The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-06-17
ONCE PEDD[ER Of
PRODUCE
H. j. Shinn, Owner of En-
tiat Land, Had Hard
Struggle.

H. ]. Shinn, owner of one of the
large orchard tracts at Entiat, has
had a varied career.
Back in 1889 he decided to go in
to the commission business. With
Gene English as hired man he open
ed up on Howard street and Railroad
avenue, Spokane. The first month
they did a gross business of 1929
Out of that Shinn paid English $35
wages, subtracted $40 rent, figured
| in costs of stock and other inciden-
| tails The balance of the night he
expended in painstaking and futile
search for something resembling
profit
Last year the firm Of H. J. Shinn
& Co. did 100000 business. Full
| ly as many men drew the 1910 scale
of wages from the firm as Gene Eng
lish drew dollars for the first month
of work.
Mr.. English, by the way, is still
with the firm. Seven employees have
been on the rolls for from 9 to IA
years. Four years ago the business
was incorporated. Mr.. Shinn dis
tributed some of the stock to old
employes-and made purchase terms
| for more Of it that have enabled 10
or II employees to become actively
interested in the business. He fig
ures this plan as one excellent way
of getting results.
Begins Days Work at 6 A. NJ.
AS another means, he himself, be-
! gins the days work at a. m. And
| the days work extends until the
days work is done This course he
has followed for IS years and he
cheerfully recommends it. Natural
ly there is some wear and tear to
it. Mr.. Shinn doesn't weight great
deal over 200 pounds.
That first month was March and
by the way Mr.. Shinn had progressed
! to the point of shipping some fruit
| He took the wagon and peddled
around to the dealers on Decoration
| day, which was not then a holiday.
| During the summer he peddled a
little fruit now and then when he
could get it. By fall he was able to
negotiate for % cases of oranges.
He sold these and was able to send
in another order for 35 boxes of Or
anges and 10 boxes of lemons. In
that manner he peddled his way in
| to the present routine procedure of
receiving fruits in carload lots as
an everyday matter.
Wouldn't Answer Letters.
1t was slow peddling, too, at times.
In the early stages of getting in
touch with growers Mr.. Shinn fig
ures that he wrote 10000 personal
letters to them as he could gather
up their addresses. Just one in 20
took him seriously enough to an
swer.
With the second year Mr.. Shinn
turned to the Snake river district
and managed to negotiate three cars
of fruit. The company has a big
branch house there now. BY the
fourth year heavy shipping from the
river country had been developed
and when a grower received a let
ter signed H. ]. Shinn he began to
experience symptoms of interest
Mr.. Shinn has some ideas of bust
ness success that appear of peculiar
value in view of the fact that his
losses on collections figure one
fourth of one per cent the year. He
says:
Getting to the top means to give
your business your undivided atten-
ton, and to get the pay for the
goods you sell. Commission goods
have to be handled in a hurry. 1t
is necessary to keep several jumps
ahead of the market instead of
abreast of it. 1t is also necessary
to carry only goods that sell read
lily. The stock won't carry any
length of time. 1t refuses to oper-
ate successfully on a poor line of
credits
Three years ago we shipped $50
cars of Washington apples and from
the amount of inquiries already
pouring in, this year will be the
greatest apple shipping year in the
states history. All this money, of
course, pours directly into eastern
Washington, the greatest apple
country in the world, in my estima-
| tion.''
Mr.. Shinn Shares Credit.
There is one more element of
business success particularly men
toned by Mr.. Shinn. That is Mrs.
Shinn. She knew all about his bus
mess in the beginning and is equal
ly well informed today. In the early
years she used to help attend to the
store, and played the part of first