Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-25
This Starts the Rough-house. y

the Maiden Lane diamond people are
doing now-advertising In big. compelling
black type. They're advertising cut
prices for their gems. too. So are the
big 9Th avenue diamond dealers-hrms
that. like the Maiden Lane dealers In
gems. have never hitherto, dreamed Of
STOPPING to the advertising plan to
dispose Of their accumulated wares.
I'm a motor car bug myself" a big
Maiden Lane diamond man said to me
Few days ago. but. all the same, enjoy
able as find motoring. ! often find my
self wishing lately that the automobile
had never come into general use. 1t GER
tainly has knocked my business and the
business OF other gem men sky high. Be-
fore the automobile came along folks
who found themselves with little velvet
money naturally concluded to make an
outlay on diamonds to sort Of make a
nash.' as the saying Is. thus indicating
their prosperity: and in addition, as an
Investment. Diamonds were considered
the best kind of an investment. The
man who found himself making more
money than he had ever made before
would drop into a gem dealers place and
pick out fine stone or a cluster of stones
to take home as a surprise for his wife.
Now, however. when the man similarly
circumstanced wants to make his better
Of investing in shiny trinket for her In
stead. he beats 1t with all haste to an
automobile establishment and picks out q
car for her-and himself. See the point?
manage to get q lot OF fun and good out
of the gift himself. He couldn't do that
with diamond ring bought for her as a
Eift. could he? And the wife wants the
motor car whole lot more than she
wants the diamond or diamonds, at that
She's tickled almost into Mysteries when
ne rumbles up to the front Of the house
In the new car. not only because she's
to get out OF 1t. but because she knows
all Of the neighbors are rubbering out Of
their windows. and there she Is. happy
in the far bigger flash she is making
and we're a nation OF such hashers. you
know, we Americans-than she ever could
have dreamed Of making with a diamond
gewgaw:
ness We've noticed it very keenly dur
ing the present holiday season. The chaps
with the goodly money In their clothes
used always to give the wife jewel for
a car. The deuce of 1t Is there's no end
TO this thing. The reason there's no end
to II Is because once an automobile bug.
always one. know that from my own
seven or eight years. and / haven't begun
to cool on them yet. The man who FIRST
buys an inexpensive car. instead of buy
Ing a gem. soon begins to find out that he
wants q classier car. He sees. when he
gets the hang Of the thing and learns the
automobile patter. that he got in bad by
purchasing q popuia price car, and he
begins to scheme and save and plan to
get a SUI e-enough nifty. high-grade car.
And sooner or later he gets It, He
turns Ia his first-boueht car for part of
the purchase price and then hands over
q big. carefully hived piece of money for
the new high-grade car. And there's the
gem man getting 1t In the neck again
Moreover. the cars are wearing out right
along and the automobile industry is
here to stick. II isn't fad, like the bi-
cycle craze, but one OF the permanent.
never-ending factors of our civilization.
It's q grand thing, the automobile. but
] wish I'd never seen one. I've done
Just about one-haif the trade this holi-
day season, for example. that did last
year, and all OF my friends In the bust
ness have the same story to tell
All Of the dealers In articles that are
strictly Injuries have the same tale TO
tell. and some dealers In necessities. such
as clothes enlarge upon the topic. Tai
lors for men. for example. are loud In
their terms Of disgust for the automobile