New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-02-04
BEFORE

: article is az inadvisable as it is dis
honest.
The purchase was made on the install
ment plan. Appraisal proved u 10 re
one OF the very worst bargains tast
has ever come into The Tribune Office
in the course OF long campaign deal
ing with bad bargains. The framework
Of the chairs Is birch, poorly mahog-
anized. The seats are stuffed with an
anphibious mixture Of excelsior and
seaweed which will hatten out after the
springs begin 70 give. The three pieces,
offered in print for s69.7s, repre-.
scented in print 70 be worth 500,
and actually sold at Sl5l.25, might By
a magnanimous soul be allowed a max
imum retail appraisal OF $50 But the
consensus OF expert opinion estimates u
az about sos. Establishing the fact
the Ludwig Baumsnn & Co. are not
in business exclusively for their
health!
When, in the course OF an investigs-
ton Of the instalment clothing bust
ness, Tribune shoppers had purchased
az Kelly's, 263 Sixth Avenue, a mis-
represented coat at price well above
what Il was worth, a cordial invitation
was extended 10 come In later and LOOK
a. the furniture bargains. OF course.
the store people had no suspicion Of
the purpose OF the purchasers. Curious
iy enough, the acceptance Of the invi-
tation reused little interest in the
salesman assigned 70 them, VINO as
sumed the listless and bored air proper
lin a certain kind Of store) TO service
upon lockers" who will probably not
devlop into buyers. Herein the sales
man did some poor guessing. Being
there 20 buy, the visitors priced q
Morris chair, an exhibition Of good
faith which reused the salesman from
his torpor sufficiently TO state the price
as $500. This must have cost him
some effort, as the real price, sttested
by the ticket on the leg was SO. Hav-
ing named his price, he stuck 20 IL, in
spite OF several efforts 20 beat MIN
down. Finally, one Of the investi-
gators called his attention 70 the tag.
This says So
"Oh." said the salesman, YEARLY:
That's for the frame. The cushions
are extra"
In proof Of which he turned the
cushion. revealing with the sudden
ness and surprise OF a jack -the-box
g second tag specifying sl0.75.
Appeal was then made 20 arithmetic.
How DO you figure out s2S?" the
salesman was asked. Ten dollars
plus ten seven'y-fve comes 20 only
twenty seventy-hve, doesn't it?'
Let no man hope 70 beat out the
Kelly system b. any method as simple
ss addition. That bored and languid
salesman had something in him besides
& yearning for peace and quiet. He
was all ready and pr.med.
Tho balance Is for the seat" he ex-
planned.
We paid and got out, humbly CRATE
fGl that IL hadn't occurred to him 70
charge US extra for any one or all OF
the legs.
But though the chair as purchased
has four legs 70 stand on. the valus-
ton hasn't one, At $1,000. the tag
price. II would have been a good bar
gain. as 10 was good bait. Al $500
it's a joke. on the customer. The
cushions-sest and back-are filed
with goat hair. and the covering is
poor grade Of imitation leather. At
$500 the chair complete would rep
resent fat profit
At :. Baumrnn & Co.'S. 46th s.. and
Sth Avenue there was the same kind
OF disparity between advertised prices
and sales prices "a had been expert