The Wilmington morning star., 1947-11-09
LEAF BUSINESS
Continued From Page One)

a profit or loss to the farmer
selling the tobacco.
It's the same thing in most
phases of this end Of the tobac-
co business. Men who run the
business are strictly informal.
When they make decisions mo-
mentous enough to mean thous-
70 snds-vea, millions Of dollars
they do so with the casualness
of the butcher wrapping up a
fifty cent order-that would be
a ten-cent order back in nor-
NAL times-of soup bones.
The gentlemen who run the
business do not gather n SOL
M conclave to set policies.
They do not dress in swallow
tail coats, gates aJar collars
and striped trousers and sit at
mahogany = topped tables with
sleek and slim secretaries how
ering around to iot down each
word that may be spoken. Even
when the decisions they're
about TO make may mean, as l
say. thousands or millions
Just to give you an idea: the
other morning my friends Oscar
blanchard. Bill Hussey, and
Rack Rackley, who comprise
the Marketing committee Of the
Wallace Tobacco Board of
Trade, had before them a poser,
of a problem: When to Close
the Wallace Tobacco Market for
the 1947 Season?
Did /, as a sort Of general
flunkey to this group, formally
notify these gentlemen that
there was to be such a meeting
of their minds and prepare a
carved oak table for them to sit
at while they were pondering
and cogitating over this ques-
ton which could mean thous-
ands or millions?
l did not. I said, in a tone of
voice that could be heard from
one end of a warehouse to the
other: "Hey, Bill, let's you and
Oscar and Rack get over here
in a corner and figger out when
YOU want to close up.
Just like that.
And Oscar and Bill and Rack
moseyed over in a corner and
| took out an old envelope and
a stub of a pencil with which
to jot down their decisions.
One-I forget whether it was
Oscar or Bill or Rack-said to
the others: "Anything you boys
say is okay by me" Then the
other two expressed likewise
sentiments.
Then George Bennett, who
helps Bill Hussey run a couple
of warehouses, ambled over and
allowed he'd flip a coin to de-
eide. Then John Chestnut, who's
one of Racks partners, hove to
and said it didn't make any diff
ference to him when we closed.
All the time l was keeping
my eye on a pert blonde who'd
rust passd by and was swish
ing down the street. Meanwhile,
Sam Loftin, Jenkins buyer; Bob
Sisk, Reynolds buyer; maybe
Dick Reynolds, government in
spector; and Hugh Morrison,
accountant; were lounging
around on nearby piles Of to-
bacco trying to decide whether
mullets or spots would be best
for a fish fry we're all planning
over here before the season
ends.
l told Oscar and Rack and
Bill I had to put something
down on my envelope so l could
60 call the papers and tell en-
when we were going to close.
So, presently, they said:
"Okay, make it Wednesday,.
l jotted that down. Even got
more formal and wrote after
Wednesday "Nov. 12".
So We went on back and start
ed the sale.
Before I'd had time to call
the papers one of the boys came
by and said hold off for a while
and first thing l knew some
body said we would close Mon
day.
Oscar and Rack and Bill got
off in a corner again and said
it's okay by us to make it Mon
day.
l put that in the papers.
Friday I went into the New
Duplin warehouse and some
body said We oughtn't to close
Monday. There's too much to-
bacco left to be sold around
here. We've been selling hun
dreds of thousands of pounds of
tobacco every day all season.
Now it's up to us to give the
farmers every benefit we can
and keep on selling.
So I got Oscar and Bill ard