Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1907-08-15
FO0LING THE public
TRICKS OF THE TRAVELLING RE-
TAIL GROCERY AGENTS.
GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
The Price May Be Small, But the
Goods Are Expensive Even at
That and Net Big
Profits.


You may know something about the
modus operandi OF the travelling gro
Ger, and how the house after paying
him % per cent. commission still
makes a princely profit There may
be some things, inside affairs that 1t Is
well that the people In general may
know. 1t will be found on close inves-
tigation that the average Mercantile
Supply company, Buyers association
or whatever name is used to gull the
unsuspecting farmer, consists Of one
or two schemers, who have small
Office room in some large city, and a
back room in the near neighborhood
where the Stores" are stored and the
re-packing and the mixing done. The
re-packing and the mixing are two
important parts of the work Of the
company" When the representa-
tive" sells John Jones 100 pounds Of
sugar for $3.50; five cases of canned
goods at s2.4O a case; three boxes of
dried fruits at ten cents a pound,
few gallons of extract at a bargain
and ten or 10 pounds of spices at a
profit of 200 per cent, the order IS
sent to the home office" There it is
recorded. The boy is sent down to the
wholesale grocery house which gen
orally stands in with the concern,
brings back a lot of ordinary bulk
dried fruits, the cases of seconds or
thirds in canned goods, and the ave
rage run of poor spices In the pack
ing room the dried fruits are svvC-
hauled, washed UP If possible as ia
the case of prunes, and packed in
boxes, supposed 10 contadl GsSA Is
pounds, bat only run from Is 30 a.;
branded with some fictitious marx
and shipped out with the otAss arg
plies. The spices are duamped sEat,
and again run through mia wiz n
lot of ground nut-shells, bark OF e@eer
matter, and perhaps some bran. or
other cheap material is added. pho
extracts are Of the. cheapest o3Ags,
synthetic, aud the pure fruit faRStsSs
are products of coal-bar, dOoteEed Up
with coloring matter 10 look coed.
The label is the only pure thing abcdIt
it aside from the glass Ia the B6eaS
containing it.
In fact, the tricks of the box-cOC
outfits are legion. The teas sSld are
never up to the samples shown. IN
one case q schemeF travelled over No
country carrying with him senaplssk ~
Ceylon teas that were worth 46 b6s
a pound wholesale. He agreed tAssis'ls5
ply tl7is tea at 80 cents Pie. re-
large orders. Every order %as f.A
with teas that cost only 20 eaHte a
pound. and the fanny taiag al
was that there was no ki6Fs sy US
cause the farmers Eaew nSf sg
about teas, and We're satisfied a. ,b9ns
as they Thought that theW ka& aIH5
CeyIon article. The same WSSsCS 81
coffees. If there is anything Baf4
coffee experts know little al b
coffee. 1t is wise merchant 'w9tS
knows the classes of coffees,, he rs
handling. The box-car man generally
shows up a cheap big-berry, te&s ala
about it being great mountala MnahA
and sells three pounds for a.
and buys it at 16 or II cents a ps1Sasa;a
Should the local grocer try to SelI 10
same grade to his customers at sNoff.a
price, there would go up a rd28
would raise the roof of the stQlss ~
the farmer continues to bite az S&
bats, and doesn't squeal.