Norwich bulletin., 1916-09-30

tolerab1e approach to accuracy.
 If, for instance, I ordered ten yards of waterproof canvas, 72 inches wide, received, sixteen days afterwards, a parcel not shipped till fourteen days afterwards, containing ten yards or 54 inch wide canvas. Of course, they made it good, after another course in correspondence and another irri- tating delay. That is, they returned the difference in price. But think Of it's taking a special mail order house sixteen days to cut off ten yards of cloth, wrap 1t up. address it and get it to me, who am just six hours by mail from their door! And even then not send the cloth ordered and paid for in advance!
 For another instance: an order for a few light automobile accessories, specially directed to be sent by par eel post with ample postage inclosed to pay the stamps. Goods sent later, by express, not by mail, compelling On my part an extra payment of more than double transportation charges, needless trip of ten miles to the ex- press station.-the post would have delivered them at my door,-and all on the false pretense that the pack age was too heavy for parcel post" It weighed just twelve pounds which is eight pounds less than the weight which might have been posted to San Francisco, and thirty eight pounds less than could have been mailed to me, who am within the second zone within which the limit is fifty pounds.
 For another instance: My subscrip- tion having expired to a certain New York daily paper, 1 sent them a re- newal for three months. When the renewal took effect l noticed that they had marked it to expire in two +I1 fr11- So I wrote courteous letter, calling their attention to their mistake, and promptly received a courteous reply, thanking me for mentioning the mat ter and promising a correction.
 That was week before last,-and l paper since that time! Though I have written twice, since, to advise them of their second mistake.
 And so it goes: Goods ordered are not shipped for days and weeks after the order is received: when shipped are not the ones carefully and speci- fically ordered but any old stuff which happens to come handy to chuck in: when ordered shipped by one special routing are invariably shipped by some ether which involves further delay and expense.
 I find that I am no exception in these matters, either. When I men ton my troubles to some neighbor, 1 have generally learned that he has had the same mis treatment from the same house.
 Can you tell me what is the state of mind or soul or body or wnat-not which leads the stores Of the big city to treat their rural would-be custom CTS this way? I don't know the exact name for it, but it is a vicious condi- tion, whatever it may be called The bigger the city, the worst 1t is. l have got so that l avoid New York city in every case where it is humanly possible. I can, ordinarily. get prompter service and squarer treat ment from Pittsburg CT Boston or even Chicago. But they're all bad enough, and the worst of it is that the same eallous neglect of customers rights and the same short sighted dis regard of future business IS coming to be shown by even country mer- chants, who used to take some inter est in their customers and try to please, even at some trif1ing momen- tary cost of time or trouble.
 Some years ago a noted writer put forth in a magazine article some thoughts on what he termed 'the prospects of a moral interregnum." He made it very clear that, unless cer- tam JendencleS Tn buSlneSS and life were checked or changed, we were in danger of drifting into a state where old moral bounds would be ignored if not destroyed.
 So far as business in the big cities is concerned, the predicted drift seems to have arrived, already. The old idea Of trade as a mutual exchange to mutual advantage is no longer held there. Instead the idea seems to be that it is just huge grab game in which the biggest hog gets the most swill.
 For heavens sake, can't we coun- try folks, who are still slow and "poky' enough to believe in such old