a hurried and, it seemed
to me, frightened glance toward the
drawing-room. Il didn't intend to of.
fend you" she said in a low voice.
you have been such a good friend to
papa-I've no right to feel anything
but friendship for you"
I'm glad to hear you say that" said
I. And l was; for those words of
hers were the first expression of ap-
probation and gratitude 1 had ever
got from any member Of that family
which I was holding up from ruin. l
put out my hand, and she laid hers
in 1t.
There isn't anything l wouldn't do
to earn your friendship, Miss Anita"
l said, holding her hand tightly, feel
ing how lifeless it was, yet feeling,
too, as if a flaming torch were being
borne through me, were lighting a
fire in every vein.
The scarlet poured into her face and
neck, wave on wave, until l thought
it would never cease to come. She
snatched her hand away and from her
face streamed proud resentment. God,
how l loved her at that moment!
ANITA! Mr.. Blackjack" came from
the other room, in her mothers voice.
Come in here and save us old people
from boring each other to sleep"
She turned swiftly and went into the
other room, l following. There were
a few minutes of Conversations mon
ologue by her mother. Then ceased
to disregard Ellersly's less and less
covert yawns, and rose to take leave
I could not look directly at Anita, but
l was seeing that her eyes were fixed
on me, as if by some compulsion, some
| sinister compulsion. | left in high
spirits. mo matter why or how she
looks at you," said l to myself. "Al
that is necessary is to get yourself no
ticed. After that the rest is easy
You must keep cool enough always to
remember that under this glamour
that intoxicates you, she's a woman.
just a woman, waiting for a man"
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09

v e sat alone, sullenly resisting
old Ellersly's constrained efforts to get
me into the conversation, and angrily
suspicious that Langdon was enjoying
my discontinue more than the cigar
cite he was apparently absorbed in.
Old Ellersly, growing more and
more nervous before my dark and sui
len look, finally seated himself beside
me. Il hope you'll stay after the
others have gone" said he. They'll
leave early, and we can have a quiet
smoke and talk"
All unstrung though l was, I yet had
the desperate courage to resolve that
I'd not leave, defeated in the eyes OF
the one person whose opinion l really
cared about. VERY well,'' said I, in
reply to him.
He and / did not follow the others
to the drawing-room, but turned into
the library adjoining. From where |
seated myself | could see part Of the
drawing-room-saw the others leav-
ing, saw Langdon lingering, ignoring
the impatient glances of his wife,
while he talked on and on with Miss
Ellersly.
At last Langdon arose 1t irritated
me to see her color under that in
different fascinating smile of his. 1t
irritated me to note that he held her
hand all the time he was saying good
by, and the fact that he held 1t as II
he'd as lief not be holding it hardly
lessened my longing to rush in and
knock him down. What he did was
all in the way Of perfect good man
ners, and would have Jared no n
not representative, like me-and like
his wife. 1 saw that she, too, was
frowning.
In an aimless sort of way Miss
Ellersly, after the Langdons had dis
appeared, left the drawing-room by
the same door. Still aimlessly wan
dering, she drifted into the library by
the hall door. AS I rose, she lifted her
eyes, saw me, and drove away the
frown OF annoyance which came over
her face like the faintest haze. In
fact, It may have existed only In my
Imagination. She opened a large,
square silver box on the table, took
out a cigarette, lighted II and holding
II, NTH the smoke lazily curling up
from Ii. between the long glender nrst
and second fingers Of her white hand
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09

their ambition, hence the contentment
that prevailed.
But in after years, when cities
grew and trade expanded, the mer-
chants of these cities not being con
tent with conditions of trade, devised
plans by which they might reach out
for more business. Advertising in the
newspapers being a cheap way Of
putting the merits of their goods be-
fore the people, this plan appealed to
them and it was adopted, At first they
operated on a small scale; then, as
the merchant saw the opportunity for
making it pay, he added to his adver-
Using fund. And so it has continued
until to-day millions of dollars are
annually sent to mail order houses by
the people of the United States.
The best and most effective way to
throttle the catalogue house has been
a question uppermost in the minds Of
country merchants for several years
past; some advocating n plan and
some another. There are several plans
which might be presented to induce
the farmer to buy at home. In the
first place his pride might be appealed
to. There are very few farmers who
own their own farms but that would
be interested in building up his own
locality. He realizes the fact that if
his farm is to be valuable it must be
farmed in the most scientific manner
and all buildings, fences, etc, must be
kept up in the best possible shape,
and above all the farm must be 10
Gated not too far from some good
town, for we all know that farm land
brings a much better price when near
to some good town or village. 1t is
not hard to get the farmer to realize
this, for If he ever sold any farm land
or tried to sell any, he knows this to
be a fact. Well, then, after he has
realized this fact, the thing for him
to do is to patronize his home mer-
chants and business men, SO they may
be able to build and maintain a good
town.
Public schools are much better in
the towns than in the country for the
reason that where the population is
most dense, there Is more taxable
property to the amount of territory
covered, hence there is more money
collected for school purposes, and as
a result more and better teachers are
employed. All this is of the highest
importance to the farmer, as most
farmers who are Of any Importance in
their profession are interested in Civ.
lnS their boys and girls a good educa.
ton And right here Is wnere the good
town proposition comes to him with
great force. He knows he can send
his children to the village school at a
great deal less expense than to send
them away to college, and that in
most cases better results are OBJ.
tanned.
If tho farmer seriously desires all
these good things he must of necessi
ty help to build them. Let him under,
stand that he is one Of the masr
spokes In the great wheel Of com
MERGE In his vicinity and that he can
ill-aiford to send abroad to purchase
even the smallest item OF merchan
disc. though It may seem to him thu
re - saving 4 few cents BY doing 70
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09
SHE LOOKED AT ME-JUsr LOOKED"

she was in the plot. I smiled, and my
courage and self-possession returned
as summarily as they had fed.
I'm glad of this chance to get bet
ter acquainted with you," said |. 1--WE
wanted it ever since | first saw you"
AS l put this to her directly, she
dropped her eyes and murmured some
thing she probably wished me to think
vaguely pleasant.
"You are the first oma l ever
knew" / went on, with whom it was
hard for me to get on any sort of
terms. l suppose it's my fault. l
don't know this game yet. But I'll
learn it, If you'll be a little patient;
and when | do, I think I'll be able to
keep up my end"
She looked at me-just looked. /
couldn't begin to guess what was
going on in that gracefully-poised head
Of hers.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09
But In the End the Crowd Drank With
Both Bettors.

w. Fl. Mil5urn and several friends
were walking along Sixteenth street
the other day when one Of them picked
up a woman's handkerchief made Of
lace. What shall I do with it?' he
asked.
"Put 1t on the mail box at the cor
ner and watch some poor woman steal
It," suggested another Of the party.
ut won't be a poor woman who
steals It," said Mr.. Milburn. 1T will
be some woman of means"
I'll bet you 1t won't be a well-to-do
woman" came from the other.
what will you bet?"
Refreshments for the crowd"
Done" said Mr.. Milburn. The
handkerchief was placed on the mail
box at Sixteenth and California and
the men retired a few feet to see what
would take place, says the Denver
Post. Several poorly dressed women
went hy and saw the handkerchief.
bit none made any move 10 yet II. All
tbs end 81 four Of flve minutes q
skyliahIy dressed woman cains along
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09
Ave lmperatorl

my spear' says the president,
"knows no BROTHER "ThoBe who Cd
pose me- once said the German EN-.
peror, II will crush The compari.
son often drawn between these two
eminent men continues to be interest
TIL -Proyidcnce Journal.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09
Ne Knew Maria.

II could tell you what I think OK yop
III 4 very few words.
True. you could. Maria, responded
Mr. Meesman. TBut sou won't aisrs-
wan Mon,t.r
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-05-09

Burden We Would All Assume.
Rich may be a burden, but few IL
Us are willirg e kick at a burden Or
that kind.