The midland journal., 1914-12-04
MY FIRST EXPERIENCE in THE
MAIL ORDER BUSINESS.

OF CM6 m6kcu4uulS0 CUAESEAA tAAL Was
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
my job in a smaller metropolis many
miles away after serving an arduotis
term as office boy and all-around skid"
In small store MY selfconfidence
was small and my difIidence abnormal.
/ suppose stood outside the store en-
tranca far fully an hour before mus-
teredsup pAceurage enough to go in.
Fl want to see the boss" was my
statement To- g. rather flashy appear
ing man who asked me what wanted.
s'What for?p
II want a job"
He sized me UP quizzically and then
pointed to q door leading into q dingy
little Office In the corner. There was
a long counter, behind which a sleepy
looking b60kkeeper was engaged in
adding up figures and within the Office
1 could see q tall. angular man read
ing letters. Tiinidly knocked ct the
door.
@Come in,n said the angular man,
in q deep, bass voice.
Tremblingly approached him. He
looked at me with a keen glance and
asked me what wanted.
Il want job"
arVhaf non vnfs t7oqD
Work around store"
Then followed a series of questions,
which answered freely as be-
came mora at ease.
II need good, hard-working boy"
he said. zone that is honest and re-
liable. Have you any references ?"
mo. sir.'' / explained that / had
been refused a 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 weil
have no bother about the reference.
I'll give you job. Where are your
tlingBs.
what things?'
sWhy. your trunk or your valise or
your bundle.
It was with humiliation that / con.
fessed that | did not have anything
except the clothes had on. / did not
confess to the possession of pair
Of neatly darned socks, which I had
In one Jacket pocket AS for linen,
why, had the shirt was wearing and
my celluioid collar had been, so far.
all sufficient. as could launder it In
minute with a basin of water.
He laughed and said. "All right.
sonny; start right in and see that you
don't take away from my store any
more than you fetched into 1t.
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. "and
fix everything up In good style. Every
morning you will take the broom and
sweep out, and il you find anything on
the floor. bring it to me- It belongs to
me because this is my store, UNDER
ntand?''
nodded assent.
During the lay yeu can help around
the store, wrapping up bundles. filing
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 "iunk"-yet, 1t was no bet
ter-that he had in stock. AS a buyer
have since visited the biggest mar
kets In all Of the principal cities, and
have never seen anything like the
stun he had piled on his shelves.
There was dglong table with clothing,
made from Tpaterial known as '.shod-
dy." When you wore it out in the
rain It became pulp and lost any
semblance OF shape. There were
shoes, made OF the cheapest leather,
with insoles Of paper; there were bar
rels of brown sugar, coffee A." ETC.,
and big canister of white sugar.
There was coffee, which mixed with
roasted beans and corn and ground by
hand in the mill. screwed to the
dirty pine counter. There were prunes,
raisina, currants, apples, all dried.
The dry goods would now be consid-
cred absolutely worthless. Thin,
scrawny and shapeless. the stuff would
unroIl from the bolts, while the rib
bons were dyspecked and dirty. Then
there was 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