The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1914-09-25
NOVEL EXPERIMENT CONDUCTED
BY CITIZENS OF NEBRASKA TOWN

as the difference IN price increased.
The spectacular finish OF the cam
paign was perhaps the most unique
affair ever contrived in celebration of
any victory, either of war or of conf
merce. More than ten thousand dol
lars had been expended for mail order
goods and as the use made of them had
of course destroyed their commercial
value, it was decided to hold big
barbecue, the main feature of which
would be the burning of these goods
that had so usefully served their pur-
pose. Every man, woman and child
living with a radius of twenty miles
was invited to be present, and in the
literature sent out advertising the event
the people were invited to take advan-
tage of the occasion to offer volun-
tary expression of their convictions on
the mail-order question. 1t was re-
quested that everyone who conscien-
tiously believed it profitable to patron
, ize home merchants, viewed solely
from a dollar and cents standpoint,
should bring with them mail-order
catalogue and make public avowal OF
their faith by throwing it to the flames.
I was told there were fully 10000
people present and that fully half of
them had brought ballots" as the
catalogues were called, and that when
the signal was given to begin voting
the vast crowd entered thoroughly into
the spirit of the occasion and amid a
wild uproar of enthusiasm each one
Wed with his neighbor in being the
first to register his vows Of loyalty to
the city and its Institutions.
As they surged around the huge
bonfire, hurting the books to the flames
it must indeed have been wierd
spectacle. I can immagine stranger,
unfamiliar with the prelude, might we'll
have thought them engaged in the OBJ
servance OF some mystic rite OF the
dark ages rather than celebrating at
the funeral pyre OF creature of mod
ern commerce which the searching
rays of truth had revealed as gold
sucking vampire, whose prey had been
the credulous, and whose sinister pur-
pose had been to drain the community
of its likelihood.
A proud moment it surely must have
been for the men who had given so
much in time, in money, and in effort,
to bring 1t to pass. To their hearts it
must have brought that thrilling know
ledge of work we'll done to witness
such a magnificent tribute 10 their
courage and faith. In open, honest
combat, they had vanquished the com
mon enemy.
In the course Of an interview grant
ed me by one of the merchants who
had taken very active part in the
campaign I was told the story of the
conversion Of the most obstinate mail
order buyer in the community: Up
to the time we started this thing 60
ing," he said, Farmer K had been
trading with me off an on for good
many years. When he had money it
was mostly off, , but when crops were
poor and times were hard, he ALWAYS
favored me with his trade. -Four
years before he had a complete failure
and I carried him for two years without
ever seeing cent of money. But,
sir, do you know, that from the day
that fellow sold his first big crop and
came in and paid me off, until the day
1 converted him, two years afterward, l
think he spent less than twenty dollars
in my store altogether.
After our campaign had been in
full swing for about month l had a
good chance one day to invite him up
to our exhibit rooms. He didn't want
to go. Said it would be no use, that
I've done all the comparative investi-
eating need to prove to me where l
can buy the cheapest and as long as l
pay you fellows here what l owe you l
guess I've got right to buy my goods
where l please 1t didn't set we'll
him saying that to me-so | thought
it would be a good time to say few
things to him that I had been waiting
to tell him a mighty long time.