The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-06-19

talented organlst to visit MS nome lie
was delighted. He was rather sensl'
tive about his own limitations as a
! nlaver and when he had guests he
cou]d not be induced to go to the or
gan. But he would, if he was pressed
play the piano, on which he was a
fair sort of performer.
There are a lot of stories illustra-
tive of Woolworth's business meth
ods. Once he went to Germany 10
visit a man from whom he had been
buv;ng penknives for years. Gong
into this mans Office one day, ne
said:
"Here's a knife that YOU make. 1t
a pretty good knife. It's higher
priced than the goods | handle. How
much does it cost you to manufacture
it?'
The German told him. IF l gave
YOU a big ORDER" and Mr.. WoolWorth
named a considera BILE total, "at what
price would you sell it to me?
"sixteen cents said the knife
man.
"If I give YOU an order sufficient to
keep your factory busy night ana
day, "a hours, for a year. what
them"
The German figured a long time.
Then he said, Eight cents
Done, - said Woolworth.
There was no pretense to WOOL
worth: he was big, bluff and hearty.
He didn't pay his employees partic-
ularly large wages and he held them
TO strict accountability He insisted
upon courtesy. "The customer is al
vavs right was one of his doc
trines "Never forget that. He or
she is right whether she is or not.
Once or twice or thrice a year ne
would shoot a telegram to everyone
in his hundred or more stores IN
America and have the same thlng
done in his so or 60 or more stores
in Canada, England or elsewhere
and this is about the way the mes
sages would read:
Good morning. Did you say 'Gooo
morning" to each customer this
morning?
Mr.. Woolworth had an admiration
for Napoleon that was little short OF
a passion. His office was furnished IN
exact duplication of one of Bona
narte's favorite rooms. He purchased
Napoleonic relics wherever he could
get them and he read and reread the
life Of the Little Corporal with more
interest than any other volumes IN
his library. His friends said ne lkeo
to believe he had some of the CHAR
acteristics of the great Corsican. He
certainly had the gift for organlza-
tion that was Napoleon's, but Wool
worth was at times merchant and
on1v q merchant, while Napoleon had
transcendent ability in many lines.
It is said Woolworth was one Oh
the first merchants of 'Amerlca TO
make a study of traffic density. For-
merlv it was the custom for mer-
chant to depend on his judgment as
to the choice of location for his store.
A good many years ago WoolWortn
began "measuring" the volume OF the
human tide and the character OF us
elements before he decided upon ieas-
ing or buying store. He endeavoreo
also to keep track accurately OF the
traffic charges in all cities of conse-
ouence. An excellent location meant
snccess A fair location meant fall
ure He wanted no failures. IN eV-
erv> branch of his business ne trleo
n bo as exact, as certain of good re-
su1ts as humanly possible.
He and all great purchasers hhe
him came in for bitter criticism at
times No doubt, by taking the ell
tire output of factories for year or
more. they were able, by reason OF
having shunted off the manu1ac-
tnrers' former customers, to dictate
TO the manufacturer as to production
costs and. not infrequently, reduce
him to subserviency in them. IhaI
was a vicious practice.
There was criticism, too, OF the IN
Justice to small town merchants Oh
such competition as that of the cha1n
store. Mr.. Woolworth felt this crlti-
cism keenly. He had been a strus-
Cling storekeeper and knew the trials
of the man of small capital, but ne
said there was no escape from eco
nomic law and the small merchant
who could not stand against the force
If competition had to succumo. IL