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P2:PB:P:3B-B@W@W-@W.@-@W.a.a.a.a.a.- i OF OOO EE EI IO BOD DADO OD DO OI SE: ‘STM UL Gb. DEALERS IN ILLUMINATING AND. LUBRICATING Weve eae c vara W Wve WW vulwuWyelwuebebebels But none but the World Challenger that will never PATENTED MAY 2,1893. IMPROVED MARCH i7,1897 be relegated to the rub- bish — We have the patent covering every device that of the rests on the top pail and all persons are warned against infringe- Office and Works, BUTTERWORTH AVE., GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. b. ment.—N. TOBACCO PAIL COVER | ND MOISTENER The construction of the World Challenger is scien- tifically adapted to the purpose for which it is de- signed and is as good for Dried Fruits and Raisins as it is for Tobacco. You do not have to detach the Bulk works at Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Manistee, Cuaillav, Big Rap cover to serve a customer. Therefore your goods ids, Grand Haven, Traverse City. Ludington. Allegan, Howard City, Petoskey, Reed City. Fremont, Hart. Whitehall, Holland and Fennville. are always covered and always held at par. Devereaux & Duff, owosso, mich. Manufacturers and Owners of the Patent. OO 99009900 00000000 Ce ee ee ee Try Hanselman’s oot Fine Chocolates ; Name stamped on each piece of the genuine. Hanselman Candy Co., Kalamazoo, Mich. 426-428-430 East Main Street, iti ec cn till i a a it ince Sau NACH AACA A AEH AAR OOH A AOA RAO NA EAR AEN AEE A AER RARE AAR KARA A AE OA ATH AACA NARA AAC AR ACH AAO AAA NG W. H. EDGAR & SON, Dab bb bb bbi bi bbb bbbbob oto & GUVUVVVVVVvVvVUVVVVyVVUV VY 3 SOOO SOOOOOOO DETROIT. MICH. REFINED SUGARS SYRUPS AND MOLASSES EXCLUSIVELY ANRAAAAARAAAAA 144 is Twelve Dozen, Sir! on what your goods COST—*“‘by the Gross” or ‘by the Dozen.” You can then BUY RIGHT. Send for sample leaf and prices. b Cost Book will help you keep tab fe Twelve Dozen is a Gross, Sir! , A Groc-er’s BARLOW BROS., GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. capes eee Awnings | and Tents US6 [Fadésman Coupon Books Best goods and lowest prices in the State. All work guaranteed, Send for prices. CHAS..A. COYE, 11 Pearl Street. he Dresident of the United States of America, To HENRY KOCH, your clerks, attorneys, ager_;, #alesmen. and workmen, and all claiming or GREETING : holding through or under you, Wher eas, it has been represented to us in our Circuit Court of the United States for the District of New Jersey, in the Third Circuit, on the part of the ENOCH MORGAN’S SONS COMPANY, Complainant, that it has lately exhibited its said Bill of Complaint in our said Circuit Court of the United States for the District of New Jersey, against you, the said HENRY KOCH, Defendant, complained of, and that the said to be relieved touching the matters therein ENOCH MORGAN’S SONS COMPANY, Complainant, is entitled to the exclusive use of the designation ‘‘SAPOLIO” as a trade-mark for scouring soap, Mow, Cherefore, we ic strictly command and perpetually enjoin you, the said HENRY KOCH, your clerks, attorneys, agents, salesmen and workmen, and all claiming or holding through or under you, uader the pains and penalties which may fall upon you and each of you in case of disobedience, that you do absolutely desist and refrain from in any manner unlawfully using the word ‘‘SAPOLIO,” or any word or words substantially similar thereto in sound or appearance, in connection with the manufacture or sale of any scouring soap not made or produced by or for the Complainant, and from directly, or indirectly, By word of mouth or otherwise, selling or delivering as “SAPOLIO,” or when “SAPOLIO” is asked for, that which is not Complainant’s said manufacture, and from in any way using the word ‘“‘SAPOLIO” in any false or misleading manner. ° av itness, The honorable MELVILLE W. FuLter, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America, at the City of Trenton, in said District of New Jersey, this 16th day of December, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two, [sear] [sicneD} ROWLAND COX, Complainant's Sokcitor S. D. OLIPHANT, Cleré Travelers’ Time Tables. and Wes: Michigan R’y CHICAG Jan. 1, 1897. Going to ae Ly. G’d. Rapids eke one 8:30am 1:25pm +11:00pm Ar. Chicago............ 3:00pm 6:50pm + 6:30am Returning = Chi a Chicago............ 7:20a = hen +11:30pm r. G@’d Rapids....... 1:25 10:30pm + 6:10am Muskegon and Pentwater. Q@’d. Rapids.... .... 8: — 1:25pm 6:25pm . Gd, Rapids......... 10:15am ....... 10:30pm Manistee, Traverse City and peseeney: Ly. @’d Rapids eel tye 7:20am 5:30pm ........ Ar Manistee........... 12:05pm 10:25pm ........ Ar. Traverse’ ee: Sates 7 sian ll: — peace say eck Ar. Charlevoix.. Sxeadc'es Ar. Petoskey. bree i Soom sala Unigene te ka bas viva arrive from north at 1: 00p.m. and 9:55 PARLOR AND SLEEPING CARS. Chieagis Parlor cars on afternoon trains and sleepers on night trains. North. Parlor car on morning train for Trav- erse City. +Every = Others week days only. Gro. DEHAVEN, Gen: ral Pass. zak. DETROIT, Going to Detroit. Ly, Grand Rapids...... a yom 1:30pm 5:25pm Ar. Detroit............ 5:40pm 10:10pm rine trom De Detroit. Ly. Detroit. . 35am 1:10pm 6:00pm Ar. Grand Rapids see “iB: 185 pm 5:20pm 10:45pm Saginaw, Alma and "Grega ville. Ly. G R7:10am 4:20pm Ar.GR 3:20pm 9:30pm To and from Lowell. Ly. Grand Rapids...... 7:00am 1:30pm 5:25pm Ar. from Lowell....... 12:30pm 5:20pm THROUGH CAR SERVICE. Parlor cars on all trains between Grand Rap- ids and Detroit and between Grand Rapids and Saginaw. Trains run week days only. Gro. DeHaven, General] Pass. Agent. GR AN Trunk Railway System Detroit and Milwaukee Div (In effect May 3, 1897.) EAST. Grand Rapids & Western. Jan. 1, 1897. Leave. Arrive. + 6:45am..Saginaw, Detroit and East..+ 9:55pm +10:10am... ... Detroit and East. . + 5:07pm + 3:30pm..Saginaw, Detroit and East..+12:45pm ¥*10:45pm... Detroit, East and Canada...* 6:35am WEST * §:35am....Gd. Haven and Int. Pts....* 7:100m 12:53pm. Gd. Haven and Intermediate. + 3:22pm + 5:12pm....Gd. Haven Mil. and Chi.. pes :05am * 7:40pm....Gd. Haven Mil. and Chi....* 8:15am +10:00pm...... Gd. Haven and Mil....... + 6:40am Eastwuard—No. 14 has Wagner parlor car. No. 18 parlor car. Westward—No. 11 parlor car. No. 15 Wagner parlor car. *Daily. tExcept Sunday. E. H. Huenes, A. G. P. & T. A. BEN. FLETCHER, Trav. Pass. Agt., Jas. CAMPBELL, City Pass. Agent, No. 23 Monroe 8t. Rapids & Indiana Railroad Sept. 27, 1896. GRAN trav. C’y, Petoskey & Mack.. “+ 7:45am + 5:15pm Trav. cy: Petoskey & Mack...¢ 2:15pm + 6:30am SRI chaps Ui Cis a REO, + 5:25pm t11:10am Train’ leaving at 7:45 a.m. has panes car to Petoskey and Mackinaw. Train leaving at 2:15 p.m. hassleeping car to Petoskey and Mackinaw - Leave Arrive uthern Div. Ft. Wa IIL 4 22:00pm + 1:55pm ae ies ceases konee snes * 7:00pm * 7:25am 7:1ua.m. train has parlor car to Cincinnati. 7:00p.m. train has sleeping car to Cincinnati. Cincinnatl.. Muskegon Trains. GOING WEST. Lv @’d Rapids.... .. 7:35am +1:00pm . 40pm Ar Muskegon... ..... 9:00am %: 10pm 7:05pm GOING EAST. Ly Muskegon....... .. +8:10am +11:45am 14:00pm ArG’d Rapids... ..... 9:30am 12:55pm 5:20pm +Except Sunday. *Daily 4. ALMQUIST, Cc. L. Lockwoop, Ticket Agt. ‘Un. Sta. Gen. Pass. & Tkt. Agt. The Best On Earth Manufactured by Schulte Soap Co., Detroit, Mich. Premium given away with Clydesdale Soap Wrappers. OM PEE MOREA one RN P een GRAND RAPIDS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1897. De lll halen hadndatn intadn ta detedntnh tetntntnde | We wish to establish a branch of our business in every : town in Michigan where we are not now S) represented. No Capital ashes Required. MEN’S SUITS AND OVERCOATS $4.00 to $30.00 f WRITE FOR INFORMATION. WHITE CITY TAILORS, r 222-226 ADAMS ST., ; CHICAGO. aAsbd. 220sesbs bssesél TO CLOTHING MERCHANTS We still have on hand a few lines of Spring and Summer Clothing and some small lots to be closed at sacrifice. Write our Michigan representative, WILLIAM CONNOR, Box 346, P. O. Marshall, Mich., and he will call upon you, and if he has not what you want, will thank you for looking and you will learn something to your advantage about our coming Fall and Winter line. Mail orders promptly attended to by MICHAEL KOLB & SON, Wholesale Ready [ade Clothing Manufacturers, Rochester, N. Y. Established nearly one-half a century. The Preferred Bankers Life Assurance C0. Incorporated by 10 Maintains a Guarantee Fund. Write for details. Home Office, Moffat Bldg., DETROIT, MICH. FRANK E. ROBSON, PReEs. TRUMAN B. GOODSPEED, Sec’y. COMMERCIAL GREDIT C0. Lid. GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Private Credit Advices. Collections made anywhere in the United States and MICHIGAN BANKERS Canada. e ick FIRES tof jog @ > 57 e & Ya Conservative, Safe. . 4 243 5.9 .CHamMr-1N, Pres. W. FRED McBarn, Sec. = 2OSO1 0O6000000000000 Save Trouble Save Losses Save Deliars TRADESMAN COUPONS 2. Some of the Troubles of the Traveler. Written for the TRADESMAN. The writing room of the bum hotel resembles an overgrown waste paper basket. The ink bottles are dry and dirty. There are blotting pads galore, but they have seen service too long to be of any use. When you have collected your writing material and gotten down to business, some musically inclined in- dividual makes his presence unwelcome by whistling over and over again some worn-out tune. He never knows when to stop; you are unable to concentrate your thoughts; you give up in disgust and repeat this performance at the next town you stop. The hotel office is the favorite resort of all the loafers in town. Here they congregate and gossip. Here we learn all about the last horse race or baseball game and how Jack got punched in the wind and various other interesting sub- jects. They fill the windows and ogle the ladies as they pass. The reason we object to this particularly is because we have an eye for the beautitul our- selves, but do not have a chance to get within a rod of the window. The proprietor of the bum hotel is usually a good hearted fellow, whose intentions are well, but he devotes too much of his time to his saloon, sports or politics. Usually, he provides well enough for his hotel, has plenty of help, such as it is, but does not see that every one in his employ attends strictly to business. It is a delicate matter to call a proprietor’s attention to any short- comings. He is sure to take offense, ard we are at once set down as kickers. Part of the business of a traveling man is to escape from being robbed. There is no class of men who are im- posed upon so often. Newsboys de- mand 5 cents for the paper that they deliver to regular subscribers for 10 cents a week. The drayman charges us 25 cents to handle a trunk, and will haul a ton of freight to a local dealer for 20 cents. The livery men know us by sight. We do not escape from their clutches. We always make dates with the subscription list for a cripple or some destitute family. Our hair raises when we are requested to centribute to a Fourth of July celebration or the building of a bicycle path. The ladies— God bless them!—never let us leave town without taking a chance on some church quilt, vote for the handsomest girl in town, or contribute to the sup- port of the local pastor. At this juncture we always get the worst of it; because the lady invariably approaches us when in the presence of a dealer, and with that winning way acquired by practice, and by the assistance ot her friend, our customer, she lands the fish she is after and goes away smiling and _ thinks, ‘*Travelers are dead easy.’’ Generous as the average traveler is, or likes to be, he declines to open his pocketbook pro- miscuously, simply because he cannot afford to do so. These amounts seem small, when taken separately, but they amount to a considerable at the end of the year. Our houses object to standing these expenses and the most of us have widows and orphans at home who can make good use of the money we are called upon to donate in almost every town we visit. Ovuix. 9 > Grand Rapids Retail Grocers’ Asso- ciation. At the regular meeting of the Grand Rapids Retail Grocers’ Association, held at Retail Grocers’ Hall, Tuesday evening, June 1, President Winchester presided. A. Brink, of the Committee on Sun- day Closing Ordinance, reported that the proposed draft of ordinance had been presented to the Council at a pre- vious meeting and was now inthe hands of the Ordinance Committee. Accepted. Chairman Winchester, of the Committee on Flour, reported the result of a lengthy and very satisfactory interview with the city millers, the conclusion of which was that the millers agreed to adopt the proposed plan in case the grocers would secure the signatures of about fifty ad- ditional dealers. The report was ac- cepted and the Secretary was instructed to secure the additional signatures with as little delay as possible The Committee on Sugar asked further time, which was granted. Letters were received and read from the four yeast companies catering to the Grand Rapids trade, volunteering to cut off those grocers who refuse to maintain the price of tin foil yeast at 2 cents a cake and to co-operate in any way with the Association for the general good. A. Brink moved that a committe be appointed to call on the twenty grocers handling bulk yeast, with a view to se- curing their signatures to an agreement to discontinue the sale of same. Adopted. The chairman appointed as such committee Messrs. Brink, Manley and Klap. Mr. Klap moved that the chair ap- point a committee of three to consider the several available locations for the annual picnic and report at the next meeting. The motion was adcpted and the chair appointed as such committee Messrs. Vinkemulder, Lehman and Fuller. E. J. Herrick called attention to .the food shows recently conducted in hard- ware stores, dry goods stores and gas offices, stating that such exhibitions tended to take people away from the regular channels of trade and get them interested in new-fangled preparations which necessitates the grocer still further increasing the already too large assort- ment of goods handled in all lines. Mr. Lehman called attention to the effort now being made to _ introduce frosting preparations. Mr. Witters stated that he had once consented to the exhibition of a food product in his store, but that he would never consent to such an arrangement again, because the girl in charge hung onto his customers until they were tired out and he noticed that they would not come into the store again until the girl was gone. Mr. Winchester stated that he had no objection to selling goods actually called for, but he disliked very much to be wheedled into buying lines which did not sell except for a few days when the promoters of the articles were in the city. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned. 2-0 -e Detroit—Two chattel mortagegs have been filed by the Clover Condensed Milk Co., aggregating about $52,000. The first mortgage is in the name of D. N. Avery, and _ is for $1,000. It covers all the chattels owned by the company in Northville and on Woodward avenue in this city. Number 715 Not the » hada Baker House. The Saginaw correspondent of the Tradesman recently filed the following complaint against Walter Baker & Co. on account of an alleged violation of the amiable relations between the various branches of the trade: The retailers and jobbers of this city are complaining about the Baker choc- olate company doing business directly with consumers. They offer, for sales that are made to consumers, a bicycle as a prize. This doing business directly over the heads of the retailers and job- bers affects them not a little, as they are expected to handle the Baker goods. Recalling the record of the house and its broad-minded policy in dealing with the trade, the Tradesman brought the complaint to the attention of Walter Baker & Co., promptly receiving the following reply: Boston, May 29—In reply to your fa- vor of May 26, we beg leave to state that the Baker referred to by your corres- pondent as selling directly to the con- sumers and offering bicycles as prizes is one W. G. Baker, of Springfield, Mass., of whom we have no knowledge except through a few letters recently received from persons who have supposed that we were offering prizes for the sale of our goods. We are selling now, as here- tofore, only through jobbers and whole- sale dealers, and we never offer prizes in any form. If W. G. Baker sells our goods, he must get them from some jobber; he does not buy directly of us. We thank you for calling our attention to the matter; and should be glad to have you correct the error into which your correspondent has fallen. —__~»-2 > —____ Preliminary Arrangements for the Lansing Convention. Frank Spinning has been selected to act as Local Secretary on the occasion of the fifteenth annual meeting of the Michigan State Pharmaceutical Associa- tion, which will be held at Lansing the first week in August. Secretary Schroud- er is preparing a programme which he expects to have ready for publication in the course of a couple of weeks. The convention will last two days, but how much of the time will be devoted to sports and entertainment features has not yet been decided upon. 0 Michigan Retail Grocers’ Association. E. A. Stowe, Secretary of the Michi- gan Retail Grocers’ Association, is in Detroit this week for the purpose of de- ciding on the dates and effecting pre- liminary arrangements for the August convention of the organization, which will be held under the auspices of the Detroit Convention League. Incidental- ly, Mr. Stowe will address the Detroit Retail Grocers and Butchers’ Protective Association at the regular meeting of the organization this evening. > 2. Concern of Questionable Character. A correspondent enquires as to the responsibility of Comstock’s Law and Collection Agency, of Oswego, N. Y. Aside from the fact that the Postoffice Department recently issued an order, depriving the concern of the privilege of the mails, the Tradesman knows nothing. An investigation will be in- stituted, however, and a report made thereon as soon as the investigation is completed, | J MICHIGAN TRADESMAN THE RIGHT POSITION. Height of the Saddle—Objections to Springs. From the New York Sun About a dozen enthusiasts, old and young, were discussing the cold yet ever new subject of clothes in an academy on the Boulevard the other day, when two experts came in from the road ina great state of excitement. ‘‘What do you all think,’’ called out one, a tall, stunning-looking girl, wear- ing a short linen skirt, ‘‘we’ve been in- sulted !”’ **Yes, and we are perfectly furious!’ chimed in her smaller companion. ‘*What’s the matter’’ asked an angular woman. ‘‘Has some boorish driver an- noyed you?’’ “*Or some masher tried to have a chat with you?’’ added somebody else. ‘* Neither, ’’ answered the tall expert. ‘‘The dreadful part of it is they were our friends. You see, we sat down on one of those benches on the crest of Claremont Hill to rest a while, and pretty soon along came two of our men friends. We know them as well as we know ourselves. They were college chums of our brothers at Yale, and that’s what makes it so hard to bear.’’ ‘‘And if they had only attacked us,’’ put in the little one with great emphasis on the ‘‘us,’’ ‘‘we wouldn’t have minded so much, but they cast reflec- tions on the cycling sisterhood of this city. Brutes! It’s strange that men can be so unkind to women, when they are so thoughtful and kind to themselves, and so careful not to wound their own feelings.’’ ‘*What on earth did they say that was so offensive?’’ asked a stout, good-na- tured girl. ‘‘Why just this,’’ hastily answered the tall one. ‘‘One of them, after watching the cyclists go by for awhile, said that five minutes spent in amusing oneself in that way was enough to convince any well-informed judge of cycling that the majority of women riders assume most ungraceful and hurtful positions on the wheel. He went on to Say that at least two-thirds of the women bicyclists in Greater New York are improperly seated ; that they are seated either too far back or too far forward, or have their saddle too high or too low, and that the handle bar is oftener than not raised to an altitude that makes it al- most useless as an aid to pedalling, and gives toa rider an attitude more suit- able to playing a game of leap frog than to wheeling. Now, wasn’t that outra- geous when it was admitted long ago that women as a rule look much better on the wheel than men?’’ ‘*You don’t mean to say that the other man agreed with him?”’ said an elderly matron incredulously. ‘‘I didn’t think that there could possibly be two men in all this great city who hold such an ab- surd view.’’ ‘‘Yes,’’ piped up the little one en- thusiastically, ‘‘he did agree with him, but when he saw how angry we were about it he said he thought that the fault lay entirely with the men for allow- ing their women friends to assume these ungraceful and hurtful positions, and that the men ought to correct it.’’ ‘*Humph!’’ grunted Mrs. Axtell, the woman instructor, who had been a silent listener. ‘‘The average man knows no more about adjusting a wheel and as- suming a correct pcsition for easy and graceful wheeling than the average woman.”’ ‘*You don’t mean to say that you agree with what these men said tous?'’ asked the smaller of the two newcomers, turn- ing on her in astonishment. ‘*They are exactly right. Go and stand out on the Boulevard for a quarter of an hour right now and observe every woman closely as she rides by, and your own eyes and common sense will con- vince you that your friends are right. And it is the fault of the men, ina way. ? ‘‘What is the fault with the riding of the majority of women?’’ asked a thoughtful girl who is always declaring in favor of bloomers, although she does not even wear a very short skirt. ‘‘To begin with,’’ said Mrs. Axtell, and immediately every one was on the alert to catch everything she had to say, ‘‘most women ride saddies with a spring, which, if they would take my advice, they certainly would not do. l’ve been studying this question of sad- dles for six years very closely, and, while J am not yet prepared to say all I hope to say about it authoritively, I am convinced that a saddle with a spring is positively injurious to man or a woman, particularly a woman. When the saddle is put on the post it is put on compara- tively straight, to be comfortable; gen- erally it is slightly tipped upward in front, perhaps so little as to be barely perceptible. You women forget that spring in the rear, and when you get on your weight takes the saddle out of its proper position and gives you that hideous round look from the waist up, which I am sorry to confess most wheel- women have. Again, most women ride with their saddles too far back. Every one will ride more easily and gracefully if the saddle is put on in front of the seat post and not behind, as so many have it. Then you are right over the pedals and pushing them becomes a real pleasure. Another disadvantage in being seated too far back is that you have to reach over to the handle bars, which is awkward. The handle bars should be adjusted so that the arm _ will be straight from the shoulder to the wrist. One reason why you see so many women who look bow-legged in the arms when riding, as a small boy put it, is that the handle bar is raised to an uncomfortable altitude. ‘*Women also have a tendency to ride with the saddles too high,’’ continued the authority. ‘‘This is a little evidence of their inherent vanity. It looks pretty to push along with the leg perfectly straight, but it will finally injure the strongest woman on the face of the earth. It is very hurtful to ride with too long a reach.’’ ‘*What is the proper reach?’’ asked a tall girl who has always striven to ride with her legs as straight as possible. ‘‘Your saddle should he at such a neight that when the pedal is at its low- est point you can put your instep under it without straining.’’ ‘*T thought it was the heel you wanted to put under it,’’ interrupted a novice who thinks that she hasn’t much to learn about cycling. ‘That's just the mistake that most of us make,’’ resumed Mrs. Axtell, ‘*and nobody tells us any better. The result will bea lot of injurec women if they don’t correct their positions awheel. Women also have a way of pedalling with one foot more than with the other. This is merely a bad habit, and should be corrected. You should follow your pedals—follow them, I say, and by that I mean that you should use the same amount of pressure all tne time. Don’t put on power when the pedal is at its highest point, and then let up as it is coming up from the low- est point. That's what you all do, isn’t it, now? Maintain a strong, even pres- sure when the pedal is coming up as well as going down. That’s the only way to get a neat ankle motion, and it will make pedalling much easier and less tiresome. I should think that wheel- women by this time would have learned when buying a_ wheel to go to a trust- worthy house and have their wheels per- fectly adjusted before attempting to go on the road. Instead of that a woman buys a wheel, and when the salesman suggests adjusting it for her, nine times out of ten she impatiently exclaims: ‘Oh, I’m not going to bother about that. Send it right home. My brother, or husband or some man friend rides and he’ll adjust it for me.’’ The mis- chief of it all is that her male acquaint- ances don’t know any more about it than she does, -They’ve done the same thing when purchasing their wheels, and, anyway, what your two men friends said to you at Claremont,’’ turning to the tall, stunning looking enthusiast, ‘‘applies to men as well as women. They should have said cyclists where they said wheelwomen, for any close ob- server can see very readily that wheel- men know no more about the proper ad- justment of a wheel and the correct po- sition than their sisters. I’m talking about the average riders now that we meet on the Houlevard.”’ There’s one thing you've said that I don't understand at all,’’ said a stout woman. ‘‘And that is that you do not approve of a saddle with a spring. I don’t believe I could ride a block on a saddle without a good spring, and I’ve always heard that such saddles were al- ways the best. Why don’t you approve of the spring?’’ i ‘‘Madam, I've given the subject of saddles very close study, as I said be- fore,’’ answered the authority emphatic- ally. ‘‘Springs will not do, If I had my way, I’d destroy every woman's saddle with a spring in existence. I'd like to get up a crusade against ’em and preach saddles with no spring to cycling womankind. I’ve already explained how one is thrown out of the correct position on a saddle witha spring, but that is the worst feature of these instruments of torture in disguise. The vibration that one gets from a spring is most injurious to a woman. Can you fancy riding horseback on a saddle with a spring? No. Well, it’s just about as sensible to use one on a wheel. Oh, you think you could not stand a hard saddle? Let me tell you that you could. A woman has to get used to any kind of saddle. She has to get used to a pneumatic saddle or one with a spiral spring a foot high; so why not get used to the proper kind of saddle at the outset—that is, a hard saddle with no spring? When riding on a level, you do not need a spring, and when going over cobble stones, car tracks, rough places, and so on all you have to do is to rise off the saddle and half stand on the pedals. When you sit down again, if your saddle has no spring, you know where you are at. You find yourself firmly seated, but if the saddle has a spring you go bouncing and _bob- bing up and down, and that is injurious to any woman.’”’ ‘*Say,’’ spoke up a. girl, who spent last summer wheeling through France, u /NONARCH Neely YGLEYAFG CO Rs. coh, aero ately Ny of luck. urea Clipper dealers «o @ good catch of fitduring ° | bicycles are the - and careful, conscientious study, coupled with thoroughly organized labor, an almost perfect plant, and a desire to run the Clipper business on a basis of equality. That’s why Clipper bicycles are the bicycles you Ought to buy at the prices you ought to pay. THERE’S A CATCH for your life. “There is a certain amount of luck in fishing.” but it’s different in bicycle making. There’s no such thing as luck. A suc- cessful bicycle builder don’t come by chance, he don’t “happen” He gets there by hustle, push, energy and experience. Youcan’t make a3-yearoldsteerin a minute. A good bi- eycle can’t be made with one year’s ex- perience in any factory. A high grade wheel is the product of old and exper- ienced makers onty, (makers who have given years of time and thought, spent thousands of dollars in experimenting and perfecting plants). They are the people who make high grade bicycles. Clippers are not “chance”’ bicy- , cles. Clippers are not the result success did not “happen.” always “open the season” with riders. Clipper dealers can fig- the “closed season.” Clipper 4 * result of years of hard work Clipper MADE BY THE “CLIPPER PEOPLE,” Grand Rapids, Mich. mas SSP eats fe we aaa . « pN aN nr RTE ae ope OOTP Ante sneeRe ast, * nana ae MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 2 and proposes to ride through Germany this season, ‘‘can anybody tell me of a bicycle crate, or trunk which is really practical? I’ve searched high and low and haven’t been able to find one, and unless I do I will stay at home. I’ve made up my mind never to travel with an ordinary bicycle trunk again, be- cause I’m sure one more summer with one would spoil my chances for Heaven. Everywhere | went it was the same. The porters cursed and swore a blue streak and refused positively to handle my bicycle trunk unless assured of a fee, and it was so much in my way in my room at the hotels that I used to threaten to make kindling wood of it. But I don’t believe there is such a thing as transporting a bicycle comfortably. ’’ ‘*Bosh,’’ ejaculated a pum-chewing wheelwoman. ‘‘Haven’t you seen the new folding bicycle crate which shuts up like a jack-knife? It’s a peach. It is different from all other crates, inas- much as it has no parts to come off.’’ ‘*Tell us all about it,’’ said all the women. ‘“*Well,’’ the authority continued, working her jaws deliberately, *‘When you go for this crate you find it all to- gether. One part isn’t nailed on the chicken coop, and another used to prop up a window. All of the metal parts are made from. roll steel and_ riveted. There are no screws to come loose or drop out; the wood part is made ot Georgia white wood, which is the toughest and lightest timber known. When folded the crate occupies a very small space, as it folds perfectly flat. [ keep mine tucked in one corner of my wardrobe. It will fit any bicycle, and locks firmly together with one simple bolt and special locking attachment, putting the crate and tool box securely under lock and key at one operation without the use of a single tool.’’ ‘*Do you have to remove saddle and handle bars?’’ asked a tall girl. ‘No; you simply turn the handle bars around and loosen the saddle and turn it on edge. The pedals are all that have to be removed, and you all know that no trunk or crate has ever been made that will not spring the crank hanger if the pedal is left on. The singe crate weighs only twenty-three pounds, while that built tor a tandem tips the beam at thirty-four. There is also one for trans- porting two wheels, which weighs forty- three pounds. A wheel can be crated or uncrated in a few minutes by anyone. The Recording Angel must like this crate because it must save him a great deal of figuring. Did you ever live in a big boarding house and hang out of the window for an hour or two at a time to listen to the boarders crating their wheels in the back yard, preparatory to making their summer flight? Yes? Well, you know how blue the air gets. People talk about swearing like a trooper ora sailor. Why, the poor sailors and troopers use mild language, compara- tively speaking.’’ ‘‘What do these crates cost?’’ asked a girl. “A single crate costs $4; tandem crates, $5; crates for two bikes, $7; but if you have curtains it is $2extra. The curtains are made of duck, and are waterproof. A man in Stockbridge, Mass., told me that he had travelled with one of these crates 12,000 miles, without breaking a part of it, without once having to pay excess baggage or having to fee any one for handling it, and without once swearing because it was in his way. Isn’t that a record? Nearly all wheel commercial tourists, as some of them call themselves, use these crates to carry their samples. A trunk with two wheels weighs more than 185 pounds, while one of these crates, with two machines, falls under one hundred. The — in excess baggage is quite a saving. I wouldn’t take anything for mine. ‘*That_ settles it,’’ remarked a jolly girl, ‘‘Every wheelwoman here will have one. They are good things. Let’s push ’em along.’’ A A Spokane land office has decided that a woman who has been divorced from her husband cannot maintain any home- stead rights accruing to him, on account of prior marital relations with him. How Tires Are Colorea—Causes of Deterioration. Although a half century has elapsed since India rubber became an important factor in the construction of mechanical devices, which was made _ possible through the process of mixing the crude gum with sulphur and other articles and submitting the mass to a tempera- ture of 290 degrees, which melted the sulphur and gave the rubber the me- chanical elasticity which you see in manufactured goods, to most people the component articles of manufactured rub- ber, like boarding house hash, remains a mystery; and the same is true of the many changes that the crude gum under- went in order to make it fit for the office it is required to fill in any mechanical device. As a matter of fact, inner tubes for tires, rubber bands and other goods highly elastic, are mechanically pure gum, that is, they contain about one pound of sulphur to eight pounds of rubber or thereabouts, with very lit- ue, if any, other ingredient. Quite recently a number of tires of various colors have been placed upon the market, such as the Vim floxine, the Hartford red, green and _ black. This coloring is a topic of discussion among those familiar with the rubber business. For instance, if you paya visit to the salesrooms of these concerns, you often hear remarks as_ follows: ‘‘Are these tires painted? Will the color wash off in the rain?’’ etc., etc. The clerk in charge generally informs the party that it is the color of the rub- ber and hence it will last, but this only answers the enquirer that the color is lasting and does not gratify his curiosity as to how they are colored. Red_ rub- ber is made by grinding into it a min- eral substance that comes from the mines of England. It is of a bright red hue and is known in the commercial world as English vermillion. The other colors are generally mineral substances. But the greatest care in the manufac- ture of rubber goods is in the mixing of the compounds for the various articles. For instance, an inner tube is required to be of great elasticity, while the outer casting must be tough and firm, yet soft and pliable, and have great wearing qualities, and to accomplish these re- sults their component parts are entirely different. The stock in the casing is largely composed of a mineral compound, pos- sibly ground zinc, which gives to it the metallic toughness, and, in order to over- come the stiffness and to keep it from cracking, a quantity of Englas degras or wool oil is also used in this compound, and the quantity of sulphur is also in- creased in articles of this kind. The metallic compounds are increased ac- cording to the amount of metallic serv- ice an article of which it is constructed is required to perform, an example _ be- ing a car spring, which bas much more mineral compound than a tire casing. At the price at which tires are now selling, with the rubber market around the 90 cent mark and at least three pounds of pure gum consumed in each set of road tires, and added to this the manufacturing and selling costs, risks, etc., it is readily understood that the profits of a tire factory are derived from the volume of business rather than from the percentage on each tire. Large tire factories could hardly sell tires ata profit at the present prices a few sea- sons back. > 2. In Germany the authorities tax a dog according to size. oprague’s Patent Lawn Ganoplés and Séats Ras ee A Beautiful Lawn Shade. ON THE LAWN AT RENAPPI. Easily handled. Does not hurt the lawn. Affords rest and comfort for a dozen or more people. Made only by THE SPRAGUE UMBRELLA CO., NORWALK, OHIO. A beautiful Lithograph sent free on application. eo Not How Cheap | wat ie But How Good We warrant our make of wagons and consequently =z NSS ag produce no cheap or inferior work. it necessary to constantly. repair and replace. Co 5 1 o i . Buyers of the Belknap make of wagons do not find Catalogue on application Belknap Wagon Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. 4 : Around the State Movements of Merchants. Belding—Frank Howk will shortly open a branch bakery at Lowell. Lansing—H. B. Morgan succeeds Morgan & Cross in the bicycle business. Saranac—M. B. Wilkinson has pur- chased the meat market of Gloster & Butler. Plainwell—F. E. Bushman has sold the Whitney drug stock to S. E. Mor- gan, of Grand Rapids. Grayling—The H. Joseph Co. is suc- ceeded by Rosa (Mrs. Hyman) Joseph in the clothing business. Detroit—Hart, Roman & Co., whole- sale and retail cigar and tobacco deal- ers, have dissolved, Sim Hart succeed- ing. Petoskey—Ralph Conable, Jr., and F. E. Jennings have formed a copartner- ship for the purpose ‘of embarking in the laundry business. Onondaga—W. Scripture, who has been running a bakery in this place for the past year, will remove to Lake Odessa in the near future. Parnell—Dr. G. E. McAvoy has pur- chased the store building occupied by J. Mulligan and will shortly put ina line of drugs and medicines. Benzonia—-E. T. Huntington has pur- chased the grocery stock of C. W. Hearn & Co. and wiil continue the business at the same location. Lake City—Louis Sands has discon- tinued his mercantile establishment here, having shipped the unsold por- tions of the stock to Manistee. Drenthe—R. Bredeweg has sold his general stock to J. Farma, who will con- tinue the business at the same location. Mr. Bredeweg will espouse agricultural pursuits. Ithaca—Arenstine Bros. & Mier, of Cleveland, have foreclosed their mort- gage on the jewelry stock of A. B. Scattergood and are closing out the goods at auction. Orange—H. H. Jordan has sold his general stock to Riley W. Harwood and Oscar Bliss, who will continue the busi- ness at the same location under the style of Harwood & Bliss. Sherman—B. H. Rose, finding his present store space inadequate for his stock of hardware, has rented the G. A. Lake store building and has moved a portion of his stock into it. Jonesviile—The citizens of Jonesville have subscribed enough money to re- build the dam which washed away, and the flouring mill, owned by Grosvenor & Co., which has been closed for nearly a year, will be opened and run by Charles E. White and Wm. Coleman. MICHIGAN TRADESMAN Detroit—Benjamin Marks and I. Cly- man have formed a copartnership under the stvle of the Randolph Tailoring Co. and embarked in the merchant tailoring business at 62 Monroe avenue. Deckerville—This place will havea new bank, organized under the State law, which will open this week. The stockholders of the new institution are the same as those of the State Bank of Carsonville. Onaway—A. V. Hinckley, of Cheboy- gan, who purchased a lot here last fall for the ostensible purpose of going into the mercantile business, says that as soon as the work of construction gbegins on the D. & M. extension, he will build a store and get ready for business. He says that he knows of other firms who contemplate locating at Onaway as soon as the railroad is assured. Evart—Several Evart merchants were swindled by a stranger the other day. The method used by him was to go into a place, buy small articles and offer a $5 bill in payment. As usual, the change would be in silver, which he would place iu his pocket and pass out, but return soon, saying one of the dollar pieces given him was bogus, offering a bad coin as witness, saying as that was all the change he had, he surely got it there. Then he would receive a good coin. The stranger left town before the swindle was discovered. Manufacturing Matters. Stanton—Holcomb Bros. have added a 40 horse power engine and boiler to their feed mill. Alma—The factory of the Alma Anti- Coffee Co. is turning out 300 pounds of the product daily. Holland—The Ottawa Furniture Co. has moved its railroad track in order to make room for a larger dry kiln. Farnsworth—Goggins & Sturgis are making several additions to their saw- mill, putting in broom handle machin- ery and dry kilns. Traverse City—Charles Irish has per- fected arrangements with the Potato Implement Co. for the manufacture of his ‘‘anti-ant’’ sugar can or bin. Alpena—F. W. Gilchrist’s mill has begun sawing pine. During the spring it cut 1,800,000 feet of hardwood lum- ber, nearly all of which was maple for flooring. Oscoda—Hull & Ely have purchased the lumber and shingle mill known as the ‘‘Tanner mill,’’ from the Uscoda Lumber Co. The sawmill will not be operated this season, but the shingle mill has started up with enough timber in sight to keep it busy the rest of the season. Branch—A. J. Marvin & Co. are re- paring the flouring mill and will double its capacity and improve the quality of its output by the new machinery they are putting in. Fremont—Andrew Gerber has retired from the tanning firm of D. Gerber’s Sons The business will be continued by Joseph, Cornelius and Frank Gerber under the same style. Interlochen—The Wylie Cooperage Co. employs 100 hands the year around. The company will cut 4,000,000 feet of logs this season. Its output is 60,000 hoops and 30,000 staves per day. White Cloud—James Hazelton has purchased the Wiley sawmill and will move it to this village, locating it on the old grounds of the Wyman planing mill. He will add a planing mill to the plant. Alamo—The Alamo Valley Creamery Co. has begun operations at its new creamery. John N. Ransom is Presi- dent of the corporation, H. W. Phillips is Secretary and E. P. Hackley is Treasurer. Alma—The Alma woolen mills have been sold to H. W. Moore, who has managed them for the past four years for the owners, W. S. Turck & Co. The plant will be enlarged and equipped with the latest machinery. Detroit—Articles incorporating the Detroit Alaska Knitting Mills have been filed with the County Clerk. The capital stock is $25,000, all paid in. The stock- holders are Isidor Frank, 2,470 shares; Adolph Sloman, Elias Frank and Mark Sloman, to shares each. Portland—E. D. Verity, Secretary of the Portland Furniture Co., has formed a copartnership with J. H. Verity under the style of the Verity Manufacturing Co., for the purpose of embarking in the manufacture of the Invincible wash- ing machine, invented by J. H. Verity. Traverse City—William Beitner has received the machinery for his new cur- tain pole factory and work has been be- gun upon the enlarged structure. The building will be raised two stories in height, also enlarged in ground space. The new machinery will be placed in position at once, as additional facilities are badly needed to handle the increas- ing trade. Lansing—Clark & Co. have merged their carriage manufacturing business into a corporation under the same style. The officers of the company are as fol- lows: President, Albert Clark; Vice- President, E. H. Davis; Secretary and Treasurer, A. A. Nichols; Assistant Superintendent, Frank G. Clark. The same gentlemen compose the board of directors. Alpena—The Montmorency Shingle Co. is building a large saw and shingle mill on the east branch of Black River, two miles west of Connerville, on the line of the new extension of the Alpena & Northern Railroad. The firm has purchased the cut-over lands of Burrows & Rust, of Saginaw, and Alger, Smith & Co., of Detroit, securing a large quantity of shingle timber. Portland—After thoroughly investigat- ing the advantages offered at Mentone, Ind., Edgar Mayette has decided to lo- cate his basket factory in Portland. He is on the ground now and has left an order for stock to be ready in three weeks, by which time he expects to be established. Mr. Mayette will operate on his own responsibility, asking no bonus and nct seeking to interest local capital. Muskegon—Carl W. Junge is_ prepar- ing to erect a tannery on a site northeast of that occupied by the Loescher plant, which will place the building right at the edge of the water. The main build- ing will be of frame construction 100 by 24 feet, one and a half stories high. The intention is to manufacture fancy leather, such as Dongola, Russia, etc., and to start the business on a moderate scale, with the intention of making it a growing one. Jackson—The Eberhard Manvfactur- ing Co., organized under the laws of Ohio, has filed a bill in chancery in the Jackson Circuit Court against the Col- lins Manufacturing Co., which will al- low the courts to pass upon the question of holding stockholders of a corporation liable for the debts of that corporation. Last February the Eberhard company was given a judgment in the Circuit Court against the Collins Manufacturing Co. for $46,518.39 for damages which it had sustained by reason of the non-per- formance of certain promises. A writ of fieri facias was issued and placed in the hands of the sheriff, commanding him to seize such property of the com- pany, as, converted into money, would satisfy the judgment. It is set forth that he could find no property of the com- pany. The bill asks that Dwight S. Smith and Henry E. Smith, J:., the stockholders, be made defendants and that they be ordered and decreed to pay the judgment mentioned. There are other creditors interested in the suit and some $75,000 of claims is involved. ——___+__~> +. Not a Common Carrier. ‘*George,I wish you'd leave this little package at the express office.’’ ‘*Me carry a bundle? I guess not. Besides, I've got to lug both my tires and a handle bar down to the repair shop.’’ Prompt attention at wholesale prices, J. P. Platte, Manufacturer and Jobber of Umbrellas, Parasols, Walking Zanes = « « ESTABLISHED 1877 This represents, in 1897, a portion of the Retail Department of this Store, which is one of the finest in America. Umbrellas ranging in price from 29 cents to 29 dollars each. given to trial mail orders for anything in this line 5$ Monroe Street, Grand Rapids, Mich. Grand Rapids Gossip L. S. Sinclair has opened a grocery store at Ithaca. The Lemon & Wheeler Company furnished the stock. Geo. A. Graham has opened a grocery store at Big Rapids. The Clark-Jewell- Wells Co. furnished the stock. Haas Bros. have opened a grocery store at Bauer. The Olney & Judson Grocer Co. furnished the stock. John Baver, meat dealer at South Frankfort, has added a line of groceries. The stock was furnished by the Clark- Jewell-Wells Co. Noorman & Sytsema have embarked in the grocery business at the corner of Grandville avenue and Goodrich street. The stock was furnished by the Ball- Barnhart-Putman Co. The Committee on Ordinances of the Common Council, which had under con- sideration the petitions of the grocers and meat dealers of the city for a Sun- day closing ordinance, recommended taking no action in the matter at the meeting of the Council Tuesday even- ing, on the ground that the State law on that subject is adequate for the protec- tion of the trade. The vacancy caused by the death of N. B. Clark in the directory of the Michigan Bark and Lumber Co. has been filled by the election of Mrs. I. J. Clark. Clarence U. Clark succeeds his late father as President of the corpora- tion, W. D. Wade will continue as Vice- President and Miss Minnie M. Clark takes the positions of Secretary and Treasurer, formerly filled by her brother. The business will be continued without interruption and pushed as vigorously as circumstances will permit. The Tradesman is pleased to note that the Brummeller brothers, doing business under the style of Wm. Brum- meller’s Sons, have decided to appeal from the verdict rendered against them in Police Court last week finding them guilty of receiving stolen property. The case possessed so many elements of in- justice and the charge of the judge was so manifestly biased and unfair—from the standpoint of equity and common sense, although it may have been good law—that the Brummellers insist that their standing and reputation in the community entitle them to another pre- sentation of the case in a higher tri- bunal. The fact that the market site was filled in during the winter, while the earth was frozen to a considerable depth, to be followed by the long-continued high water of the spring months, makes the work of preparing for the improvements very slow. It is with considerable diffi- culty that the heavy rollers can be used, and in many places they sink into the yielding, spongy earth to depths from which it is difficult to extricate them. It will require a considerable time _ be- fore there can be secured enough stabil- ity to warrant the work of laying out and improving the streets. The filling in of the approach is progressing rapid- ly,something like a thousand loads hav- ing been dumped into the head of the old steamboat channel. This part of the work will easily be kept ahead of the other improvements. —_—_—_$§o42—___ The Grain Market. Wheat has been on the downward turn since our last report and the cash article is fully roc lower, but futures MICHIGAN TRADESMAN have not suffered in the same propor- tion. July wheat receded only 4c—and all this decline without any apparent cause, only no trading. The markets are very short of wheat, but the mills have some to grind, although they are unable to replenish their stock ; in fact, there is no wheat offered to speak of. Whenever there is any offered it is ata prohibitive price. How long will this condition of things exist? The visible decreased 1,399,000 bushels, being 600, - ooo bushels less than was anticipated, which caused a drop of 3c per bushel from the opening to-day. The fact that harvesting had commenced in Texas also had a weakening tendency on the market, as she has a good crop of prob- ably 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 bushels. This, however, will not cover the short- age in Missouri, to say nothing of the shortage in Illinois, where only 10,000, - ooo bushels is anticipated, against her usual crop of 35,000,000 bushels. In- diana will not have more than 55 per cent. of an average crop. Otherwise, the situation is as strong as ever. All this goes for naught when the Chicago bears are selling scenery. Wheat in our own State is not making the prog- ress it should, as the weather has been too cold since the heavy rains. We hear that the crop is very uneven and that the prospects for a good crop are not as encouraging as they were ten days ago. Still, some warm weather may accomplish wonders yet. Our exports are fair and the shipments go on as usual; but the great question asked by millers is, Where will we get wheat enough to grind until the new crop comes in? Corn is also dull and has declined somewhat during the past week, caused by the enormous receipts of 1,000 cars at Chicago Tuesday. Oats are dull, as is usual, and the longs are dumping what they have, consequently the shorts are in their glory and are plucking up courage to put out new lines, notwith- standing it is very dangerous under the present conditions. The receipts of grain during the week were 58 cars of wheat, 7 cars of corn and 14 cars of oats—rather above the average. Local millers are paying 72c for wheat. C. G. A. Vorer. —____> +> ____ Flour and Feed. There has been no material change in the general condition of the flour market during the past week. The de- mand is still limited to the actual needs of the trade from day to day; and until the wheat market takes a turn for the better we do not anticipate much im- provement. There is nothing new in the foreign situation. The downward tendency of wheat on this side, in face of the strong statistical position of wheat, has caused an unsettled feeling and foreigners seem exceedingly timid about taking hold. They are evidently looking for still lower prices with the movement of the new crop. Millstuffs continue in light demand and the easier tone of coarse grains has not been very encourag ng to buyers. Wn. N. Rowe. a ry James E. Granger, the Duluth whole- sale grocer, is in town for a few days for the purpose of attending the wed- ding of his niece, Miss Parker. James is just as gay and debonair as of old when he resided in Grand Rapids. >». Frank T. Lawrence (Putnam Candy Co.) is spending a few days in Chicago. ee Gillies New York Teas. All kinds, grades and prices. Phone Visner, 1589. The Grocery Market. Sugar—Profiting by past experience, the refiners are likely to get in a full year's supply before the advance of the duty and so make their millions, as they did under the Wilson-Gorman bill, while the pubiic treasury will be short the same number of millions. Refined sugar in Europe is strong and raws are firm, with an advancing tendency. No matter how the tariff is finally settled, refined sugars are bound to seek a high- er range of values. Provisions—The trade has been some- what unsettled by the large movement of hogs and the market has weakened to some extent, more on apprehension as to what may come than on conditions that have in fact arisen. Asa matter of fact, the gain in manufacture of product since March 1 has been greatly exceeded by the increased disposition of product in foreign channels during this time, both meats and lard, and there appears to be no reason why the domes- tic absorption of product has not like- wise been fully up to or in excess of last year. These are conditions which should not be lost sight of by the trade. The month of May presents a record decid- edly in excess of the corresponding month in any previous year, in number of hogs killed by Western packers, and a considerable increase compared with the same month last year, which was without precedent. The month of June is not to be expected to maintain such a comparison; in fact, it is not un- likely that the total may fall short of the corresponding month last year. Tea—Dealers report that the turn which has characterized the market for several weeks is in excess of anything heretofore experienced, including the booms of 1879, 1884 and of the Chinese War. While the market has advanced no further during the week, it is still strong. Stocks in jobbers’ hands are very fair and the available supply is not liable to give out, by any means. Opinions differ as to the probability of the adoption of the duty. Coffee—-No change in quotations. Reports from the East show that the roasting trade are the largest buyers in the market. Prices in an invoice way seem to be a little easier, although the parity of the Rio and Santos markets is above that of this country. The receipts at Rio and Santos are increasing. The new crop is expected to arrive in the course of two weeks in the Santos and Rio markets. The crop for the coming season is promising to be large. The European market is reported easier and about level with ours. Low grades of coffees in this market are most sought. Fish—Prices show no improvement, but a good, healthy demand is springing up, which, if it becomes active, may result in an advance. Mackerel is im- proved, the demand being fair, but prices are easy. Cod is in fair demand and lake fish is better and is nearly cleaned up. The price is unchanged. Salmon is moving well, but prices are no better. The prices on the new pack are decidedly under what they were last year. The consumptive demand, also, is scarcely better. Lobster futures are still firm and the packers are manifest- ing a disposition to refuse further or- ders. Canned Goods—The market is very quiet here, not half the average volume of business being done. Staple vege- tables, like corn, tomatoes and peas, are in better request than canned fruits, which seem to be looked at as a luxury and avoided, There is nothing to be 5 gained by offering canned goods ata bargain to clean out, as the consuming trade is not to be tempted in that way. The buying is of a band-to-mouth sort, in the strictest sense of the word. Re- ports from the Baltimore district show the new season for peas and pineapples open, but there ts_ no brisk buying on the part of the canners as in years past. [hey seem inclined to keep cost of canned goods to the minimum. The Strawberry season 1s now on and prices rule very reasonable, as supplies of the fruit are in average volume. Tomatoes are repurted to bea little firmer, with some interest shown by buyers. a ee serene The Hardware Market. General trade keeps up fairly well, the demand for gcods being much bet- ter than might be expected, owing to the cold weather that is now existing. Owing to a certain agitation inthe wire market, prices have a firm tone in near- ly all lines. The situation, however, is a perplexing one for those who are watching closely the course of things and are desirous of purchasing to the best advantage. Wire Nails—The past week has been a decidedly active one in wire nails, owing to indications that negotiations for the control of the rod market were apparently about to be carried to a suc- cessful consummation. All indications point to higher prices in the nail and wire market. In conversation with job- bers in different parts of the State, we find they are unable to enter orders at the old price, the manufacturers refus- ing to accept orders except for imme- diate shipment, and then at an advance of toc per keg. We quote at present $1.85@1.75 on wire nails from stock, according to the quantity; $1.60@1.5S if shipped from mill. Cut Nails—Cut nails, in sympathy with wire nails, are a little firmer in price. While there is no relation between the cut nail and a wire nail pool, man- ufacturers feel disposed to get an ad- vanced price for their product, if an advance is maintained in wire nails. Barbed Wire—The barbed wire mar- ket is much firmer, owing to the agita- tion now going on, and all the mills are refusing to accept any orders except for immediate shipment. Prices have ad- vanced roc per cwt., and manufacturers and jobbers have fallen in line and are maintaining the advance. We quote at present painted wire at $1.80, galvan- ized at $2.15, if shipped from stock, and if shipped from factory $1.55 for painted and $1.85 for galvanized. Glass—The advance made in glass May 1 by the manufacturers, and fully adopted by the jobbers in the neighbor- hood of May 20,is now fully maintained and prices are 5 per cent. higher than then ruling. Cordage—The rope market remains in a quiet condition, there being but little change in prices. Binder Twine—Owing to the back- wardness of trade and the uncertainty as to the country’s requirements, the manufacturers have not accumulated large stocks of binder twine. The fol- lowing quotations are for carload lots of twine shipped from factories: sisal, %c; standard, 5%c; manilla, 6%c. oe 0 L. M. Wolf, the Hudsonville general dealer, is taking a month’s respite from business cares. His trip includse a visit to Cleveland and West Dover (his birth- place), Ohio, Buffalo, Albany, New York and Patterson, N. J. He is ac- companied by his wife. 6 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN Fruits and Produce. Remarkable Growth of the Cheese Business in New York. The story of the introduction of cheese factories has been so often rehearsed that it is not necessary to repeat it here. But it may be desirable to note certain facts in relation to their increase and management that are not so well known outside of those who keep close watch of the statistics. The first in Oneida county in the year 1851. advantages of such an soon became apparent to dairymen who possessed the privilege of living near it, but the knowledge of these advan- tages was slow in spreading through the other States. In the report of the New York State Agricultural Society for 1862, Mr. Willard enumerates thirty-four cheese factories in Oneida county in 1861, ten years after their introduction, and says there are other factories in Herkimer, Cortland, Jefferson, and Lewis counties. At the same time, he says the system ‘‘has not been suffi- ciently tested to render it certain that it is to displace entirely the old methods Under most of the censuses that have included dairy statistics, cheese facto ries and creameries have been put to- gether, and the total number of the two combined has been given instead of the number of each separately. This makes it difficult to state what the number of cheese factories was !n any particular year. According to Bulletin No. 1 of the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture at there were 269 factories in New York in 1864, 484 in 1865, 858 in 1870, and 1,018 in 1875. In 188c the whole number of fac- tories and creameries was 1,652, while in 1890 they seemed to have diminished to 1,337. In 1893 the State commission- er of agriculture made an enumeration which showed the existence of 1,156 factories and 213 creameries, a total of 1,369, or a small! increase over 1890 Again in 1894 a similar enumeration was made, showing 1,032 factories and 31% creameries, or a total of 1,343, 2 diminution of 26, which brought the number down to within 6 of the number in 1890. These are the latest statistics taken, and as they stand it would ap- pear that the whole number of estab- lishments in which cheese was made was greater in the year 1880. This is no doubt correct, as our cheese produc- tion reached its highest point in 1881 Washington, There is a wide difference in the sizes of cheese factories. Some make only five or six cheeses a day; others make as many as twenty-two in the height of the season. A factory of aver- age size will produce from eight to ten cheeses a day. Five cheeses a day would require about 3,000 pounds of milk. As a rule, the smallest factory would use the milk of about 150 cows the average factory would take the milk of 300; while the largest would have the patronage of from 500 to 600. The number of patrons is so variable that it is impossible to give any idea concern- ing it that would be trustworthy. One farmer has five cows, while bis neigh- bor may have fifty. The larger dairies are more apt to go to the large facto- ries, hence the number of patrons at a small factory is liable to be out of all proportion to the number contributing to a large factory. So the amount of cheese made in a cheddar factory ranges from 19,000 or 20,000 pounds in a sea- son up to 220,000 pounds, or even more. | difference vheuias | sometimes ' : ~ _|morning and at night, and this factory was started by Jesse Williams | ; rae Th lof hauling is regarded as one of the i< i : : ‘2: : | main items in deciding upon the loca- establishment | : An average factory will make from 36,000 to 40,000 pounds. The location of patrons with regard to the distance from the factory varies from one-half mile to three miles. Gen- erally they come within a radius of about two and one-half miles. The milk has to be delivered at the factory by 8a. m., or sometimes earlier, and it is hardly feasible to do the milking and haul the milk more than three miles be- that time in the morning. It is delivered twice a day, at trouble fore tion of a factory. It makes but little in the expense, however, as ithe farmer usuaily drives the milk to the factory himself and uses his own horses to do the hauling. There is practically no difference in the system of factory management at the present time. Originally the milk received at the pioneer factury was wholly purchased by the manufacturers, it being estimated and paid for by the amount of curd it produced when pressed. This was not satisfactory, so dairymen were left to accept a price for their milk or curd which the manu- facturers felt safe in offering, or to al- low them $1 per hundred weight of cheese manufactured and the whey for performing the work of making, curing, preparing for market, selling the cheese, receiving and disbursing the money, the dairyman paying all other expenses, as boxes, bandages, salt, ren- net, Ctc. Coming down to our own time, it is found that factory men receive $1 per hundredweight for making, as they did thirty years ago, but for that sum fur- nish all the extras which are enumerated above as being paid for by the dairy- men. The factory may be owned by a single proprietor or by a stock com- pany, but the system of management is the same in either case. Generally a settlement is made with the patrons once in two weeks. Few factories in New York have as yet adopted the method of paying on the basis of fat contained in the milk, consequently each man is credited with the total weight of milk he brings, an average is made each time of the amount of milk it takes to make one pound of cheese, and the patron is paid in ac- cordance with this average on the basis of the price per pound of the two sales of cheese put together. The average factory season runs from April 1 to No- vember 1. Some of the large establish- ments run three or four weeks later but these are exceptions. After the factory has closed dairymen use their milk to make the winter supply of butter for themselves and their neighbors. There is little difference in the prac- tice of factories as to the length of time allowed for curing their cheese. It ranges from eighteen to twenty-five days, according to the season of the year. In the spring, when makers are anxious to get rid of their fodder cheese and to take advantage of the market be- fore prices decline, it is shipped at eighteen to twenty days from the hoop. Later in the year it is held longer, in order to cure it better and give it safer keeping qualities. It used to be the custom with some factory men to hold their cheese in the fall and again take advantage of the higher prices that are apt to prevail late in the season. This is still done to some extent, but so many factory men have lost money on their cheese in the last two or three years by The Vinkemulder Gompany, JOBBER OF Fruits and Produce MANUFACTURER OF “Ansolute” Pure Ground Spices, Baking Powder, Ets. We will continue to put up Baking Powder under special or private labels, and on which we will name very low prices, in quantities. We make a specialty of Butchers’ Supplies and are prepared to quote low prices on Whole Spices, Preservaline, Sausage seasoning, Saltpetre, p 2otato Flour, etc. We a'so continue the Fruit and Produce business established and successfully conducted by Henry J. VINKEMULDER. THE VINKEMULDER COMPANY, Successor to Michigan Spice Co., 418-420 S. DIVISION ST., GRAND RAPIDS. Citizens Phone 555. . STRAWBERRICS... Received daily direct from the growers and sold here at Chicago Market Prices. Peas, Beans, Onions, Spinach, Radishes, Lettuce, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Oranges, Lemons, New Potatoes, Summer Squash. ALLERTON & HAGGSTROM, Jobbers, 127 Louis Street. Grand Rapids, lich. .: Both Telephones 1248. obFawberric Car Luts received daily. We are selling at Chicago prices. Onions, Spinach, Radishes, Lettuce, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Oranges, Lemons, New Potatoes, Summer Squash, Wax Beans, New Peas, Cabbage, Fancy Honey. All seasonable Vegetables. 20 & 22 OTTAWA ST., BUNTING Xx GO. GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 0,000 Pounds Butter Wanted to pack and ship on commission, Good outlet. Eggs on commission or bought on track. ALD EN.. GRAND "RAPIDS. Mr. FR. ~— S. eee =o .. | When in want of Seeds for the farm or garden we can supply them at low prices consistent | | with quality. Don’t deceive yourselves and | your customers by handling seeds of question- | able character. | CLOVER, TIMOTHY, GRASS SEEDS, ONION SETS, FIELD PEAS, ETC. OO GARDEN SEEDS IN BULK. LFRED J. BROWN CO., S20u5e5 ane tiggtants CLOVER AND TIMOTHY. All kinds of FIELD AND GARDEN SEEDS. Correspondence solicited. Your order will follow, we feel sure. BEACH, COOK & CO., 128 to 132 West Bridge St. ‘SEEDS GRAND RAPIDS, MICH : SEE BS e@ a : The season for FIELD SEEDS such as CLOVER and TIMOTHY is now at hand. We are 5 a prepared to meet market prices. When ready to buy write us for prices e e or send orders. Will bill at market value. a : MOSELEY BROS., s ° Wholesale Seeds, Beans, Potatoes, 26-28-30-32 Ottawa St., Grand Rapids. S BOROROROROROROROROROROROROROROCHOTORORORORORORORORORO trying this experiment that it is not now practiced to the same extent as for- merly. Now let us take a piece of cheese at the factory and follow it until it reaches the hands of the consumer. Suppose it sells at a board of trade for 6% cents per pound. Ina general way this may be calculated at 65 cents per 100 pounds of milk. In old times that amo:nt of milk would make ten pounds of cheese, although for a year past it has taken an average of about 105 pounds to make ten pounds of cheese. This would de- duct 1 cent per pound from the price obtained for the cheese as the cost of manufacturing, leaving 55 cents to the dairyman for his hundredweight of milk. The wholesale cheese business has always been a very close one, and considering the amount of money used in it during a year, the profits are prob- ably smaller than in any other line of trade. The original buyer is very iucky if he gets a commission of one-eighth of a cent per pound. Freight from different points in the State to New York City varies somewhat with the distance, but an average of 25 cents per hundredweight will about cover it. This and the commission to buyer makes the cheese cost in New York City 6% cents. The merchant in that city expects to make a profit of one- fourth to three-eights of a cent if the goods are sold soon after their pur- chase. This brings the price up to 7% cents, which the retailer has to pay. Then comes the charge which does so much to hinder the consumption of cheese in this country. Retailers are not content to take a moderate profit, but must have from 50 to Ioo per cent. advance on the cost of the goods. The common price of cheese at a grocery store, when it costs the retailer from 7% to 7% cents, is 14 cents per pound. In England, all through the season of 1895, cheese sold at 5d., or Io cents, retail, and in 1896 it has sold there as low as 4%d., or 9 cents, per pound. When American grocerymen are willing to accept as moderate a profit on cheese as the English retailer, and sell it on the same plane as they sell butter, at an advance, say, of 20 to 25 per cent. over cost, then we may expect to see the consumption largely increased; but so long as they persist in demanding such an enormous profit as they have done in the past, cheese will be looked upon as a luxury and only those will buy it who can afford to indulge in luxuries. BENJAMIN D. GILBERT. Utica, N. Y —_—__» 0. Man owes more to himself than he willing to pay. is MICHIGAN TRADESMAN Export Poultry Trade—Possible Per- manent Outlet. From the N. Y. Produce Review. For some years past small quantities of American poultry have been taken in British markets, but the trade has never developed to much importance. This year, however, since the first of Janu- ary, the exports from New York have about doubled compared with last year, and there seems to be no good reason why we should not open an outlet abroad for American poultry which might prove valuable. We find that the goods shipped this year have been nearly all chickens and mostly of medium and large sizes, such as are known here as roasting chickens. Last year a large operator in Liverpool and London placed an order with a Western poultry packer for a large quan- tity of this stock which was filled in January. Evidence that the purchase was Satisfactory is found in the fact that the same buyer has since made further considerable purchases from time to Win. H. Thompson & 60., Potato Commission Merchants 156 and 158 South Water St., Chicago. REFERENCE: Bank of Commerce, Chicago. 7 Elgin System of Creameries. It will pay you to investigate our plans, and visit our factories, if you are contemplating building a Creamery or Cheese factory. at lowest prices. licited. All supplies furnished Correspondence so- R. E. STURGIS, Allegan, Mich. Contractor and Builder of But- ter and Cheese Factories, and Dealer in Supplies. time and other lots have gone forward up to this time. We understand that corsiderably more stock could have been sent forward had the prices been satis- factory, but while the early purchases for foreign account were at acceptable rates on the basis of selling values here, the domestic market for frozen roasting chickens has since improved so much that further offers on export account were below a parity with local markets, and could not be accepted. It is evident however that the export price on frozen kind of money we prices for BUTTER station. Write us. On Track Cold cash, hot cash, spot cash or any will pay in highest and EGGS at your Harris & Frutchey, Detroit. roasting chickens this year has been sufficient to afford a profit on goods picked during the period of lowest do- mestic values, and this fact gives rea- son for the hope that a considerable trade may be established in this direc- tion. Little progress has been made in find- ing any profitable foreign market for turkeys, the great bulk of the stock so far sent forward having been chickens. Some lots of goods sent forward on consignment have not made satisfactory results. These were mostly sent abroad He aieeas ill , i : j R. HIRT, Jr., Market St., Detroit. Butter and Eggs wanted Will buy same at point of shipment, or delivered, in small or large lots. Write for particulars. at a time when the domestic markets for frozen chickens were considerably de- pressed, but the more favorable turn to the market later made _ it appear that better results could have been obtained here. These goods were however largely of under grades, some of them two years old, and the experience in shipping such can hardly be taken as a fair cri- terion of the possibilities. There seems to be some prejudice in British markets against American poul- try, which can probably be overcome Ship your Butter, Eggs, Potatoes, Produce e. you have before shipping elsewher Branc Main Office, 353 Russell St. The Detroit Savings Bank. L. R. Ermeling & Co., Chicago. Largest Fruit Shippers in Hlinois. C. L Randall, Oxford, Mich. Largest Car Load Shipper in Michigan. We are Members of the Detroit Produce Exchange. and Fruit to HERMANN C. NAUMANN & CO., who are prompt and reliable They also buy for cash. Get their prices on anything h Store, 799 Michigan Ave. Detroit. - REFERENCES... W. D. & A. Garrison, Vernon, Mich. Bankers and Merchants. All the reliable Wholesale Grocers and Wholesale Commission liouses in Detroit. [MENTION MicH. TRADESMAN | however if supplies sent there are kept to a high standard of excellence. At present the British markets are supplied largely with importations from Russia and France and although those countries have the advantage of nearness to the consuming centers of England it seems probable that the exceptional facilities of poultry raising in the States may ul- timately give us a chance to market certain kinds of poultry in Britisb mar- kets at prices which will afford a fairly profitable outlet. Harvey P. MILLER. Miller & OUR BEANS Consignments solicited. Advances made. Reference: SPECIALTY American Exchange Bank, LLP AL I~ EVERETT P. TEASDALE. ‘“leasdale 3 Bruit amd Produce Brokers. POTATOES 601 N. Third Street, St. Louis. ST. LOUIS, MO. AAS I3SGISISSASss SENT CIPS AARS BESS Do you want to know all about us? Write to in Corn Exchange National Bank, Philadelphia, Pa. Fourth National Bank, Grand Rapids. W. D. Hayes, Cashier, Hastings National Bank, Hastings, Mich. D. C. Oakes, Banker, Coopersville, Mich. CSRS SSE : W. R. BRICE. Established 1852. W.R. Brice & Co., Produce Commission Merchants 23 South Water Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Cc. M. DRAKE. | Sei ia halls nn ! PMNS OOO: SSK PISS Se eS BS eS eS SSS EES ep We have no time to tell long stories or find fault with our neighbors; have all we can do to business. We do not own all Michigan, therefore haven’t every shipper in the State. We cannot handle all the Butter and Eggs in the United States, but we have had Fancy Butter and Eggs to supply our trade. All Hustlers in This Concern. take care of our own of never enough (29 eS I OE i aS PARA EA RSE SSO ASEES ANOS MICHIGAN TRADESMAN DESMAN Devoted to the Best Interests of Business Men Mictican Published at the New Blodgett Building, Grand Rapids, by the TRADESMAN COMPANY ONE DOLLAR A YEAR, Payable in Advance. ADVERTISING RATES ON APPLICATION. Communications inv:ted from practical business men. Correspondents must give their full names and addresses, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Subscribers may have the mailing address of their papers changed as often as desired. No paper discontinued, except at the option of the proprietor, until all arrearagés are paid. Sample copies sent free to any address. Entered at the Grand Rapids Post Office as Second Class mail matter. When writing to any of our Advertisers, please — that you saw ihe advertisement in the Michigan Tradesman. E. A. STOWE, Epiror. WEDNESDAY, - - = JUNE 2, 1897. AN INSTRUCTIVE TRIAL. In the trial of a gang of counterfeiters which has been in progress in the United States Court in this city for over two weeks past, there has been much of interest and suggestion as to the condi- tion of the stratum of society of which glimpses have been disclosed by the large amount of evidence which has oc- cupied most of the time, and there is also much ot instruction as to thé dan- ger of successful imitation of the Gov- ernments certificates of value. The evidence discloses the fact that there was a gang, consisting of seven or eight of the semi-idle and thoroughly- worthless of the bar-room loafers of this city and the villages in the vicinity. This number included some who were in regular employment, although the nature of their employment was usually such as to give opportunity for consid- erable loafing,such as the irregularity of short-train runs on railroads. The en- graver whose workmanship appears in the representations of the bill cut in boxwood served an apprenticeship in one of the local establishments of the city a dozen or fifteen years ago. As often happens with those of lazy, loafing tendencies, he acquired a considerable facility in engraving, although his work appears to have been very erratic in degrees of quality, which is generally characteristic of this class. Coming from an excellent family, his natural ability seems to have manifested itself in an irregular facility of execution, while his incorrigable, indolent tend- encies, aided by drink, made him the facile tool of the criminally inclined and prevented him from appreciating the utter folly, from the counterfeiters’ standpoint, of trying to employ such processes for the purpose cf any success- ful operations of this kind. With a pa- tience wonderful in a person of his tem- perament, he engraved wooden imita- tions of the steel plates used in printing the $20 bill and then found that his troubles had but just begun. Obtaining a press it was found very difficult to get a quality of paper, and suitable ink, and many weeks were spent before he could produce results that would in any degree satisfy the low grade of criticism of the conspirators who had been fur- nishing the money to support him in his efforts. During these weeks the plant had to be moved about on account of the suspicions and protests of the bonest relations of the conspirators, until it was finally landed in the home of the Kings- tons, at Ionia. In the meantime the agents of the Government had become cognizant of the existence of suspicious operations, and, as soon as evidence would warrant, a descent was made and some of the gang and the plant were captured. In the trial it developed that several of the members of the gang are from good families, or are the husbands of innocent, trusting wives. The one who turned state’s evidence has a wife of considerable refinement and two bright children. The suspicions and protests of the wife against the operations in her house are pathetic indications of the suffering through which she passed dur- ing the time the work was in_ progress. That her uncle who boarded in her fam- ily was the oldest member of the gang and that he is now serving a term in the Ohio penitentiary is a further in dication of the unhappy lot of one who was brought up an innocent and attrac- tive country girl. A dramatic incident of the trial was the evidence introduced to destroy the alibi of a husband of an- other trusting wife, which proved his infidelity to her in such terms as to cause her to leave the room with the white-faced despair of a breaking heart. There were so many of the relatives and friends of these men who could not be convinced of their guilt that almost unlimited means have been furnished and the highest legal talent employed for their defense. This, in turn, has brought out the best efforts of the Gov- ernment, until the trial exceeded in dramatic interest any criminal trial that has preceded it in the same court. This trial has again emphasized the fact that it gis not easy to successfully imitate the paper currency of the United States. A degree of technical knowledge and a command of facilities are required which, applied in other directions, will make better returns with the same effort. Occasionally some Government employe may go wrong and be able to bring the imitation to a dangerous degree; but, as a rule, there is too much of lazy ig- norance concerned in such criminality for any extended success. A WELCOME ADJOURNMENT. The Legislature of 1897 has ceased its labors and passed into history, and the business public breathes a sigh of re- lief that the infliction is not likely to be repeated until year after next. A review of the work actually accom- plished by the Legislature is anything but flattering to the patriotism and busi- ness acumen of the legislators. Instead of undertaking to introduce and enact measures of benefit to the people asa whole, nine tenths of the time of both branches of the Legislature was devoted to the consideration of class legislation, much of it of the most iniquitous sort. The fact that the trades unions had rather more than the usual number of representatives partially accounts for this condition and also explains the large number of so-called black-mail bills—measures introduced solely for the purpose of extorting money from those who would be injured in case the bills were to become statutory law. The farm- er members frequently opposed those measures which would bring relief to the cities and the urban members too often used their influence to defeat the bills which were introduced in the in- terest of the farming classes. Instead of working together for the public good, the various elements_appeared to make a business of opposing each other, no matter how important the measure or how great the interests at stake. A session of the Legislature affords an excellent opportunity for the crafty trades unionist to ply his vocation. Late last fall the manufacturers of this city were called upon by a committee, assuming to represent the Michigan Federaticn of Labor, soliciting contri- butions to a fund to be expended in maintaining a lobby at Lansing during the session of the Legislature for the alleged purpose of securing the enact- ment of a law prohibiting the manufac- ture of furniture in the prisons of this State. Those appealed to responded liberally, only to find, later on, that the money so raised was destined to be used against them by encouraging the enact- ment of measures which would place increased burdens on the manufacturing classes. This necessitated the raising of a second fund to maintain an opfos- ing delegation at Lansing to oppose the operations and influences of the trades union lobby actually maintained by the same men who were suddenly placed on the defensive! It would be interest- ing to know how long business men will consent to be made the prey of schemes of this character; and also to conjecture how long manufacturers will continue to enlarge their plants and increase their facilities if they are to be contin- ually made the objects of assault in Congress, in Legislatures and in county and municipal bodies. Unless this un- just and illogical crusade is modified, men of means cannot be blamed for withdrawing their capital from active business and investing it in bond and mortgage, which affords no employ- ment for labor and little encouragement for the artisan and mechanic. The session of 1897 is chiefly remark- able for the small amount of bad legisla- tion actually accomplished and the large amount of good legislation sidetracked and defeated. Business men, as a class, should be thankful that the Legislature adjourned so early in the season and that the members went home before they had time to do any further harm. BOOTH’S INCONSISTENCY. Ballington Booth, founder of the Vol- unteers of America, interested an im- mense audience of Grand Rapids peo- ple one night last week by detailing how he cast off the yoke of alien domi- nation and substituted democratic for autocratic government. The recital was dramatic in the extreme and elicited the sympathy and stirred the patriotism of the vast audience. Later in the evening, however, the distinguished speaker discredited himself and greatly prejudiced his cause by boasting of the fact that the printers in his employ at the headquarters of the organization are all union men. In view of the fact that unionism stands for all that is arbitrary and oppressive, Mr. Booth clearly dem- onstrated his inconsistency as a pre- tended patriot and his weakness as the leader of a great movement. In rebell- ing against the one-man power of the Salvation Army and at the same time countenancing and upholding an infa- mous conspiracy against individual lib- erty beside which the domination of the Czar is a shadow, Mr. Booth has only himself to blame if some people insist on believing that his secession from his father’s standard was due nearly as much to an ambition to hold the purse strings of an eleemosynary institution as to a desire to secure the liberty of action of which he so voluably prates. GENERAL TRADE SITUATION. That the general volume of business is so nearly equal to that of the year preceding the panic, when it was the greatest in the history of the country, ex- pressed in monetary terms, while the average of prices is much lower, argues that in quantities of commodities ex- changed we are now considerably in excess of any former record. While many records of depression in prices are being broken, with no apparent prospect of a turn, there must, neces- sarily, continue a corresponding feeling of depression in many lines of trade. Not only is the general aggregate of merchandise exchange larger than in 1892, but the quantities transported on the railways of the country are consider- ably greater than at that time, to an ex- tent almost sufficient to balance the ma- terial decrease in general rates. The recognition of this element is found in the fact that there is a general tendency to advance in railway stocks. The im- ports of merchandise at New York in four weeks have been $53,104,663, against $33,459,809 in the same weeks last year, an increase of nearly 60 per cent., which is smaller than during the first half cf the month, and yet suffi- ciently large. The imports of dry goods were $14,585,659, against $5,819,046 last year, a heavy increase, because the movenient a year ago was exceedingly light, and yet a smaller increase than appeared in the first half of May. Since no one expects that the aggregate de- mand for foreign products will be larger than in 1896, the heavy excess this month and last must be more than com- pensated by the decrease hereafter, which will, indeed, lessen the revenue, but will materially lessen the sums _ that have to be paid abroad on merchandise account. If present anticipations re- garding the crop are sustained, the ex- cess of merchandise exports after July 1 must be unusually large. In the textile situation there is a bet- ter feeling in the woolen manufacture, but the depression in cotton is unabated. While prices of wool and woolens are still tending in the wrong direction, there is considerable activity of demand and factories are not decreasing output. Cotton has had a considerable decline and the general outlook for the manu- facture is discouraging. The week in the grain trade has been one of general decline. Cash wheat yielded slowly until it had lost a cent or two at the close of last week, and this is followed by a sharp fall of three or four cents more for the beginning cf the current week. Corn and oats are also affected by the same conditions. In the iron trade the situation is more hopeful. The effects of the collapse of the beam pool, two or three weeks ago, have, apparently, spent themselves, and increasing demand, while it has not made a positive advance in quotations, seems to have effectually stopped the downward movement. There is more demand for bars from agricultural im- plement works, and for sheets from tin- plate works, which nominally raised prices, although actual quotations are unchanged. The Iron Age records a fact which marks an era in American markets, that the pressure to sell South- ern pig at the North is somewhat re- lieved by an advance of 25 cents in the British price for Southern iron. Business failures have been above the average for the week, 257. Bank clear- ings have fallen off considerably to $917, 628,059. i i nae BS t. i SOCIALISM IN FRANCE. M. Georges Clemenceau’s article on ‘Socialism in France,’’ published in the Forum for this month, has probably disappointed those who read it in the hope of finding precise details that would enable them to estimate with suffi- cient accuracy the relative numerical Strength, at least, of the socialists in that country, which M. Clemenceau himself calls ‘‘the-ancient land of revo- lutions.’’ The purpose of the article seems to have been rather to indicate some of the different and occasionally conflicting tendencies in the develop- ment of the socialistic idea there, and to set forth the grounds upon which the author of the essay cherishes his con- fidence in the ultimate triumph of that idea. France still deserves to be called, upon the whole, a conservative country. Its government is essentially, as M. Clemenceau remarks, ‘‘of the bour- geoisie,’’ clinging to established insti- tutions, not so much out of reverence for the past as from considerations of precedence. The French people are in- defatigable workers and thrifty mana- gers, with a strong sense of property, laying up money and glorying in the possession of land. ‘‘ Right or wrong,’’ says M. Clemenceau, ‘‘and whether the mediocre advantages of the present system can or cannot be replaced by the still hypothetical advantages of some future system, our rustics are singularly rebellious toward anything that touches the fundamental sentiment of individual property. This is the reason why M. Jaures himself, whose propaganda is di- rected to the rural as well as to the city population, has never been able to speak of the national appropriation of the soil, except with infinite precaution as to language.’”’ But what is socialism without its pro- posal for the national appropriation, or expropriation, of the soil? If the classes to which the socialists usually appeal with most success will not receive fa- vorably any proposition touching the fundamental sentiment of individual property unless expressed ‘‘with infinite precaution as to language,’’ it is diffi- cult to understand how the doctrine can be supposed to have advanced much _ in popularity since the establishment of the present Republic. Individual property in land, at all events, is incompatible with the whole theory of socialism. M. Clemenceau calls attention to the special difficulties with which French socialists have to deal in Parliament, since ‘‘if one is in Parliament he must follow conditions of the parliamentary regime, and, when occasion offers, pre- sent precise solutions for definite ques- tions, as M. Jaures has for the sugar question and the wheat question. This requires a good deal of effort; and it is not always appreciated by the purely militant section of the party, who re- gard the ‘Parliamentarians’ with con- tempt.’’ He adds that revolutionary collectivism is diluted as it spreads, and that the advantages gained by carry- ing popular elections are offset ‘‘by the alternation of theory required to bring together a sufficient number of votes from the various social groups differing in enlightenment and in interest.’’ In plain English, socialism cannot carry elections on a frank statement of its whole doctrine, and the ultimate adop- tion of the complete theory is delayed by concessions to which candidates will be held. But how, if not by open campaigns before the people, do the socialists hope to win? Perhaps, some- MICHIGAN TRADESMAN thing like an answer to this question is suggested by M. Clemenceau’s admis- sion that there is in the ranks of the so- Cialists in France a purely militant sec- tion which looks with contempt upon the parliamentarians, that is to say, up- on those socialists who expect to accom- plish something for the cause by legis- lation. Outside the walls of Parlia- ment, beyond the voting places, there is a field of action more congenial to impatient revolutionists. Taken altogther, M. Clemenceau’s article is not calculated to raise any se- rious apprehension of the triumph of the ‘principle of socialism in France at an early date. It is probable that so- cialism is more affected by manufactur- ing workmen than by any other class, for the reason, as M. Clemenceau says, ‘that they see individual property only in the most offensive form—excessive concentration in the hands of one side by side with extremest deprivation of the many.’’ And yet there is in Europe a school of learned and thoughtful men, sometimes called scientific socialists, who look for the ultimate establishment of the theory by a gradual process of historical evolution. Men of that school will tell you that socialism is winning unannounced victories from day to day, that it is unconsciously advanced by the systematic labors of its most bitter foes and that all the lines of tendency in the realms of political, economical, social development, are all converging toward one common point, where its complete and final success will be recognized and there an end made forever to the world- old struggle for human liberty. On the other hand, the great majority of the thinking people in all countries are un- alterably attached to the principles of individual liberty and inalienable per- sonal rights. The argument, apart from any consideration of the impracticable- ness of every scheme of socialism so far proposed, is that the discipline enforced by individual competition is requisite to the development of a strong and noble manhood. In this country canals have been killed off by the competition of railroads, but in Europe the latter are actually destroy- ing great rivers. The Loire, which was formerly the biggest and most impor- tant river in France, has been neglected to such a degree that it has practically ceased to exist, so far as navigation is concerned. In 1855 no less than 10,000 vessels of one kind and another passed up and down the Loire, four fleets of steamboats running between Orleans and Nantes alone. To-day there are not too boats left on the river,and these are only able to navigate small stretches of the stream in spring and winter, sand- bars forming insuperable obstacles at every point, while in summer the Loire almost entirely disappears in a dozen small rivulets, barely a foot deep, which meander along the huge sandy bed of this once noble stream that has now succumbed to neglect. Meanwhile Germany has during the last two de- cades spent close upon $100,000,000 in dredging and improving the Rhine, the Elbe and the Vistula. This fact has lately been brought home to the French legislature, which is expected to take early action with regard to the restora- tion of the banks of the Loire and its conversion once more into a navigable stream and into an artery of commerce. The sugar discussion in the Senate appears to make some of the statesmen quite sour. MORE FRUITLESS ALCHEMY. On May 7, 1896, a man named Ed- ward C. Brice, whose present resi- dence is Chicago, filed an application fora patent, claiming that he had a process for creating gold and silver from base metals such as lead, tin and anti- mony. A patent was twice refused on the ground that no practical application of the process had been shown. Brice continued to press his claim until the Patent Office officials finally promised to give him achance to show what could be done by his method. Secretary Gage was asked for permission to have the experiments made in the laboratory of the Mint Bureau. The Secretary in- structed the Director of the Mint to have a thorough scientific test made. The latter, on May 3 last, appointed a commission of three of the best assayers in the Government service to carry out the instructions. These experts made many experiments at the Mint Bureau, the results of which have been reported to Secretary Gage. The report of the commission says it accepted the offer of Brice that he should supervise and direct a trial of his process upon antimony known to con- tain small amounts of silver and gold, and that he should conduct an assay of the same antimony for a comparison of results from it with those from his creative process. His assay showed the antimony to contain .066 of an ounce of gold and .317 of an ounce of silver per ton. Five ounces of the antimony were then subjected to Brice’s creative pro- cess, in which rolled sulphur, sheet iron and pulverized charcoal were also used. The yield showed .084 of an ounce of gold and .67 of an ounce of silver per ton of antimony. The commission then made an assay of the same metal, using well known and improved methods. A comparison of the results with those ob- tained by Brice showed that the latter found by his assay only 66 per cent. of the gold and 26.40 per cent. of the silver actually present in the materials used, and that by his creative process he re- covered 84 per cent. of the goid and 55.84 per cent. of the silver originally present. The commission concluded that it was not likely to obtain decisive results as long as it worked on materials contain- ing appreciable quantities of silver and gold. It, therefore, by means of what is known as the Capitaine process, ob- tained antimony entirely free from gold and silver. Two assay tons of this were carried carefully through each step of the Brice process. The result was that not a trace of gold or silver was discovered. Brice then requested that two new methods, which he claimed were improvements on the old, be tried. The commission agreed and made two experiments. In the first, from two and a half assay tons of antimony, scorified with nine assay tons of lead, it obtained a minute bead of metal, weighing 1-1oco of a grain. This bead was treated with nitric acid and a slight trace of gold re- mained. The second experiment was equally valueless to Brice’s process, in the opinion of the commission. The report of the commission gives in detail all the experiments it conducted, and sums up as follows: ‘‘ During these experiments, which have now extended over some three weeks, and have in- volved an amount of painstaking labor which we hope has not been entirely wasted, we have seen not the slightest evidence of any creation or transmuta- tion. On the contrary, the claimant failed in every instance to recover the 9 entire amount of silver and gold known to be present in the materials. The claimant seems to have devised a vari- ety of irrational and wasteful methods for recovering a portion of the silver and-gold know to metalurgists as being present in many commercial metals, such as antimony and lead.”’ A Chicago physician is responsible for revolutionary theories in regard to fruits. He undertakes to prove the prac- tical worthlessness as food of all culti- vated varieties. Hyper-acid fruits, such as the lemon, shaddock, orange, apple and cherry, he asserts, should never be eaten. Sub-acid fruits, such as the grape, pear and peach, may be eaten, but with extreme caution. Trop- ical fruits, like the fig, banana and date, he unqualifiedly commends as they are simply wild fruits and have not been changed from their natural condi- tions or flavor by man. On the other hand, the fruits he condemns, he says, are forced or abnormal variations, as is shown when cultivated, and afterward allowed to run wild. They immediately retrograde and assume the scur and _ in- edible qualities originally inherent in them. Man, he ciaims, has not been able to make a proper food of them. They are unnatural combinations of fruit elements, and are frequently prone to cause digestive disturbances when tak- en intothe stomach. By forcing seedlings, grafting and assiduously cultivating under artificial conditions man has mod- ified the progenitors of our present do- mestic fruits; he has made them ac- ceptable to the palate, but he has not eliminated their harmful qualities. Part of the surplus revenue which Great Britain is happy in having this year is to go towards improving the postal and telegraph services. It seems that there are about 16,000,000 of letters annually which the government does not attempt to deliver into the hands of the persons to whom they are directed. These letters are directed to persons liv- ing in the sparsely populated districts and are left by the officials at some central point where the owners can call and get them. This is to be remedied, and direct delivery of letters to every house in the kingdom is to be made. Greater scope is to be given in the mat- ter of parcels, and the charges on de- livery of telegraphs outside the set limits are to be materially reduced. Cake and ginger bread were distrib- uted on Easter day to visitors and hunks of bread and cheese to residents at Bid- denden, in Kent, according to a custom nearly goo years old, to commemorate the two maids of Biddenden. These were Eliza and Mary Chulkhurst, who were joined together like the Siamese twins, and, dying within a day of each other, left land, now yielding $200 a year, to perpetuate the distribution. The cakes are all stamped with a likeness of the maids, their names,and the dates of their birth and death. The Chinese are said to possess se- crets in the preparation of sweets that astonish our most accomplished confec- tioners. They know how to remove the pulp from oranges and substitute vari- ous jellies. The closest examination fails to reveal any opening or incision in the skin of the fruit. They perform the same feat with eggs. The shellsare apparently as intact as when the eggs were newly laid, but upon breaking and opening them the contents consists of nuts and sweetmeats, MICHIGAN TRADESMAN Be Deceived No Longer By the false idea that we sell only high-priced registers. We make over ninety different kinds and sizes of National Cash Registers, and our prices range from $8 to $350,4nclusive. We have just added three new detail-adding registers to our price list. No. 11, Price $30. Eleven keys of any denominations desired. Nickel-plated, metal case, with small cash-drawer. No. 13, Price $50. Twenty keys of any denominations de- sired. Nickel-plated, metal case. oe he wee No. 14, Price $65. Twenty-five keys of any denominations desired. Nickel-plated, metal case. Second=Hand Registers. We also have on hand a number of second-hand National and other cash registers taken in exchange for - latest improved Nationals. We will sell these registers at greatly reduced prices. Send us your name and address, and when next § in your vicinity one of our salesmen will call on you. You | will be under no obligation to buy. The National Cash Register Company, Department D, Dayton, Ohio. No. 14. JANE CRAGIN. Cyrus Called Down for Flirting—His Excuse. “*Do you mean to tell me, Cyrus Hux- ley, that you have come all the way from Milltown to Colorado Springs, here in this hotel to carry on, as you evi- dently did in Milltown, over a woman you have seen to all intents and pur- poses only twenty-four hours? I should think you were crazy, if I were not look- ing at you with my own eyes. It is per- fectly ridiculous the way you go on. Honestly, I haven’t had a chance to see you, say nothing about talking with you, since you've been here until this blessed minute; and I wouldn't be talk- ing with you now if you hadn’t got in here by mistake. Since that first day, or night rather, when your eyes got all tangled up with that red rose in Mar- jory Marchland’s hair, I’ve only seen you at a distance and always with her. No; I’li take that back. Miss Mac- Donald has made things pretty lively for the red-rose party and it’s easy to see that her two allies, Mr. Smith and Captain Walker, are putting her up to some of it. I shouldn’t think you'd give yourself up to be the plaything of such—such performances. What’s your idea, Cy; you don’t expect to make a wife of Miss Marchland, do you?’’ ‘*What should you think, Jane?’’ ‘‘Think? Mercy sakes alive! I think I never saw such goings-on. Everybody in the hotel is talking and laughing about it and wondering who will win. I think if I were you I’d put a stop to it; and I should say to both of ‘em that they'd better call a halt.’’ ‘‘Why? I like it. It seems so strange atter all these years to come out here where I am an utter stranger and. have two such splendid girls willing to show me by their actions that they don’t hate me. I can’t tell you how nice it seems to have these girls willing to take my arm when we are walking together. At first I couldn’t understand it. I had al- ways walked with you and you never liked to be near enough to me to touch my arm; and sometimes, until you made me stop telling you how much I liked you, if I got too near, you’d shoot across the road as if you had been shot. Now neither of these ladies do that. Last night Marjory and I were out watching the sun go down in the beau- tiful gateway of the Garden of the Gods and just as the sky was the bright- est, she leaned towards it, just as she leaned towards me at the supper and the sunset crimson as it flooded the Garden tinged her cheek and neck until I won- dered if that was the way other blossoms caught their loveliness from the sky. Well, I just forgot myself entirely and kissed her—’’ ‘“Cyrus Huxley! Don’t be silly, be- cause you were bcrn so!’’ “IT don’t think it is silly, Jane. I don’t see why we shouldn’t let people see that we like them, if we do. I don’t believe it was ever intended that we should live year in and year out with- out ever showing our fondness for each other. I confess I like to be liked; and when our Sid comes up to me in his hearty, whole-soul way and puts his arm around my neck, do you think I would be mean enough to push it off and tell him to clear out? You bet I wouldn’t. The other night when Miss Mac Donald and I were driving in from the Casino—she’s the finest horsewoman I ever knew—she was driving and it didn’t take but one hand to hold her fan and that was the left hand, and it oc- MICHIGAN TRADESMAN curred to me, she is such a slight little body, that the spirited horses would pull her over the dasher if I didn’t pre- vent it. Just to steady her, I put my free arm around her and it was lucky I did. The horses knew right off that they couldn’t accomplish their purpose, and in less than half a minute they dropped into a walk and kept it up until we reached town.’’ ‘‘T suppose you took your arm away then, didn’t you?’’ asked Jane witha sneer in her voice. “*No, I don’t think I did. You see that buggy has a dreadful back to the seat and the minute Car—I mean, Miss Mac Donald—leaned back and found my arm there, it was so much better than the old back that she—well I thought I wouldn’t take it away and she didn’t seem to want meto. After the team cooled down and she—Miss Mac Donald—leaned back pretty tired, she said that my arm and my shoulder seemed more like her favorite chair than like anything else, especially when she happened to let her head rest against my shoulder for a little while. It seemed just the way to ride in the moon- light and I couldn’t help thinking how funny it was that you and I have never ridden in the moonlight in that way. I —wonder-—-now.’’ Jane put down the work that she held, with the ominous red spot in the center of her white cheek, the unmistakable stgn of an early-coming tempest, when a look at Cy stayed for a while, at least, the storm. The ‘‘I—wonder—now,’’ had a tone of distance. As she Jooked at the man, resting upon the cushions, his eyes were turned to the mountains with a far-away dreaminess in them, as if he saw there the scene he had been describing so accurately. It might have been the sunset scene in the Garden of the Gods that was lying -off there; or was he, after all, thinking of the wind- ing roads about the neighborhood of Milltown; and, could he be thinking after all, of her, Jane Cragin? The spot in her cheek faded; the years with this man in them passed in review and there the two were, each busy with his own thoughts unconscious of the silence that had fallen upon both. RICHARD MALCOLM STRONG. ey A Convincing Argument. In county - Sligo, among the hills, there is a small lake renowned in that region for its fabulous depth. A pro- fessor happened to be in that part of Ireland last summer, and started out one day for a ramble among the moun- tains, accompanied by a native guide. As they climbed Pat asked him if he would like to see this lake, ‘‘for it’s no bottom at all, sorr.’’ ‘*But how do you know that, Pat?’’ asked the professor. ‘*Well, sorr, I’ll tel ye; me own cousin was showin’ the pond to a gentleman one day, sorr, who looked incredulous like, just as you do, and me cousin couldn’t stand it for him to doubt his worrd, sorr, and so he said, ‘ Begorra, I’ll prove the truth of me words,’ and off wint his clothes and in he jumped.’ The professor’s face wore an amused and quizzical expression. ‘*Yes, sorr, in he jumped, and didn’t come up again at all, at all.’’ ‘*But,’’ said the professor, ‘‘J don’t see that your cousin proved his point by recklessly drowning himself.’’ **Sure, sorr, it wasn’t drowned at alli he was; the next day comes a cable from him in Australia, askin’ to send on his clothes. ’’ Ontario Organizing to Down the Big Octopus. Written for the TRADESMAN. The big Toronto departmental stores are not unmixed evils after all. With all their faults they have been the direct cause of bringing about a fellow feel- ing among retail merchants all over the province, and this fellow feeling has crystallized into an organization for mu- tual benefit and self-protection. ‘I'he big mercantile octopus is an evil thing and an organization of retail merchants for the protection of their interests is a good thing, but the good thing would not have been accomplished—at present, at least—had it nut been fer the evil thing, and thus it is that sometimes ‘‘ good cometh out of evil.’ The movement be- gan several weeks ago in the city of Toronto. A convention of the business men was called for the purpose of dis- cussing the deplorable trade situation in view of effecting an organized effort to remedy matters. Many outside towns and cities responded to the call, and the meeting resulted in the formation of an organization known as ‘‘The Retail Merchants’ Association of Ontario,’ Although but a few weeks old it has al- ready acquired a membership of 800. The wholesale interests are identified with it, and it is destined soon to be- come a powerful factor in guiding the legislation of the country in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the legiti- mate mercantile interests of Ontario. At the last meeting ot the central body the province was divided into twenty- one districts and ten organizers were appointed to take the field. These or- ganizers commenced their work on Tuesday, May They go from town to town and organize the retailers into subordinate associations, and they will find their task an easy one, as the trade is everywhere prepared to join the movement. The executive forces of the organization are represented by six standing committees, each composed of leading, representative men who will take charge of the special duties as- signed them. These six departments are designated as follows: Committee to Guard Rights of Retail Merchants, Legislation, Adulteration of Foods, Postal Regulations, Co-operation with Manufacturers and Wholesalers and a Committee to Interview Trades and La- bor Organizations.’ 25. The first committee is composed of nine picked men who are to act asa sort of body guard for the Association. The big departmentals are the common enemy and no means wiil be avoided, legislative or otherwise, that will have a tendency to check the blighting effects of the ever-growing and all-absorbing monster located at the corner of Yonge and Queen streets, in the commercial metropolis of the province. But great as this concern is, a rumor is being cir- culated that the Timothy Eaton estab- lishment is soon to be eclipsed by an importation from New York. Now, this organization of the retail trade is a wise move. It is the prime essential in the line of self-protection. The retailer, as an individual unit, is powerless to accomplish anything; but when the many merge their individual- ities into one grand whole and the united body becomes the unit, a power is acquired that will make itself felt. But let the retaliers become ever so powerful, there are many things the fun- damental law of the land will not permit them to do. It is true the departmental store system is a gigantic evil, and, like all positive evils, the world would be the better without it; but the retail- ers cannot tear it down or strike it off the earth. Every man has a right to buy and sell merchandise, and no limit can be fixed beyond which he cannot go in his purchases or sales of lawful com- modities, the space he may require for his merchandise, the number of mer- cantile departments he may add to his establishment, the methods he may adopt to advertise his goods—provided they are not fraudulent, the prices at which he may see fit to offer his wares, or the number of employes he may require or the wages he may be pleased to offer them. In all these things attempts have been made, and are being made, in different states and countries, to inter- fere with vested rights and curtail in- dividual liberty by the enactment of laws. The syndicate departmental store sys- tem is a legitimate creature of the times in which we live. It is an evil inas- much as it tends to the enervation of in- dividual effort. This is the general tendency in every channel of human industry. Time was when our country villages had their individual manufac- turers of various kinds who found am- ple means of a good livelihood in the operation of their little shops; but the combining and centralizing tendencies have converted these prosperous village factories into tinker shops—indeed, the most of them are given up to the moles and bats, serving no purpose but to mar and disfigure the appearance of our vil- lages and remind us of a changed con- dition of things. The village manufac- turer with his limited means has been made to feel the banful effects of these changed conditions, and the village merchant cannot hope to fully escape his share of the common evils. But whatever is possible to be done by way of checking the evil, can be done only by united effort, and, as be- fore stated, organization is the prime essential. By a careful analysis it has been proven that special bargain lines are manufactured for the big store in Toronto that are not ‘‘all wool anda yard wide.’’ These shoddy and adul- terated bargain goods are used as bait to catch suckers They are advertised for what they are not, and thus the peo- ple are deluded, humbugged and swindled. Right here is where a little wholesome legislation might do some good. Why should the manager ofa great department store, or the sole pro- prietor of a 7xg peanut stand, for that matter, be permitted to flim-flam the people out of their earnings by any means of jugglery, whether by advertis- ing black and ingeniously worded false- hoods or by the use of any other device whereby the people are tricked and de- frauded? Make all these dishonest practices criminal offenses punishable by imprisonment, and then put the law strictly in force. Clarify the moral atmosphere in the vicinity of the de- partmental concerns, and it will do more towards breaking their backs than any- thing else. E, A. OWEN. HO Department Stores Not the Only Ones Who Cheat. ‘‘This lot of tomatoes 2 cents a can for our tea and coffee customers only,’’ is a sign found in a grocery store on Grand street, Brooklyn. The tomatoes are the Jersey Belle brand, usually re- tailed at 8 cents. The words ‘‘for our tea and coffee customers only’’ are printed in small type, and when the un- suspecting lady comes in, asking for the tomatoes, she is first asked to buy tea or coffee, 12 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN TWENTY YEARS HENCE. Changes Which May Happen in the Next Two Decades. I waked from what seemed to mea long and restful night’s sleep. I lay quiet for a while, thoroughly enjoving the delicious content afforded by spend- ing waking moments under warm cov- erlets. I did not for a time notice that the room had undergone changes since [ had retired to bed, and when | did, I dispelled them as visions of the waking period. But succeeding clearer mo ments established them true beyond doubt. The paper was new, the ceiling was frescoed, and the furniture was more elegant than before. ‘‘By Jove!’’ soliloquized I, ‘‘the pater must have struck it rich. But bow the dickens has all this been effected during my sleep. ”’ Quite by chance my eyes found the cal- endar, and I was at first astounded to find the year given as 1917! But aston- ishment soon gave way to unconcern as {| thought of the hero of ‘* Looking Backward,’’ which I had some time ago been deeply interested in reading. The more I thought of this the more ds turbed I was that I bad slept but twenty years. Bellamy’s hero, you remember, slept something like 133. I presume the difference was due to the manner in which sleep was induced. No Svengali had ushered me_ into the peace of oblivion. My last remembrance had been of reading Mr. Lloyd’s Etidorhpa. (And now that | thought of it, this was at the store, too. I must have been carted to the house, and allowed to sleep my sleep out, which quite broke my former records.) The complete ar- rest of bodily function and tissue waste which the central figure of that remark able science-fiction achieved at the point where gravitation ceases, some where between here and China, im- pressed me deeply. Long and _ intense in-dwelling upon it had _ evidently brought about its achievement in me. Mind had exerted great power over mat- ter and matter had knuckled. Mind was not so superior this morn- ing, however. I knew not my mental whereatness. I was a drug clerk in the employ of one Martin, at last re- membrance. I might be anything de- cent now. I tried to find somebody in the house, hoping to have help in unty- ing the knots in my head. But a thorough search and much noise brought no one to my rescue. Sol started out at once fur the drug shop of my one time employer and most intimate friend, Dick Martin. On the way I met no one I recognized, but 1 met those who must have recognized in mea freak, for to my surprise they all wore a most amused smile when they noticed me. When I reached the store I found its outer appearance had changed since I knew it. There were two entrances, in- stead of one, as formerly. The mag- nificent wiadows connected with the first entrance had _ perfumery, bath sponges, hair and tooth brushes and other toilet requisites pleasingly displayed in them. The other side had but two plain windows not differing from those of a house, and containing no display of goods. Between them was a single door whose upper half was set with a de- signed glass. Thinking that this latter portion of the building had been con- verted into a dwelling, I entered the first door. A room much more elegant than the one I had known greeted me. Beauti- fully carved, low mahogany counters under deep, wide, square cases; oval- wall and column display cases; glass shelving protected with sliding doors; cut glass containers, and by all these means a wonderfully clever and tasteful display of toilet requisites and like goods met my surprised gaze. There were three clerks Only one of them was a man, and he clearly was not in much demand. He _ was rather peculiarly dressed, and it was perhaps his closely cut moustache that drew my attention to him as being of a sex differing fron the others. His loose cout was inade with loose sleeves, raised slightly at the shoulders, and with a waist which was tight fitting in the back. His _ trousers were different from anything I had ever s-en. They were very loose and hung in folds about his legs; when he walked they flapped like the wings of a Bat o1, he fly. I could fancy his legs pre- -enting a dropsical appearance, should he be caught in a windstorm. His odd appearance led me to inspect closer the iresses of the girl attendants. I found hem to consist of two parts, hasque and skirt. The basque was rather tight- leeved, had lapels, and was belted at what seemed to me a large waist fora soman. Just then one of the girls walked cross the floor. I noticed that her skirt was split more than half of its tngth, so that from a little above the knees down, it approximated very loose ruusers. This was hardly noticeable, 1owever, as the garment was very loose- iv made. The girls’ hair was cut down within a few inches of their heads, parted in the center and combed fluffy ‘O give an appearance of looseness. Curning again to the man clerk I at 11¢e Saw why my appearance had caused -uch amusement on the street a few ulnutes before. If others in looking at ne were moved by any such feelings as [ was in looking at this twentieth -entury product, they were not to be ‘l1imed for laughing. But I now saw as J looked about me that this could not be the drug store, for although the goods were of the fa- miliar side lines, only in more , numer- ous kinds and greater quantities, there were no medicines about. So I said to one of the clerks: **Can you tell me where Martin's drug store is?’’ ‘*Martin’s is the next door above.’”’ I walked out and into the door next above, which | then noticed had a neat silver plate bearing th's legend: ‘°M. C. Martin, Analyst and Pharmiacist.’’ The room which I entered had all the appearance of an elegant office, which | soon found it to be. Before the win- dow, at a large open desk, was a young woman busily engaged in clerical work. At her side, and extending half way down the room, was a handsome oak glass-dcored case containing surgical instruments, surgeon’s sponges, ban- dages, lint, etc., etc. The room was softly carpeted in dark gray, and around about were several large, square, com- fortable, leather-covered chairs. A table mn the center of the room had the cur- rent newspapers and magazines on it. A work in oil of >ir Frederick Leigh- ton’s adorned one side of the room, and water colors and sketches made the other walls very artistic and rich in effect. Two or three palms graced the corners. Quiet and refined elegance was generally expressed. As I walked into this room the young woman at the desk rose to-meet me. Her manner was very businesslike and polite. Without waiting for her to speak, | asked: “*Is Mr. Martin in?’’ The Best Flour in the world is Pillsbury’s Best = — > id C's Ae ‘ * on | i f, SSeS] Ni -lff/ Mt: esa “ECONOMY IS WEALTH ” It is also an economical flour from the fact that it