Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-01
The COnnnnlcrC Cial Traveller
BY Frederic j. Haskin

Trade that its merchants might never
have dreamed about a decade ago is
now theirs, and England is alarmed
because ii has to stand back and see
Germany effect sales where Britannia
| was formerly supreme. The United
States has made great strides in the
export business, but the things 1t ex-
ports are not the ones which represent
the most clear profit America Is lag
ging today because 1t does not put as
many international drummers on the
road as England and Germany. Fur
thermore, the United States Is still q
dull pupil in learning to give the pros
pective foreign buyer exactly what he
wants. That's a lesson learned in tho
A b c classes of the German drum
mer schools.
The international drummer is the
worlds greatest influence for tnterna-
tional peace. As he carries lines of
commerce into the most distant coun-
tries, anchoring one end there and
the other at home, he binds the
thoughts of nations upon the ire
| parable loss that would follow sew
| cred trade relations. The voice of
| commerce always Is raised against
war; except as the last possible re-
sort to redress grievances Of the most
| serious nature.
|
| claring their independence of the bar
| ber shop. The tip has almost become
demand of the hotel barber, and this
levy has pressed hard upon the drum
| mer, who always must be well shaved.
| The safety razor has been o godsend
to him. certain commercial traveller
who wanted to find out just how mat
| ters were drifting undertook to in
quire of all the knights of the grip
I - s1aax h4r
! q barber or whether they used a.
safety razor. Nearly rs per cent OF
them, according to his carefully tabp-
| lated returns, have taken to the
! safety to get away from the tips. The
! journals devoted to the interests of
the drummers advise the BARRIERS to
| put an end to the acceptance of tips.
| They say that this would result in the
drummers giving up their safety
| razors.
Simon Hartmen, a we'll known COM
merclal traveller, recently was held
/ up in a wreck at Point Pleasant, Va.
| He got off of the train to get supper,
and afterward bought a 15-cent novel
with which to while away the time.
| To settle a wager he presented a
claim for 40 cents to the Baltimore &
Ohio railroad for his expenses caused
| by the delayed train. To his surprise,
|
| tie the wager cost him more than the
value of his claim.
The question whether a railroad can
compel a passenger to get a trip tick
ct on his mileage is to be decided by
| the courts at the instance OF a drum
mer. James w. Toney had a mileage
book, and when he went to take an
Atlantic Coast train the agent did
not have time to pull it," He board
| al TI,a fro In III fIao
book to the conductor who refused to
accept it for passage. Toney refused
TO pay a cash fare and was forcibly
| elected. He has instituted suit for
| $4,000 damages. The case will be con-
| tested by the railroad.
The world of travelling statesmen has
some peculiar characters. and many
interesting things are connected with
their work. A man who travels for a
New York house carries fifty-four
trunks with him, and he is often
| car to carry them. Another New
Yorker has a peculiar way of identi-
| flying himself when he wants a check
cashed. He has his full name tattooed
upon his breast and uses that as his
| Identification card. Another carries q
business card as small as a street car
| ticket, and at the top he asks the re-
! ciplent to keep 1t until it grows. 1t
is said that there is only one full
fledged Chinese drummer travelling
! for an American business house. He
is c. Dick. and sells japanese goods.
some of which are made in Germany.
| There are some hundred women COM
! mercial travellers, but it is recorded
that Miss Mary Il. Nolan was the
first woman who ever girdled the
globe in quest OF business.