Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-01-26
EXPERT HEARD
BY PRESS CLUB
Frank D. Blake Tells of the In
creasing Value of Newspa-
per Space to Merchant.
NOW NECESSARY ADJUNCT
Publicity No Longer Looked Upon as
Useless Experimentation
Meeting Held in Moline.

Members of the Tri-City Press club
heard an instructive talk on "Adver-
Using" given by Frank D. Blake, ad-
vertising manager of Deere & Co., Mt
their monthly meeting held at the
Manufacturers hotel in Moline last
evening.
Mr.. Blake came up from the repor-
torial ranks to his present responsible
position, and he gave the youngsters
in the profession some valuable tips
on how to occupy their time and tai
ents In getting the greatest returns
out Of their life's work. He said it
was a day OF specialization, and what
the young man should do, If he was
to rise above mediocrity, was to hit
on some one thing and follow 1t UP
and cling to 1t. He told of his earlier
struggles on a small paper in the
west. He was a news gatherer.
Scheme That Won Out.
In his daily grind he hit upon a
scheme to make advertisers out of men
who did not think there was anything
in printers ink. He got permission
from the publishers OF his paper to
use a column for his purpose, with
the understanding that his name
should be printed at the head of 1t.
His first client was a shoe dealer He
prepared him a small advertisement
and took it around to him for his ap-
proval. It was accepted, and he after
wards developed into a constant user
of the papers columns. Mr.. Blake
continued his column feature, and N
time his returns were sufficient to
warrant his devoting all his time to
writing advertising. Mr.. Blake made
reference to the magnitude of the pub
licity department Of Deere & Co. He
has a clerical force of 40 people. He
told Of the value Of agricultural jour
nails in reaching the farmer
Newspaper Indispensable
But, after ALL he continued, "it IS
the daily newspaper that does the real
business. No national advertising
campaign was ever successfully in
augurated without the aid of the
newspaper. 1t gets to the people
every day, and every year is proving
a greater influence in developing the
business Of the merchant Of honesty
and enterprise. Advertising is no
longer regarded as a useless expendi-
ture, as it was in the earlier days.
The merchant who SO regards it must
inevitably see his mistake when he
watches the progress OF his competi-
tors who freely use the columns Of
the daily newspaper. Publicity is an
indispensable adjunct of the modern
business house that expects to get its
goods into the hands Of the pur-
chasing public
Five New Members.
The following were admitted 10
membership in the club: Frank D.
Blake, Deere & Co, Moline; George
d. Berndt, Moline Mail and Journal;
Ralph Sisson, Shirley Folsom and
L. Fulmer, Rock Island Union.
President A T. Foster announced
the appointment of the standing CON-
mittees of the club for the year as
follows:
Reception-All the ex-presidents.
Entertainments. NJ Colligan,
Rock Island; Hugh Harrison, Daven-
port; L. R. Blackman, Moline.
Mutual advantage-W L. Purcell,
Davenport; Sherman w. Searle, Rock
Island; E. P. Rundquist, Moline
Public good-C P. Zaiser, Moline;
Robert Rexdale, Rock Island; ]. B.
Richardson, Davenport.
Conference-R- w. Cram, e. P. Ad
Ter. J. F. Lattner, Davenport; F, J.
Mueller, Jacob Rachman, Sherman w.
Searle, Rock Island; P. s. McGlynn,
L. p. McLarren, Moline.
It WIS suggested that series Of
three entertainments be given, one in
each of the three cities, under the
auspices of the club and the president