The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-04

 day, to hearten Haupner. He must try again, she told him, and first he must advise the gentlemen by letter of his intended visit He must over come his nervousness, school himself against slight rebuffs and rise above minor conditions. So much depended upon him that he must triumph. He must not give way to slight temper amental weakness.
 Haupner, trifle reassured, started ] again, and once more returned wretched and cowed. He had no heart for combat except in the laborat tory and then against the clements of nature.
 Miss Cornelia did not have to listen to the telling of his tale this time. His appearance was enough. Possibly she had expected failure. possibly she had | thought the whole situation out while he was away. for after he. with down. cast eyes and trembling voice. had let her know the result was as before. she told him in as simple manner as she could what she intended doing.
 They were facing ruin, she told him. To go on as before would be folly. She proposed to take charge herself. She had no experience but she could do no worse than he had done. They must close down the factory, tempor- arily at least, and open a small place in the outskirts of the city for dem onstrations. She would try to sell the compound. He could attend to the demonstrations and do the office work. 1t would break her heart almost to go abroad selling anything, but 1t had | to be done. Most of the S1o,000 had gone already. Of the remaining s1o,- 900 portion had been absorbed for living expenses and the care of the in- valid. She could not afford to hire statesmen. Anyhow. the experience in salesmanship would keep her from breeding. She would be doing some thing. She would be making an ef- fort. She woNld fail. perhaps, but she would not accept defeat until she was convinced all hope was gone.
 The words of Miss Cornelia were brave, but there were many times within the next six months that her spirit almost was broken and she was near the point of giving up. She was learning of many phases of life of which she never had im- as1ned. She had need of all her cour- age. For weeks she put in many bitter hours without making the slightest head way, except that she was gathering ex- perience. She went to factories, to apart ment houses. to great stores. warehouses and even to churches in her efforts to sell the compound. At times she waited an hour to see person. only to be dis- missed in a few seconds with 8 curt re- fusal. Statesmen seldom are welcome wis., ftors, and women less than men, even if the women bear the stamp of gentle breeding.
 But one day, nearly a month after she had started out, Miss Cornelia made q sale. It was not much, but 1t was sale, and that was enough to satisfy her spirit at the moment. She had done something. She had won one victory. She had taken one step up the long. ladder of success. No matter what happened thereafter she would have the satisfaction of knowing that her effort was not altogether vain.
 Resolutely, if not confidently, she bore herself thereafter Nothing daunted her. When she had an opportunity she pre- sented her case to her hearers so we'll that they were impressed in spite of them selves She had studied her subject so well that she had as good command of the facts as Haupner himself, and could state them better even than he could when he had sympathetic listener. When she had an opportunity to give q demonstration she had little difficulty in convincing her subject. One week after her first sale she made her second. In the month following she made five small | sales. Tine first six months showed sales enough to use up about one-tenth of the stock on hand. The factory still was idle. The income barely was enough to pay for the living expenses of the demon- | strator and the salesman in New York. These six months had convinced Miss Cornelia that while salesman might make a bare living following the line she had pursued it was not the method she must employ. She must see the heads of great concerns instead of the heads of small concerns. She must sell in bulk not in small parcels. She must specialize, Q 4-4