Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-08-05

). epedai Corrsspocdencs Of M Star.
), 81 n cabled from Paris that fourteen
!; cpiors have been introduced into our
!: L. autumn costumery.
:. - This IL Joyful news to the dress
). msfer as well as to the amateur in color
. schemes. but II brings sense Of depres-
:, eion to tho artist. The vast assembling
!, Of colors IN one season Is excellent for
!: the commerce Of q country. 1t provides
: Q psrsuastve plea to be used to coax
!. ne coin out Of purses: It gives clerk
: sonsthtng to talk about: It enhances the
pleasure Of shopping to the woman who is
nsyse certain what she wants to wear;
!. II gives to the inveterate shopper-the
). woman who goes from store to store on
" pleasure bent, and who does not buy
(. enough IN q season to warrant one shop
:. ping tour-another chance to stimulate
i her excitement.
:, One n tempted to speculate on the re-
:. duction OF excitement that VIII come to
= that kind Of shopper II the no-sample law
: and the no-returned-goods law come into
i AFFECT this autumn.
: The chopper who ffnds her greatest
naturalization Of the day IN vaguely spec
;. uAHng On what she can make out Of
,,evsrythfns ale sees, and. to aid in her
;. tneditations On this subject. requests that
;, gfvsn to her. win experience depression
:. II samples are refused and goods are not
sent mp for approval
The shops of the American continent
are fighting this question today to the
:, best Of their ability. They're ranging up
. all tho advantages and disadvantages, in
two parallel lines and having great ex-
perts nnd out whether or not 1t Is adj
- ~ A. ~%fr -.
The cry Of the country Is against the
vastage Of food and fabric, and the de-
6gners are contemplating the cutting OF
o. an friIls. superfuous pockets and extra
hats Of cloth that are not necessary TO
mako clothes smart.
Srely. II the designers are determined
-o-eut on unnecessary inches Of material
fn the making Of costumes, the merchants
sAnpiss- The figures that have been
made out by thu experts as to the vast
Age- OF fabric IN the giving Of samples by
; sEaw shop On this continent read like
: var statistics. They deal in billions, in
U1zd Of hundreds.
Tho merchants are quite aware that ii
may work to their disadvantage to refuse
aG1nples, and II may be that clerks In
ck<t1fn shops will be given leeway in
uztux their Judgment as to whom to re-
A1ee and to whom to give; but 1t Is prob
abb that there win be a drastic super
Vision or curtaifment Of sending goods on
approval ana giving pieces OF faprfc 10
The merchants Of the country feel that
they have gone too far in leniency toward
customers. Extraordinary waste has
been involved in the system which 10
now accepted a. the courteous and con-
veutent one.
--.Yhe immense and sweeping reform
Which was brought about by the adoption
4oEme price against o reduction Of price
through bargaining has placed merchan-
0fser IN this country on q solid basis. 1t
was great merchant and . man with
VISION who saw the evils Of conducting a
oSpe<tment shop on the basis Of q oriental
eh6p. where one Ii supposed to bargain
fora half hour in an effort to reduce the
price. and where high price is put on
svefy article because the bargaining 10
QeH Of the game.
IN the beginning the pubic resented
tbs attitude Of the merchants. Now
there are thousands Of people in this gen.
ereton who do not know that any other
A1etAod existed except the one-price
method
-,<-y s.
lathe days before the reform was as
ka0zAhed women went out to bargain.
k-1as the prime recreation OF their lives
Hheant as much to them as cross
enFntnation' to a lawyer. It was the |
sp9rn Of shopping. The woman who felt
fhsf by her ssillful tongue and shrevd
knowledge Of values she could compel a
merchant 70 come down. penny by penny, |
reached. came hsne with a triumphant
air that she impaired to her neighbors.
one felt grieved when the evil thing
2pch had slapped the commerce. Of this