The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1918-04-13
Never Satisfied With Those
Things With Which They
Are Familiar.
inclined TO TAKE CHANCE
Curious Traits in Human Nature Have
Made Possible CrowtIlA lind Devel.
opment Of the Great Mail
Order Houses.

Copyright, 1917, Western Newspaper Union.)
A curious trait in human nature
makes itself apparent very frequently.
That is an inclination to trust in the
unknown rather than in that with
which one is familiar. A person is
very apt to take chance, even though
he may know that the odds are 100 to
one against him, instead of being salts
fed with lesser rewards about which
there is no possibility of doubt.
It is, possibly, the flaring up of the
ever-present gambling instinct but
there is something more in it than that.
There is in it the unexplained ten
dency on the part of most people to
reach for the chimerical and ignore
the tangible and substantial thing
which is near Mt hand. Man is sell
dom satisfied with those things that
are within his grasp but is reaching
always for the unattainable. Too Of
ten, he loses that which he might cas-
lily gain by blindly pursuing that which
is always just out of his reach.
Why "Con" Man Thrives.
Coupled, in a way, with his faith in
the unknown is the tendency on the
part Of so many people to place con-
fidence in q stranger in preference to
one who is known and has been tried
and proven. It is this tendency which
makes possible the operations of the
ICON" man, the get-rich-quick artist.
the INSCRIPTIONS promoter and the
salesman of worthless mining stocks.
The man who would not think of
trusting Bill Jones, his next-doOr
neighbor and fellow church member,
will confidingly turn over his life's
savings to a stranger who unfOlds q
tale of riches to be won. Bill Jones
might talk his head off in behalf Of
legitimate proposition without getting
a dollar where the slick stranger with
the worthless proposition can get thou
sands.
It is these two tendencies which, up
parently. are so widely prevalent
among all classes of people that have
made possible the success Of the great
mail order houses in the big cities.
A knowledge of psychology is us i'm
portant to the mail order man as a
knowledge of business practices. He
plays upon these tendencies of man
to take chance, to trust in the un-
known rather than the known, to place
confidence in the stranger rather than
the friend.
Hope to Draw Prize.
Those who buy merchandise from
mail order house are moved partly,
whether they realize it or not, by that
trait in their nature which prompts
them to trust In the unknown rather
than In that with which they are IA
miliar. They are hoping, it may be IN
consciously, that they will draw a prize.
They do not know what they will get
for it is impossible for one to know
what he Is going to get when he or
ders merchandise from a picture and
a highly colored description in cata-
logue. He is taking chance on the
unknown.
Buying merchandise from the local
merchant, on the other hand, contains
none of these elements of chance that
enter into the dealings with the mail
order house. When one buys a stove
from the hardware store in his home
town, he may get none of the thrills
that come from taking a chance but
he will get q stove that will last longer
and keep him warmer than the one
that he might get from the mail order
house and to the average individual,
these things are likely to be more i'm
portant than the thrills.
Using Your Eyes.
When you buy from the local mer-
chant you see the thing that you are
buying, you inspect 1t carefully, ex-
anime the workmanship and the quail
ity of the material of which it is made
and in many cases you have the privi-
lege Of testing 1t before paying for 1t.
You have not only your own eyes and
knowledge Of values to rely upon, but
you have the advantage Of the advice
Of the merchant who has an expert
knowledge Of the merchandise which
he is selling and who, In 80 cases out
Of 100, can be relied upon to tell the
truth about 1t. Then you have the
guarantee that is backed not only by
the retail merchant, but in many cases
by the manufactures. II the article
. which you buy does not prove satisfac.
tory after 1t is given Z fair test, you