Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1916-08-17
The S. F. Trade
Excursion Special

a MllOltbdlc LIdue tACulbl SOh
sisting OF nearly one hundred repre-
sentatives of the principal wholesale,
manufacturing and banking members
of the San Francisco Chamber OF
Commerce will start for visit to
Coos Bay and southern Oregon on
Saturday, August 10, in an eleven
car special train of Pullmans, dining
cars and observation cars.
The party will arrive at Ashland at
4:SO p. m. Saturday, August 26, and
Twill remain here two hours.
This wholesale trade excursion OF
the San Francisco Chamber of Com
merce is the ninth of such trips that
have been run under its auspices, or
of the former Merchants Association
of San Francisco which merged with
the chamber in 1911.
The first excursion was to the
southern San Joaquin valley in Octo-
ber, 1910. The next was to the
northern San Joaquin valley, and the
district visited was that from Fresno
north to Tracy. This was followed
by one to the Sacramento valley and
klamath Falls, an eight-day trip dur
ing which over forty cities and towns
we're visited. The next trip was to
the Mother Lode mining section, and
this was followed by excursions down
the coast line from San Jose to Los
Angeles, and one to Napa and Son
oma counties, and a second trip to
the southern San Joaquin valley.
The 1915 excursion was to Hum
boldt county. The present excursion
is the first to be run outside OF the
state of California.
While the Chamber OF Commerce
made several sightseeing trips previ-
GUS to the eight above mentioned
these wholesale trade excursions are
distinct from all others in that they
are personal visit" trips in the full
est sense. and their main purpose IS
to promote personal acquaintance be-
tween the heads of the San Francisco
firms and their customers in the
towns visited, and enable the princl-
pals of the firm to study at first hand
the needs of the interior merchants.
For this reason these excursions are
limited to the heads, or the principal
officers. of the wholesale, 1obbing,
manufacturing, banking, insurance
and real estate members Of the cham
ber.
Formal entertainments in the
towns visited are not encouraged, and
instead the members Of the party
spend their time principally in per-
sonally visiting the different firms in
their respective lines at their places
of business, and in short rides around
the adjacent country to see its re-
sources. Order taking is barred on
the excursion and the visit is solely
in the nature of social call. In this
way the principals of the San Fran
cisco firms are enabled to become per-
sonally acquainted with the men with
whom they are doing business, to see
their stores and stocks, to size up
the future of these stores, and In ad-
dition to learn at first hand whether
the local merchants have any COM
plaints to make regarding prices,
qualities or deliveries.
Many complaints by local mer-
J chants have been quickly adjusted TO
the satisfaction of both parties when
the principals got together, which
perhaps would never have been set
tied otherwise because the matter at
, issue had never been brought to the
attention of the head Of the firm with
all the facts clearly presented. Also
in some cases the local firm has been
found entitled to a larger line OF
credit because the San Francisco mer-
, chant was able, through his visit, to
form a clearer idea of the growing
| Importance of the community in
which the store was established, and
, to realize the character and size OF
stocks that must be carried by the
/ local merchant to meet his demands.
, Besides the mercantile representa-
| tives, the Chamber of Commerce al
: ways has some of the heads of the
passenger and freight departments of
the railroad lines travelled accom-
panying the party for the purpose of
studying at first hand the transporta-
tion facilities furnished the various
places visited, and to receive and ad-
just, if possible, any complaints re-
garding passenger service or freight
deliveries from San Francisco. This
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