The Washington herald., 1918-02-12
HOW BUSINESS
AIDS WAR TOLD
BY SELFRIDGE
English Captain Of Industry
Describes Methods to
D. c. Merchants.

Organised business of Washing
ton. at an open meeting OF the Re-
tall Merchants Association, at the
willard. yesterday received from n.
Gordon selfridge, London's biggest
department store magnate. an out
line of methods by which English
business Is aiding In carrying on"
the world war. One hundred busi-
ness men Of Washington attend
ed.
Mr.. Selfridge stated that every
concern in England was holding
open for the boys in the trenches
the situations vacated by them to
fight for the country.
EVERY man from my establish
ment." he said, may rest assured
that Selfridge and Company, will
retain the same positions they left
when they, return from the war.
selves promoted
Duty Of Employers
employers Of England" declared
the magnet. look upon 1t as a duty to
care for the families OF the men in
the trenches. We have sought out
every Individual case in our estao-
lishment and provided for them, SO
that every man with a wife and chill
dren who went to the front for Eng
land will be sure that his family at
home IL being cared for.
Employers also send a personal let
ter to each of their employees In the
army at least once a week. This
makes the boys certain that they are
being thought of at home. Fighters
in France, or Sebastipol, or Egypt
or Malta or at any end Of the earth
where they may be, must feel a thrill
of happiness when they open a letter
TO read little anecdotes Of the depart
ment which they left. the changes
which are being made in the store ana
little scraps of personal items for
which men away from home hunger"
Hardened to Air Raids.
Mr.. selfridge said that air raids
| In London occasion no more excite
ment or hysteria any longer than q
good sized thunderstorm. When the
explosions from the dropping bombs
| start, he declared, persons In the
| streets make calmly for shelter, for
the tubes constructed seventy-fve feet
beneath streets or for the basement
| of "Selfridge's store, which as as safe
as a fort" There they pass away
the time pleasantly until the signal
| ''all clear is sounded. when London
resumes her daily duties.
The Germans must soon realize that
they are fighting a granite wall when
! they are fighting England by the
] air, according to Mr.. Selfridge. be-
cause there Is no longer any hysteria
caused by the raiding planes. Every
man In England understands that
| the war must be won, and won at
the cost of great sacrifices, so that
the Germans are causing no more
than temporary Inconvenience by
| their air raids.
Speaking Of the food problem OF
Britain, Mr.. Selfridge declared that
his table was now and then without
butter. and that sugar was always
hard to obtain. He said that there
was always enough to eat. and more,
but that the waste which had always
characterized a prosperous nation was
missing.
/ 1NcEypOoy "ofkhhSs
I'VE are finding how delightful
| real work is" he said calling the
attention Of the merchants to the
increased industry OF the English.
Every one really works, and lazi-
ness Is looked upon with an abhor-
rance. 1t is like a game of football
J played upon q ground which is hard
and frozen. The people are not
looking at the game with an ex-
| pectancy Of getting bruises from the
| hard ground, but are going into the
at any cost"
abandoned at the time when he left
London, the merchant said. Busi-
ness houses were as thoroughly pa
triotic as could be wished for. News
papers were sought after by adver-
tisers instead of vice versa
Contracts for advertising space
in newspapers are extremely valu-
able. There is no more patriotic
duty which can be accomplished
than by having a big business
house turn over its space for ads
to the government. This has been
done time and time again by mer-
chants, some Of the largest not ad-
vertising their line of goods for
weeks in order to give the govern
ment the benefit of the space. Ad-
vertising. space is so crowded that
business men have almost got to
get to their knees to secure a con-
tract.