The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1910-06-09


Mr.. Smith pushes a tabloid of rub
Der beside his desk, stenographer
appears and as he begins: Mr.. Amos
Scroggins, Scrogginsville, Me-" he
points to the following placard on the
wall:
General Order of the Board of Trade,
Tampa, Florida
This firm is pledged under penalty of
$50 forfeiture, not to contract for pur-
chase or patronize, any advertising
scheme, unless the solicitor has an en-
dorsement, signed and sealed issued in
due form by the board of trade Of
Tampa, after solicitors proposition has
been thoroughly investigated and found
worthy by the press and advertising
committee of said board
tSigned): F. c. Brewer, President
Attest: W. B. Powell, Secretary.
This order is effective in this office.
Signed ................
The glib solicitor absorbs the pla-
card, let's it soak in and endeavors to
break in with Mr.. Smiths dict.tion.
Really. now" he says. that is un-
fair"
"-Trusting We will have a continu-
ance of your valued trade" continues
the merchant. Here, man; do / have
to use axe to make that placard
plain? You git"
And he gifts.
He then approaches Mr. Brown and
receives a similar reception; Mr. Jones
also shows him the placard. Mr.. Gray
has his placard framed and this breaks
the monotony. He thinks it best not
u
visit to a Tampa merchant the solicit
tor loses heart and he makes a dash
for the board of trade rooms.
! Then | get to bat.
The interview generally ends with
the solicitor vowing vengeance on the
board of trade, its members and the
country at large, and affirms most
| ira gically that he will do his stunt in
| Tampa, the board of trade be damn
| ed"
Very seldom do 1 refer a solicitors
call to the press and publicity commit
mittee. The committee is composed Of
| w. F. Stovall, chairman, editor of the
Tribune; d. b. Mckay. editor of the
Times; Abe Mas, dry goods merchant;
III. T. Mahoney, furniture dealer; J. T.
| Mickler, groceryman. The scheme of
the solicitor must have merit to induce
me to call these busy men from their
work to sit in judgment on a prop
osition.
| When the race meet began last De-
cember the city was overrun with
lcamp-fOllOwerS who thought there
would be good picking in Tampa for
entry cards, etc. 1 had not less than
| twenty of these fakirs to call upon me
in one, two, three order, and as rapid
| ly they called they vanished down
the stairway with these words on their
| lips: We'll, 1 will fill out this adver-
Using space without your endorse
ment." Yet. I am gratified to note, not
an advertising card was issued. =.
| One CRATER came to me with a sheet
22x2s inches, nicely ruled off, and stat
ed that if he sold all the spaces it
would net him $50 a day clean money,
and that if l would give my endorse
ment to the plan he would give me $40
a day. / told him l was not from Pitts
burg and he left, declaring that he
would do the deed without my help. He
returned in three days with some of the
lspaces filled up with the names of rep
utable Observation-Disclosures of the
board. He told me he was doing nice
lily. / took the dummy from him and
lup a shoe concern. which was down
for space" He grabbed the dummy
and bolted. l caused the newspapers
to state that these merchants had not
violated the board of trade order and
not to be misled with dummy sheets
ibearing advertisements taken from the
ldaily papers and pasted on the dun
my" The "comeeon" scheme fell fiat
and no other CRATER tried to work il
lin Tampa.
Last year lady, undoubtedly a
l"perfect lady" bled Tampa merchants
for nearly $1,000 on an advertising
proposition. About a month ago a wo-
man who had run up against Tampa's
iron-clad protective card came up tC
these quarters and endeavored to max.
me believe that il was worth S25
space for advertisements to patroniz,
her scheme. She was to furnish bind
lers to arChitectS-thoSe outside cover!
to plans and Specifications. For the SIS
as l judged it, the advertiser would
get an inch space on about 200 binders
| will admit she was a good talker. Sh,
gave me cards and spades and beat m,
with her hands tied behind her back
She left Tampa. The architects ar
furnishing their own binders.
L believe that the board or trade ha
saved the merchants of Tampa NOR
than $4,000 the past six months.
, know of one proposition which looked
good on the face OF il, but would no
] stand analysis. which would hav
, mulcted the merchants out Of $4,000
! The scheme purported to be that from
a large railroad corporation. but II
reality is was a private proposition
the railroad endorsing the solicitor VIII
was TO work" the towns along tn
line. l knew the solicitor sold thou
sands of dollars worth of space befor
lhe arrived in Tampa. AS Yet 1 hav
mot seen his book.
| could recite a hundred stories o
the willy solicitor and his chagrin VIII e,
The runs up against the Tampa ston
wall
? One thing that surprises me Is tn
number of solicitors who come her
lbearing endorsements from boards o
ltrade of other cities.
The only mistake the board has mad
was the endorsement OF a magaZin
l"write-up," and we caused our mer