Putnam patriot. [volume] (Putnam, Conn.) 1872-1962, 1925-05-08
MAIL ORDER HOUSE
VS.. HOME MERCHANT
How Ii Works Out In Favor OF
the Local Storekeeper Ev-
cry Time

now TX works Out In Favor OF
the Local Storekeeper Ev-
cry Time
Putnam Business Houses Deserve An
Even Chance
The Putnam Chamber Of Commerce
Is consistently pounding away in a
campaign TO get Putnam people to do
their buying in Putnam stores. The
local merchants greatest competitor
| Is the mail order house. The follow
4 ing little story under the caption.
Give Him An Even Chance" re-
printed from the Larro Dairyman.
emphasizes exactly what is happening
every day, yet few buyers who order
from the pretty pictures in a catalog
Of mail order house do not realize
| il:
Give Him An Even Chance
In my home town there used to be
man whom | will call Jacob Haskins.
whose boast il was that no one ever
got the better Of him in a bargain.
Mr.. Haskins was large, stout man
with brownish gray whiskers, who had
at one time been a farmer, but some
years before the time of which
write he had moved into town and de-
voted himself TO lending money on
chattel mortgages. which operations
proved quite profitable, inasmuch as
Mr.. Haskins always took care that the
security was good for the loan. and
he never failed to take possession Of
the chattels promptly in case the loan
was not paid.
/ Watch Goes Bad
On one occasion Mr.. Haskins car
ried his watch into the jewelry and re-
pair shop of Fred Thorne, our local
watch..::s..:s. Ler, 10 have !. repaired. The
timepiece was pretty well smashed up /;
Mr.. Haskins claimed the damage had
been sustained through falling on the
cement floor of his garage; but there
were those who said il was the result
of rough and tumble fight that Mr..
Haskins INDUCED in with a tenant
farmer out on the Greek road over the
matter of disputed DEBT Anyhow,
the watch was so badly broken that
! Fred Thorne said il would cost more
than a new one to repair il. He had
| in his show case good silver-casei
| timepieee which he offered TO sell Mr..
Haskins for twenty dollars, but the
latter said he didn't intend to pay
such fancy profits and he knew he
could beat the price by buying else
where.
Gets Catalogs
With this end in view Mr.. Haskins
began writing 60 houses in various
cities that advertised selling goods by
mail, asking for their eatalogs and
price lists. Fred Thorne's place is
just across from the post office. and
every morning for couple OF weeks
thereafter he saw Mr.. Haskins 20 in
to open his lock box and come out
again carrying a handful of mail or
der literature which he opened and
scrutinized on his way down the
street. One morning as he came out
of the post Office he had an opened
/ letter in his hand which seemed to
give him considerable satisfaction. for
he was smiling and nodding his head
as he read It, and 10 Fred's surprise
he walked directly across the street
and into the jeweify shop. He laid
the letter on Fred's counter
Il want you To look ut this" he
said triumphantly. "The same watch
that YOU tried To stick me twenty dol
lars for is priced here at SlS.9s. Yet
all you storekeepers here in town
think everybody ought to trade at
homel What have you got to say to
that"
Picking BY Picture
Fred Thorne is kind OF humorist
in quiet way, and he only smiled
pleasantly as he looked over the pic.
ture of the watch and the letter that
accompanied it.
1T looks all right" he said finally,
but Of course il is impossible 10 tell
| by picture whether the silver case
on the watch is as heavy as the one
tried to sell you. Then too, watch
sometimes needs a little regulating
'after person buys it, and certainly
| il would be something Of job for
you to send il back to the mail order
house every time il had to have atten-
ton" Then new thought seemed to
strike him.
''I'll tell you what I'll do. Mr. Has
kins." he said, ''if you'll buy my
watch under the same conditions that
you would have TO buy it from the
mail order house, I'll let you have 1t
for S1S.9sp
Mr.. Haskins. who probably had
this in mind all the time, pulled a
twenty dollar bill out Of his pocket
and slapped it down on the counter.
Fred Thorne pushed the bill back at
him.
First a Stamp
mo, not yet" ne said, that's do
ing business too fast. First, give me
two-cent stamp, please"
Mr.. Haskins demanded TO know
why.
because you would have to use a
stamp in ordering the watch by mail, y
Fred answered "You know you've
promised to abide by the rules"
Mr.. Haskins grumbled a little, but
he saw the point and so he walked
across to the post Office, bought two
cent stamp and brought 1t to the jew
eler, at the same time throwing his
twenty dollar bill once more on the
counter. Thorne took the stamp but
pushed the money back.
"That's not the way mail order
business is done" he said pleasantly.
you'll have 10 go back 10 the post
Office now and buy money orderw