The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1908-12-26
ABOUT ADVERTIsING-NO.
The Cellar Hole and the
Sewer Hole
By Herbert Kaufman.

A coal cart stopped before an Office building in
Washington and the driver dismounted, removed the
cover from a manhole, ran out his chute, and pro
ceeded to empty the load. An old negro strolled over
and stood watching him. Suddenly the black man
glanced down and Immediately burst into a fit of
uncomfortable laughter, which continued for several
minutes. The cart driver looked at him in amusement.
"Say, Uncle he asked, do you always laugh when
you see coal going into a cellar?' The negro sputtered
around for a few moments and then holding his hands
to his aching sides managed to say, mo, sab, bit I
jest basts wtep I sees at gon' DOM a seuer."
The advertiser who displays lack Of Judgment in
selecting the newspapers which carry his copy often
c~onfuses the selcer and the cellar.
All the money that is put into newspapers isn't
taken ont again by any means. The fact that all papers
possess a certain physical likeness doesn't by any
means signify similarity in character, and it's character
in a newspaper that brings returns. The editor who
conducts a journalistic sewer finds a different class of
readers than the publisher who respects himself enough
to respect his readers.
What goes into a newspaper largely determines
the class of homes into which the newspaper goes. An
irresponsible, s-candalmongering, undertaking sheet
is logically not supported by the buying classes Of
people. It may be perused by thousands Of readers,
but such readers are seldom purchasers Of advertised
goods.
It's the cean-cut, steady, normal-minded citizens
who form the bone and sinew and muscle Of the com
munity. It's the sane, self-respecting, dependable
newspaper that enters their homes and it's the home
sale that indicates the strclgth Of an advertising
medium.
No cean-minded father of a family wishes to have
his wife and children brought in contact with the most
maudlin and banal phases of life. He defends them
from the sensational editor and the unpleasant adver-
tiser. He subscribes to a newspaper WIich he does not
fear to Leave about The house.
Therefore, the respectable newspaper can always
be counted uponto produce more sales than one which
may even own a larger circulation but whose distribu-
ton is in ten editions among Improbable citizens.
You can no more expect to sell goods to people
who haven't money than you can hope to pluck oysters
from bushes.
1t isn't the number Of readers reached but the
number of readers whose purses can be reached that
constitutes the value of circulation. It's one thing
to arouse their attention, but it's a far different thing
to get their money. The mind may be Willing, but the
Pocketbook is weak.
If you had the choice of a thousand acres of desert
land or a hundred acres Of oasis, you'd select the
fertile spot, realizing that the larger tract had less
value because it would be less productive.
Just so the advertiser who really understands
howkhe is spending his money does not measure by
bulk alone. He counts productivity first. He takes care
that he is not putting his money into a sewer.
copyright, 1905. by Tribune Company, chicags3