Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-15
By George Jean Nathan

making the price of the suit
fifteen dollars.
Box of Choice Cigars Given with Each Purchase
Over Two Dollars" The box of choice CT
CARS" subsequently proved to be package of
ten small cigars such as may be purchased any
where for five cents.
Still another alluring and equally tricky sign
announced I'VE Will Take the Suit You Have
on and Allow You Its Value on New One -
This proved to be the meaneSt cut of all for
after the customer had Invested himself of his
old garments and adorned himself in the new,
the shopkeeper would inform him that, on sec
ond consideration, he did not believe he could
allow him more than about fifty cents: on the
old suit. But. no matter which way the sale
went, the sign did what the pullers-in could not
do it got the man to try on suit
A War of Cigar Merchants
A MOTHER odd trade battle, though on a
= much smaller SCALE occurred two years
ago in Philadelphia between two retail cigar
merchants whose places of business adjOined
each other. After the usual fight with cut
prices, souvenirs, and similar weapons. body
blow delivered by of the contenderS
for trade which caused the tide of victory to
turn in his favor.
He hired fifteen men to 60 into his rivals
store at various times during the day, buy CT
gars light them, and walk to the front of the
store, take a few puffs frown, throw the cigars
away and walk from the store mutterlng in
disgust Prospective customers were thus
urged into the store of the instigator of the
plot. and the effect on passersby was cleo l.
Between Candy Shops
IN St. Louis year and half ago one candy
merchant beat his rival in trade battle in
decidedly crafty manner. The chief issue used
by both merchants was the respective purity of
their wares. Each spent considerable money
to prove in advertisements that his sweets
were the purer.
Finally one of the merchants quietly deliv-
cred at every hospital in the city large box Of
his candies, secured receipts for the same and
the next day published the fact that his were
the only candies that had ever been accepted
by local hospitals. Reprints of the signed re-
ceipts accompanied this statement, and the de-
sired effect was gained.
A Ciothier's Body Blow
THE extent to which rivalry between mer-
chants may go was never illustrated better
than in a fight for trade several years ago be-
tween two clothing dealers in the cheap bust
ness section of Pittsburgh. These men were
business neighbors and mortal enemies. Things
had gone from bad to worse between them, and
neither overlooked single opportunity to get
the better of his rival.
After two weeks of particularly heated COM
petition, during which placards on the front of
the shops contained direct insults to each other,
one of the dealers arrayed young man in one
of his suits of clothes, caused him to stand in
front of his store, and demonstrated with a
garden hose that rain could not shrink or
fade" the garments he offered for sale. A
barker in his employ dared his rival to submit
his clothes to a similar test AS matter of
fact the suit used for demonstration purposes
had been chemically treated.
Settled in the Ring
IN Chicago recent trade battle between two
small shopkeepers actually got to the point
where a fist fight was arranged between the
principals and was pulled off at night in va
cant barn in the presence of group of their
customers.
Three years ago, in New Orleans, two rival
hatters similarly came to mutual understand
ing. but only after one had been sent to the
hospital with broken nose and the other con-
fined to dark room for several days with two
badly damaged eyes