The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-04-06
RIDICULE, VOICE OF FAILURE
Never Stops the Onward March of Progress Frown
Down the Disturber

an Ungenerous Tenper-The safe
Plan is Always to Do the Task That
Lies Nearest Us.
| Copyrighted. 1914, by Thomas ]. Sullivan
Ridicule may be an evidence of wit
or bitterness and may crafty little
mind or an ungenerous temper, but is
no test of reason, truth or manhood.
Ridicule, besides being conscious and
| unconscious, may also be indirect as
well as direct, negative as well as
positive, paralyZing as well as anus
ing. And myriad in number and kind
are the ridiculous suggestions made
and being made by the enemies and
victims of the mail order concerns in
the hope of stopping their onward
march of progress.
Do merchants always appreciate
their advantage? Would a friend of
the merchant or dealer have sent his
first order to stranger who showed
pictures instead of goods, who talked
on paper instead Of face to face. who
demanded pay in advance instead of
allowing a more unlimited credit had
the merchant improved his advan-
tages?
Ought to Emulate Rivals.
l. 1t would seem that after one expe-
Renee of long delays, quite common
and to a great extent unavoidable in
trading with mail order houses, after
one experience of putting things to-
gether for himself, after one expe-
rience of waiting for missing part
the friend would not have taken the
trouble to order by mail from a stran-
ger had the local merchant or dealer
always improved his opportunities.
Everything that happens to us leaves
some trace behind it; everything con-
tributes imperceptibly to form us. Yet
often it is dangerous to take strict
account of that for either we grow
proud and negligent or downcast and
dispirited, and both are equally in
furious in their consequences. Always
the safe plan is to do the task which
lies nearest us and which will augur
for our best interests and those of
others.
If success can be attained by the re-
tail mail order houses, working under
disadvantages. why cannot the local
merchant, who has none of these dis
advantages. succeed? He can by imi-
tating their methods and practices, by
allowing uudisturbed inspection Of
goods and by polite and courteous
treatment of all visitors to his store,
thus creating new customers and con-
tinuing to supply old ones.
In a certain Indiana town young
man ordered heating stove. price
$685.. When the stove came he was
very much disappointed. The stove
was small. while the picture in the
catalogue made 1t appear large and Or
namental. Had this young man visit
ed his local dealer and inspected the
1896 stove he would not have bought
it, but would have selected one for
$12 or $14 and would have got the
right kind and one that would have
satisfied his needs.
A Minnesota farmer ordered FIVE
rolls of barbed wire. After 1t came
and he had paid the freight he discov-
cred that he could have bought the
same Identical wire from his local
dealer and could have saved 81, also
much time and trouble.
Mail Order Fence In Woodshed.
Another man living in a village or
dered some wire fencing from pic
ture in catalogue, and when 1t came
it was SO cheap looking that his pride
would not allow him to disfgure his
grounds with such fence, so he stor-
ed it in his woodshed and bought what
he wanted from his local dealer.
A lady in little town in Missouri
sent to one of the large mail order |
houses for a pair Of shoes. inclosing
S1.97 with her order. After two weeks |
the shoes came by freight; charges |
were % cents, which she paid After
taking the shoes home she found they |
did not fit, SO she repacked them and |
sent them back by express. and after |
another two weeks wait another pair |
Of shoes came by freight with more
charges attached. To the lady's dis
may. these shoes were no nearer a fit |
than the first pair. She then gave up
in despair and visited her local dealer.
her investment of $3.50 to
experience.
We should like to suggest to the con
sumner that he be honest with himself:
buy at home; help support his own
own: make his own home more val
liable. Let Mr.. Mail Order Man sell
his good things in his own town. In
itead Of his fooling you. you fool him
~ trading at home.
Let each community become a CO.
operative commonwealth to the extent
hat its, citizens shall work together to
,uild up and sustain that community,
working with neutrality-suspicious.
the home. town. city,
'ounty and state; let civic pride and
inhibition be fostered: let the profess
ionaI Crouch and disturber of the
,uhlip npapa he froUnad dawn. 1at tho