The Springdale news., 1915-10-08

might have mentioned that these lit tle indexes perform the same func- tions, as the clerks in the various stores, and for which the local mer- chant must pay a monthly salary, which stays in Springdale.
 There is nothing left undone by the mail order houses in making it convenien for patrons to send them their orders. Every little detail has been carefully looked after, in fact and truth, the mail order houses employ men whose only duties is to look after their catalogue output, and each and every year sees new features added.
 We have before us one of the lat est catalogues, of a well known mail order house in Chicago; we have it indexed just as the directions stat ed but we are not going to use it as a guide in making our fall purchases. Not because they do not handle e'- Ierything that might be needed from shoe-strings on up, but from the fact that we have made a special effort to compare the prices in the above mentioned "silent salesman,' ,'' with the prices on goods handled by our local merchants, and we find that in every instance our own home mer- chants can make as good a price, and sometimes lower than the mail order
 True there are some things men hoIse. freight, postage added.
 tioned in the catalogue that are sold cheaper than local merchnats can sell them, but they are inferior in quality and style to what your own local merchant handles. We suggest this: The next time you get an or der ready for these mail order hOus es, take it to your own home mer- chant the man who allows you cred It in time of need, the man who is ever ready to respond to your call for assfstance; the man who sub scribes liberally toward a good road for your section; the man who pays taxes to enable your boy or girl to go to good school; see if he can't fill the order for you at almost iden- tically thf same price as your cata- logue house. Nine times out of ten he can do it, and nine times out of ten he will fill it with better grade Of merchandise than you are pur- chasing from the mail order house if you only knew it.
 Does a shrewd business man buy goods by pictures?
 Will your banker loan you money on the photograph of your horse, COW or pigs?
 Will the mail order houses give you thirty days in which to pay for your merchandise?
 Would you buy an automobile, just from looking at the picture?
 The News does not expect to put the mail order houses out of ousi- ness. They have been in business fifty years, and each year sees them growing larger and larger. Why?
 They advertise, and they keep it up continually. Not one week in the year, but every week. They keep fresh supply of catalogues, their on ly advertisement, always on hand, and just about the time the old ones are wearing out, here comes new supply.
 What will stop the mail order prac- tice? Not a howl through The News. It will help some, but newspapers all oyer the country are fighting their hardest fight with the mail order bus mess, but without the support and cooperation Of their local merchants they are fighting a losing battle.
 Home merchants should advertise They should adopt the same tactics as the mail order houses. Not by getting out an expensive catalogue for that is possible. But they can use a space each week in their own home paper, teling the people what they have. and by quoting prices can sell the goods. People do not know that you home merchants can compete with the mail order houses They've never been told. It has never been explained to them in clear, concise way, and just so long as the home merchants neglect the opportunity to fight the mail order houses, just so long will our local postmaster pass out from eight to twelve sacks of this nicely printed and illustrated book twice each year.