Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1917-03-24
WOMEN MAKING GOOD
 SELLING MOTOR CARS

SELLING MOTOR CARS
 Will you, hard-hea1ted business man or heiress to millions, purchase i your next automobile from a dappar man, who rattles sales talk all too fluently, or will you be won over by a dainty miss, in latest frock and l feather, whose knowledge of motor cars is as deep and splendid as the most motor-wise salesman in the in- dustry?
 For today in several growing cities in this land of automobiles, there are fine up-to-date salesrooms and service stations presided over by women.
 It's no longer story of how well she drives car. It's tale of how well she sells one and how well she handles repairs. And the men must look to their laurels
 Why have women forsaken the school, the library, the kitchen sink and the department store counter for the garage and show rooms? In the words of little Miss May w. Brooke, agent for Detroit Electrics in Norfolk. Virginia, is the answer
 Because it gives me chance to express myself and I am tired of being moulded intoa someone else's design for a stated sum per month"
 That also epitomizes the replies of Mrs. Helen T. Goodwin, of Boston, Miss Italia D. Evans, of Fort Wayne. Ind, Miss Mary B. Mcdowell, of Sharon, Pa., Miss Hope Loughbor- ough, of Little Rock, Ark, and other women in other towns who earn no, only their daily bread, but silks and satins, marketing Detroit Electrics in their territories.
 Today, Miss Mcdowell, for one. is head of her own agency in Sharon. Whats more she does a majority of the battery work herself and she al- ways solves the knotty problems when the men mechanics scratch their heads and deal ir profane gen. eralities. Miss Brooke sells her full quota of cars to the courtly gentle- men and mesdames of the F. F. V's, She knows an electric car from tire to trimming.
 Miss Evans is the local sales agent for Detroit Electrics in Fort Wayne Ind, a thriving town of 65,OOO. She had her choice of doling out books in library or selling automobiles. She took the latter.
 "I try to make my selling argu ments short and concise, and do the best l can to live down the old tra- dition that woman talks too much,;' says Miss Evans.
 Up in Little Rock, Ark, Miss Loughborough looks after the sales Of electrics and has since the day she gave up instructing young America in the three "R'ss; while up in staid old Boston Mrs. Goodwin is sell ing coupes to the Beacon street fami- lies whose calling list is selected en- tlrely from the membership of the 1 Mayflower society.
 What do all these ltdes think of selling automobiles?
 To start with, they prefer to sell to women. Mere man is too likely to be courteous to them-for feminity's sake-but do his buying from a brother.
 "They hesitate to approach the question of a rake-off to a woman l says Miss Loughborough 'They ! have more faith in mans know 1 ledge" l Miss Brooke thinks feminine fin ! cry has the advantage over mascu-
 line charms of person, but this is counterbalanced by the centuries old
 prejudice against the business wom- an.
 "A woman is not supposed to
 know anything about business" she says, "and granted that she does, it's
 so amusing to think she knows or
 cares about such things, that the
 automobile and its merits take second
 place in the prospects mind." l Mrs. Goodwin, however, comes to
 the rescue of the sterner sex. She
 says she sells to as many men as
 women-and that speaks volumes for
 Bostonian courtesy.
 "But," she continues, sometimes
 have to let a man close the sale wher
 the time comes to talk dollars and cents'
 One point, however, all these sue
 oessful women salesmen-and tha
 expression is used to give then
 proper title-are agreed. They firm ly believe that women can sell auto
 mobiles as well as a man; under
 stand mechanical details as well as {
 man, and handle the business as wei
 as any "he" that ever sold a motor
 car.
 The volume of water flowing in tn