Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1907-10-11
Travelling Fakirs.


ply 10 make Il living without olhrl
work than /" hurnbug the proplc.
Perhaps il will lc no libel now
that the Federal Court has Judicial
IL d,,.larcd that the Green StanI
>ch"in" is Il fraud. toy virtually en-
dor>ing all that Mr.. hoffman : Wig
orouS language implied. in a late de,
ciSion that had claimed the attention
of tn" conrt the past eighteen months
The stamp device only served to
draw Il distinction between those us
ing stamps and those who did not
amounting virtually to Il mild boy
colt of the latter class of dealers.
The fact that they become themselves
diSguStrd with the scheme from the
adverse criticisms it received. and
W'rrniptorily discontinued the meth
od. shows very positively how pro-
nounced was tins sentiment after
fair trial
a few Years ago, another eXploi-
tation by Il Tacoma piano dealer, led
to just such results, and arraycd
about half our community by the ears.
1t was to give Il piano to any society
or person casting the largest number
of stamps as ballots. These stamps
were sold to nearly all our business
men. who gave them as Il premium
for purchases. on precisely the same
plan of the Green Stamp company,
but it was not so well guarded against
cOuntcrfeiting The result was that
about half Il million of stamps were
cast for the piano. when not over half
that number had been legitimately
issued, and the spurious stamp was
so well executed that it was abso-
lutely impossible to distinguish it
from the genuine. The judges were
pOwerleSs to determine either the
origin or the proportion cast for eth
er OF the competing parties, which
were finally narrowed down to the
Aerie of Eagles and Rebecca Degree
Lodge of Odd Fellows. For days the
contest remained unsOlved, and re-
examinations and hcart-burnings
were rife, when probably the COM
mittee did the best thing under the
circumstances, by awarding the prize
to the ladies lodge.
But by far the most outrageous act
OF this nature, however, was the late
scheme in behalf of the Olympiiun-
Recorder, to augment subscription
lists by means suggested by two
Sly Ephs, who seem to have
bridged over chasm impending
from establishment of rival daily,
under the suggestion that any port
in a storm is better than the open
sea, or that even a straw may at
times become large as life preserver
amid Life's tempestuous storms.
Anyway, the plan was evolved to in
duce a score of women and girls to
make q vigorous and unremitting
personal contest as SOlicitOuS for sub
scriptiOns. The plan was well laid,
the selections well made, and the ex-
ploiters kept their stool-pigeOns (par-
don the term well under the leash,
to importune possible subscribers in
the public and private offices, the
stores, the shops, the mills, the log
ging-camps, on the farms and the
street-cornerS, practically every
where, on the ground, nor of super
excellence of the respective papers,
but as a personal doucer to the fair
canvasser. The method differed from
that of the road agent" only in the
fact that the contribution is supposed
to have been voluntary, instead of
having been enforced by a pistol
the uplifting of hands; an abiect
surrender is, however, the same In
both instances.
If those unduly influenced maidens
could have been placed in rhapport
with the mental storm that OCCASION
ally prevailed under an unruffied sur
face, or have heard the comments
made, not always privately after they
had left. it is safe to say blush of
shame would have mantled the cheeks
from which the peachy down had
been sacrificed by barely entering
the list of competitors, simply eligi-
BILE because they represented the gen.
tier sex, with all its inherent modesty
and reserve dignity. While the girls
drawn into the contest, we hold,
were not to blame, for it is safe to
assume they never entered it without
the sanction of parents or friends, we
do maintain that it was mistaken
judgment that opened the door to an
opportunity to make commodity of
those graces and charms of youth and
beauty, with q certainty of heart
burnings of defeat for three out of
each group of four, to fill the pocket
book of any business man, and for
the empty honor of trip to Los Ang-
les, with all its conditions, some of
which are not always joyful or bene-
fetal.
In making these observations we
are not in any sense controlled by a
feeling of rivalry incident to the bust
ness, nor envy, nor prejudice, but VIC
are simply "hewing to the line" and
Stating an expression of the popular
will that is an undercurrent not al,
WAYS visible on the Surface from nal.