Mexico Missouri message., 1915-10-14
wELLsvILLEs CHICKENS.
How The Business Men Work The
Trade With "Due Bills"
BY A. A. Coult.

Wellsville, Mo-, would not be greatly |
Inconvenience, for they have cir
culating medium of their own at
present which largely takes the place
of currency.
The due bills, or credit bills, issued
by two of the large stores in Wells
Vile in exchnge for poultry and eggs
has, to large extent become the
money of that community, and some
of the other merchants advertise that
they will accept the due bills in pay
ment for goods at their face value,
while there is hardly business man
in the town who does not handle
large sums of money in the due bills.
Wellsville has long been recognized
as one of the hest poultry markets
in Missouri, and for that reason has
drawn trade from other towns 20 and
80 miles away. Until recently con-
siderable of the trade came thru
Vandalia to Wellsville, but the mer-
chants at the former place put in
fattening plant there last fall and are
fighting for the business in their own
territory
! The issuance of due bills in ex-
change for poultry and eggs has been
common for a long time in numer-
GUS places, but those due bills were
good only at the store which issued
= them. AS the surplus egg credits &C
| cumuated in the hands of the farm
ers who could not utilize all OF them
for groceries and supplies, some of
' them were offered at other stores for
furniture and farm machinery, The
innovation did not become popular at
once, but grew gradually as some of
the storekeepers found that they had
to accept egg credits or wait a long
, time TO aGlleet their sales. Finally
one of the clothing merchants broke
j., the prejudice by advertising that he
=, would accept due bills at their face
~ value for any purchases made in his
, store, and it was not long until real
= money almost became curiosity III
that town. About the only place
3 they are not legal tender is at the
O bank, which will not accept them for
deposit or in settlement of notes. The
q drug stores take them, and even the
editors who have 4 long line of credit
g at the issuing stores in return for ad,
vertising sometimes accept them or
o. subscriptions.
) There are only two stores in the
e town which handle poultry and eggs
) both of them maintaining large plants
= for that purpose. The Blattner Bros
Mercantile Co, were the pioneers II
that work and have very modern
poultry fattening station at Wells
vile, drawing part of their business
from the merchants in towns along
, the Wabash railroad on both sides o
. them. They have feeding capacit,
!, of $4,000 fowls at one time and cal
handle more than that when neees
sary They do not ship very much liv
poultry, as they have built up a goo,
Eastern trade in dressed, milk-fe
~ poultry,
The two poultry buyers have bee
J.. cooperating with the farmers to tn
80 extent of selling them any extra fin
male bird or number of better fe
az males which may be at the plants
= at exact cost, for the purpose c
N breeding up the size of the birds an
a. getting the farmers to raise bette
,,s birds. To further encourage the raj,
= Ing of larger market fowls they pa
one cent per pound premium for her
- Weighing four pounds or over, aboN
> tho price for those weighing lei
thRr four pounds, Miss Minnie Gre
- ecke recently sole 30 Reed & Bro 1
90 Barred Rock hens which weighS
4s7 Ia pounds, for which she recei
ed IA IL cents per pound, or tot
n. of $61.99, That was an average
s1.O9 per hen. -"~
The stores have been paying mo