Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1915-11-19
Confessions ST a
Mail Order Man
By Mr.. M. o, X.
Revelations by One Whose Experiencein in
the Business Covers a Range From
Office Boy to General Manager
MY FIRST EXPERIENCE IN THE
MAIL ORDER BUSINESS.


1t was as a boy, long-legged, lanky
and just into my teens that | made
my application for "job" with one
of the merchandise concerns that was
making an effort to secure trade from
the people in the towns and country
adjacent to one Of our big western
cities.
had arrived in the city, having quit
my job in a smaller metropolis many
miles away after serving an arduous
term as Office boy and all-around kid"
in a small store. My self-confidence
was small and my diffidence abnormal.
l suppose 1 stood outside the store en-
trance for fully an hour before | mus
tered up courage enough to go in
81 want to see the boss,'' was my
statement to a rather fiashy appear
ing man who asked me what wanted.
What for?"
'T want a job"
He sized me up quizzically and then
pointed to door leading into dingy
little Office in the corner. There was
a long counter, behind which sleepy
looking bookkeeper was engaged in
adding up figures and within the Office
l could see tall, angular man read
! ing letters. Timidly l Knocked at the
door.
Come in," said the angular man,
in deep, bass voice.
Tremblingly 1 approached him. He
looked at me with keen glance and
asked me what I wanted.
81 want job"
What can you do?"
Work around a store"
Then followed series of questions,
which l answered freely as l be-
came more at ease.
81 need a good, hard-working boy
he said, zone that is honest and re-
liable. Have you any references?"
mo, SIR" / explained that I had
been refused reference from my last
employer because he did not wish me
to quit and he had taken this petty
revenge. Then he asked me a lot
more questions about my work, etc.
and finally he said:
"a reference doesn't amount to any
thing, anyhow. Men will give ref
times. I've done it myself. You show
me that you are all right, and well
have no bother about the reference
Ill give you job. Where are youl
things?"
What things?"
why, your trunk or your valise OF
your bundle"
1t was with humiliation that l con
fessed that l did not have anything
except the clothes had on. / did moi
confess to the possession of a pail
of neatly darned socks, which ha(
in one jacket pocket. AS for linen
why, had the shirt was wearing ant
my celluloid collar had been, so far
all sufficient, as l could launder it il
minute with a basin of water.
He laughed and said, "All right
sonny; start right in and see that vol
don't take away from my store an.
more than you fetched into it."
l barely existed on the three dollar
a week he paid me, but managed t.
make shift by sleeping on cot in tn,
rear of the store.
"You can go out in the store ant
straighten up stock" he said, "an,
fix everything up in good style. Ever,
morning you will take the broom AM
sweep out, and if you find anything OF
the floor, bring it to me- 1t belongs t
me because this is my store, under
I stand?"
l nodded assent.
During the Lay you can help aroun
the store, wrapping up bundles, film
orders and doing anything that come
handy, but keep busy"
] In my efter years I realized no,
4 pitiful, how utterly inadequate, hov
worthless for all practical purpose
was the 'junk"-yet, it was no be-
ter-that he had in stock. As buye
n I have since visited the biggest ma
}. kets in all of the principal cities, an
o have never seen anything like tn
q stuff he had piled on his shelves
b There was a long table with clothin.
" w
J. dy." When you wore it out in tn
t rain it became pulp and lost an
l. semblance of shape. There wer
f shoes, made of the cheapest leathe
with insoles of paper; there were ba
d rels of brown sugar, coffee A." etc
Q and big canister of white" suga
r There was coffee, which I mixed wit
o roasted beans and corn and ground b
9 hand in the mill" screwed to th
9 dirty pine counter There were prune
Q raisins, currants, apples, all dried
s The dry goods would now be consi
l. cred absolutely worthless. Thi
n scrawny and shapeless, the stuff woul
, unroll from the bolts, while the ri
J. bons were fyspecked and dirty. The
II there was a stock of notions"
l. stock of hardware, more groceries, n,
forgetting a barrel each of whisk
rum, molasses and vinegar. The
were other things, too numerous
mention, but all of the same questio
able value.
The store made pretensions to beiI
~ quite an establishment, but I w
= state honestly that as l remember tn
- awful stock of merchandise l wou
,s not offer $1O0 for the whole outf
a were to appraise it today.
q So l swept out the store morning
~ tied up bundles and waited on Gu
10 toners during the day and at night
" Eyeglasses.
n nta cuOOoQfi0n for fha uSA 0f lenSt