Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-08-06
~ PLEASE CALL
PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO COME
FOR ANSWERS TO ADS.
Difficulties a twenty-five Cent Adyer-
iisemenl Cause.-The Capital 0f.
flee NOi a Burean0f
Information

There now awaits the gentleman
~ I" who advertised In this paper
three days ago for n boarding place,
eight answers 10 his advertisement al
this Office. lie called the first day and
received a bunch Of answers. but has
failed 10 call since,
Nome people have n queer serse ~
advertising and some have n queer
sense ~ answering advertisements.
The latter class pred0miuates by Tar.
The experience ~ the person who an
swers the telephone a. the daily news
paper Office ia Annapolis would OH
volumes " written up. suffice IL 81
say II IL such an experience the ex-
preston of which would be imprint
able.
When the advertiser Of 23-w0rd
ad., for which the small fee Of a quar-.
tor IN charged for three insertions, re-
quests that those answering the ad.
address some letter of the alphabet.
the person advertising might a. well
write Greek, for the persons replying
pays no attention 10 IL whatever. II
may be laziness, such AZ tse man
IOunginR at the Court House mani
TESTS when be Dudges the fellow next
to him and asks him 10 look up 10
the clock IN 81. Annc's steeple and
tell his friend what time 10 is (. or IL
may be that the person answering the
ad. has 80 much time on his her
hands that he wants to play with the
telephone, but, however IL may be.
uins people out Of ten instead of writ
ing note and sending IL To this Office
IN anwser 10 an advertisement, ring
up the Office phone, and the questions
asked are something like this:
do you know the man who is adj
yertising for a room and board" tas
the case may be; what does he
look Iikey" rs he blonde OF bru-
netteY" 'Is be a mcchanief' Does
he look like a iaboriDg MANI How
old IL he?" what work does he
dog" do you think he is such a
person as I should like to take into
my homer" When these and q dozen
more questions Of a similar character
are hurled at the Office telephone
and the Office man .has had from ff-
teen minutes tO half an hour 0f bis
precious time taken up I'm such a
manner, all the information ne is
able 10 give Is he doesn't know the
man, never saw him before; Is not
sure whether his eyes are blue or
brown, or whether he parts his hair
in the middle or on -fhe side does
not know whether his ancestors came
over in the Mayhower, or IL he be-
longs To the EIks or Sons Of Revoiu-
tion; doesn't know whether he
smokes, chewg or drinks, and mas no
knowledge whether he is a professor
at the Naval Academy, a surgeon At
the navy hospital or n laborer EN-
ployed on the power house.
Think what this means If twenty
five or even ten people call up in n
single day and answer such an adyer-
sisement over the phone, and yet they
do IL frequently, with no compunc-
tion Of conscience. These same peo-
pie donot hesitate to criticize the pa
per If there are mistakes OF errors Of
any sort, and yet IL Is their fault,
for the one person who has to give
them all this information-or lack Of
it, has TO write headlines, edit all
copy, write nine-tenths Of all local
matter, write editorials and read
proof, and ANSWER THE TELE-
PHONE, for IL this person did not
answer the phone ne would be ask
ed for.
Onesof two things, either persons adj
vertising in this paper must have their
answers addressed to their street num-
ber, hotel or to some box i'm the post
Office, or persons anwsering the ads
must do so correctly as advertised and
must not expect the Office phone to
be n bureau Of information. These
are afcts, not fiction, and be who runs
may read, and he whom the cap hts
must wear il to the comfort OF him
self and all nariiea cnncerned.