Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-07-24

treats all the interesting countries he has
visited. Look here. for instance"
Il slapped the open book on the desk
before him. with one of the finest litho-
graphs staring him in the face. 1t en-
gagged his attention at once. but. Affecting
to overlook the fact, l began to read ex-
tracts from the opposite and succeeding
pages, always turning the leaf as soon as
/ saw that he was interested. BY the end
of Ave minutes he was as quiet as a KIT
ten. \ few moments later he called In
every clerk In the Office to see that won
derful find he had made.
I'm short. the five minutes with which
I had baited him to an interview stretched
easily to an hour. I left his Office with
an order for the complete set Of books In
my pocket and one of his cigars In my
mouth. The last thing l heard him say
was. Don't forget TO include Palestine: l
didn't know how interesting it was
I'm Cleveland Park I approached lady
Of considerable means. Women are diff
cult to approach. l had an excellent
reference to her from one of her friends
whom I had just interested. and ] was
quite sure that the influence Of the
friends name would at least make an
interview easy. But in this case l was
mistaken. She appeared only after
had insisted Through the porter that
my business was urgent. and l would
like to see Mrs x. personally. and, fur
Their. that / would not take much of her
time. because I had an important en-
gagement In town.
4 <
when she did make her appearance
her manner was decidedly chilly, and
when / mentioned that her friend had
been interested-deeply interested-in the
work l was Introducing the news
brought not one breath Of warmth to the
frigid atmosphere. She was not at all
complimented by the fact that her friend
had been SO thoughtful of her.
Then l introduced the sample, deter
mined to run my race through, at any
odds. The magnificent illustrations, the
text, the wonderful facts therein re-
lated. which i dWeit on now and then,
seemed to make no impression upon he:
as she stared at me with an apparently
bored expression. Sometimes I doubted
whether she heard all l said, and i took
the trouble to repeat some of the facts
with extraordinary emphasis. SO that
they could not be missed. But ii was
impossible to get her to utter a remark
or ask a question.
Finally l showed her the sample bind
ings, told Ter our terms of delivery, and
asked for her order. affecting confidence
she drew sigh of relief and said 1t
was very nice In fact she knew her
husband was interested in such things,
because he had bought a set of those
same books last fall And this was not
the worst of it: she took me into the
library and let me see them with my own
eyes.
Sometimes people whom one would
credit with good education display an
astounding Ignorance in the ques' ions
they ask or the casual remarks that
drop from their lips. l was once selling
a new edition of Shakespeare in a pros
porous Ohio town. I called on a promi-
nent manufacturer at his Office, showed
my samples in the usual way. and asked
for his order. Although the interview
had been apparently successful up % this
point. there was something that kept the
final word from coming. showed him
the good points of the work anew, and
the gist OF my selling talks sew
eral times over. bringing in new Ideas and
new arguments each time. but he would
neither consent to buy nor give any rea-
son for his refusal. AT last I grew tired
of the attempt. and making one last EN-
phatic appeal to his love of knowledge
and his admiration for great works. as
evidenced by his own success In building
up a business of nationa! renown,' I
asked him for a decided yes or no. and
pre- ended to be ready to leave. Then he
spoke. and his reason for hesita ton was
clear.
docs this here set of books include
Mr.. Shakespeare's latest works? Every
thing he has written to dateT
The question took my breath. but I
to assure him between gasps
that the books were right of the press
and contained Mr.. Shakespeare's very
latest dramas.
well, them. he concluded, you can
send me the whole set +"