The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1914-12-03
NV FIRST EXPERIENCE IN THE
MAIL ORDER BUSINESS.

making an effort to secure trade from
the people in the towns and country
adjacent to one of our big western
cities.
had arrived in the city, having quit
nv lob in smaller metropolis many
miles away after serving an arduous
term as office boy and all-around kid
IN a. small store. My self-confidence
VAS small and my diffidence abnormal.
1suppose 1 stood outside the store en-
trance for fully an hour before mus
tered up courage enough to go in.
81 want to see the boss" was my
statement to a rather fiashy appear
ing man who asked me what wanted.
What for?'
81 want a job
He sized me up quizzically and then
nointed to door leading into dingy
little office in the corner. There was
long counter, behind which a sleepy
looking bookkeeper was engaged in
adding up figures and within the office
could see tall, angular man read
ing letters. Timidly knocked at the
door.
Come in" said the angular man,
in a deep, bass voice.
Tremblingly approached him. He
looked at me with a keen glance and
asked me what wanted.
Il want job"
What can you do?"
Work around store"
Then followed series of questions,
which I answered freely as l be-
came more at ease:
81 need good, Woodworking boy"
he said, zone that is honest and re-
liable. Have you any references?"
mo, sir.'' I explained that I had
been refused reference from my last
employer because he did not wish me
to quit and he had taken this petty
revenge. Then he asked me a lot
more questions about my work, etc.,
and finally he said:
"A reference doesn't amount to any
thing, anyhow. Men will give ref
erence to get rid of fellow, lots of
times. I've done it myself. You show
me that you are all right, and we'll
have no bother about the reference.
I'll give you a job Where are your
things?"
What things?"
"Why, your trunk or your valise or
your bundle"
It was with humiliation that I con-
fessed that l did not have anything
except the clothes had on. l did not
confess to the possession of a pair
of neatly darned socks, which had
in one jacket pocket. AS for linen,
why, had the shirt I was wearing and
my celluloid collar had been, so far,
all sufficient, as / could launder it in
a minute with basin of water.
He laughed and said, Cali right,
sonny; start right in and see that you
don't take away from my store any
more than you fetched into it"
barely existed on the three dollars
a week he paid me, but managed to
make shift by sleeping on cot in the
rear of the store.
"You can go out in the store and
straighten UP Stock" he said, land
fix everything up in good style. Every
morning you will take the broom and
sweep out, and if you find anything on
the floor, bring it to me. 1t belongs to
me because this is my store, under
stand?"
l nodded assent.
During the Gay you can help around
the store, wrapping up bundles, filling
orders and doing anything that comes
handy, but keep busy"
In my after years realized how
pitiful how utterly inadequate, how
worthless for all practical purposes
was the "junk"-yet, it was no bet
ter-that he had in stock. AS buyer
l have since visited the biggest mar
kets in all of the principal cities, and
| have never seen anything like the
stuff he had piled on his shelves.
There was along table with clothing,
made from material known as "shod-
dy." When you wore it out in the
rain it became a pulp and lost any
semblance of shape. There were
shoes, made of the cheapest leather,
with lnsoles of paper; there were bar
fels OF brown sugar, coffee A." etc.,
and big canister of white" sugar.
There was coffee, which I mixed with
roasted beans and corn and ground by
hand in the mill" screwed to the
dirty pine counter There were prunes,
raisins, currants, apples, all dried.
The dry goods would now be consid-
cred absolutely worthless. Thin,
scrawny and shapeless, the stuff would
unroll from the bolts, while the rib
ions were fyspecked and dirty Then
there was a stock of notions a
stock of hardware, more groceries, not
forgetting barrel each of whisky,
rum, molasses and vinegar. There
were other things, too numerous to
mention, but all of the same question
able value.
The store made pretensions to being
quite an QSfo hill oh Int will