Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-04-17
HUMAN AUTOMATON
DRAWS BIG CROWD
HAMILTON PHARMACY HAS A
NOVEL ATTRACTION
Promoters Declare Los Angeles Bank
ers Are flight Wads"-Auction
House Proprietor Wonders
Why He Is Not Busy
nY.aroRGr HARRIS poNonuE

While over in the AleXduuild lAluishii
grill yesterday afternoon met Cnarles
J Benton Hamilton. owner of the Hamil-
ton pharmacy at 205 East, Fourth street.
where during the past few days there
has been considerable doing in the mat
| ter of energetic effort to acqualnt the
passerby with the fact that there Is
an up-to-date drug store in that lmme-
date locality.
Mr.. Hamilton is well known in this
city, and during the few moments
conversation | had with him L dlscoV-
cred that at one time he was actively
engaged in several well known theat-
rical enterprises.
Being at heart a Snowman, and know
ing how well the general public likes
to be entertained, Mr.. Hamilton mas
been presenting during the past week
in the window of his establishment a
young chap known the country over as
John Davidson, the man with the cast
iron features"
All day yesterday I noticed large
crowd collected about the front of the
Hamilton Pharmacy, all seemingly
eager to discover whether the figure In
the window was really an automaton
or Just plain every day sort of man.
II hit upon the idea of having David
son in my window" said Mr.. Hamilton,
"in order to let the public know that
we are in business on Fourth street. /
| intend turning the business over to my
son, julius r. Hamilton, as soon as
get the store going in good shape, and
then it will be up to him to let the
people know that he is in town for busl-
ness"
Mr.. Hamilton, like many others of the
more progressive merchants of this city,
discovered long ago that the average
| citizen is not a mind reader, and he for
one believes in at least making an effort
to attract the attention of the purchas-
| ing public to his establishment.
1t was more than amusing to me to
stand in the crowd in front of the
Hamilton pharmacy during the time
| Davidson was enacting his role of auto
maton. Nearly every woman in the
crowd was quite sure no man could
ever maintain such a statuesque atti-
tude for the period Davidson imposes
| upon himself, but when he finally re-
Taxed the muscles of his face the wo-
men as a rule hastily decamped, while
the men in the crowd gave vent to glee-
full smokers.
Several of the representative business
men upon whom 1 called yesterday out
lined their plans for the season Incl
dent to the Elks' convention. Many of
the merchants will soon spring unique
and original ideas in the matter of in
dividual display and collective publicity,
more than passing interest to the host
Of, visitors who will shortly be within
the gates of this city.
According to a well known automo-
bile man in this city Los Angeles will
shortly be equipped with something
like seventy-five taxicabs. That's great
idea, and the only real trouble about
these machines at the present time is
the fact that about nine-tenths of the
population of this town don't know just
exactly what a taxicab is.
1t is understood however, that when
the latest importations become reality
the promoters of the project will
waken up to the fact that it might be
good idea to say a word or two to
the public and let all interested know a
thing or two concerning the-really mer-
itorious features of their undertaking.
Wonder if they will do it.
The proprietor Of large South
Broadway auction house told me yes
terday that for months he had been try
ing every known device, except adver-
Using, to induce the purchasing public
to visit his establishment.
He has the idea that all he has to do
is to hang out a red flag and make a
noise like metropolitan baritone, and
the public will jump in line and listen
to his music. When / asked him why
he didn't use the natural channels of
publicity to say a word or two as to
what he was trying to accomplish, he
answered drearily: "The people won't
come in here, whether I advertise or
not"
Great idea that, and the best he ever
accomplished in the way of advertising
was to send few boys out with hand
dodgers.
He will also waken up some day.
While in the Hotel Lankershim yes
terday morning 1 met a chap whom L
know pretty we'll. He is promoter of
many mining propositions, yet at the
same time he was bewailing the fact
that 1t was next door to impossible to
get the banks of this town to loosen up
on what he declared were "gilt-edged
securities"
1.-THE banks of this city want nothing
but gold bonds, and even then they
will not give you dollar unless you are
willing to pay an exorbitant rate of
interest"
Funny how some of the financiers
figure percentage. The bankers of Los
Angeles are noted for their shrewdness
and business sagacity, and as one
banker remarked to me the other day:
IF we accepted one-twentieth of the
bonds of the wild cat mining PROPOSE
tions submitted us every day we would
not last as a banking institution long
enough to tell about it,
Chances are about even that if a
prospective borrower has the right sort
of securities he can just as readily Dor
row capital here as elsewhere, as it goes
without saying the banks of Los An
geles are not in business exactly for
their collective healths.
The fame of the Los Angeles bureau
of criminal identification has trailed
all the way back to sleepy old Phila-
delphia. In a letter which received
yesterday Walter Abrams, chief of the
bureau of criminal Identification of the
Quaker city, asked me to get several
plates which were taken in this city
several years ago, and which are now
supposed to be out of existence
These pictures referred to by Abrams
were taken under the supervision of
officer Bert Parker, who was in charge
of the Identification bureau at that
time.
AS I am no longer interested in that
feature of police trouble 1 am tipping
Mr. Parker to the fact that Philadel-
phia is appreciative of his skill
That's all for this morning. If you
haven't anything more serious on your
mind today take a trip to Fourth and
Spring streets and look the human
automaton over.
Where II | anded Him