The Medina sentinel. [volume] (Medina, Ohio) 1888-1961, 1915-05-14

It is the first and worst Of all frauds.
Exaggeration is a blood relative tt
falsehood and nearly as blamable
Some men and some business concern:
can never state an ordinary fact ir
ordinary terms. All their geese art
swans till you see them.
There is no strength in exaggeration
Even the truth is weakened by being
expressed too strongly.
A Gaping Monster.
Mankind in the gross is a gaping
monster that loves to be deceived ant
has seldom been disappointed. They
say that idiots only may be cozenet
twice. but how about the mail ordeI
buyers? How often are iney deceived
by the large catalogue houses:
In the art of deception the great
mail order houses excel the world. Ir
their greed for gain and rush to vic
timize the poor and unsuspecting they
paint their pictures of alleged bargains
too alluringly. They instill confidence
in the mind of the buyer. only later
to fill his heart with doubt and dis
gust.
Who does not remember the sight
unseen" trades or swaps of boyhood
days? One Of the parties in the trans
action usually got the worst Of 1t
didn't he? And as rule 1t wasn't
the one who proposed the deal, was iti
There Is a lot of the same sort Of
''sight unseen trading going on to
day, only nowadays it is called mer
chandising by mail.
Catalogues Look Inviting.
The illustrations in the catalogues o
the retail mail order houses look invit
ing. The reading matter sounds nice
and sometimes the deal turns out all
right.
But, even supposing it does, where
in is the buyer any better of than II
he bought from the home merchant!
Take any article you choose from the
long list of things sold by mall and
you will find upon investigation that
you can buy 1t just as cheaply and
just as well at home. The expense OF
selling it by mail is just as great as
the expense of selling 1t over the coun-
ter.
Your local merchants have rent, tax
es, clerk hire, etc.. to pay, and the
mail order houses have the same ex-
penses. only rent and taxes are higher
in the large cities than In the country
town. And, in addition. they have to
maintain a small army Of bookkeepers,
stenographers. shipping clerks and 9th
er employees. besides the immense cost
of advertising.
How many of the rural consumers
know that advertising appearing in
what are known as mail order advertis-
ing mediums costs from $42 to $85 an
inch in single columns: 1t Is true new
ertheless. Where does the enormous
profit come from ont Of which these
enormous bills are paid? Out Of the
pockets Of the consumers.
Would Welcome Such Bargains.
The city people would go wild with
Joy If these mail order houses actual
ly had values with style and quality.
They would not need to leave their
own large cities to sell at the prices
they quote az the. city people would
swoop down upon their bargains like
hungry ben hawks on green g0slings.
But with style and value lat.king they
DO not dare show their goods In the
city where the prospective customers
would have the opportunity of com
pariS0n hut by cleverly wOrded and
exaggerated description they make the
country people believe they are offer
ing more desirable wares than the
country merchant carries and ut a less
price, and. having no opportunity for
comparison before buying. many peo-
pie naturally are duped
Everybody knows the picture of a
FIVE dollar suit of clothes looks as good
as the picture Of Il twenty dollar suit
The description reads well. The suit
coonc I'm haA hot unUt ryopk
Cash With the Order.
You send your good money be-
cause the mail order house will not ac-
cept an order where the money does
not accompany it. Then the suit ar
rives. 1t was to be all wool. but 1t is
not. 1t is fully size too large and
several years out of date, and. besides.
it has the style and general appear
ance of the prison made garment.
If MIR. Mail order Man were right
there you would not accept the goods
but he is far away, selling suits, no
doubt to some other nonsIspecting
sons Of man.
Next time you are attracted by an
ad. Of some mail order bargain" just
clip 1t out and take 1t to your local
dealer and see II he will not duplicate
It. That's only neighborly and fair
and gives your merchant a chance to
make good his statement that his
prices are the lowest and his goods
the best.
WASHING MACHINES " FTTHEP