Smyrna times., 1925-12-23
The Bean of
Bessie Button
By WILLIS BRINDLEY
20. 1898. Western Newspaper Union)


= the habit which Mr.. Greer had Of
calling the whole office force into his
Office on Monday morning for a heart
tO-heart talk was very nice habit in
deed.
when 1 write a dealer in favor of
Proposition A." said Mr.. Greer, "and
tell the dealer that 1 am enclosing
Proposition A, and then there is no
enclosure, what does the dealer think
Of us?
''What does the dealer think Of the
Ne Plus Ultra Washing Machine cor
pOration, Miss ButtOn?"
What, indeed. Miss Button spoke
what was on her mind. What she had
been thinking about was the price of
hats, and what she thought was that
the price of hats was too much for a
girl who had to pay board at home out
Of twenty-five dollars a week. And
the words which she had heard her
self say to the saleswoman popped out
Of her:
"ToO much"
Mr.. Greer mistaklng her blunder for
wit, beamed happily.
"That's right, Miss Button. Too
much-toO much that is not good
about US. Always enclose. the enclOs-
ures. We need intelligence in this
business. To speak in the vernacular,
we must, each and every one Of us,
use the old bean"
He paused and wrinkled his fore
head.
"Oh, yes, and 1 have a happy
thought. The next young lady that
uses the bean in some constructive
way for the good of the company shall
have a reward What shall 1t be? Let
me think. A new hat! Well
ah-I think that will be all this morn
ing. You may stay for dictation, Miss
Button"
Miss Button scurried for her note
book and pencil. Mr.. Greer dictated.
At last he came to the bottom letter in
the pile-and as he read this letter, he
frOwned and swore softly. Then he
burst forth in a torrent
After all we have done for you
special demonstration by our own peo-
pie at no cost to you and
then to have you switch to wholly in
feriOr line like Washo-Clean
machine which has been thrown out of
thousands Of homes. ="
Mr.. Greer snapped 1t off, finally,
with an abrupt yours truly" and
reached for his hat.
Meeting at noOn," he said "An-
other meeting at twO-thirty. Won't be
back. Sign all but the last with my
rubber stamp and dictated but not
read. Leave the last one on my desk
see that it's here by the time I get
here in the morning"
He was gone Bessie Button strolled
to her typewriter and began to pick at
it discouragedly. She wrote: after
all we have done for your special dem
onstration homes wretchedly
constructed Of inferior material"
Hold on, this wasn't about homes but
about washing machines. She tried
again.
The closing bell rang Better may,
be, in the morning
But in the morning it was worse.
Mr.. Greer strobe by nodding to the
Office force. She followed him into his
office to confess her failure and ash
him to dictate the letter over.
Il don't see that letter, that Ions
letter, on my desk, Miss Button"
mo She chOked at that, coult
say no more.
Il believe" he paused and looked
at her, appraisingly. I'm going tC
ask you question. Did you read last
nights paper?"
"Yes," said Bessie Button.
You read last nights paper, ant
then what did you do with my letter.
II tore it up"
you tore It up. Good! Good
Couldn't be better. Call 'em in. Cal
'em all in. We're going to have 4
meeting"
She called them in.
Yesterday morning dictated 8
strong letter to Miss Button, addressed
to an agent who had announced hi,
intention OF throwing out our line II
: favor of the WashO-Cleano line, Oul
strongest competitor and I may sa,
to you now, a machine enjoying Ger
tain selling points of value, protected
by patents which I have been unabl,
to buy or to get round. At noon YES
\ terday heard that the Washo- Clean,
people were in financial straits. I wen
over to see them at once, made then
H an offer, they took me up on it. go
the news into the late afternoon edi
tiOns. And now. here's where Mis-
Button comes in"
Miss Button reads the papers. Sh,
read what had happened Instantly sh,
II sensed that l would not now, bein,
II the owner Of WashO-C -Cleano, want T,
II write anything disparaging abou
II Washo-CleanO, and so this morning. in
II stead Of leaving the letter on my desk
II what dld she do? What did she do
II She used the old bean. She tore tha