The Washington herald., 1914-07-05

utter indifference 70 ths>elook. and no
man Of forty need be long out Of en-
ployment"
How should one live" I asked. 80
seventy-nvef" Mr.. Simmons was born
September n. is3e.
Eat an apple every day and play
games. / knew you were 10 be In my
once At o'clock. but 1 played pool ana
kept you waiting. For an hour eacn
evening ] play auction bridge. but never
for money. I have brought up three sons
and have never done anything I wouldn't {
want them to DO
''Is business done by better methods
than was the case formerly"
Methods nowadays are Infinitely bet
ter than they used to be-" Mr.. Simmons
answered Men have found out that Il
n not only possible. but profitable TO fol-
low the Golden Rule in all matters of
business. II was the custom. when /
was a travelling salesman, to buy drinks
and cigars for ones customers: also to
show. them the sights when they came
to the city. Such things are done no
more; they wouldn't be tolerated.
IT insist that each of our travelling
salesmen shall establish q home in the
center Of his district so that he can be
with his family on Sunday. Once q year
I tell them In one way or another that
they are expected to return to their
homes each Saturday as wholesome NOR
ally as they expect to md their wives
and daughters.
The New Ways of Business.
Then the old wsy=was to sell q mer-
chant goods whether he needed them or
not. The scheme was to pile up his
shelves with merchandise. salable or un-
salable. We do not sell a man anything
now that he can't dispose OF inside OF
four months. I once sold fifty kegs OF
nails to a merchant at t2.s5 a keg. though
the nails cost us g. s. He got a bargain
In nails and on the strength OF II got
an order from him amounting to $4,000.
We wouldn't do business In that way
now
Helping the merchant has become q
principal in good salesmanship. He Is
counseled as to the quality and the guam
tity of his purchases. I :ut an order down
this morning. telling the merchant he, had
bought too much of a certain line of
goods. Such things happen with US reg
ulariy.
"A great deal has been said about the
sharp practices OF business men. / say
that the present generation of business
men are Infinitely more honest than
were their predecessors. The evil repute
into which business seems to have fallen
can be traced TO the oil and tobacco
trusts. which have driven small dealers
TO the wall by unfair competition. There
IL no accusation by intelligent men that
the consumer II being robbed. The re-
taller, however. has suffered. as l have
said. and his case has been taken up by
politicians and muckrakers. l offer no
defense for the trusts. Financiers have
attempted to get me into a huge combi-
nation. with our establishment as the
basis Of the merger, but ! have said
Get thee behind me Satan This business
Is for my three boys I would rather die
with the reputation to which I am en-
titled-snd there is no egotism In saying
it-than to have the wealth OF Carnegie
or Rockefeller"
How He Got His First job.
A quick-movinE man. lean Of body
and narrow-framed, Mr.. Simmons talks
rapidly. in low voice. with perfect
csndor but without q particle of boast.
His eyes are gray and friendly. He
told me that from his boyhood up he
had never been strong, but never sick