Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1913-06-12

of beautiful testimonials telling what
a marvellous benefit they were, how
the writer's were so near the edge OF
the grave before wearing the belts
and how after wearing them the all
ment entirely disappeared. There
would be lots of profit in these belts,
perhaps 400 per cent" NOW, why
would these belts cure" he was
asked. why? Simply because the
farmers believe every word in our
catalog; yes, they believe every
word" answered the mail order mag
nate.
Probably few druggists nowadays
sell electric belts; at least they do
not recommend or guarantee them.
But a man might buy better belt of
his local druggist than he would likely
get from any mail order concern and
then come back at the druggist with
some vigorous kicks about the belt.
In the Chicago Tribune of Decem-
Der 81, 1911, there appeared large
advertisement concentrating the
fortieth birthday of Montgomery
Ward & Co. This ad reviewed in
glowing terms the wonderful growth
of the firms business, dilated upon its
record for 1911 and enumerated the
many lines of merchandise handled.
At the opening of the ad occurred this
sentence: "As this is our fortieth
birthday, we feel that a word to the
people of Chicago relative to our bust
ness and it's marvellous growth is fit
ting" And later on is this: Our
entire business is devoted to persons
living outside of Chicago" 1t would
seem this advertisement might more
properly have been dedicated to the
people outside of Chicago rather than
to the people of Chicago. But why
do not Montgomery Ward & Co. and
the other large Chicago catalog
houses sell to the people of Chicago?
The answer is easy: Simply because
they cannot compete with the regular
stores in Chicago which make a prac-
tice of showing the goods" as well
as the price before expecting to sell
them.
Mail Order House Tricks.
Much has been said about the
methods of the mail order houses in
securing business. Geo. B. Irving has
summed up some of these in the fol-
lowing article in my Town:
The mail order house is partly re-
} sponsible for the introduction of I'M
: desirable merchandise.
The methods of these stores are to
place on sale grades of goods a little
off in intrinsic value but which look
"just as good" The mail order house
avoids selling trade-market brands OF
merchandise SO far as possible be-
cause it cannot juggle prices for such
big profits in these goods.
The demand by mail order houses
for catchy merchandise at low prices
has forced manufacturers to substi
tute false fabrics and imperfect ma
t, terials for what the public thinks il
is buying. A wooden mill was visited
I not long ago by the writer in which
there were three lots of raw materials
wool, cotton and shoddy (second
2 hand fbers). That factory is known
5 as wooden mill, but it might just as
4 logically be called cotton mill. The
I guilt of this deception lies in no small
part on the big city store, which ha:
t forced manufacturers to produce de
S ceptive merchandise "to satisfy the
$ public"
r Our mothers could judge merchan
e disc values, but shoppers Of the biz
t city stores TO-DAY cannot Shopper
T now are long on style and short
l. on values. AS an English writer said
e Nowadays people know the price o
It everything and the value of nothing.
It Under the regime of the small store
p clerks were conversant with value
e and the atmosphere of democracy a
il lowed discussing merchandise merit
1t with the customer, so that shop-gc
IS ing trip was education.
a So widespread has cheating i
Il weights and measures and merchar
q, disc become that federal law ha
IS recently been sought to stop it.
It The shopper who buys only fror
g her home merchant is more thrift
n than she who buys from mail orde
1T houses, for in the former case she i
is not hypnotized into buying froI
clever engravings and deceptive d.
sr scriptions of merchandise in mail Of
al der house catalogs. She does not il
,e crease her order to make up a shiI
lie ment." She buys less when she buy
1T from her home merchant, because sh