The Washington herald., 1920-04-25
Peruoians Ditrustm Of u. S. Goods
Because, too Ere quently, They Order
Good Quality. and Get Only Seconds
ny JAMES H. COLLINS.


Lima, Peru. April 24.--They spoke
of the theatef seats with certain
giee, like boys, yet also tactfuIiy.
because they were Britons, and the
listener Yankee. and those seats
were from Chicago. Among the ex-
Port sights Of Lima. they should not
be missed. To preserve the interna.
tional relations, the Britons would
up by saying that the theater pro-
prietor's real preference had been
for German seats, anyway, because
the Germans had treated him SO
well In other matters before the war.
The listener went to see them at
the Teatro olimpo. which is a sight
in itself. because the proprietor has
virtually built a national opera
house as a private enterprise dur
ing the war, putting a million dol
lars of his own money into II.
Senator NJ. NJ. Forero is a Lima
attorney with a son studying sci
entific agriculture in the United
States who enlisted in our army
during the war. His theater has
been under construction four years.
1t VIII open next July with opera
perhaps Caruso. He has built II
partly out of catalogues. A French
architects error cost him $50, 1000,
whereupon he bought several thou
sand dollars worth Of books and
plans studied theater construction
himself and re-designed the build
Ing with a young Peruvian archi-
tect. Likewise he got hundreds of
catalogues from the United States,
and selected fittings and materials,
chandeliers. drop-curtain apparatus,
interior telephones, electric fixtures.
things for safety like metal con-
duits for electrical wires, things of
cleanliness and beauty like encaus-
TIC tile, resembling alabaster. and
virtually unknown In the tile loving
southern countries which know only
the product made by pouring COM
mon cement, colored deterrent tints,
! into patterned mold. With many
OF these products he fell in love at
frst sight. but not with the busi-
ness methods Of their makers.
+ Got Sents in Chicago.
I Out OF a catalogue he selected his
seats. Chicago company sent
MIN sample. 1t had a well-fnish-
ed semisteel frame, uphoIstered
with leather and the monogram of
the theater upon its back. Chicago
demanded that credit be opened
IN that city and the seats paid for
neiore shipment. He complied with
der. "'s UT
The seats arrived. The frames
/ were cast iron. gaudily decorated
win early North German Lloyd er-
iects' More than so per cent of
them were broken. There was no
monogram on the back. They were
upholstered in imitation leather,
and that had been wrapped in news
papers which stuck to the fabric
under the sweating climate OF the
tropics They arrived two years
I ago. yet from that day to this. de-
spite promises, he has been unable
10 get redress or replacement from
II. H.
ments of material have arrived from
the United States in bad condition
due to bad packing Many of the
beautifur tile were climbed. glass
ware broken, nails driven through
SILK curtains by shipping clerks,
freight bills Increased by the use
Z of secondhand boxes twice as larr.
as necessary.
/ For years we have heard the
story of bad packing again and
again. This is story. not of bad
packing. but downright crooked
ness. II you could inspect this mis-
cellancous stuff in Lima. see the
damage, substitution and bad faith
and talk with the man who had
been robbed of his money. you
would not he very proud of your
country or your countrymen.
During the war a new industry
sprang up in the United States
that of push-button exporting. Man
ufacturers hastily organized export
departments which were top heavy
on the selling side, but shy when II
come to delivering the goods. Once
the customer abroad had paid his
money they pushed a button and let
George do the rest. Hundreds of
mushroom export houses sprang up,
sending out samples of merChan-
disc, and when orders came from
other countries, the push button
was likewise pressed and George
left to do his damndest.
For some reason the Peruvians
seem to have been victimiZed more
than anybody else in Latin America
i by these crooked concerns There
are probably less than a hundred
Americans in Lima, and no cham
ber of commerce or business or
gantzation to arbitrate damage and
dishonesty. We have 4 consul and
trade commissioner in Lima. Both
have been kept busy with the
troubles arising from America n
concerns that are crooked through
i""d through. or while reputable at
home are incompetent or dishonest
".., hr three mile limit.
':'' Hh'nment Of "Seconds.-
A New York jobbing house dis
trIDu.ru samples of hosiery among
the Lima importers. 1t is an old
concern of good reputation. One
sample of cotton socks at 81 n doz-
en- was excellent value. An Ameri-
! can importer in Lima ordered 400
dozen pair. He received four jutc
bags filled with seconds and thirds
of cighty-cent quality socks, many
of which were worn and torn. Some
body had organized for world trade
up to the point of landing the order