The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1915-01-08

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Order Houses. !
THE POWER OF THE PRESS
What ounpowdsr Did For War the
Printing Press Can Do For Home
Merehants-Eow to Make the Best
Use Of a Very EtfIoien. Weapon In
Fight For tho Home Market.
tcopyrtshted. 1914. by Thomas J. sulliyan.1
In former days superstitous rites
were used to exercise evil spirits. but
in our times the same effect is attain.
ed and beyond comparison more ef..
fectually BY the newspapers. Before
the talismanTgbosts, vampires, witches
and all their kindred tribes are driven
from the land. never to return. Moth.
Ing is SO intolerable to them as the
smell Of printing ink.
New Element Of Power.
What gunpowder did for war the
printing press can do for the local mer.
chants who IRE competing with the re.
tall mail order houses, but the FIRST
step toward enlisting the aid and
friendship of the editor Is to under
stand that he is ready to boost his
home town all the time and that every
dollar expended with him for adyertis-
ing will return dollars worth Of ben.
eft or more. He asks no favors OF
any one: he has dollars worth to sell,
and be can deliver the goods every
time.
The invention OF printing added a
new element of power to the race
From that hour the brain and not the
arm. the thinker and not the soldier,
books and not kings. were to rule the
world; the weapons forged in the mind,
keen edged and brighter than tho sun.
beam. were to supplant the sword and
the battleax.
Power of the Press.
The press is not only free; It IS
powerful. That power Is ours. 1t Is
the greatest that man can enjoy. 1t
was not granted by monarchs; it was
not gained for us by aristocracies, but
1t sprans from the people. and with no
Immortal instinct 1t has always worked
Tor the people.
Not infrequently are the editors
themselves to blame for the general
impression that the chief value of a
local paper Is an evidence that the
town is fully alive and fully up to
date.
White Space Hia Stock In Trade.
The publishers stock in trade is the.
white space In his paper which be
has to sell, the value OF which the
merchant can. determine by his efforts
to make good use of 1t, not by little
four or six inch nd. once month, hut
By good. large. well prepared nd run.
ming week after week.
The local merchants and towns.
people who are fighting the retail mai!
order houses can find no more valuable
aid than the local editor.
The local merchant can do business
on smaller margin Of profit than the
mail order house. as his expenses are
less. he does not need to carry such
large stock. as he knows his people
and their desires, and he knows and
can prove that he can sell better goods
for the money than the other fellow.
How to Get Results.
No doubt the principle reason why a
few merchants say that advertising In
local papers does not pay Is because
they themselves make smail use OF the
space they buy. This is the day Of
bargains. and consequently the space
in the paper attracts attention. Give
little time and thought to the prepara.
ton OF your ads. The merchant who
will do this will get results and will
no longer have cause to complain Of
the local press being no good as a
drawing medium.
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How many Of them employ modern,
up to date methods in the conduct Of
their business2 Do they advertise in.
telligently and consistently, telling the,
public what they have for sale and ut
what price? When there is slight
business depression in their town do
they increase their advertising or do
they hurry to the local newspaper and
cut out their ad.?
He Wouldn't Advertise.
BY. constant and liberal use, sot the
advertising columns OF the local press
fhe merchants enconra re fhe etiitors IN