The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1911-04-20

by " w, JENNINOS. |
<as2M NE of the most attractive Of
,&NCN business men to the aver
R211TNA age youth is the drummer,
NaTShNM or travelling man, or com
NJ mercial traveller, or com
mercia salesman or tray
cling salesman, as he is called in va
rious parts OF the country. This ad-
mirdtion on the part OF the American
10y, who Is always on the lookout
for some lifework that appeals strong.
~ to his idea Of what is both agree.
able and profitable, is duo to the APP
pcaTanCe OF comfort and prosperity
which the travelling man presents
when "on the road This, OF course,
IS only a surface feature OF the bust
ness and does not do away with the
fact that underneath this apparently
Carc.frec exterior there is the same
necessity for the exercise Of good bust.
ness ability and application that char
unterize most other occupations
Your boy who has an ambition to
adopt this calling should be- made &C
Quainted at once with the facts in the
case He should be convinced right at
tie start that the travelling mans gold
s. not all glitter. and that he is one of
the hardest worked individuals to be
found among those who are trying TO
get on in the world.
That wagon load Of trunks which he
tu blandly orders sent to the sample
rooms Of the hotel has TO be unpaCked,
every one Of them. and the contents
Gttractiyely spread out on counters
and shclvCs-and he must do II all
himself, because II is his taste and
knowledge of goods which must be
used In arranging them so attractlycly
Us to hypnotic the local customer
into buying After few hours these
samples must all be packed again
Lad sent on to the next town, The
travelling mans easy affability and
happy goluCky expression Is not as.
sumCd much Tor pastimc, but for the
purpose OF selling goods, and to sell
Foods in these days Of strenuous com.
petition means the hardest kind of
work ana study and aCutcncss. And,
furthermore. as he works on com
mission basis, either directly or indi-
rcctly, his success depends entirely
upon his own efforts This is more
general in his case than IN most oc.
equations.
Hut II your boy still insists on being
a drummer It is quite possible for him
to be one and also have ahead OF him
the prospect OF as great success rs at
tends the other branches OF merCan-
tie life
The best way for him to begin is
with some wholesale house, the larger
the institution the better. However,
unless in the rarcst OF instances. he
will not be able to earn his living the
FIRST year; for this time will be spent
largely in getting acquainted with the
rudimCnts OF the business Say he is
a good, healthy lad Of lG or so, with
the ordinary common school educa-
ton lie had better choose the par
ticular lire Of mercantile business he
wishes to follow before he makes hts
beginning. as 1t will be somewhat diff.
RCult TO make change afterward.
Tie will be paid anywhere from $50
to $3.50 for the first years work, or
from 81 to $3.50 a month, and will be
put to work In the stock room
Let MS. for example say that he
has chosen wholesale grocery firm
and that he is assigned to the soap
department. Here he will see an a..
most endless variety of soaps. from
the high priced dainty kind used in
my ladys boudoir TO the yellow
laundry soap. and It will be his
duty to see that this stock is kept
up and is always in order. When
ever any OF the goods are depleted. he
viii report to the head OF the depart
ment and they will be replenished.
Then he should be careful to note
Of the way visiting customers are at
tended to by resident statesmen, and
after year or so he will have oppor.
tunity OF waiting upon somebody him.
sclf. If he makes good at this, he
viii have more OF the same work to
10. and after awhile will, perhaps. be
sble to show that he can take care of
he most troublesome Of customers.
Then--it may be after four or five
years work-he can realize his ambi-
ton to be sent on the road.
During all this time he will have
been absorbing everything he possibly
can from the regular travelling men
when they come back to headquar-
tcrs studying their methods of APP
preaching and handling the retailers
and the general technical phases of
the business. He will also find that
one Of the fundamentals OF a travelling
salesman is to know all about the
goods he handles. This includes a
close analysis OF the soap itself,
knowledge of the process OF manufac-
,ure, Of where the raw material comes
from. OF Its chemical composition, Of