The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1907-07-09
Methods Of the Big Stores In the
English Metropolis.
TR5Es OF The MlLuNERs,

/ they see NJ
In London II is different. The mo
ment you enter the door Of shop you
are accepted as part and parcel Of its
interests, member Of the family. as
it were. Then a shopwaIker pounees
upon you and insists on knowing what
you want. II you hesitate as to your
reply, he plants himself squarely in
front OF you and waits. When. in
sheer desperation flor you had intend
ed happy, aimless sort OF looking
about, you say gloves" he grasps
your arm, firmly marches you to the
| glove counter. seats you at It and de
tails salesrerson TO wait upon You.
All this happened to me, and In an
exasperated frame OF mind bought q
pair Of gloves merely TO keep peace in
the family, but the bland and gentle
manly glove seller had no notion Of let
ting me of so easily. He took 1t for
granted that that first pair was simply
by way Of preface. and he displayed
gloves Of my size Of all styles and col
ors. The very foregoneness OF his CON
clusion that / would buy them all irri-
tated me, and, briefly announcing that
wanted no more gloves, l paid him
for the pair had bought. Surprised
and grieved beyond expression, he
beckoned the shopwalker and together
they cross examined me as to why /
refused to buy more gloves. Did the
colors not suit met Were the prices
not reasonable? DIsdaIning to answer
these questions, endeavOred to stalk
haughtily away, but this was not al
lowed. More in sorrow than in anger,
they told me | must wait for my bill.
As the gloves we're to be sent and /
had given the exact change / deemed
this unnecessary, but | soon found 1t
to be one Of their InexCrable laws.
Bills, signed and cOuntersigned, must
be waited for, no matter how trifing
the purchase.
The next thing / learned was that
the price asked is far from being the
real selling price Of the article. /
cringed at the thought Of Offering 5
guineas for a seven guinea hat, but l
soon learned that 1t was expected OF
a customer and that the marked prices
were merely amounts from which to
begin the dickering.
And the ruses resorted to by these
wicked milliners. In Mayfair is one
Of the most fashionable millinery shops
In the world. Over the door gilt let
ters spell one Of the most famous
Partisan names. To this shop / went
for hat Being very canny, ex-
pressed great interest in several hats
WHICH knew l should not buy. At
last l carelessly inquired the price Of
hat which had really charmed me
from the first. The price was 8 guineas.
AS 1t bore four magnificent ostrich
plumes, this price was not exorbitant;
but knowing the game, | bargained.
First / asked If they would call it
pounds instead Of guineas. This meant
a reduction in price Of only 8 shillings.
but the indignity q discovered was
beyond all words. With scathing
glance the saIeslady informed me that
they never sold by pounds ia that shop,
and storr'i away the knowledge for
future use in swagger establishments.
Determined to beat them at their
own game, | then offered 9 guineaB
fcf the hat This was met with ap-
propriate expressions Of horrifed sur
prise, and as great concession 71h
guineas was proposed / remained
firm In my six guinea offer, and, after
feint Of leaving the shop without
buying hat 1t was reluctantly ac-
cepted.
Then followed what I considered a
ruse Of extreme cleverness on my part.
I had been told that II left a new hat
to be sent home the mIlliner would
change the trimming for others that
looked the same, but were Of inferior
quality. had been advised, therefore,
on purchasing a hat to carry it away
with me in order to prevent this. So
I remarked on paying for this hat that
as wished to wear It that very after
noon would take It with me, the
large bandbox being easily managed in
my hanson cab. The saleslady kindly
agreed to this plan and sent the hat
upstairs to be boxed.
After waiting fifteen minutes for the
hat to return to me | began to grow
suspicious, and when It did come
deliberately united the box, removed
the tissue paper wrappings and ex-
anined the hat Sure enough, the four
long. rich ostrich plumes had been re.
moved and replaced by four others Of
the same color, but Of distinctly
cheaper grade. I boldly declared this
fact but the salesIady haughtily de-
MED II.
@But" said I. Took In the hat. See
the stitches, hastily put in to hold
these feathers. They we're not there
when the hat left me-
"Ah," she said. merely a few
stitches to fasten q bit OF trimming
hat was loser
And nothing remained for me but to
take the hat and depart. / could not
prove my case. ! could get no redress.
But learned, when buying hat. to
pin It firmly on my head and walk
away, leaving my own old hat to be