The Washington herald., 1915-09-05

zied. lhey thought It might be some
i thing wrong with his spine They had
! a consultation-hve OF them-with the
poor little chap on the bed. naked.
They wouldn't let me in. so | listened
in the hallway, pressed against the
door with my face to the crack. They
prodded him, and poked him, and
worked his little legs ard arms, and
every time he cried l prayed, and
| wept, and clawed the door with nv
! fingers, and called them beasts and
torturers and begged them to let me
in, though | wasn't conscious that
,, was doing those things-at the time.
| didn't know what they were doing
| to him. though they said it was all
! for his good, and they were only try
! ing to help him. But only knew that
! wanted to rush in, and grab him up
! IN my arms, and run away with him
run. and run, and run"
She stopped. lips trembling, ewes
suspiciously bright
And that's the way l felt in there
this afternoon"
| T. A. Buck reached up and patted
her shoulder. Don't, old girl, It's
| going to work out splendidly. I'm
sure. Alter all, those chaps do know
best"
They may know best but they
| don't know Featherlooms," retorted
Emma McChesney
True. But perhaps what Jock said
when he walked with US to the ele-
vator was pretty nearly right. YOU
know he said we were critlcislng their
copy the way plumber would criti.
! else the Parthenon-so busy finding
fault with the lack OF drains that we
| failed to see the beauty OF the archi-
lecture"
1T. A." said Emma McChesney
old. Youl |, Ha"
you may 'Har all YOU like. But
do you know what thev thought OF us
in there They thought we were a
| that's what they did. III tell you, T.
A, when the time comes for me TO
give Jock up to some little pink-faced
girl I'll do it, and smile if it kills me.
But to hand my Featherlooms over
to lot OF cold-blooded experts who
we'll she paused, biting her lip.
We'll see, Emma; we'll see"
They did see The Featherloon pet
ticoat campaign was launched with
great splash. II sailed serenely into
the sea OF national business. Then
suddenly something seemed to go
wrong with its engines. 1t began to
wobblc and showed decided list to
port. Jock. who at the beginning was
so puffed with pride that his gold
fountain pen threatened to burst the
confines OF his very nodlshly tight
vest, lost two degrees of pompousness
a day. and his attitude toward his un-
reproachful mother was almost hum
Bile.
4 dozen times week T. 4. Buck
would stroll casually into Mrs. Nc
Chesneys Office. Think its going to
take hold" he would ask Our men
say the dealers have laid in. but the
public doesn't seem to be tearing it.
self limb from limb TO get to our
stuff"
Emma McChesney would smile, and
shrug noncommIttal shoulders.
When it became very painfully ap-
parent that it wasn't taking hold" 7.
4. Buck, after asking the same ques-
ton, now worn and frayed with ask
ing, broke out. GROSSLY:
We'll. really. | don't mind the
shrug, but l do wish you wouldn't
smile. After all, you know. this cam
paign is costing us money-real
money. and large chunks OF it. It's
very evident that we shouldn't have
tried to make nations campaign OF
this thing"
Whereupon Mrs. McChesncy's smile
grew into a laugh. Forgive me, T. 4.
I'm not laughing at YOU. I'm laughing
because-well, | can't tell YOU why.
, It's a womar'S reason, and YOU
wouldn't think it a reason at all. For
that matter. | suppose it isn't, but
Anyway, I've got something to tell
YOU. The fault OF this campaign has
been th" copy. II was perfectly good
advertising but i left the public cold.
Wha4 they read those ads they might
have been irlprcssd with the charm OF
the garment. but it didn't MI their
breasts with any wild longing to pos
sess one. 1t didn't make the women
feel unhappy until they had one OF
those skirts hanging on the third hook
in their closet. The only kind OF ad-
vcrtisirG that is advertising is the kind
that makes the reader say, III have
one OF those"
7. \. Buck threw out helpless
hands What are we going to do
about it -
DO? I've already done it"
Done what"
Written the kind OF copy that !
think Featherlooms ought to have
just took my knowledge OF Feather
looms, plus what | knew about hui
man nature. sprinkled in handful OF
good humor and sincerity. and they're
going to feed il to the public. It's the
same recipe that used to use in sell
ing Featherlooms on the road. II
used to go by word OF mouth. l don't
see why it shouldn't go on paper. 1t
isn't classic advertising. It isn't scien-
tihc. 1t isn't even what they call psy-
Geological, | suppose. But it's human.
And it's going to reach that great. big,
solid, safe. spot-cash mass known as
the middle class. OF course my copy
may be wrong. 1t may not go, after
all. but"
But it did go. 1t didn't go with a
rush. or bang. 1t went slowly. sure
", hand over hand, but it went. and
it kept on going. And watching i,
climb and take hold there came back
TO Emma McChcsney's eye the old
sparkle, to her step the old buoyancy.
to her voice the old delightful ring.
And now, when T. A. Buck strolled
into her Office OF a morning. with his.