The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-06-01
(Chicago Tribune)

being a travelling salesman must pos
sess many qualities. Dne of the most
important of these is b%uoyancy of spir-
it. He must be always youthful, too,
in energy and in spirits and in optim-
ism. And sometimes it pays him not
to forget some of the other things of
his youth. some of the games he used
to play, some of the things he used to
do.
from the example. The teller of the
tale is off the road now-he sits at
the sales managers desk in a big
wholesale house. Rather round-faced
and chubby, with a smile that shows
an optimism that never fades, his per-
sonality attracts. his, words are worth
something, and l drew up my chair n
bit closer as he began the story of "A
boyhood mixture in the selling Of
goods.
1T was when ] was Il good deal of
a youngster in the business" he be-
gan. II was travelling out of Iowa
City, Iowa. with a line of goods. My
territory was western Missouri, north
ern Kansas and eastern Kansas. and
IN not a section of the country was
business good. 1t had been "A spring
"f rain, and rain, and rain. Every
stream was up. Every lowland farm
had been flooded. and the merchants
We're simply afraid to buy. They did
II Know how crops were going to
turn outfit they turned out at all.
Town after town turned me down. I
was working on Il commission basis
and it wasn't long before ! began to
see myself not only kicked out by the
firm. but in debt for my expenses.
81 had made six towns without a
sale and WAS Just walking out of a
store ncar Springfield. Mo-. when !
met AN old friend. We began to talk
about the state of the weather. and
at last the conversation drifted to the
hard time | was having to make sales.
Not that l believe il is "A good thing to
talk ahou he hardships of he road.
and for once | lot the rule slip by. And
in this case ii did me good.
Did o eve know Lem Hend-
ricks"' hc asked me.
"No.' replied. 'Why?'
Nothing. only he has Just moved
over from Noel to G%randin. and he's
opening up a store there. lie hasn't
bought his stock of gloves Vet, and |
believe there might he a good chance
for YOU to slip in there and make "A
mighty good sale
We'll. | took tho tip and hurried to
Grandin. | found my man standing
'"' ~ iI'Ilt VI ms STORE on Il GlStN
street that was nothing more than a
country road. Tall and angular. he
was typical of the man who has been
born and reared i'm the south Missouri
country. There was a CLINT in his eye
that told me he liked the outdoors;
that ne would Just as Soon catch n
hve-ponnd bass as to go to heaven.
II | took a liking to him. ! told him
my na,nc and what | was selling. He
showed his hands i'm his pockets and
scraped some initials in the roadway
with his boot toe.
We'll. pard,' he said, I'm plum
sorry. but it amt a 20. I'm o-goin'
to buy tomorrow
Who from | asked.
II named q Chicago firm.
Have YOU looked at their samples
and do You know anything about the
firm. ! asked.
"No. | don't
Neither do L. | answered. and
50 | cant say Il word in praise and in
blame. But what | fail to see is how
on earth you're SO sure you're going
I" buy when YOU don't know anything
about the line of goods the man is
carrying.'
Then he told me that he had mere
~ heard the man was in Il neiyhbor-
ing town, and that as he needed gloves
he dropped him a card to come over.
! felt that this was not enough to keep
me from selling him my line first. and
l began to work on hat principle.
But it did little good. ! talked nv
arm off. had a sample case right on
the job. but nothing / could do or say
would me allow me to open it.
"Whlle sc We're talking l noticed
ahou four men who We're busily en-
gagged in preparing for something in
the middle of the road 100 yards away.
one of them had drawn a ring. An
other was placing something on the
round while a third was scratching
Il long line.
What's going on asked.
Marbles said Hendrix shortly. I
stared.
'Marbleso'
why. certainly. We play en-
down mere every afternoon
Then | remembered that was in
the ozarks. where marble PLAYING is
11hdulsed in ny men as we'll AS by the
noSs. e. remembered my school days.
ana alSo remembered that once upon
a tlmeI WAS as good a little marble
shark as ever pluked d chinee. An in
sP1ration came to me. determined To
try Hendrix's sporting blood.
tell YOU what I'll do. old man
said. i haven't shot a marble in
zen Hears-lnore than that. twenty
I'm just game enough to 90 out
there and play YOU to a finish. If Won
win YOU get rid of me and get rid of
me for good: If | win you've got to
buy A bill of goods from me. even If
II only amounts to 10 cents. Are yo,,
on?' y
Well. those kindly old eyes twink
led more than ever. and there came a
low chuckle.
THAT'S fair enough he said and
he walked back into the store. In a
few moments he had returned with a
aanGiui or marbles. Slowly they We're
dlVlded. The rules of the game were
that the one who went broke first lost,
We made our ring and started.
y guess that we had about 20 mar
Dies apiece when we began the ar
rangement. For a few moments
won. ] got about 10 of his stakes
away from him and was feeling pretty
luh1lant, when all of a sudden Hem
Dirk began to take wonderful care with
his shots and handle himself like a