The Washington herald., 1914-08-30

poSal-the telephone. the grocery boy
who calls for orders. the postal card ad-
dressed to grocer, butcher, and baker
all these cunningiy invite the handler Of
the household funds TO Iefsurely and In
cidentally extrayagant methods Of mar
keting.
That Is particularly true in large cities,
where the dealer does not consider steady
customers the secret Of his prosperity,
but who feels that there is safety in num-
bers or population. for whenever dis
satisfied customer withdraws patropage
a less exactlng one appears on the COM
mercial horizon.
The woman who orders by telephone,
postal. or the order boy who calls at her
kitchen door wastes about ten per cent
of the money she pays out. This goes
principally into the second cuts Of meat
when she has ordered a first; into high
priced canned goods when, II she were at
the store, she would see other grades
well suited TO her needs at a more rea-
sonable fgufe. ~
She should bear in mind that the prime
motive OF a salesman is to induce each
customer to buy just little more or a
NElic QlbneE-pflCco BOOos Audu snS hA-
tended TO when she started out.
Now. II she telephones that she wants
q dan Of peas, q pound OF prunes and a
package Of macaroni without asking
about the prices or whether there Is a
special sale on in these goods she is
liable to get French peas instead Of
homegrown, at double the price; the
finest Of imported prunes instead OF the
less expensive but equally as good Cali
fornIa variety, and a fancy grade Of
macaroni. In these three items alone she
will waste one-third of her investment.
Not because good goods are not the most
economical in. the long run, but because
in q frugaliy managed household the
American wares md equal favor with
imported goods, and there is no excuse
for paying for high-priced foreign la
bel
II she telephones to the butcher that
she wants q roast of about eight pounds
Of a certain cut he will interpret the
word about, to suit his own purposes,
which are to increase her account When
the roast is delivered she finds that it
weigh q trihe over nine pounds, she Is
CnAIkCu pOuLub = nd4At
II is not the cut she ordered.
Then she adds further to her expense
by calling the butcher over the phone
and demanding an explanation. He tells
her that It was the best he could do on
her order. and he is sorry and will not
let II happen again. II she had gone to
the market she would have been fur
nished with the cut desired. An expert
butcher can cut his meat within an ounce
Of the amount ordered.
A woman who runs a large boarding
house and always pays cash recently had
q wordy war with her butcher. 1t ended
with her Withdrawing her custom en-
tirely. In speaking OF the matter with
business man she said:
Il was amazed that he would treat a
customer who always paid cash in such
an insulting fashion. suppose IL ran
an account and he was afraid that he
would never get his money. he would
have treated me better
The man looked at her pityingly.
"oh, you don't know the least thing
about business" he said. "A butcher
doesn't make his money on his cash Gus
toners, but from those who carry ac-
counts or books with him. The cash Gus
toner who does her own marketing
knows what she is buying. The woman
who places her order with a boy, or or
ders by phone, has half a pound added
here and little extra price there. Not
that the butcher is dishonest. He simply
gives her more than she needs, or a more
expensive cut than she ordered, because
he wants to get rid Of his stock, and Is
or 30 cents written in a book never hooks
half as big as when paid out from your
purse"
OF course it is natural that a woman
should enjoy her popularity among
She likes to have a door
opened for her by one clerk, her umbrel-
la raised for her by another. and all sea-
soned by a parting bow from the pro-
prietor himself, but she can depend upon
II that her husband pays for all this. 1t
Is added to the bill.
The woman who does not personally
select her green groceries, such as vege-