The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-03
Murray Brown Authorized
to Appoint a Committee
to Draft Plans
BIG ATTENDANCE AT
MEETING YESTERDAY
Will Be Placed in Operation as Soon
as Possible-Merchant COnyen-
ton Showed Need of Such
an Organization

At one of the most representative aud
most enthusiastic meetings that. has been
held for many months, the wholesalers
and jobbers of Birmingham yesterday de-
cided to establish a wholesale trade eN
tension bureau, and delegated Chairman
Murray Brown of the Chamber of Com
merce wholesale trade committee TO APP
point a committee to draft plans looking
to that end. The meeting was held in
the directors room of the Chamber of
Commerce and practically all of the
prominent jobbing and wholesale firms
were represented. The trade extension
bureau Will be placed in operation just
as soon as the committee, which VIII be
announced today, can submit its plans.
The idea of trade extension bureau
originated with Herman Beck, it is said
and he it was who proposed the matter
to Mr.. Brown. Mr.. Brown thought well
of it, and the meeting yesterday was Tor
the purpose of discussing the results Of
the merchants convention held last An
| gust and to see what could be done about
establishing the trade extension bureau.
To Establish Bureau
1t was the sense of the meeting that
1t be established as soon as convenient.
Mr.. Brown stated during the meeting
that the wholesalers wanted every job
ber, every wholesale merchant and every
manufactures in Birmingham, selling to
the retail trade, to join in this move
ment He expressed the belief that it
would mean more to Birmingham than
any other one thing that has been started
in the way of advertising, of securing
additional business.
Mr.. Brown presided at Yesterdays
meeting, for it was his committee through
which the jobbers and wholesale men had
been invited to be in attendance. lie
opened the session with few well chosen
remarks and among other things said
that 1t was the hope of the committee
that every jobber, wholesaler and manu-
facturer in Birmingham would become
identified with the trade extension bu
reau. He said his committee intended
to invite every wholesaler In Birming-
ham to attend the meeting and discuss
the mater with them and # anyone had
been sighted it was entirely uninten'
tional.
Need of Bureau Shown
In referring to the merchants conven-
ton held In. Birmingham last August
Mr. Brown said it demonstrated that
Birmingham was a iobbing center Of
consequence. He said further that il
showed to Birmingham merchants the
need of a trade extension bureau. AID
further work along the line of coop.
Grafton He said that his committee had.
been corresponding with several cities
I'm which trade extension bureaus were
now in operation, and placed the matter
of establishing such a bureau In Birming'
ham before the meeting.
Herman Beck followed Mr.. Brown. and
said that nothing was too big for Bir-
mingham. He thought that the bureau
should haye been established long ago
He said that there was not a grocery
house In Birmingham that did not spe-
cialize in some particular line that could
be profitably sold outside of what Is
known as the Birmingham zone. He
said that Birmingham was the most
talked of city In the south and eX,
pressed it as his belief. that If the whole
salers would get together and display
"brass and backbone" the entire south
would be trading ia Birmingham.
Would Keep Up Retail Feature
Mr.. Phillips of the Phillips-Hendon com
pany suggested that the paying of rail
road fares to kept up the year round and
also suggested that the home products
exposition be held every year at time
corresponding with that of the merchants
convention His suggestion was heartily