The Washington times., 1911-11-09
NATIONAL BODY Of
RETAIL MERCHANTS
I MAY Be ORGANIZED
Would Make Effective De-
mands Upon Congress.
Get Together Dinner.

A national organization Of the retail
merchants of the United States through
q Union Of associations in the towns
and cities. in order that the merchants
of the country can make effective de-
mands upon Congress-, may be brought
about as the result o. the activity of
enc OF the speakers who attended the
fget together" dinner Of the Retail
Merchants Association at the New Eb-
ibitt. last night
M. Umstadter, Of Norfolk, former
president Of the Retail Merchants As
socittion Of Virginia, advocated the or
ganisation Of a national body with the
washington association as the nucleus.
The. Norfolk merchant pointed out the
effectiveness OF the associations in the
cities Of Virginia and other States. in
EstnInns. tast lie Legislation from from their
sIss Iii aSa Of Of as Hrsna ae 70 Of hsRs Rs
laws protecting the merchants passed
by the legislature, and then argued the
necessity Of national association. If
terest OF tSe retail merchant was TO
be expected. The speaker also pointed
Gut the ADVANTAGE of better organiza-
tion In Washington. and OF the success
ts of the Norfolk association.
+ May Become Annual.
The "get together dinner may be
made an annual AFFAIR. President Jo-
esph Strasburger, and chairman Of the
dinner committee r. p, Andrews. re-
ceived manv congratulaticns upon the
success OF the occasion. and were urged
10 plan q similar event for next year.
AS q result Of the dinner, which was
participated IN by more than 200 Wash
tngton merchants, 1t is expected the
membership of the association will be
largely increased, and that the credit
bureau and other features dependent
upon large membership will be carried
Il President strasburger, after outlining
the work Of the association in its year 8
existence and urging every retail man
IN the city to become a member, turned
pver the gavel to Roe Fulkerson, who
acted as toastmaster and "roastmaster''
for the rest Of the evening. Mr.. Full
kerson had a telephone at his hand,
which rang frequently, and brought
Comnissioner Rudolph was the first
epeaker. He congratulated the associa-
ton upon its progress during the year.
Mr.. Umstadter followed. D. J. Gala
Ean. vice president Of the Chamber Of
whistles from all parts Of the room
mt. Callahan advocated a buy in
washington" rentiment, and told the
tied 70 all the support the Washington
chamber OF Commerce could give 1t.
Conventions Procured.
Mr.. Callahan referred to the work of
the conventions committee, saying it
had brought thirty-nine conventions to
washington at cost OF about 50, 900,
and commended it's report made to the
last meeting Of the directors. He also
emphasized the Importance of the work
Of the manufacturer committee. and
told Of the plans Of the publicity COM
mittee Of the chamber.
X. e. Knight president OF the Alex
endria Retail Merchants Association,
described the work of the association In
alexandria, and brought a message
from Mayor Paff, stating he found at
the last minute he would be unable to
be present.
The toastmaster called upon Mr..
Strasburger to produce list Of the ad-
yertising and other soliciting PROPOSE
tions which had been turned down dur
Ing the year by the executive commit
tee. The list was brought in from the
adjoining rooms In the form of a huge
roll Of paper which was said to contain
. million disapproved propositions
George II. O'Connor and Mat" Horn
performed their we'll known "stunts," /"
and Miss Kitty Palmer. the New Ebbitt
soloist, responded to several encores.
! Between speakers messages came in
over the toastmaster's telephone for r,
u. Andrews. Calvert Rosenthal, E. III.
Droop, j. p. Hermann, j. Louis VIII
nEe, .. 8. Potter, d. J. Kaufman. and