ADESMAN Nineteenth Year GRAND RAPIDS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1901. Number 946 ELLIOT O. GROSVENOR Late State Food Commissioner Advisory Counsel to manufacturers and jobbers whose interests are‘affected by the Food Laws of any state. Corres- pondence invited. 1232 [Majestic Building, Detroit, [lich. vyewvvvvvvvyvvvuvvvvvvuvvvvv* POR DOG FGF FG FOGG IS OG OD WILLIAM CONNOR WHOLESALE READYMADE CLOTHING for all ages, Removed to William Alden Smith block, 28 and 30 South Ionia street. Open daily from 8 a. m. to 6 p. m. Saturday to I p. m, Mail orders promptly attended to. Customers’ expenses allowed. Dh bb bb hbibihbibi bbb bh ooh bt PO GVO V VU VU VV VV VUY phbbhbhbhbhbbbib bbb tr bolt, tr PFRUGVUGFVVVVUTVVUVVUVVUY yeuwvvvvrvvvvvvvvvvvyvyvyvyvyyv*" GFRUGOOVUOUTE OVO VO VOTE VIVO A. BOMERS, . «Commercial Broker.. And Dealer in Cigars and Tobaccos, 157 E. Fulton St.” GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Aluminum Money Will Increase Your Business. Ty ae iS ‘ FENSO ele) Lede ae D KY. Fy * Ae Oi . We Cheap and Effective. Send for samples and prices. C. H. HANSON, 44 S. Clark St.. Chicago. U1. es 4 a (ALU Widdicomb Bldg, Grand Rapids. Detroit Opera House Block, Detroit. L. J. Stevenson, Manager R. J. Cleland and Don E. Minor, Attorneys Prompt attention to all kinds of Collec- tions, Adjustments and Litigation. Our credit advices will avoid making worth- less accounts. We collect all others. THE MERCANTILE AGENCY Established 1841. R. G. DUN & CO. Widdicomb Bid’g, Grand Rapids, Mich. Books arranged with trade classification of names. Collections made everywhere. Write for particulars. C. E. McCRONE, [ianager. 7) Bety yA Ly GGEG Offices National Fire Ins. Co. of Hartford Successor to The Grand Rapids Fire Ins. Co. CAPITAL, $1,000,000 Tradesman Coupons Contributors to the Anniversary Edition. In addition to the regular editorial staff of the Tradesman, thirty-two spe- cial articles on subjects of interest to the Tradesman’s readers appear in this week’s anniversary issue, prepared by gentlemen who are everywhere recog- nized as experts in their respective lines, as follows: Clay H. Hollister, Cashier Old Na- tional Bank, city. Claude Hamilton, Auditor Michigan Trust Co., city. C. J. DeRoo, Secretary Walsh-DeRoo Milling Co., Holland. C. C. Follmer, C. C. Follmer & Co., city. W. Millard Palmer, Lyon, Kymer & Palmer Co., city. Thos. F. Carroll, Rapids, Grand Haven Railway, city. W. N. Ferris, Principal Ferris Indus- trial Institute, Big Rapids. Gilbert W. Lee, Lee & Cady, Detroit. Oscar F. Conklin, Los Angeles, Cali. E. A. Owen, Vittoria, Ont. Chas. W. Garfield, President Grand Rapids Savings Bank, city. Kate W. Nobles, President The Kate W. Nobles Mfg. Co., Niles. F. H. Thurston, Avalon, Cali. Henry C. Weber, H. C. Weber & Co., Detroit. D. C. Leach, Walton. Chas. R. Sligh, President Sligh Fur- niture Co,, city. J. Elmer Pratt, city. Geo. L. Thurston, Thurston & Co., Central Lake. C. E. Burns, Detroit. Geo. E. Kollen, Holland. L. Winternitz, Fleischmann & Co., Cincinnati. Hon. Peter Doran, city. Albert Baxter, Muskegon. Arch. Cameron, Cameron Co., Torch Lake. Heman G. Barlow, Olney & Judson Grocer Co., city. E. Defebaugh, Editor American Lumberman, Chicago. J. G. Standart, Standart Bros., De- troit. James B. Forgan, President First Na- tional Bank, Chicago. John D. Mangum, quette. Chas. N. Remington, Jr., city. D. C. Oakes, National Bank of Grand Haven. Geo. E. Bardeen, President Bardeen Paper Co., Otsego. President Grand & Muskegon Lumber Mayor of Mar- The Grain Market. Wheat has taken on a stronger tone; while the advance has been slow, it has been on the up grade. The world’s shipments have been large, exceeding 10, 500,000 bushels, of which the United States furnished 6,600,000 bushels. The visible increase was only 558,000 bush- els, which also tended to strengthen prices. Receipts are falling off in the Northwest. Stocks are not accumulat- ing. Should speculation set in, prices would easily be lifted to a higher level. Wheat prices have been low so long that the trade seem to think that as long as there is enough coming to absorb the demand, they are not in a hurry to buy except for present needs. Argentine furnished only a small amount for ex- port. While they had some rain, it is generally considered that it came too late,and their crop will be less than last year’s, so the importing countries are looking to the United States for their supplies, as the Baltic will soon be closed and Russia has not much to offer. We fail to see where lower prices will come in; in fact, think present prices are bottom. Corn is very strong and fully 1c high- er for futures. The export demand is quite brisk at the advance. The visible decreased 786,000 bushels and, as the corn states are short, this will tend to still further elevate prices. Oats are up fully 2c since one week ago. The demand exceeds the supply, as the crop was also short. They will probably sell a great deal higher, as all and more will be needed. Although rather slow, rye prices are up fully 3c from the low point. As Germany was 60,000,000 bushels short, they begin to look for importing from this country, which helps to sustain prices at present limit. Beans, since the October corner is past, have dropped to $1.68 for Novem- ber and $1.63 for December and Janu- ary. The tendency is to a lower level of prices. Flour remains steady, owing to the advance in wheat, and will have to ad- vance, as stocks are not pressing on the market and dealers generally are not overstocked. Mill feed is still in de- mand at full prices, owing to the high price of corn and oats. I think prices will remain steady and may go higher. Receipts for the past week have been as follows: wheat, 44 cars; corn, IO cars; oats, 9 cars; rye, I car; flour, 7 cars; beans, 5 cars; hay, I car; pota- toes, 28 cars. For the month: wheat, 285 cars; corn, 37 Cars; oats, 22 Cars; middlings, 1 car; rye, 2 cars; flour, 31 cars; beans, 16 cars; malt, I car; hay, Ig cars; straw, 3 cars; potatoes, 64 cars; honey, I car. C. G. A. Voigt. —__»2>—___ Hides, Pelts, Tallow and Wool. Hides are high in price and the mar- ket on light has been well cleaned up. Prices sagged some and appearances in- dicate a lower basis, as tanners see no profit ahead. Stocks are of good qual- ity and scarce. There is little country kill, which is likely to create a demand which will prevent any accumulation. Pelts are in good demand at fair prices. Values are not excessive and stocks are light. Better prices are looked for. Tallow is in fully supply and there is a good demand at fair values. All stocks are wanted. Trade is good. Wools have an inning ata fair ad- vance, caused by large sales at sea- board. Values have moved up slightly by this movement of wool, although selling prices are no higher. Manufac- turers simply took a good supply, be- lieving prices would be no _ lower. These sales have given hope to holders and they will profit by it. A continued good trade is looked for. Considerable wool is moving out of the State. Buy- ers are active, while the slight advance gives no profit to holders. Wm. T. Hess. | forces of skilled workmen. The Boys Behind the Counter. Jennings—John J. Gage, formerly buyer in the Antrim Iron Co. store at Mancelona, has taken a clerkship in the general store of Mitchell Bros. here. Plainwell—Fred. Granger succeeds Harold Warwick as clerk in the Star drug store. Big Rapids—Theo. Bidwell, who has been clerking for C. M. Wiseman in his book store, has gone behind the counter for the Hobert-Beecher Co. Grawn—H. Frank Campbell, former- ly of Wexford county and recently of Cadillac, is now salesman in the drug store of D. W. Reynolds here. Holland—Henry Winters, who has been clerk for the Lokker-Rutgers Co. for several years, has taken a position in the shoe and clothing store of Van Ark & Notier. . Eaton Rapids—Ford McCarrick, clerk in J. J. Milbourn’s drug store, and Miss Bessie Stevens, of Lansing, were mar- ried recently. Benton Harbor—Victor L. Simon has resigned his position with the Pere Marquette Railway to accept a position with the Fletcher Clothing Co. Sturgis—W. W. Anderson, of South Haven, has taken a position as salesman in M. Estherson’s dry goods store. Muskegon—Wm. T. Baker, who for the past twelve years has been em- ployed at the Wm. D. Hardy & Co.’s stores, has severed his relations with that firm. He will soon leave for Grand Haven to engage in the dry goods busi- ness there. Before leaving for home Saturday evening the other clerks sur- rounded Mr. Baker and most agreeably surprised him by giving him a gold set ring asa token of esteem and fellowship. Mr. Baker was overcome by the kind- ness but thanked his friends for the gift. —_—__—~> 6. The steel trust not only did not obtain control of all the steel mills in this country, but it has been unable to pre- vent the establishment of new concerns by independent capitalists. Many of these capitalists are men whose interests were bought out by the trust, who know the steel business thoroughly and are likely to succeed in it, despite the strongest competition. There is such an unlimited market for steel goods at the present time that there is room for all the manufacturers. The chief diffi- culty now is in procuring adequate The trust mills are especially hampered, as many of their hands have gone to the new mills opened by their old employers. ~~. 4+. We are accustomed to regard the Jap- anese as clever people, but to put them in the category of imitators rather than originators. They belong to the yellow race and we are slow to admit equality on the part of any people of color. Dr. Nicholas Senn, who has just visited Japan, makes the declaration that our color philosophy is defective. He says that ‘‘Japan is scientifically independent of the outside world’’ and that ‘‘Japan- ese scientists are in the front ranks of original thinkers and discoverers to- day.’’ ease pettiness Fd oa Beet Ph eg epee areas i MICHIGAN » TRADESMAN BANKING INTERESTS. ' Propositions on Which Bankers Do Not Think Alike. No other evidence of the general pros- perity of the country is more substan- tial than the present condition of the banking interests, which show in all points a very healthy progress and growth. Deposits are larger and loans correspondingly so. Money is ruling at cheap rates, but is abundantly used in every department of commerce and trade. The volume of business in trade immediately swells the current business of the banks. Credits are good, most merchants and manufacturers are making fair profits in trade, which means expansion all around. It may tend to overproduction and then will come reaction. Banks reflect these con- ditions promptly. No better evidence in Michigan is needed to show the pres- ent prosperity than the bank reports of its two leading cities, Detroit and Grand Rapids. On September 18, 1900, Detroit and Grand Rapids banks showed the following conditions: Loans and Discounts Deposits Detroit........ $65,666,308.83 ........ $75.762,629.53 Grand Rapids. 14,537,900 ........ 15.031,309.16 And on September 30, 1901, the same bands showed as follows: Loans and Discounts Deposits Detroit........ $84,296,767.45 ........ $78,396,911.68 Grand Rapids. 16,323,9¥3.43 .... .... 16,771,357.38 The whole State would probably show as well proportionately. While these conditions prevail and business is apparently remunerative, it seems out of place for bankers to arouse themselves to advocate any changes. There is a feeling, however, that there are flaws in the banking system and in the currency system and this feeling has prompted able men—experienced and intelligent in monetary affairs—to demand certain changes. They call for an abolishment of the sub-treasury sys- tem, for the withdrawal of the provision requiring Government bonds to be placed behind the circulatory notes is- sued by the National banks and, instead of this, that permission be given to banks to issue notes upon their own as- sets under certain restrictions. They claim for this system that it will make the currency movement much more flex- ible. Some advocate the establishment of a single central bank to act as the Government bank, and others the for- mation of large central banks with wide- ly distributed branches. Able thinkers favor one or another combination of these ideas and all unite in asserting that this time of National prosperity is the best time to bring out the proper legislation, because the evils of the present system are least manifest and injurious and can, therefore, be best provided for. The discussion bids fair to arouse the interest of the wisest financial economists and to renew the agitation which was so vigorous at the tinte of the free silver discussion. At the recent meetings of the American Bankers’ Association, at Milwaukee, an apparently concerted effort was made by Messrs. Gage, Eckels and Stickney to emphasize these questions, and a common opinion often expressed is that these speeches contained the nucleus of the Administration’s position at the present time. Bankers do not all think alike upon these propositions and the general public have not given the mat- ter much attention. The coming agitation will be of great service as an education to bankers, as well as the public, for it is undoubtedly a fact that the majority of bankers are not experts upon large financial opera- tions or economic’ law. It is to be hoped that the outcome of the agitation will result in better legislation. That bankers are taking a practical interest in bettering their condition through the training of employes to a better concep- tion of the theory and practice of bank- ing is proved by the success of the past year’s experience with the American Institute of Bank Clerks. This organi- zation, which started only a little over a year ago, has already interested large numbers of bank employes in the active study of the principles and practice of the profession. The training includes correspondence and lecture courses and is being directed. by authorities of un- doubted ability. The American Bank- ers’ Association is giving each year a handsome appropriation toward the carrying out of this work. The en- thusiasm among employes is marked. This means more intelligent service for the banks and better banking conditions How Two Country Merchants Protected Themselves From Loss. During the sojourn of the delegates to the convention of the Michigan Bank- ers’ Association in this city last summer many interesting stories were related. One group of financiers fell to discuss- ing the prosy subject of debit and credit, but with the stories that were told to illustrate certain ideas the sub- ject lost much of its dulness. ‘‘A friend of mine once ran across a queer system of keeping books in a lit- tle Southern town,’’ said a banker. ‘‘He was a traveling salesman and his terri- tory included Tennessee. Naturally he grew pretty well acquainted with his customers, who were for the most part keepers of general stores. Happening in such an establishment one day he found the proprietor in the rear of the room poring intently over what seemed to be his ledger. My friend noticed that the old gentleman would mutter for the customers. The banker ‘is, there- fore, working toward a higher ideal and turns from the idea of shaving a note to the higher calling of acting as trustee and custodian of the wealth of the common people. This he strives to do in an intelligent and far-seeing way. Banking is, therefore, a profession and is worthy of the best intellect that man can muster. Only as a banker realizes this can he fulfill his true duty to his community. These conditions will help Michigan banks, in common _ with others. Deposits will be more safely handled and commercial interests will receive more intelligent assistance ac- cording to their needs. Clay H. Hollister. 2-2 Familiar Dlustration. ‘*Now, Johnny,’’ said the Sunday school teacher, ‘‘you may tell us what a prophet is.’’ : ‘Why,’’ replied Johnny, ‘‘it’sa_fel- low that’s always lookin’ for a chance to say ‘I told you so,’ ’ savagely now and then and turning over a few leaves jot down a set of figures, After this process had been repeated several times my friend interrupted him with, ‘Mr. Hedges, what on earth are you doing there?’ “* “Well, I’ll tell you,’ replied the old man. ‘This here Bill Jones is a worth- less scamp and he has left town owing me $1.50. Sol jest put it on Brown’s account over here (turning the leaves). Then there’s Charley Colson that got into a scrap the other night and was killed. He owed me $2, so I puter over on Joe Smith's account. I tell you, brother, whatever goes on in this here old book has got to come out, by the Eternal.’ ° ‘‘That reminds me of a story of Strange methods of keeping accounts that I heard one time,’’ spoke up an- other financier. ‘‘This was ina little Western town. The proprietor of a store wanted to go on a visit out in the coun- try one day and when he got ready to start he told his clerk, a mere lad, to kind of keep an eye on things while he was absent. ‘You needn’t be particular about taking in money for what you sell,’ said the storekeeper. ‘Just re- member what you sold and who got it and I will put it on the books when I get home to-night.’ ‘Well, when the old fellow. arrived home that night he asked the boy how he had,‘ made out’ during the day. ‘O, pretty well,’ said the lad. ‘I sold a washboard and tub to Widow Harkness, a currycomb and brushto Old Man Johnson, a tin bucket to Mrs. Leeds, a broom anda package of needles to Mrs. Branscomb, and—say, I sold some feller a horse collar, but blamed if 1 can ‘re- member who I sold it to.’ ‘* ‘Never mind about that,’ said the proprietor, ‘It'll be all right. 1°ll just charge all of my book customers with a horse collar.’ And he did put down a horse collar on every account he had in his ledger. The funny part of it was that all of them paid except one man, and the storekeeper brought suit against him. Banking would be a soft snap if we could keep books like that.’’ —____._2 2. Lipton to Open Coffee Plants in America. A new and very important factor is to be imported into the coffee market of the United States within the next few months, in the shape of the entrance of Sir Thomas Lipton into the American field. Sir Thomas maintains several hundred retail grocery stores in Eng- land, has a meat packing house in Chi- cago, tea plantations in Ceylon, and coffee plantations in various coffee- growing countries. His tea has been long sold in the United States in pack- ages, but before this no attempt has been made to sell coffee here. The coffee plan comprehends the es- tablishment of branches in all the large American cities and of coffee roasting plants in many of them. The Lipton people make great claims as to their facilities for selling coffee in competition with American import- ers. Green coffee will be shipped di- tect from their plantations to their American plants, and they claim that this fact will enable them on many va- rieties of coffee to undersell the Ameri- can importer by as much as 2 cents per pound. The firm will sell coffee both in pack- ages and in bulk. i ———>_02>__ The Pop Corn Crop. Charleston, Ill, Nov. 2—A. L. Schaeffer, of Edgar county, this State, has just harvested the largest crop of pop corn ever known inthe world. From his 102 acres he has secured 1,800 bush- els, slightly over seventeen bushels to the acre. It cost him about $17 an acre to raise, sort and shell it, and this also includes the rental of the ground. Owing to the heavy rains in the spring and the severe drought which followed, there is less than one-third of a crop the country over. for 6 cents a pound, but because of the shortage in the crop Mr. Schaeffer ex- pects the price to go to 10 cents by next spring. There isa marked scar- city of the product in Missouri, Kansas, lowa and Nebraska, where the major portion of the crop usually comes from. Rice corn thrives the best in this clim- ate, and it is the variety that is raised by Mr. Schaeffer. : —__>4.—_ Hard on the Farmers. Biggs—I understand the scarcity of rye is due to the fact that last year’s visible supply was converted whisky. Diggs—Well, that’s fortunate for city folks who spend their summer in the country. Biggs—How so? Diggs—The farmers will be obliged to substitute genuine coffee, Pop corn now sells ° into : MICHIGAN TRADESMAN |. 3 RRO Pry Ee YEe Yee YEN LEK PEK Ase Seo 20.208 yd A Dy 02°00 yd WHR Or ee A well equipped, liberally managed, First Class Hotel. Grand Rapids, Mich. QLPASIQSIQSIQLIAS QIQY, SIN ° SONQSNQo SNQo ° CHACHQACHQASINQASGNQoyQay 9, OwGoONG’o) ‘a oO ‘oO ‘oO ‘oO ‘2 ‘ C) C) o ° CS) ©) o C) C) ©) ‘2 C) ‘oO oO ‘a Morton House The Leading Hotel NAAN GOnGon! PLN o ° 5 0059 Q 9° oe ° ° ° ° ° ° 69 5(aDS(N5Ea9 565 a ‘} a ° ° ‘2 ° 60)5(C0) oS OQ, QO OTe) 9 J ° 2 9° ° aDS5YS592C9 eE¢s oO a ‘O ° a °o °° ° °° SLO a a oO °. 9) 509) 9, ° 9° ° 9, OSsaVs~eo o o ODS eo of Grand Rapids, Michigan J. Boyd Pantlind, Proprietor S95 oO °o 69) A 'O' ° RAOIACHATHNASCHNASCHNAQCHACHNA S So 2 go 9, g 2g So Oo Oo So oO 9, 9. 9, go 9, 2g g So, 2 Oo, ° 9, 9, So, LOGOS OOH SOOH HOLL OOOOH OO OO C) BiGoSGONGOsuGcoOsg¢o BUGONGONIGONGS OoGEVGactGOuGOsGcosga BsGovGs Ow Boge The Occidental - Leading Hotel in Muskegon 400 Capacity Muskegon, Michigan W.H. Barney, Proprietor Showing the Benefits the Merchant Receives by Using the KIRKWOOD SHORT CREDIT SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTS It prevents forgotten charges. It makes disputed accounts impossible. It assists in making collections. It saves labor in bookkeeping. It Systematizes credits. It establishes confidence between you and your customer. One writing does it*all. For Full Particulars write or call on A. H. Morrill, Agt., 105 Ottawa St., GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Manufactured by CROSBY-WIRTH PRINTING CO., St. Paul, Minn. DHLPLDEDESBLILWLGLDEWEADLE® : ® @ @ ° Hotel Warwick $§ @ @ e : : e @ Grand Rapids, Mich. @ @ e @ - e @ e C) @ e e C) @ ® $ @ e @ @ @ e @ @ C ) e e@ @ e e @ @ C) e e @ C) e e 147 Fine Outside Rooms © e@ e a Special attention given to Commercial Trade. = ® Rates: $2 per day. Room with bath, $2.50. e ® A. B. Gardner, Manager a @ e ©QLALODLSLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLe® ene RE ALT a 8 - 4 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN ea Around the State Movements of Merchants. Ovid—P. W. Holland has embarked in the grocery business. Hudson—John Yeagley succeeds John Roney in the bakery business. Ithaca—A. H. Brady has purchased the meat market of Geo. Winchet. Carleton—C. M. Reeves has purchased the grocery stock of Wm. H. Maurer. Indian River—J. E. Vermilya & Son, meat dealers, have removed to Onaway. Palmyra-—S. B. Doty has purchased the grocery stock of J. D. Templeton. Corunna—Wm. and Perry Duffey have opened a shoe store in the Bacon block. Niles—I. Wittstein has opened a gen- eral merchandise store in the Chapin building. Ishpeming—The grocery stock of L. A. Proulx has been attached by his creditors. North Adams—A. C. Ranney has re- moved his grocery stock from Hanover to this place. Ironwood—G. P. Lee succeeds John Forslund in the bakery and confection- ery business. Constantine—P. A. (Mrs. A. T.) Smith has removed her bazaar stock to Tiffin, Ohio. Saginaw—Williams, Paxson & Co. succeed Herman Dittmar, Agent, in the jewelry business. Caro—F. E. Kelsey & Co. succeed M. H. Vaughan & Co. in the grain and produce business. Munising—The Munising State Bank has increased its capitalization from $15,000 to $80,000, Battle Creek (near)—The Merchant Milling Co. succeeds Perry E. Wolfe in the gristmill business. Livingston—W. S. Lusk, general merchandise dealer, has disposed of his stock to Alpheus Smith. Hudson—The Marvin Shoe Co, has opened a shoe store here as a branch of its Adrian establishment. Vistorsville—J. W. Clark has pur- chased the general merchandise stock of Wm. E. Herschberger. Frankfort—J. B. Collins, who had been engaged in the drug business here for thirty years, died recently. Richville—J. L. Ortner continues the elevator and implement business of Ortner & Meyer in his own name. Richland—Gilkey & Powers is the style of the new firm which succeeds Patrick H. Gilkey in general trade. lonia—James O'Conner has discon- tinued the clothing business at this place and shipped his stock to Lansing. Howard City—Samuel Drew, of Howell, has removed to this place for the purpose of engaging in the grocery business. ; Belding—Geo. W. DeWitt, who re- cently sold his furniture stock to C. L. Staley & Co., has purchased a similar stock at Vassar. Detroit—W. H. Burke & Co. have purchased the stock of drugs and physi- cians’ supplies of the Seeley Pharma- ceutical Co, Ludington—The Stearns Mercantile Co. has merged its business into a cor- poration under the same style, Its cap- ital stock is $30,000. Holland—Van Ark & Notier have en- gaged in the clothing and shoe busi- ness in the new block recently erected by Herman Van Ark. Cass Cit;—McArthur & Turner con- tinue the dry goods, carpet and shoe ~-business formerly conducted by James S. McArthur ‘in his-own name. Hillsdale—Stanton & Bates, clothing dealers and merchant tailors, have dis- solved partnership. ‘The business will be continued by James W. Bates. Saranac—Luke Otis has leased the store building formerly occupied by T. G. Mercer and will engage in the farm implement and builders’ supply busi- ness. Ionia—C. H. Mandeville has ex- changed his store building at Saranac for the stock in the Ionia Novelty Bazaar Store and will continue the business at the same location. Chadwick—Asa E. Dorr, grocer at th3s place, was married recently to Miss Daisy Fuller, of Pierson. The Trades- man joins the friends of both in ex- tending congratulations. Lake Odessa—MclIntyre & Scheidt have engaged in the meat business. They have secured the services of John Mohrhardt, of Grand Rapids, who is an experienced meat cutter. Negaunee—Hajjar Bros., who con- duct a confectionery store at Ishpeming, will shortly remove to this place and engage in the manufacture of confec- tionery and sweet goods of all kinds. Eaton Rapids—W. Vaughan & Son purchased more beans up to October 1, 1901, than they bought up to November 1 last year. The yield was all the way from 12 to 48 bushels per acre this season. St. James—Neil Gallagher, known throughout Michigan as the one-time leading fisherman and business man of Beaver Island, has removed to Esca- naba, where he expects to reside in the future. Howell—Marston & Monroe, grocers, have dissolved partnership, Mr. Mars- ton continuing business at the old stand, while Mr. Monroe has removed his portion of the stock into the Prin- dle building. Pontiac—David Moreland has_ re- signed his position as commercial teller in the Pontiac Savings Bank and _ pur- chased an interest in the Hodges Vehicle Co. and will devote his entire attention to that business. Hartford—S. P. High’s stock of dry goods has been taken into custody by his creditors, A. M. Myers being Chosen as custodian. An effort will be made to sell the stock in bulk to some one who will continue the business. Muskegon—The American Tailoring Co. has opened a merchant tailoring es- tablishment in the Lawrence block. The company bas now fifty-two similar stores located in various cities and towns throughout the country, its headquarters being at Cleveland, Ohic. Pontiac—Thos. J. Reynolds and Philip Moore, now connected with the firm ‘of Reynolds Bros., will establish a business of their own under the firm name of Reynolds & Moore about Jan. 1. They will locate in the ~- Jackson block and will deal in wall paper, paints and oils. Manistee—F. J. Zielinski has leased the store building now occupied by the dry goods stock of P. N. Cardozo and will open up with a full line of dry goods about Feb, 1. Mr. Zielinski has been. in the employ of Mr. Cardozo for a number of years and thoroughly un- derstands the business. Detroit—Fred T. Crawford, the com- mission man, was arrested one day last week. He did not appear for trial on a charge of embezzlement in the Record- er's Court recently, and his bail bond was declared forfeited. His old bonds- men, James D. Burns and Frank Smith, again went on his bond and he was re- leased. : Plainwell—James N. Hill has pur- chased the grocery stock of C. B. Grang- er and will carry on the business at the present location. Mr. Granger and his father, O. B. Granger, will engage in the hardware business at Albion and expect to remove there about December 1 and take possession of their new store January 1. Jackson—Heyser, Walker & Co. have sold their lumber business to Edward E. Hartwick and Thomas Woodfield, who will continue the business under the firm name of Hartwick & Wood- field. Mr. Hartwick has for some years been a member of the lumber firm of Hartwick & Nicholson, of Mason, and Mr. Woodfield has been connected with the Jamieson Lumber Co., of St. Ignace. Muskegon—As an evidence of the steady growth and prosperity of this city it may be stated that the eight or ten store buildings on the south side of Western avenue, between Pine and Third streets, which have been vacant for the past five years, are now all oc- cupied. This process has gone on slowly until now there is not a single vacant place of business on the ground floor on the south side of the four blocks from the Occidental Hotel to the Wier- engo Hotel. Manufacturing Matters. Holland—The new flouring mill of W. H. Beach & Co. is completed and the machinery has been installed. Opera- tions will begin this week. Milford—A. H. Smith, who has heen conducting the Wixom cheese factory, has purchased the plant at this place, and will conduct it in the future. Marshall—E. M. Evarts has taken the contract to erect and equip a $4,500 but- ter factory at this place. There are forty- eight stockholders in the company. Flint—The Michigan Paint Co. is planning to enlarge its plant and build one of the finest paint factories in the State. Irving Bates, the owner, is now securing options on a site. Lyons—The Ash & Harper Co, has re- moved its gas engine factory from Lan- sing to this place and incorporated its business under the style of the Ash- Harper Co. Its capital stock is $11,000. Detroit—D. D. Buick and Thomas D. Buick, retiring from the Buick & Sher- wood Manufacturing Co., will, it is said, organize a new sanitary plumbing manufacturing concern. The old com- pany is now in the trust. Baroda—The Squire Dingee Co. is making a canvass of the farmers in this vicinity, with a view to securing suffi- cient acreage to warrant it in establisb- ing a branch pickling station at this place. One-half of the requisite acre- age has already been subscribed. Owosso—A beet sugar factory will probably be in operation in Owosso by the fall of 1902, A committee of busi- ness men have examined the factories in Lansing and Alma and are raising $100,000 of stock. The other $400,000 necessary will be furnished by a Chi- cago firm. Saginaw—Geo. S. Benjamin, of this city, and Charles Dobbins, of Bedford, Ind., have organized a company to en- gage in the manufacture of high grade racing wagons, the lowest priced vehicles made ranging from $300 to $400, Work on the building has already been com- menced, which will be 5ox1oo feet in dimensions and two stories high. Jackson—Owing to the difficulty of securing sufficient experienced help in Detroit, the American Lady Corset Co. has established a branch factory here. A building s5ox1oo feet has been se- cured, and over fifty people are already at work, and this number will be in- creased to 200 as soon as the necessary machinery can be installed. The Jack- son factory is under the supervision of expert employes from the Detroit fac- tory and will be used largely in manu- facturing the best selling brands made by the firm, which it has been impos- sible to turn out fast enough from the Detroit factory to keep pace with the demand. —_—___~+> 2<._____ Entirely Satisfactory. H. Leonard & Sons, Importers and Jobbers of House Furnishing Goods, Crockery, Glassware, Fancy Goods, Notions, etc. Fulton and Commerce Sts. Grand Rapids, Mich., Oct. 17, 1901. Commercial Credit Co., Grand Rapids. Gentlemen—Yours, with check for $152.33 for proceeds of certain collec- tions, at hand and, in reply to your let- ter, would say that your system of col- lections is entirely satisfactory to us, and to our customers. Very truly, H, Leonard & Sons. For Gillies’ N. Y. tea,all kinds, grades and prices, call Visner, both phones. Buy the Most Perfect Talking Machine Made “*HIS MASTER'S VOICE’ Buy it of us. Prices $12 to $25. Until Dec. 1 we offer extra inducements, besides prepaying ex- pressage. Write for par- ticulars. POST MUSIC CO., Lansing, Mich. POTATOES WANTED Will pay cash; write or see us before selling. M,. ©. BAKER & CO,, Toledo, Ohio WROUGHT We have a large stock of % to 8 inch Black, ¥% to 2 inch Galvanized Plugged and Reamed Pipe, and Malleable and Cast Iron Fittings, Valves, etc. PMill and Well Sugpitn GRAND RAPIDS SUPPLY “20 Pearl Street, Grand Rapids, oe eo IRON PIPE 3 inch Galvanized, including S promptly. S. MICHIGAN TRADESMAN Grand Rapids Gossip Grand Rapids Retail Grocers’ Association. At the regular meeting of the Grand Rapids Retail Grocers’ Association, held Tuesday evening, Nov. 5, President Fuller presided. The meeting was made unusual by the presence of. representatives of the wholesale trade and others who were in- vited to join with the members in cele- brating the fifteenth anniversary of the organization. President Fuller welcomed those pres- ent and then made the following ad- dress : There is atwofold object in this gath- ering here to-night. One is that you may get better acquainted with one an- other, thereby being of more assistance to one another in bringing our business up to a standard with others and to par- take of an evening amusement and of other things in store for you. The other is to impress on your minds the _neces- sity of giving a little of your time to attending the meetings of the Associa- tion. We have with us to-night gentle- men who will give us short talks along various lines and wili not bore you with great long speeches, but those short sweet ones that do us all good, and we shall endeavor in the future to have some one here as often as possible to give us short talks on different subjects. A great deal of work has been done by a few and our Association is known the State over as one of the best in exist- ence, and if we were to invite some of the associations from other cities here to attend our regular meeting there are many times we would be ashamed to have them accept the invitation when we do not have a quorum in attendance. The faithful few can not do the work forever, but are willing to do all they can if the others will only turn out and lend a helping hand. Remember, I am not finding fault with any one, but it is discouraging to come, night after night, year in and out, and only have a few here to do the business when the hall should be filled, so we would have to bring in extra chairs to accommodate the crowd. Other associations stronger than ours have gone down just because the members failed to attend the meet- ings, while still smaller ones have done a world of good because they get out and hustle. I have asked some grocers why they do not get out and attend the meet- ing and their answer is, ‘‘All you talk is sugar.’’ Now, how they could know that to be a fact is more than | can com- prehend, as I know some of them have never been in these rooms. We whoat- tend know that many other things are talked about and the sugar question is left with our Trade Committee almost entirely, as we have implicit confidence in them. Now, gentlemen, I did not, nor do I, wish to have any one of you think I have planned a lecture, but I do wish to impress on each and everyone of your minds that it is necessary for the good of all to get out to the meet- ings and attend them more regularly. They are the first and third Tuesdays of each month. Ex-President Dyk reviewed past con- ditions, referring briefly to the reforms which had been accomplished by the Association in the past and endorsed the appeal made by President Fuller for a more general attendance. Wm. Judson spoke at some length, commending meetings of that character on the ground that they encouraged good fellowship and comradeship and that friendship was better than enmity in trade. He believed that if all the members of the Association were to take hold systematically and pull together they could increase the membership. He believed that every wholesale grocer felt like helping the movement, because it tended to make better grocers and better customers, and that by pulling together the grocers are better able to bring about a profitable condition. In his opinion, every retail grocer can become a better grocer by attending the meetings of his brethren and exchanging opinions. C. G. A. Voigt spoke at some length, referring to the time when he was a clerk in a grocery store fifty years ago and encouraged the members to renewed effort in behalf of the organization. He wisely refrained from discussing ‘‘wind’’ and ‘‘flour,’’ with both of which subjects he is thoroughly famil- iar. His remarks were made with the peculiar emphasis which renders his speeches so enjoyable to his auditors and a source of so much pleasure to himself. J. George Lehman was pleasantly reminiscent in his remarks and the com- parisons he drew between the condi- tions which obtained years ago and the present proved conclusively the many advantages accruing from the existence of the organization. Rev. George E. Rowe, Secretary both of the Grand River Valley Horti- cultural Association and of the Kent County Farmers’ Institute, narrated tales of travel in an entertaining fash- ion and pointed the lessons to be learned and applied from them. The talks were interspersed with musical features by Misses Dora Jobn- son, Larabee, Bessie Merrill, Mabel Connelly, all of which were well re- ceived. Homer Klap sang a solo and was obliged to respond to an encore. A grocers’ quartette, composed of John Wagner, John Havikborst, Joseph Dean and John Witters, made the musical hit of the evening and received much ap- plause. At the conclusion of the literary and musical programme, light refreshments were served, thus bringing to a close an evening of rare enjoyment. —_+_-__~» 2 > Prevented Making Bad Accounts. Western Beef and Provision Co., Wholesale Meats and Provisions, 71 Canal Street. Grand Rapids, Mich., Oct. 18, 1901. Commercial Credit Co., Ltd., City: Gentlemen—We have been subscrib- ers to your agency for the past six years. Liberal use of your reports giv- ing us the experience of other dealers with our customers has prevented us from making worthless accounts and you have collected the others for us. We should advise every grocer and butcher to take out a membership with you, with confidence that if they follow your advice they will save $10 for every $1 the contract costs them. Your weekly report sheets are of great value in ad- vising us of record items filed against any of our customers and, if carefully watched as they are delivered to us each week, are alone worth the price of your membership. Western Beef & Provision Co. ——___> +.—__—_ Many of the great rivers of the world show signs of drying up. The reports from Sweden and Norway, from Ger- many and Austria-Hungary, indicate a process of shrinkage. Our neighbors in Canada are alarmed because the Ottawa River, along which there are extensive lumber interests, is so low that logs can not be floated upon it. In many parts of the United States what were once wide streams are now mere ribbons. Even in Grand Rapids water is neither so plenty nor so pure as it used to be. 2 The Dutch municipality of Leyden protects its streets from the disfigura- tions of offensive posters and quack nostrums and obtains a_ considerable revenue by controlling the public adver- tising. At the principal corners the city has erected boards of neat and at- tractive design, to which all advertise- ments are restricted. The advertising is thus kept within bounds and the city is able to suppress undesirable posters or announcements. 9 F. J. Dettenthaler is having an enor- mous trade on his Perfection and Anchor brands of oysters, which have come to be regarded as the leading brands sold in this State. Mr. Detten- thaler maintains the uniform quality of these brands at all times and they can be depended upon to give satisfaction. Prices are always made as low as_pos- sible, consistent with quality. The Grocery Market. Sugar—The raw sugar market is quiet, with but very little doing, 96 deg. test centrifugals being still quoted at 3 13-16c, with but few sales at this price. The large arrivals to come forward to refiners and the continued light demand for refined sugar are the chief depress- ing factors of the market for raws. A quiet market is looked for during the next three weeks, but at the expiration of that time receipts of raw sugars will practically cease and a more active de- mand is expected. The world’s visible supply of raw sugar is 740,000 tons. The refined sugar market is quiet and the demand seems to have stopped very suddenly. There was a decline of 10 points on softs, Nos. I to 5, inclusive, and 15 points on Nos. 6 to 16, inclusive, some of which grades the refiners have large stocks on hand. The trade did not take hold very freely at the decline and the market, as a whole, was very quiet. Canned Goods—The canned goods market has been rather quiet during the past few days on all the different lines, although the interest manifested in the market has not lessened. If it were not for the fact that stocks are so light there would probably be a lower range of values during the winter, but so firmly has the market been established and so filled with confidence are the holders of all lines of canned goods that it is not reasonable to anticipate any shrinkage in values until the new packing season of 1g02 is well under way. On the other hand,there is nothing to warrant the be- lief that there will be an advance in the values of canned goods for a while, ex- cepting it may be intomatoes. The buyers of tomatoes are awaiting the de- velopments from day to day very close- ly, but are not inclined to buy at to- day’s quotations except just as they are needed. The market at present is very, very firm, with quite a scarcity of gal- lons. Some good sized sales of corn have been made during the past week, but the corn market is generally quiet. The situation of the pea market war- rants immediate action on the part of those buyers who must have the better grades of peas. The stocks of peas in first hands are much smaller than most of the trade have any idea of. This shortage is not only on the better grades, but the cheaper grades are also in light supply. The demand for peaches of all grades is excellent and business in this line shows considerable improvement this week. Pumpkin is scarce and held at high prices. The demand, however, is not quite so brisk as it was a week or so ago, as buyers seem to have supplied their wants for the present. There has been an excel- lent demand during the past week for gallon fruits, especially peaches, apples and plums, and some packers have closed out their entire holdings of these goods, while others have advanced their prices. Both salmon and sardines are very quiet with very little demand for either. Dried Fruits—The dried fruit market is in better shape this week, largely on account of the cold weather, which has increased the demand considerably. The tendency of the trade during September [to hold back and buy only from hand to mouth is not now in evidence and in- dications are for a heavy business and consumption in this line during the next few months. Prunes are firm on the spot and supplies are rather light, new goods going out about as rapidly as re- ceived. It is very difficult to keepa full assortment of the different sizes of prunes as some sizes are in much greater demand than others and stocks of these sizes are quickly sold out. Loose muscatel raisins are meeting with a fair demand at previous prices. The greater call, however, is for seeded rais- ins which are selling remarkably well and the trade on these goods is increas- ing all the time, which in some measure lessens the demand from dealers and consumers as well for the loose mus- catels. There is a much better demand for apricots and peaches are also doing better, Currants are in excellent de- mand and are meeting with a ready sale at full prices. The statistical position is strong and there is no indication of any lower prices in the immediate fu- ture. Figs and dates are both in good demand. There is some complaint about the quality of the Hallowi, but the Khadrawi dates are generally conceded to be especially fine. The demand for evaporated apples continues very good at full prices, although Michigan stock is exceedingly light. The majority of the dryers are closed now and there is but very little stock in first hands and that is held at high prices. Rice—The rice market is very firm and some of the best grades show an advance of %c per pound. Arrivals of new crop domestic are coming in more freely and dealers are now in position to offer a complete line of all grades. No lower prices are expected and if there is any change, fine grades of do- mestic will likely go higher. The out- look is for a firm market for some time to come. There is a resumption of pur- chases for shipment to Puerto Rico and it is expected that Puerto Rico will take 25 to 35 per cent. of the rice crop. This will eventually cause a hardening of prices for all grades of rice. Tea—The position of the tea market underwent no change in particular and prices remained firm for green teas, while black sorts held steady. Stocks of green teas are light and holders are not anxious sellers. Dealers, as a rule, report a very good business. Reports from abroad state that the tea crop from India will be very short, while it is al- most equally certain that a considerable diminution will take place in the pro- duction of Ceylon teas. Molasses and Syrups—There was a steady demand for molasses and dealers report a fair business at previous prices. The trade in general, however, is hold- ing aloof and not buying in very large quantities, pending the enlarged move- ment of the new crop. Arrivals of new crop are small, but much larger quanti- ties are expected within the next two weeks. The crop, according to latest reports, will equal that of last year. The corn syrup market is very firm and indi- cations are that there will be an ad- vance very shortly. Fish—The mackerel market is very firm, with the tendency toward higher prices. There are only a few vessels out now and they are taking but very few fish. The catch this year is some 17,000 barrels short of tbat of last year. Nuts--The demand for nuts is fair and is gradually increasing. Grenoble walnuts are in very good demand, but supplies are very much reduced and it is probable they will be entirely cleared up before the arrival of the new crop, which is expected to reach here about the middle of November. Chili walnuts are in large supply and are a trifle easier in consequence. Brazil nuts are 3c higher and meeting with a very good demand. Sicily filberts are 4c lower, on account of the large stocks in hands of dealers. Almonds are firm with a higher tendency. Peanuts are selling very well at previous prices. EO MICHIGAN TRADESMAN Getting the People . “Keeping Everlastingly at It” the Price of Success. A certain advertising agency of Na- tional reputation has made this phrase a familiar one to all who have given attention to advertising matters during the past few years. Their use of it has been so persistent that they may be able to claim a sort of proprietorship, but it has a general application which I think will justify its use as a topic for one phase of the advertising problem. There is no branch of the merchant’s work where the temptation to slight is greater than in advertising. Too often the execution of the contract for space seems to exhaust the energy of both the advertiser and the publisher. The lat- ter is more anxious to secure the busi- ness than to see that the execution is carried out in a manner to make it of the greatest possible value. The mer- chant fails to appreciate the fact that the beginning of the advertisement’s work means the beginning of a system- atic co-operation on his part to make it profitable. The most common failure is the neg- lect to furnish the best matter for the advertisements. Usually when the ques- tion of copy comes to be considered, there is brought forward everything that can be said about the business—the more the easier to fill the space. Then when the space is thoroughly filled the subject is allowed to drop for a few weeks or months until the advertisement becomes unseasonable or some other disturbing element appears to call attention to the matter. Then the same routine is re- peated until the advertising is declared a failure or until the expiration of the contract. The details of advertising can never be neglected with impunity. The mat- ters to be treated from week to week must be carefully selected, using only that which is most likely to interest. Do not be afraid of saying too little; but that little should have most careful thought. The merchant never thinks of letting other branches of his business run themselves. He sees to it that every duty is thoroughly done at the proper time. The rule must be extended to the advertising department. In this the same system and constancy of effort will bring results, + * + There must be something attractive in the idea of getting two dollars for one or A. L. Stein would not use it. There are dealers who think valuable trade can be built up by the advertising of good goods at fair values. The border is too black for the space and the printer has crowded it too closely with his mat- ter. Solon R. Hunt writes a_well-propor- tioned hardware advertisement and the printer has treated it simply and well, except that he introduces the Bradley type in his paint line. This should have been divided and the same letter used as the other display. The signature should also have been in Devinne. Redner's Grocery writes an excep- tionally interesting advertisement of molasses, which he distinguishes by an imitation pencil line. The idea and execution are effective. I would have put leads in the fine type and taken a little of the space above and below. Horr Bros, write a good sportsman’s goods announcement, but the space is a rr en ] AYP s it me 7 y (f ¥. (fa ) \ DA DCG ») \( »)) (| s NOW IS THE TIME FOR YOU = TO SAVE MONEY. ....- toe, patterns aud of the vest fitting garments. This means you get-two dollars worth for.one, We have just received a full line of suits and overcoats, all-of the lates, As we have bought thew}lin job rate, we will sell them at one-half the price you have to pay elsewhere, 4) a) J A 36 Jefferson Ave. South., A AG (f WAGONS HUIS ASA NSA) a ph Our Hardware Values Are Unexcelled. A complete line of Shelf Hardware in iron and steel goods. Our prices will not frighten you. We.make @ specialty of BUILDERS HARDWARE. The way to make that old house new is to paint-it © over again Our Peninsular Paints Give Best Result. SOLON: R. HUNT. that {tis — to get good molassesis not heard here. Our stock -of — 9 hi enough. always fresh and always sele>ted with exper- ienced judgement, so that we can guarantees to please all tastes and purses, “Molasses is @ peculiar-thing. It is subject to many adulterations. It is often full of impurities. We have the genuine Haw @eleams Molasses. Every drop is pure, sweet and good. Pou need not fear to send for it and the children delight in it. If it is notsatistactory. don't hi esitate tosend it back. We run little risk In saying this. ase we know you will like it. Price, Did You Ask? Is 60c per Gallon. Redner’s Grocery. Beth Phones 173 A. L. STEIN Battle Creek, Mich. FETCH ON YOUR; eans ' _ JLRAY GASH FOR ALL GRADES _ CaSH FOR “WHEAT, RYE, OATS and HAY. “FOR SALE! Buckeye Goal. Equal to Jackyon Hill. I make a special price of " $3.75 per ton at yard FULL LINE OF LIME, BRICK, CEMENT, etc. | EA. REMER. | [ht ? Join Now. We have a nice little steck of PHTER'S REFEREE (semi-smokeless) and LEAGUE (Black Powder) LOADED SHELLS, and shot and powder in the bulk. Our prices are always the Jowest. Can save you money on quantity purchases.. If we haven't the size or load you want we can get it for you and save you money. PETER'S LOADED SHELLS zre the Best. Give us your order for anything inthe line of Am- munition. If not in stock we can get it for you, Horr BROTHERS &em.CASH GROCERS AMMUNITION | 4 q d , ._ yin the procession that marches regularly to Clark’s Grocery for supplies. NO SHORT WEIGHTS, No Trashy Stuff, but good whole- some groceries at the lowest possible prices. We want your produce of all kinds and will give the highest market price to get it. This week we pay ; ' 4 > 17 to 18 for Eggs. 16 to 17 for Butter. ‘ C. W. Clarke & 4 Company: } } OLD TOUGH TURKEYS =: = cessfully served without the aid of an Axe or Hand Saw if you are provided with CARVER from our stock. We have the kind’ that are not only a pleasure to work with but a delight to gaze upon. If you insist upon using your old ones we have Emery Knife Sharpen- ers and Steels for improving their condition. We also have Axes and Hand Saws that will do excellent service in places they‘are made for but we do not rec- ommend for table use. The Edwards & Chamberlin ~--—-== Hardware Co, === Knows a Good Thing when she sees it, and wny NOU? There isn’t a better judge of flour on earth than a practical housewife. The Cream of Wheat Flour is used everywhere and higlily praised. Merit ccmmands recognition. Con- sumers of this flour are steadily grow- ingin number. All are pleased and none dissatisfied with tMe result of its use. Be sure to always ask for Cream of Wheat at 55c a sack. Wheelock Mills. little crowded. I would set the first line in one kind of type. The Edwards & Chamberlin Hard- ware Co. makes an effective reference to the efficiency of their carving knives in handling tough turkeys. Then at the close the turn on the proper use of axes and saws is not bad. The border is pretty heavy and the matter crowds it too closely. : E. A. Remer has two advertisements in one. I would make one of the prod- uce and another of the coal. Less styles of type would help the display, but the printing is not bad. The exclamation and many other marks of punctuation could well be omitted. C. W. Clarke & Company write a live advertisement which is well handled by the printer. This, also, has too many punctuation marks. The cut of a tramp, if that is what is intended, running away with a sack of flour will gain attention and may answer fora change. 1am not in favor, how- ever, of pictures having such hideous faces, as they are more apt to repel than otherwise. The advertisement is well written and the printer’s work is good. I would have been consistent in omit- ting the pauses in last two lines. ——__>_2>—_____ Advice as to Roasting a Turkey. From the New Orleans Times-Democrat. ‘‘Ninety-nine women out of every one hundred, ninety-nine cooks out of every one hundred, will bake a turkey with the back to the pan,’’ said a New Or- leans man who keeps in touch with the kitchen, ‘‘and this is a mistake. I said ninety-nine out of every one hun- dred. Rather should I have said that the mistake is almost universally made. But few cooks ever think of cooking the turkey any other way. There seems to be a demand for well-browned turkey breast. But in browning the breast they sacrifice the sweetness of this part of the fowl. The best way to prepare a turkey is to bake it with the breast down. I learned this lesson from Mme, Begue, whose place down in the Old Quarter, near the French Market, has become famed all over the country. She never thinks of baking a turkey with the breast up. The breast is turned to the bottom of the pan, and instead of being dry and tasteless when it is served is richly flavored and as sweet and juicy as one would care to have it. You see, all the fine flavoring of the turkey, the juice of the dressing and all the daintier touches flow down toward the breast of the fowl, and when the white meat is served you get the full benefit of every flavor added during the process of pre- paring and baking the turkey in addi- tion to the distinctive taste of the fowl itself, ‘‘Inconvenient and awkward? Not at all. It is just as easy to cook a turkey in this way as in any other way, and the result is infinitely more satisfactory. It is no trouble to arrange the fowl in the pan; if you desire to place the fowl on the table before carving it you will find that it will look quite as well as it would if baked in the usual way, and certainly will taste much better than it would if you baked the breast until it was dry and flavorless,’’ ———__»>t+-o_____ Kansas Flour For the East. From the Leavenworth Times. More flour is being sent East from Leavenworth this year than ever before. The enormous wheat crop of Kansas has made this possible. The East wants our flour and wheat for bread, and with the rest of the millers in the State those of Leavenworth are receiving the ben- efit of the heavy demands for the Kansas product. The railroads out of the city are shipping more flour and wheat than at any time for vears and it nearly all goes East. Merchandise j i shipped West in return, oe eo —_—__. When" |a man is beside himself, he should never place much confidence in his companion. MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 7 The New York Market Special Features of the Grocery and Prod- uce Trades. Special Correspondence. New York, Nov. 2—The week has been so given over to politics that we might infer that all business was sus- pended. But such is not the case and, if one may judge by the huge piles of merchandise on the walks in front of the leading stores, he will conclude that alJ hands must be hard at work and that there is no time for politics. It will be settled, however, before this letter is perused by the readers of the Trades- man, and then all hands will turn to the hardest campaign of all—the holiday trade, which gives excellent promise of exceeding all previous seasons. Long live Santa Claus! Coffee has lost its ‘‘pulling’’ pcwer. Last week the market was, as stated at that time, a strong one. There were plenty of dispatches tending to show that the crop was being destroyed, but this week a contrary condition exists, Re- ceipts at primary points are tremendous, ronning upwards of 100,000 bags per day. In store and afloat there are some 2,250,000 bags, against 1,129,000 bags at the same time last year. At the close Rio No. 7 is quotable at 63/c. All things considered, it may be asserted with confidence that the coffee market favors the buyer. Mild grades are quiet and unchanged. The tea market retains its lately- acquired strength and adds thereto steadily, although it can hardly be said that prices are any higher. Some 3,000 packages have been sent to London, mostly of rather iow grade Chinese Congous. The New York market at present is below that of London, and this has relieved the situation here or, rather, contributed to its further im- provement. Pingsueys and_ country greens have shown most improvement. At the last auction, 4,190 packages were disposed of at bids showing a very con- fident feeling. Indias and Ceylons are in fair request at well-held figures. Sugar has taken a tumble and the sit- uation is one that rather favors the buy- er. The cut made by Arbuckles has not as yet been met by the trust. The de- mand has been only moderate, although some few extra orders were entered im- mediately after the Arbuckle cut. The supply is ample and no delay is experi- enced in filling orders. Stocks of sugar in Europe and America aggregate 676, - 305 tons, against 313,874 tons at the same date last year—more than double the quantity. We are likely to have some cheap sugar and cheap coffee. Rice has moved with about the usual freedom. There is room for improve- ment, and yet matters might be much worse. Receipts are not large and there is little if any accumulation. Prime to choice domestic, 5% @53c. Spices are firm, but no notable ad- vances have been made in quotations. Cloves show the most strength, with Zanzibar at 8%{c and very firmly held at that. Cassia rolls, 46@soc; bags, 33 4c. The few lots of new molasses are of good quality and holders are very firm. Prime centrifugals, 22@30c; open ket- tle, 37@42c. The canned goods market continues to gain strength and almost every arti- cle is advancing, except salmon. New Jersey tomatoes, 3s, standards, have sold at $1.15 and $1.20 is even asked in some instances. The American Grocer has received several hundred replies from packers in answer to its request for information as to the tomato pack and, from these, the Grocer estimates that there wlll be a shortage in the four States of Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Indiana, as compared with 1900, of at least 1,250,000 cases. The New Jersey pack will be at least 50 per cent. short. One packer in Maryland says he put up goo cases from sixty acres, while he expected to pack 4,000. The output in Delaware is on an aver- age better than in any one of the four States, The week has been rather quiet on dried fruits and neither buyer nor seller has shown much interest. Prices are well sustained and the holiday trade will add strength to a still greater degree. Oranges have sold well and the arriv- als are pretty closely sold up. The last of the old crop of Californias has sold up to $6. Jamaicas, per barrel, $4.50@5. Floridas begin to show a better quality and are worth $2.50@3.25. Lemons are in moderate request. Sicily 360s, $2.10 @3.25; 3008, 3.25@4. 50. Bananas are steady and unchanged. Pineapples have been more active this week. Indian River fetch from $2.50@ 3.50, as to size. There has been practically no change in the butter market during the week. Best Western creamery still remains firm at 22!4c and the supply just about equals the demand. Seconds to firsts, 17344@2Ic; Western imitation creamery, from 1534@18c—the latter for fancy; factory, 14@I5c. The cheese market is quiet and un- changed. Full cream, 10%@t1ox%c for fancy small size colored. Desirable egg stock is in limited sup- ply and fancy Western fetch 23c; se- lected, candled, 18@22c; regular pack, 16@2X1c, >. __—_ To be sure, faint heart never won fair lady, but, on the other hand, discretion is seldom sued for breach of promise. EB Chas. A. Coye a Manufacturer and Jobber Tents, Awnings, Flags, Horse and Wagon Covers, Leather, Duck and Oiled Clothing, Waterproof Leggings for men and boys, Cotton Duck all widths and weights, Cotton, Hemp, Flax and Jute Twines, Sisal Lath Yarn and Hay Rope. oe Mn Write for prices 5 11 and 9 Pearl St. S K s eS) EK eS Grand Rapids, Mich. eC Odes sia eee Torpedo Gravel Roofing Coated with Best Asphalt and Fine Torpedo Gravel. Is more durable than metal or shingles. Write for sample and price. Manufactured by H. M. Reynolds & Son Grand Rapids, Michigan The Stamp of Approval ee ee | When good old reliable merchants buy our own make shoes year in and year out, buy them over and over again and keep right on buying them, that shows the Stamp of Approval. >» Herold-Bertsch Shoe Co. ¢ ) Makers of Shoes, ( Grand Rapids, Mich. tai caiit Cash Register Paper Ofallkinds. Quality best. Prices guaranteed. Send for price list. If in need of a Cash Register address Standard Cash Register Co., Wabash, Ind. % z ESTABLISHED 1865 2 S . > o J NM — oO Pal mee ee 6 o 5 ee i east Oa KS es 3 3 8 Egg Receiver | #° 792098 = & =. = td @ Q'S = eh © so oO = y = 5 & - . Z S oo n és = i — & = a 36 Harrison Street, New York © a oe < S ~~ & =REFERENCE-—NEW VORK NATIONAT. EXCHANGE RANK. NEW YORK = n F. LEADING PRODUCE HOUSE ON EASTERN MARKET J. SCHAFFER & CO. BUTTER, EGGS, POULTRY, CALVES, ETC. BUY AND SELL Well keep you posted. Just drop us a card. DETROIT, MICH. BRANCH AT IONIA, MICH. Sg $ & ‘ Z 4 ‘ : SERRATE DOR tne ein MICHIGAN TRADESMAN GANSPADESMAN Devoted to the Best Interests of Business Men Published at the New Blodgett Building, Grand Rapids, by the TRADESMAN COMPANY One Dollar a Year, Payable in Advance. Advertising Rates on Application. Communications invited from practical business men. Correspondents must give their full names and addresses, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of — aith. Subscribers may have the mai address of their papers c ged as often as desired. No paper discontinued, except at the option of the proprietor, until all arrearages are paid. Sample copies sent free to any address. Entered at the Grand Rapids Post Office as Second Class mail matter. When —- o any of our Advertisers, please say that — saw the advertise- ment in the Michigan Tradesman. E. A. STOWE, EpirTor. - WEDNESDAY, - - NOVEMBER 6, 1901 County of Kent John DeBoer, being du poses and says as follows: am pressman in the office of the Tradesman Company and have charge of the presses and folding machine in that establishment. I printed and folded 7,000 copies of the issue of October 30, 1901, and saw the edition mailed in the usual manner. And further deponent saith not. John DeBoer. Sworn and subscribed before me, a notary public in and for said county, this second day of November, 1901. Henry B. Fairchild, Notary Public in and for Kent County, Mich. STATE OF MICHIGAN y sworn, de- GENERAL TRADE REVIEW. There has been a good deal of com- plaint on the part of dealers in winter goods that the fine weather of the past month has greatly lessened retail distri- bution. This may be true to some de- gree, but the benefits resulting from weather favorable to industrial opera- tions compensate for any such lessen- ing of trade, even if it actually caused diminution. Asa matter of fact there is an eventual increase in winter goods trade on this account, for opportunity is given to secure and market agricultural products and to get ready for increased expenditure later on. Speculative trading at the stock cen- ters has been dull, partly on account of unfavorable foreign financial conditions and partly on account of the fall elec- tions. Wall Street especially has little time to give to business when so excit- ing a contest is on as that between Tammanyism and anti-Tammanyism in New York. The market showed a considerable buoyancy until the interest was so far overshadowed by the elec- tion. Now that this is out of the way, every indication would seem to point to more active business in the exchanges and a more decided movement upward. There seems to be no diminution any- where in the pressure of industrial ac- tivity. A significant indication is the prevalence of car famines in so many localities, showing that the pressure of distribution is too great for the facilities which have usually been ample even when increased by the greatest possible urging in the factories for cars and car materials, In the steel and iron trades there is no change from the condition of intense activity prevailing since the strikes. Price changes, when they have oc- curred, have been upward on account of the urgent demand, but, acting in har- mony with the policy of conservatism, these changes are kept as small as_pos- sible. Increasing demand in the textile products keeps both woolen and cotton mills fully employed. With wool and cotton both at more favorable prices for a profit on manufactures, the outlook is exceptionally good us long as present prices of products are maintained. The advance in boots and shoes oc- casioned by the constantly increasing prices of hides and leather will be apt to cause some lessening of shipments, but this will not hinder the trade very long. One of the conditions which the friends of the independent telephone companies has been unable to under- stand is why so many people have been willing to act as cat’s-paws for the Bell company by accepting free telephone service and subsequently permitting the telephones to remain in their houses at $12 a year when they knew that it cost the Michigan Telephone Co. about twice that sum to maintain the service. In the light of recent developments, these people are completely vindicated. They were patronizing the Bell company with malice aforethought, realizing that the more phones put out free and at half price the sooner the company would have to go into liquidation. The Tradesman hereby recalls all the insin- uations it has indulged in at the ex- pense of this class of telephone users. They knew what they were about all the time. They wete acting in the interest of the independent companies. And they appear to have accomplished their object! Many good Americans go to Paris before they die and when they are there they load their trunks with goods for the production of which Paris is famous. This is particularly the case with Amer- ican women of means who regard Pa- risian gowns as necessities in their wardrobes. Consternation is said to have been created among them by a re- port that two American girls, twin sis- ters, who mingled much inthe Ameri- can colony in Paris, were not the soci- ety folks they purported to be, but de- tectives in the employ of the American customs department who were gathering information as to the purchases that were being made by Americans about to return home. Likely as not the women were not detectives at all, but the dis- turbance caused by the suspicion that they were shows there is information that might be obtained in Paris which would add to the discomfort of Ameri- can tourists when they confront the cus- toms inspectors on the New York docks. The principal misson which brings Marquis Ito, the Japanese statesman, to this country, is to negotiate a loan. Japan will soon need money to increase its navy and make other national im- provements. The significant fact which suggests itself to every one in this con- nection is that the United States has come to he looked upon as the world’s financial center. Only a few years ago if Japan had been looking for a joan it would have gone to England and its representatives would have sought of London bankers the sums they needed. The request for assistance is of itself a compliment to the financial resources and strength of the United States. Marquis Ito has not yet come exactly to the point of saying how much he wishes to borrow, but if he has the security he can be accommodated. FROM HELL GATE TO GOLDEN GATE. From Hell Gate to Gold Gate—and the Sabbath unbroken! : A sweep continental—and the Saxon yet spoken! So sang Benjamin F. Taylor thirty years ago, and then it attracted atten- tion, but as a transportation statement nowadays it is far behind the times. When the popular lecturer, poet and journalist referred so enthusiastically and rythmically to the facility of going from New York to San Francisco with- out traveling on Sunday, it was re- garded as a great accomplishment, but in these modern days the New Yorker need not start until Wednesday and can reach his destination without breaking the Sabbath. The first railway train from the Atlantic to the Pacific was looked upon as a marvel, and indeed it was, but it was only the forerunner of better things to come. The train serv- ice now is as far ahead of that as that was ahead of the stage coach. It is comparatively only a little while ago that five or six days’ constant trav- eling took the tourist from New York to San Francisco. The time was gradual- ly cut down lower and lower until now the four days’ limit is for land travel what the five day boat is on the ocean. There are no more accidents on the swift trains than there used to be on the slower ones, and there are a great many more people going. The sleeping and the dining cars are among the greatest contributions to comfort on transcon- tinental journeys. There are very few railroad eating houses and none in the West which come anywhere near being satisfactory, whereas the dining car service on any road is usually accept- able. Nothing is a more interesting and notable example of American ad- vancement and progress than is the comparison suggested by Benjamin F. Taylor's couplet quoted above and the railroad announcements of the four-day train which, beginning next week, offers to take the traveler from Hell Gate to Golden Gate in a little more than half the time which the popular poet thought thirty years ago was wonderful. The plan of a Chicago postoffice offi- cial for the issuance of postage stamp certificates for the convenience of those wishing to remit small sums through the mail, as noted in the Tradesman a few weeks ago, is provoking considerable discussion in official circles. There is but little doubt that if the plan were adopted it would be of great advantage to such commercial houses in cities as do a large mail order business with country customers, but it is held by ex- perts that in its present shape the plan merely creates a new form of currency, and hence it more properly comes under the jurisdiction of the treasury depart- ment than of the postoffice department. Many who admit the right of the postal authorities to handle such business are in favor of the system in force in Can- ada, under which the remitter buys of his postmaster a certificate or note for a stated sum—25, 50 or 75 cents, as he may require, a bit of paper not unlike our old fractional currency of the civil warera—and attaches to it postage stamps to a sufficient amount to make up the whole sum _ he wishes to send. Thus, if he wishes to send 44 cents, he buys a note for 25 cents and affixes 19 cents’ worth of stamps. At the paying office this combination is redeemed at its full face value. In Canada such a transaction costs the remitter only 1 cent and the postage on his letter. It is sug- gested that if the system, which works admirably there, were reproduced in this country, we could have the notes printed with a blank space on the face, into which the sender could write the name of the payee, and thus doubly protect his remittance, or which he could leave: blank if he did not feel any anxiety over so small a sum. ee The greatest obstacle to the pacifica- tion of the Philippines, it is declared, is the absence of highways in the inter- ior of the islands. It is recalled that the Romans built roads wherever they went and that it was on account of the advan- tage they thus gained for communica- tion and transportation that they were able to hold distant possessions, It isa significant fact that the most loyal of Spain’s colonies, the island of Puerto Rico, was the only one that could boast of a system of highways. It is equally significant that Samar, to-day the one island that is giving us really serious trouble, has not a single road, nota trail even, except along the water’s edge. The difficulty of carrying on military operations under such condi- tions is obvious. No less obvious is the enormous cost which such operations entail. If for no other than economical reasons, therefore, it would seem im- perative rof us to improve transportation facilities. There is no wilderness where a dis- carded milk tin does not glitter in the sun. It has blazed the way across | Africa. It has been very near the pole. In the fastnesses of Northern Luzon, where an American face had never been seen, General Young’s soldiers found tins of the condensed milk with the brand of an American firm. It can be found all over Mongolia and Manchuria, and even in Thibet. The Chinese, who do not take milk in their tea, use the condensed kind as a food, chiefly for their children. In India also it bas a large sale for that purpose, and it is not too much to say that the product of the American factory has been the pabulum of millions of Asiatics. Some alarm is expressed by certain Paris epicures because the supply of snails of the finest quality seems to be falling off to a serious extent. This ap- prehension, however, will cause no dis- tress upon an extended scale,as the taste for the deliberate creature that carries his house upon his back has not been world-wide. In fact, it has never gained much ground outside of the Latin race, and beyond the borders of France, itself the number of gourmets who have extolled the snail as a table delicacy of the most desirable sort has not made a long list. ————————— It naturally affords the Tradesman much pleasure to be able to present its readers this week with its nineteenth anniversary edition, comprising 80 pages and cover, filled to overflowing with the bright thoughts and suggestive ideas of thirty-two special contributors, whom the Tradesman takes this opportunity to thank for their painstaking effort and kindly co-operation in making this edi- tion one of the most valuable ever is- sued by any trade journal. = _—_— ‘‘Made in Germany’’ has no particu- lar Significance, even in the case of Sauerkraut. Sauerkraut ‘‘made in America’’ is just as good, and it may be better, inasmuch as the German gov- ernment ordered a cargo of sauerkraut in Philadelphia for its soldiers in China. The making of sauerkraut may become a great American industry. MICHIGAN TRADESMAN TRUST COMPANIES. Brief History of Their Origin and De- velopment, Of ail the financial machines and in- struments which have entered into the development of our country, the busi- ness of the modern trust company is as little understood by the public generally, particularly in the West, as any. Sev- eral years ago the Trust Officer of our company, in preparing a paper to be read befcre the American Bankers’ As- sociation, wrote to the Secretary of State in several states for the laws relating to trust companies. From several of the States copies of statutes regulating pools, trusts and combinations in re- straint of trade were returned, and the people of the Western States, as a rule, class the modern trust company among such corporations as the Standard Oil Company, the United States Steel Cor- poration and other corporations in the nature of monopoly. The banker has existed in all ages, but the trust company is a comparative- ly recent innovation and might be con- sidered as a sort of amalgamation ofa legal and a banking business. The trust company is an American institution, pure and simple, entirely due to the peculiarities of American development. There are in foreign countries no trust companies such as exist to-day in the United States. The nearest approach to such a company are companies organized in England un- der the executors, trustees and securi- ties act. As the trust companies partake so largely of the functions of a banking corporation, it is well to consider briefly the beginnings of the banking system of our country. No country before has had so large a number and so diverse a class of financial instruments for its develop- ment as our own. In other countries, the tendency has been towards a strong, centralized institution, bearing such a relation as the Bank of England does to Great Britain, the Bank of France to France and the Bank of Russia to Rus- sia. In 1837, President Jackson dealt a blow to such a strongly centralized financial policy by refusing to renew the charter of the United States Bank, and from his policy grew the system of every town of respectable size having its own bank ortrust company. New York and Pennsylvania were the first States in which banks and trust com- panies were organized. There was no general banking or trust company law and to charter a bank or a trust com- pany it was necessary to get a special act before the Legislature. The first bank in existence in New York was the Bank of New York, and as it held un- disputed sway over the Legislature at Albany, it was able to keep any other bank from getting a charter until the Manhattan Company, organized for the purpose of establishing a system of water works in the City of New York, purposely included in its charter a clause stating that ‘‘if it had any sur- plus, it could be used in any business which was not unlawful.’’ Under this head banking surely fell, and the Bank of Manhattan Company is still in exist- ence. Likewise, when the first trust company was organized, it was neces- sary to get an act passed by the Legis- lature for the purposes of incorporation, and that act of the Legislature of 1822 recites that certain persons ‘‘associated as a company under the name of the Farmers’ Fire Insurance and Loan Company, as well for the purpose of accommodating the citizens of the State | residing in the country with loans on security of their property, which can not now be obtained without difficulty, as to insurance of their buildings and effects, and those of other persons, from loss by fire, and also for such other use- ful purposes as are herein specified, have prayed the Legislature for a char- ter of incorporation, to be located in the City of New York, which it is rea- sonable to grant.’’ The capital of this company when chartered was $1, 500,000, This same company has assets to-day of over $60,000,000 and the total assets of trust companies in the State of New York are over $950,000, 000, In the original act, the Framers’ Fire Insurance and Loan Company was au- thorized to grant annuities, but was not allowed to purchase or sell United States or state securities. The next year the Legislature passed an act al- lowing this company to accept and tion of estates in general, and it was decided by this company to enter at once upon the new field ; but for various reasons it was not until 1836 that it was allowed by extension of the powers granted in its charter by the Legislature to enter upon this work, which is the foundation of the trust company busi- ness of the present day. Later, the Girard Life Insurance, Annuity & Trust Company was founded, and these two companies in Philadelphia, and the company above mentioned in New York (now the Farmers’ Loan & Trust Company), were the pioneers in the work of trust companies. In the consideration of the evolution and development of trust companies, it will be seen at once that, while the first trust companies were organized largely in the interest of financial transactions involving the loan of money and the granting of annuities, more extensive powers soon were granted them, which carry out any lawful trusts created by deed or by law, and this was the begin- ning of the present broad powers of trust companies. The New York Life Insurance and Trust Company was chartered in 1830, ! the United States Trust Company in. 1853 and the Union in 1864, all of which! are doing business at present. The first | trust company in Pennsylvania was founded in 1810 and was called the; Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on Lives and Granting Annuities. The charter was at first refused by the State Legislature, but application was again made and a charter was granted in 1812, The principal business of this company was that of life insurance and annuities, but about 1830 the officers and directors learned of the success of what were called Agency Houses in India, which were organized to transact all classes of business for corporations and individuals and for the administra- are exercised by the modern trust com- pany of to-day. The trust company business grew out of necessity. For- merly the business which it now carries on was conducted by the family lawyer, so far as legal matters were concerned, or by the banker; and in certain com- munities in the East, the growth of the trust company has been retarded by the influence of individuals who made the handling of large estates their specialty, but the advantages of trust companies are growing so evident that it is becom- ing more and more common for people of means to turn over their business affairs to them, for very few people who have devoted their lives to securing a competence for their families feel that they can rely upon individuals in rela- tion to their money matters. This feel- ing has not grown out of distrust for the integrity and sincerity of the in- dividual, but as business affairs have become larger and more complicated, the advantage of having a large corpor- ation, with experience in such matters, act in place of the individual is at once apparent. Often in the past large estates have been lost through inexperi- ence and neglect, until it grew to be the case that an administrator was. ap- pointed, not in accordance with Lord Bacon’s maxim, ‘‘for the relief of man’s estate,’’ but rather ‘‘for relieving man of his estate.’’ This is not always be- cause of the incompetence or neglect of the individual administrator, but be- cause there are many estates which it is impossible for individuals to handle successfully. In the matter of fees for services, the trust company is enabled to make smaller charges than would be_ possible to an individual, as its skill and exper- lence in affairs enable it to handle matters with greater speed and familiar- ity. In most states,the fees for handling an estate are regulated by law and the charge which is frequently made against the trust company, of asking exorbitant fees, is out of necessity false, as all ac- counts are passed through the court and rigidly inspected. At no time in the experience of the Michigan Trust Com- pany has it been subjected to serious criticism on account of its fees for serv- ices, although once, after closing an estate of half a million dollars, and rendering its account to the Probate Court, the judge of that court criticised it for not having charged half as much as the services involved would warrant. Early in the existence of the Michi- gan Trust Company, it was called upon to handle the affairs of a large corpora- tion which had failed with liabilities of $3,000,000, and whose assets consisted almost entirely of property which could not be converted quickly into money, and nearly all of which had _ been mortgaged. To sell this property ata forced sale would have meant disaster to the creditors and corporation alike, but the Michigan Trust Company, by rais- ing the money itself and throngh its friends, was enabled to go on with the business of the corporation, until, final- ly, within five years’ time after it had been appointed receiver, it was enabled to pay off the entire $3,000,000 liabili- ties and leave a million dollars besides. It will be readily seen that this would have been almost impossible for the or- dinary individual to have accomplished, and the benefits accruing from the ad- ministration of the Trust Company are at once apparent. So the trust company business has, through necessity, passed from that of the mere business of loaning money to the carrying on of all classes of busi- ness, and has exercised a helpful influ- ence upon both the business community and the individual. Under the Michigan law trust companies are authorized to act: 1. As trustee under agreements with individuals or corporations for any law- ful purpose. 2. As agent or attorney for the trans- action of business, the management of estates, the collection of rents, interest, dividends, mortgages, bonds, bills, notes and securities generally. 3. As registrar and transfer agent. 4. As executor of wills. 5. As administrator of estates. 6. As receiver of the property or business of corporations and individuals. 7. As assignee of insolvent estates. 8. As guardian of minors, incom- petent and intemperate persons and spendthrifts. In. -Michigan, however,.. trust com- | ] 2 a i sro i SAt.ab Bata | i | paetcab ie en acai yume ia aia OE eBay lees Ra clips wert ig: suri i 10 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN panies are not allowed to do a general banking business, nor to buy and sell exchange, as they are in some other States. As trustee under private agreement, it may be stated broadly that its duties cover every ordinary business trans- action. As agent and attorney, it carries on the affairs of the individual in the same manner in which the individual him- self might do. As registrar, it performs a service to the individual stockholder by giving him the surety that no certificates of stock are being issued unlawfully, and as transfer agent it transfers the shares of large corporations. ’ The registration of corporate securi- ties dates from the time of what are known in financial history as the Scuyler frauds. Robert Scuyler, Pres- ident of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Co., was alsoa mem- ber of a banking firm, and through it he issued and sold a large amount of stock of the railroad company in excess of the capitalization. Distrust concern- ing the stocks of all corporations at once became apparent and,to avoid any such disaster in future, the scheme was hit upon of having a third party, not con- nected in any way with the transfer agent or the corporation itself, certify that certificates representing the capital stock of the corporation had not been issued heyond its capital. As executor of wills and administra- tor of estates, it carries out the wishes of the testator and administers the es- tate in the same manner as the nearest friend was formerly accustomed to do. Other powers are granted to trust companies by various states in the Union, but the powers described in the Michigan law are the powers which de- scribe those of the modern trust com- pany. In addition to this, nearly every trust company, in connection with its other business, operates safe deposit vaults, renting boxes in its safe for a certain stipulated rental and receiving pack- ages for safe-keeping and storage. The influence and power of trust com- panies have grown in proportion to the development of the country, and their influence in connection with enterprises of every character extends all over the continent. Railroad and mining com- panies, street railway, gas, electric light and land companies, and nearly every form of corporate enterprise are nearly always in some way influenced by or come in touch with the trust com- pany. John E. Borne, President of the Col- onial Trust Company of New York City, in a paper read before the Trust Company Section of the American Bankers’ Association in Milwaukee two weeks ago, brought out very clearly the relationship which a trust company should assume toward a corporation with which it may become associated. He says: Being thus brought into close contact with an organization, it becomes asso- ciated in the public mind with its for- mation, and its relationship with the en- terprise is considered an endorsement of the good faith and probity of the or- ganizers of the same. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that a trust company should in every case thorough- ly satisfy itself on these points,and that it should decline any business connec- tion where these are at all doubtful; otherwise it will lay itself open to fu- ture criticism and will be bound to suffer in standing. No business func- tions should be entertained where the least cloud exists. In the past, trust companies have for- tunately been guided by what Mr. Borne has said in this regard, and the confidence which is placed by the pub- lic in every representative trust com- pany has been largely the result of their attitude in this respect. The great growth of trust companies demanded the recognition of that strong organization, the American Bankers’ Association, and five years ago the Trust Company Section, which now numbers three hundred and forty-eight members, was organized. The development of trust companies in the West has been principally in the last twenty-five years, and during that time it has been necessary for the trust companies themselves to educate the people with relation to their business. The Merchants Loan & Trust Com- pany and the Illinois Trust & Savings Bank were the pioneer trust companies of Chicago. The Merchants Loan & Trust Company is the older company and was organized in 1857, with a cap- ital of $500,000. Its capital and surplus to-day are $4,000, 000. The trust companies in Michigan are the Michigan Trust Company of Grand Rapids, the Union Trust Company and the Detroit Trust Company of Detroit. The future growth of trust companies must seem assured when we observe the general high character of the officers and stockholders of the principal trust companies of the United States. Trust companies will continue to grow as business continues to grow and their in- fluence will extend wherever the busi- ness of communities is sufficient to war- rant their establishment. Claude Hamilton. Cheaper Than a Candle and many 100 times more light from Brilliant and Halo Gasoline Gas Lamps Guaranteed good for any place. One S agent in a town wanted. Big profits. Brilliant Gas Lamp Co. 42 State Street, Chicago, Il. COSTS) Double the Stock of Robes and Blankets are here : : for you to choose from as we had last season and we thought we had a pretty good stock then. Especial, good things in blankets. If you have not a price list we will send you one. It is a good time to place your order if that important thing has not already been done. Brown & Sehler, Grand Rapids, Mich. LIGHT! §= LIGHT! Long nights are coming. Send in your order for some good lights. The t= Pentone kind will please you. See that Generator. Never fails to generate. \\ Pentone Gas Lamp Co., } 141 Canal St. ’ Grand Rapids, C Mich. KATE NOBLES the only WOMAN GUM MANUFACTURER ON EARTH makes WILD CHERRY AND CINNAMON FLAVORS —— Michigan Gasoline Gas Machine Lee a nn Gh HJ HH i The above illustration shows our system for store lightin Send for our catalogue. MICHIGAN BRICK AND TILE MACHINE CO., Morenci, Mich, arc lights. g with 2,000 candle power MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 11 LR RR EXERT RRTERREREARRER AAS How to Keep Oysters a Ta TERA ESAT TERRES SZ limited Time One copy for R. R. Co., one for your customer, one We manufacture a full line of Oyster Cabinets, which can be oe packed with ice around a por- of 100 full triplicate leaves. celain lined Can, which keep BARLOW BROS., GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. oysters fresh and clean. They can be kept for weeks without getting sour, which is the gen- Write us for catalogue and prices. WORLD’S BEST Goad Geta / Chocolate S : ” oe ©) es © wn > Grand Rapids, Mich. Cooler Co. 5C CIGAR. ALL JOBBERS AND G. J. JOHNSON CIGAR CO. GOUOHOHOOOHOOOODHDHOHOHHOOOHGOOOHO THE NULITE PO. Ais For Home, Store and Street. as The Nearest Approach to Sunlight a Almost as Cheap. _ ARC ILLUMINATORS Fifoe3S54vd See ZHOU is T wo CENTS, Make your stores light as day. A Hardware house writes us: We like your lamps so well we are now working nights instead of days.’”® We also manufacture TABLE LAMPS, WALL LAMPS, i CHANDELIERS, STREET LAMPS, Etec. 100 Candle Power seven hours ONE CENT. No wicks. NoSmoke. No Odor. Absolutely safe. THEY SELL AT SIGHT. Exclusive ter- ritory to goodagents. (Qf Write for catalogue and prices. CHICAGO SOLAR LIGHT CO., DEPT. L, CHICAGO. for yourself, all written at“one time—50 CENTS PER BOOK lig et Sporting Goods, Ammunition, Stoves, Window Glass, Bar Iron, Shelf Hard- ware, etc., etc. Foster, Stevens & Co., 31, 33, 35. 37, 39 Louis St. 10 & 12 Monroe St. Grand Rapids, Mich. §00000600000600000000000 SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SESSSESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS Hid ay MAKE BUSINESS MANTLES EVERY BRAND MADE RELOUZE SCALE & MFG CO., CHIC aM iene la ari ie » CATALOG COUNTER ffs MARKET, |i | CANDY. \ ' eC cite POSTAL ¥ j SCALES 4 ae eon = Our Own Makes Are Suitable for Either Gas or Gasoline Lights Glassware, Mica Goods, Etc. At Lowest Prices Write for Catalogue No. 7 GLOVERS WHOLESALE MERCHANDISE CO., cas*ano casouine sunoges Grand Rapids, Mich. oo pene aieti: eit 12 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN THE MILLING INDUSTRY. , Has Kept Pace With the Progress of the Wheat Growers. In no other item is the great progress of the United States more thoroughly exemplified than in the improvements which have been made in the growing and milling of wheat. Wonderful strides have been made by this country in pro- ducing the best of wheat and the finest flour, and twenty-five years ago it was not even realized that in that period of time this country’s present pre-eminence could have been attained, and to-day we probably have but a faint idea of what the future has in store for the great industry of milling. Twenty-five years ago a_ writer in a leading magazine showed, to his own and probably to his readers’ entire sat- isfaction, that the western limit of suc- cessful wheat raising was the Dakota boundary of Minnesota, and yet in 1899 the two Dakotas raised over 100,000,000 bushels of wheat. The question of ability to produce wheat, and produce it cheaply, in this country is one that will continue to oc- -cupy the attention of practical agricul- turalists, and its only limit will be the market demand for it. No single ma- terial outranks wheat in importance as human food. From earliest times it was the food of the most powerful and enlightened nations, and to-day the wheat eaters rule the world. The growth of the milling industry has kept pace with the progress of the wheat growers, both, in volume of production and in character of product, and to-day the flour mills of this country are turn- ing out the finest product that has ever been produced. Contrary to theories that have been exploited to a considerable extent in recent years, to the effect that the nutri- tive and digestive qualities of fine bolted white flour are not equal to graham flour or entire wheat flour, it is now the consensus of opinion of ad- vanced scientists, both in Europe and America, that white bread is the best. M. Terier, the French expert, ina _ re- cent pamphlet on ‘‘Panary Fermenta- tion,’’ calls attention to the pre-emi- nent excellencies of white bread and says that it is the most nourishing be- cause it is the product of a process of fermentation, the alcoholic fermentation saturating it with carbonic acid gas, which assists digestion. It is a perfect food and at the same time stimulates the appetite of the rich and the poor. Bread is the indispensable adjunct to meat, cheese, eggs, etc,, and white bread is a guarantee of perfect purity and wholesomeness, whereas brown bread, by its color alone, already indi- cates the presence of substances which must be excluded from a food stuff if it is to be of an irreproachable character. The United States Agricultural De- partment has recently completed very . exhaustive experiments on the compar- ative nutritive and digestive qualities of white bread, as compared with so- called graham bread, and also as com- pared with bread made from so-called entire wheat flour, and has proven un- answerably, by actual digestive experi- ments, that white bread is more whole- some and nutritive than the bread made either from graham or entire wheat flour. While, chemically, graham flour and entire wheat flour showed higher percentages of gluten, the experiments referred to showed conclusively that those elements in graham flour and en- tire wheat flour are not as available for the human system, on account of being in a condition in which they can not be properly digested, and that white flour therefore is the best from nutritive and digestive standpoints, as well as from the standpoint of appearance and pal- atableness. The flouring mill has kept pace with the wheat fields and has advanced westward with the course of civiliza- tion—not the old mill which mixed flour and chicken feed in one sack or barrel, but one that should produce the most flour possible to be made from a bushel of wheat, of the best quality and at the lowest cost price. Michigan wheat and Michigan flour mills hold leading posi- tions, and the product of Michigan mills goes not only to all the states of the Union east of the Mississippi, but to South America, the islands of the sea and to Europe, and the product of Michigan mills, made from Michigan wheat, possesses a certain delicacy of texture and attractive appearance that Highest cash price paid for Neapolitan Winter Wheat and Roman Corn. Why haul your Wheat through the sand to Heculaneum when we pay the same price here? Office and Mill, Via VIII., Near the Stabian Gate, and only thirteen blocks from the P. O., Pompeii. Dear Sir—This circular has been called out by another one issued last month by Messrs. Toecorneous & Chil- blainicus, alleged millers and wheat buyers of Herculaneum, in which they claim to pay a quarter toa half cent more per bushel than we do for wheat and charge us with docking the farmers around Pompeii a pound per bushel more than necessary for cockle, wild buckwheat and pigeon grass seed. They make the broad statement that we have made all our money in that way and claim that Mr, Cornucopius, of our mill, has erected a fine house, which the farmers allude to as the ‘‘wild buck- wheat villa.’’ We do not, as a general rule, pay any attention to this kind of stuff, but when give it a special value above the flour of other states for many special pur- poses, and its character is such that the very best bread in the world can be made from it and is made from it by many intelligent housewives in many climes. Possibly it may interest the readers of the Tradesman to publish here a por- tion of a letter which it is said by Bill Nye was found in the ruins of Pompeii, and which goes to show that in some re- spects milling in A. D. 79 had points of similarity to milling in A. D. Igol. The letter appears to have been in the shape of a circular communication is- sued by the firm of Cornucopius & Pan- cakius, millers at Pompeii, and a free translation of a portion is here given: Office of Cornucopius & Pancakius, Dealers in Flour, Bran, Middlings, Screenings, Hen and Cow Feed. two snide Romans, who went to Her- culaneum without a dollar and drank stale beer out of an old Etruscan tomato can the first year they were there, assail our integrity, we feel justified in mak- ing a prompt and final reply. We de- sire to state to the Roman farmers that we do not test their wheat with the crooked brass tester that has made more money for Messrs. Toecorneous & Chilblainicus than their old mill has. We do not do that kind of business. Neither do we buy a man’s wheat at a cash price and then work off four or five hundred pounds of Imperial hog feed on him in part payment. When we buy a man’s wheat we pay him in money, We do not seek to fill him up with sour Carthagenian cracked wheat and orders on the store. We would also call attention to the improvements that we have just made in our mill. Last week we put a new handle in the upper burr and we have also engaged one of the best head mill- ers in Pompeii to turn the crank day- times. Our old head miller will over- see the business at night, so that the mill will be in full blast night and day except when the head miller has gone to his meals or stopped to spit on his * hands. * : Yours for business, Cornucopius & Pancakius. Since the time that our brother millers in Pompeii were bidding for trade and making improvements in milling, the milling business has ever contained these two features: Competition has se- cured good prices for the wheat seller and has spurred the miller to constant improvement in his machinery and the character of his product. C. J. DeRoo. ae SUPPRESSION OF TATTLING. A local clergyman recently preached a sermon which ought to have been at- tentively listened to by about three- fifths of the city’s population. He pro- posed the organization of a league to which the entire 87,000 population, more or less, should belong and live up to its platform. The theme of his dis- course was ‘‘Tattlers,’’ and the organ- ization he proposes is a league for the suppression of tattling. It is proposed that its members shall pledge them- selves never to repeat any rumor which may cause pain or affect adversely any one’s standing in the community, until it has been subjected to the tests: Is it true, is it kind, and is it necessary? The plan is a good one, and ought to succeed, The harm done by tattling and what goes under the name of gossip, can scarcely be overestimated. It does limitless injustice in many cases and its perfect work amounts to a positive sin. Practical Christianity may well embrace this form of offense among the reforms it seeks to accomplish. One of the in- evitable accompaniments of gossip is exaggeration. A little thing harmless in itself is repeated and_ repeated again. Growing as the boy’s snowball does, from small beginning, it comes to be not only immense, but monstrous. It causes needless pain and suffering by its misrepresentations. It is the bane of every community and an evil which is as firmly rooted as the love of money. Everybody is familiar with it. Most people deprecate it and then go right . on indulging in it. It forms the theme of half the social conversations and often a dash of it creeps into the other half. Petty spite, prejudice, misun- derstanding and all that sort of thing usually start the nasty little rumors, which grow as they progress and never do anybody any good. The preacher's undertaking deserves hearty approval and enthusiastic encouragement from every right minded man and woman in Grand Rapids. More power to the new league, and may its membership grow until the Secretary is obliged to use the directory to call the roll. —_>2.__ Adolphus Busch, the rich St. Louis brewer, has just returned from a visit to Germany. It was hoped he would bring assurance that Emperor William would visit the St. Louis fair in 1903, but Mr. Busch says ali talk of the Emperor com- ing to the United States is nonsense. ‘“He may leave his country occasional- ly, but he, on visits to other rulers, keeps in touch with his government at all times, and does not go far enough away but that he can return in twenty- four _ hours, The idea of the Emperor visiting the United States is perfectly absurd. It is very probable, however that the next best thing may be done. It is not at all unlikely that the Crown Prince Frederick Wilhelm would visit us, if invited, and I think it would be well for our commissioners to give such an invitation serious consideration.”’ MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 13 Waterproof Horse and Wagon Covers | Ow ww WR RR WR TAO OILED CLOTHING fIt’s to Your Advantage to see that your patrons are supplied with dependable goods. So long as they Pipe Covering please them they’ll cling to your store. That’s why you should handle Lakeside Canned Peas They satisfy the most particular house- keepers and offord the dealer a good profit. Worden Grocer Co., Grand Rapids THE M. I. WILCOX CO., TOLEDO, 0.| Ow wa WR. ss SO CRONOH OHOHOH CHOHONOCHOHOROHOHON OR OHOROROROROROHOHOE If you want to secure more than $25 REWARD In Cash Profits in 1901, and in addition give thorough satisfaction to your patrons, the sale of but one dozen per day of FLEISCHMANN & CO.’S YELLOW LABEL COMPRESSED YEAST will secure that result. Grand Rapids Office, 29 Crescent Ave. Detroit Office, 111 W. Larned St. HOUOHOROHOHOCHOROHOCROROCHOCROROROHOROROHOHOHOHOTONOEO . Paints Oils Lath Yarn Varnishes Rope Mill Supplies wh a A ff }__— fe We've been manu- facturing Sleighs and Cutters, we’ve learned ( (one some things which ' ) | 22 Years D younger concerns will not know for some time yet. We know how to make a satisfactory article. There is no guess work about it with us- There will be no question about your satisfaction if you buy our goods. We are making the kind of sleigh you ought to have at the price you ought to pay. Our catalogue is worth having. Send for it. KALAMAZOO WAGON CO. Ransom St., Kalamazoo, Mich. i You Sell from the Book Any merchant can make big profits selling our clothing by sample. We furnish, FREE OF ALL EXPENSE, a complete outfit, consisting of a large sample book, containing two. hundred and ten samples of Men’s, Boys’ ahd Children’s Suits, Trousers, Overcoats and Ulsters. Every prevailing fashion is represented and can be sold at about half the prices charged by the tailors to the trade. This clothing is fully guaranteed in every partic- ular—is correct in style, perfect in fit, and made of the finest materials. With the book we send all instructions, advertising matter, tape lines, order blanks, envelopes, etc. THE OUTFIT IS FREE SEND FOR IT IF YOU WISH TO SELL CLOTHING BY SAMPLE.. EXPRESS CHARGES WILL BE PREPAID David Adler & Sons Clothing Co. MILWAUKEE, WIS. 7 . n orca. ’ . 14 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN MEN OF MARK. Charles B. Kelsey, Cashier Peoples Sav- ings Bank. : Charles B. Kelsey was born on a farm in Cascade township, Kent county, March 27, 1863. He lived on the farm with his parents until 17 years of age, attending the district school, with the exception of the years 1872 and 1873, during which time the family resided in Grand Rapids. In 1882, he went to live with an uncle in Three Oaks, taking a clerkship in the postoffice at $5 per month and board. He improved the opportunity to study during his leisure hours and obtained a third grade cer- tificate, on the strength of which he taught school two years—one term ata place called Beaver Dam and another at Avery’s, a station on the Michigan Central Railway near Three Oaks. In " 1883, he removed to Grand Rapids, se- curing a position as billing clerk for the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad, at the South Yards. The financial re- verses of that year and the failure of several Grand Rapids lumbermen cur- tailed the work of the office to the. ex- tent that he was transferred to the office of the Auditor of the same company, where he remained a year. On the open- ing of the Kent County Savings Bank, Jan. 1, 1885, he secured employment as man of all work, Cashier - Verdier and himself being the only employes of the institution. He was book-keeper, audi- tor, collection clerk, discount clerk, paying, receiving and savings teller— and, at odd times, supervised the tem- perature of the room. He remained in this bank nearly six years, when he or- ganized the Peoples Savings Bank, be- ginning the work in October, 1890. The bank opened for business Feb. 9, 1801, and has been marked by a marvelous growth, the deposits now aggregating $1,872,000, while the footings are in ex- cess of $2,000,000. This result is due in no small degree to the efficient watchfulness and persistent effort of the Cashier, who has given the business his undivided attention. Mr. Kelsey enjoys the distinction of having discovered the present home of the Consolidated Sportsmen’s Associa- tion, comprising ten acres of land at the big bend in Grand River, west of the Michigan Soldiers’ Home. This land was the property of the old Grand River Booming Co. and its existence had been nearly forgotten by everyone in any way interested in the property. Mr. Kelsey quietly secured an option on the land, which he turned over to the organization, although he could have made other disposition of the property at a handsome profit to himself. The land has since increased in value to the extent that, if it were sold and the proceeds divided among the members, they would receive a handsome advance on the amount paid by them in mem- bership fees and dues. Mr. Kelsey was one of the underwrit- ers of the recently-organized Michigan Lime Co., which acquired the extensive properties of H. O. Rose, at Petoskey, and confidently predicts that it will prove to be one of the best investments he has ever made. Mr. Kelsey was married Oct. 28, 1888, to Miss Mary Atwater, and has one child, a daughter now 4% years old. The family reside at 40 Ransom street during the winter months and dur- ing the heated term occupy their beau- tiful summer home on the banks of Grand River at Eastmanville. Mr. Kelsey is a member of St. Mark’s church, but owes no affiliation to any secret society, his time being entirely engrossed with his home and social duties, his business and his one hobby, which is that of sportsman. He is a director of the Peoples Savings Bank, First Vice-President of the New Era Association, President of the Consoli- dated Sportsmen’s Association, director and Treasurer of the Michigan Lime Co., Treasurer of the Grand Rapids Clearing House Association and mem- ber of the Executive Board of the Mich- igan Bankers’ Association. Personally, Mr. Kelsey is one of the most companionable of men. He is of medium height and build, with cheerful manner and unobtrusive ways. He con- fesses to no fads. He beleives in recrea- tion. If he has any pretensions, they are those of a man successful in busi- ness. He has no political ambitions beyond doing his duty as a citizen. He holds that willingness to be a duty. At | as a business partner. Look on This Picture and Then ‘on That. Life is a strange thing and the way of the Author of life are not always easy to understand. Within the last few days the wife of a grocer of my acquaintance has died. She was a good woman—a real wife—the conscientious and intelligent mother of several small children. Many women would feel themselves so burdened with the care of these children that they would consider it beyond them to take any interest in their hus- bands’ business, Not so with this woman. She spent as much time in the store as she did in her house—not in loafing but in working. She waited on customers, wrapped packages, helped on the books, made change—did every- thing she was called on to do—a faith- ful intelligent clerk. This woman’s husband regarded her She had the fac- 38 years of age he is still a young man in looks and actions and has every rea- son to regard his future with compla- cency. ——__>+.____ Joke About Quartered Oak. A few years ago the writer happened to run across a hotel acquaintance in the dry goods line ona train down in the hardwood country. He evidently knew the difference between plain and quar- tered oak when found in a piece of fur- niture, for as we were running through a piece of woodland he asked how the mill men could tell the difference be- tween a quartered oak tree and a_ plain oak tree. I considered a moment how to begin to explain this subject to him, but finally concluded that it was of no use and merely told him that any man who knew anything about oak trees could pick them out as soon as he saw them. And then I pointed out some from the car window. If he has not had some additional light on the sub- ject I presume he is still wondering how I could tell. ulty of getting things done. He con- sulted her about everything, including the buying. Some people said she was the better business man of the two, but about that I have no knowledge. This woman was a conscientious Christian and a member of a_ local Methodist church. With all her inter- ests, she neglected neither her house nor her children, for the former was kept as clean as soap and hard work could make it, and the children as tidy as young children can be. This woman, a perfect wife, mother and partner, who knew her duty and didJ it the very best she could, is dead. I know another grocer’s wife. She is a slattern and a scold. She has two children who are neglected night and day. Rumor says the woman drinks, Scandal has associated her name with a livery stable keeper of her town and with certain salesmen who go to the place to sell goods to her husband. The woman's house is neglected, her hus- band is neglected, her children are neg- lected and her reputation is neglected. To the grocer himself—a decent, hon- est man—his wife is a sore trial. With him love, if he has it, is not blind—he sees his wife as she is. To make things worse, he is a mild man, disliking scenes; while she is a virago with the tongue and temper of a shrew. Against his will, this woman persists in loafing in her husband’s store, ready to join in a loud-voiced conversation or pick a quarrel with any Tom, Dick or Harry who comes in. Alone with her, every man in the neighborhood calls her by her first name. This grocer’s business is being killed by his wife. She makes the store un- savory. Decent women will no longer go there, and women constitute seven- eighths of grocery buyers. The man is helpless. He sees his trade dying be- fore his eyes, and he is too gentle in disposition to choke the woman to death or kick her out, as most men would do. The general public, this grocer, his children, and his business would all be better off for this woman’s death. She is a barnacle and ought to be cleared away. Yet I'll wager any amount of money that she’ll live to a green and disgrace- ful old age, a destroyer of the domestic happiness of her husband, a neglectful cuffer and railer at her children, a pub- lic scandal, and a general nuisance. Why couldn’t she have been taken and the first wife left?—-Stroller in Gro- cery World. ———_>2+>—__ Increased Horse Breeding. From the Indiana Farmer. There are abundant signs of increased interest in horse breeding all over the world, as all sections realize that there is to be an increased future demand for good horses. Touching this matter the English Live Stock Journal says: ‘‘Small doubt exists as to the waking up of many who were inclined to give up horse breeding as a_played-out branch of agriculture. Everywhere there seems to be a demand for good, sound, well grown sires of all recog- nized British breeds, and the hitherto somewhat under-valued pony shares the market with the ponderous and power- ful Shires, Clydesdales and Suffolks. There may be, viewed from a business standpoint, a quick interchange, but it is Satisfactory to note that this carried out between business men who have big stakes in the trade. ‘There is evidence enough about to show the agricultural authorities of the United States are alive to this, En- couragement is given to bring up grad- ually the equine level, and although Shires, Clydesdales, Suffolks may all be intermingled with Percherons and Nor- mans, and these in many cases _ crossed with trotters and Hackneys, the result- ant get is bound to work out in a useful direction.”’ ——_>2~»—____ Automatic Needle Threading. From the London Globe. A little machine which threads one thousand needles a minute is at work in St. Gall, Switzerland. The purpose of the machine is to thread needles that are placed afterward in an embroidery loom for making Swiss or Hamburg lace. The device is almost entirely automatic. It takes the needle from a hopper, Carries it along and threads it, ties the knot, cuts the thread off a uni- form length, then carries the needle across an open space and sticks it in a rack. The work of threading of these needles was formerly done by hand. 2s >_______. It is rather discouraging to a man _ to be forced to wait until he is dead in or- der to discover what a good fellow he was, MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 15 CROROH OHOHOH CHOHOE OHOHOROHOHOE OH OCHOROROROHORONOROE Th e C el eb r ated L E G G : N G S “lone” Shoe for Men Over Gaiters and Lamb’s Wool Soles. (Beware of the Imitation Waterproof Leg- ging offered ) Our price on Men’s Waterproof Legging, Tan or Black, per dozen........ 5 00 Same in Boys’, above knee...... i Send us your advance order early before the rush is on. Send for Catalogue. HIRTH, KRAUSE & CO. MANUFACTURERS GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN We Make a Line of Goodyear Welts Have you ever been a victim of ‘buckwheat poisoning?” Did you know why those buckwheat cakes you had for breakfast made you feel like a monkey, and your hide look like a case of measles? Have you ever sworn you'll never again eat a buckwheat cake and then when you came down to breakfast on a cold morning you tackled those piping hot cakes only to regret it later on and wish you’d never seen them? at In $2.00 $2.25 $2.50 Let Us Tell You Something We make a flour which hasn’t a scratch ina barrel of it. We’ve found a way to skin the kernels of all the hull, which contains the poison. If you willbuy our non- irritating flour you get all the good of the buckwheat and none of the bad. You get purity only. Just give our flour a trial and if you don’t continue to buy it, it’ll be our fault. Latest Styles and Leathers Velour and Vici Kid Stock. Re- Muskegon Milling Co. tails at $2.50. Muskegon, Mich. Bradley & Metcalf Co Manufacturers and Jobbers of Shoes and Rubbers, The Western Shoe Co., Toledo, Obio Milwaukee, Wis. Distributors @©@ee' OOOO’ OOOO OOOO O'O'O' 000 0' O00 000 0'0'0'O'O ©LL 882 OOOO OOOO OU FREE! GIVEN AWAY! DETAILED SELF-ADDING SOLID NICKEL CASE ee .. ASH DRUGS, PATENT MEDICINES, WALL PAPER, Paints, Oils, Glass, Books, Stationery, Periodicals, Etc., REGISTER (GFBrsheourtle. Lah, fh. y ayfeo TO THE TRADE: Oe ta Eben c With 1,000 of our best 5-cent cigars at $39.00 per M., we will gn ' 8 send free a solid nickeled case, Detailed Self-Adding Cash A“ 4101 f Jick —" equal to registers heretofore sold for $175 and up- ward, The Cigars are Equal to Any 5-Cent Cigar on the Market.| . hog Back ee ot Cedi he Terms: 30 days, less 2 per cent. Io days. J Description of Cash Register: a. fbr intl Tee Mc geet 2 Size, 21 inches high, 17 inches deep and 19 inches wide. a gi Weight, 85 lbs, Solid nickelcase of handsome design. Tab- a pecete 5 ° lets display from both front and rear. The money drawer is t FAN / highly polished inside. Both the exterior and interior of this a Cra Li Lin frerebine. ou machine are the best that can be produced. Warranted for five years. All the work is done on wheels, and it sets to zero baak pe ee faery cect. with a key in a moment’s time. The tablets are large and con- spicuous—a black figure on a white enameled background. We i ae ; . have two styles of keyboards. oo ae ae Mou lErriceerc otek, —— ge GA. BAAS fe iw - i "PAPERS. ’ $ and PERIODICALS) _ ry ¢ i 2 yee — Pr Alaele cord Ce gare Aects A; Geek. When ordering please state if you use penny keys or whether 5 cents is the lowest denomina- i : a : tion you use, 7 orilvre Gor Cigere
24 art cai ae a “hat
Advertisement will be Incredutous. £ afipos ee eae al a
Do not be influenced by agents of high priced —— but send for one of our registers and 1,000 Cigars for $39. Then compare
and judge for yourself, and if register is not equa! to the best in style, finish and quality, return it tous. We assure you that eyery. Le gu ees
thing is as represented. Yours respectfully, DETROIT TOBACCO CO., Detroit, Mich.
OUR GUARANTEE Drake ta forruh Dy 211 «Hb lonnk
To any responsible merchantin the United States we will ship both
register and cigars on seven days’ trial. If the cigars are not satisfac-
tory or vou do not consider the register equal to any that the National
Cash Register Co., of Dayton, Ohio, sells for $175, you can return both
register and cigars to us. Remember $39 includes both the cash regis-
ter and cigars. Why pay $175 for a cash register when you can get one
free? Sign and return the order blank and the goods will go promptly
forward on seven days’ trial. The ‘World’ is covered by five U.S.
patents. It does not infringe on other Patents. We protect users
against infringement = our written guarantee. We are responsible.
Have been in business here for 15 years. Rated in Bradstreet’s Mer-
cantile Agency at $30,000, and refer you to any bank or business house
in this city. Don’t buy or accept as a premium any cash register until
you have tried ours seven days. :
Don’t pay five times the value of a Cash Register, wher you can get
one equal to the best FREE with 1,000 of our best 5¢ Cigars, which are
sent on approval, to be returned if you do not consider them equal to
any $c Cigar on the market, as per terms of guarantee.
ORDER BLANK.
Detroit Tobacco Co., Detroit, Mich. Terms:
Ship as soon as possible $19.50 30 days
1,000 cigars at $39 per thousand, 19.50 60 days
including one cash register —
$39.00
If goods do not suit, I agree to return same to you on
or before seven days from date they are received from
transportation company. If goods are retained after
above mentioned ‘time, it shall constitute the accept-
ance of same, and I will remit as per above terms,
Signature of purchaser,
ouurd y svt. ae, 7 ey
Ee Lh free sf Ones auch 4 ne
That Sapolh— uth Prahes vice fur f
We have on file Hundreds of letters sedi to the above from every
State in the Union.
FILL OUT AND SEND
-_ To-Day THE ORDER BLANK.
Beata cea
16
MICHIGAN
TRADESMAN
MICHIGAN SHINGLES
Supplanted by Southern Cypress and the
Washington Red Cedar.
For twenty years the manufacturing of
shingles has been one of the leading in-
dustries of Michigan and no other in-
dustry has done so much for the farmer
and the grocer.
In a lumbering operation the crew go
into the woods in the fall with a full
outfit, with their own cook, camp stove
and boarding house. They live within
themselves and in the spring have usu-
ally cleaned up the job and move out.
The men are mostly those who come from
other sections and in the spring return
to their homes, the operation having
done little or nothing, financially, for
the immediate neighborhood.
In manufacturing shingles a Northern
farmer has almost a never-ending source
of income from his timber lot. When-
ever he has any extra time he gets out
bolts, that command a readysale. Liv-
ing there, his money goes for home sup-
plies. Shingle mills must be near the
source of bolt supply and, as most of the
men who work in a shingle mill live
there with their families, their money is
Spent with the grocer and other home
supply men. As 80 per cent. of the cost
of shingles represents labor, and as that
labor to a very large degree spends the
money at home, it is an idea] industry
for the community.
The manufacturing of shingles works
exactly opposite from lumber in its re-
sults. Many of the Tradesman’s readers
will remember, not many years ago,
when small lumber mills were scattered
through Michigan and dealers from
Grand Rapids could go up the road and
buy a million ortwo million cut of lum-
ber at almost any of the stations, but
gradually the larger mills have coopered
the available supply, owning timber 100
or 200 miles from their mills, and in
that way have driven out the smaller lum-
ber mills.
As timber becomes more scarce the
shingle mills decrease in size and in-
crease in number, compared to the out-
put. The timber being in such small
tracts it can not be grouped and the
“‘little fellow’’ has a chance of making
a living without the fear (as ina lum-
ber mill) that his ‘‘big’’ neighbor will
buy the adjoining 40 that he had been
expecting to buy as soon as he cut out
the 40 he was at.
The average man, seeing a little
shingle mill, does not think it amounts
to much, but let us see what these small
mills have done, financially. I have
not been able to get the figures’ for the
big shingle years of 1880 to 1885, but
from the files of the Lumberman | find
that the cut of the mills in the white pine
district for three years was as follows:
ee eres. os. 4.314,166,050
eg 4.320,323,470
ss 3,171,469,300
Take the year 1889. Say the average
sale price of shingles was $2 per thous-
and, the shingle output brought into
those states for that year eight and one-
half million dollars,
If labor is 80 per cent. of the selling
price, they brought to the laborers of
those states for that year $6,800,000.
If the average carload was one hun-
dred thousand, there were forty-three
thousand carloads hauled from _ those
three states for that year.
If the average freight per carload was
20 cents per 100 pounds, the freight
paid to railways for that year was
$2,000, 000.
If the average trainload is forty-three
- cars, it took 1,000 trains to haul them. |
If the average house takes 7,000 shin-
gles, they roofed 600,000 houses.
To-day the decrease in the Michigan
output is made up by the increase in
the output of the cypress mills of the
South and the red cedar mills of Wash-
ington, the red cedar shipments being
17,645 cars in 1900 and 24,000 cars in
I901. Red cedar, being kiin dried, car-
loads will average 150,000 to the car, so
that figuring on the same load as for
white pine shingles in 1889, they would
make 36,000 carloads, as against the
43,000 carloads of white pine in 1889.
Formerly wholesaling of shingles was
a business of itseif, but in these days of
close competition, a wholesaler becomes
a department store to some extent and
usually handles white pine and Michi-
gan cedar, Pennsylvania hemlock,
Southern cypress, Washington red cedar
shingles, Southern yellow pine lumber,
Michigan and Tennessee hardwood and
hemlock, with California redwood as a
difficulty is to get a law passed that will
compel the road they represent to fur-
nish the equipment necessary to take
care of the business and that can only
be done by a demurrage law in the
shippers’ interest, as it now is in the
railway’s interest. A few years ago the
railway officials insisted that it was im-
possible to equip all freight cars with
patent couplers, but the law said, ** You
must,’’ and they have. When will ship-
pers meet the car shortage crime with
united action and force a law that will
protect them? Until that day comes the
shingle business, like all other branches
that furnish railroads their traffic, will
continue to be one that makes young
men age quickly. C. C. Follmer.
—___o-2 > —___
The bankruptcy law has been in oper-
ation long enough to reveal some defects
which it will be the business of Con-
gress at its next session to remedy if
possible. A general criticism is that it
side line. Grand Rapids boasts of three | 0° easily discharges people from the in-
of the oldest wholesale shingle firms in
the State, and they have trimmed their
sails to meet the new business condi-
tions and, as long as there is a shingle
manufactured, will continue in the fu-
ture, as in the past, to lead the proces-
sion in that line.
Some of us will not die happy until
the railroads are compelled to take their
own medicine by the enactment of a
law that will compel them to furnish
cars promptly or pay the shippers de-
murrage. There is no justice in a law
that compels a shipper to unload a car
in forty-eight hours, or pay $1 per day
for overtime, and allows a railroad to
keep a shipper. waiting four and six
weeks for a car after it is ordered. The
local officials do everything they can to
help the shipper and are getting gray-
headed much faster than they should in
trying to get one car to satisfy ninety-
nine shippers, The only way out of the
| debtedness.
It is such a simple matter
to apply to the federal courts, setting
down all the items owed and then have
a judicial wiping off of the slate so as
to make a fresh start. While no one
would wish to go back to the days of the
debtors’ prison, a question which may
be properly asked in these times is if
the law does not make bankruptcy dis-
charge too easy and too temptingly
available. Substantial business prin-
ciples demand full payment and _ it
should be exacted. The chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee and a rep-
resentative of the National Association
of Referees in Bankruptcy are at work
drafting a revision of the law, and in
answer tc a circular letter sent out have
received something like 1,500 answers
from all over the country, containing
advice and suggestions. These answers
will be tabulated and presented along
with the report of the Judiciary Com-
mittee.
STATISTICAL BUREAU.
With the approach of the assembling
of Congress, the scheme of establishing
the Census Bureau ona permanent basis
is being revived. This has been at-
tempted several times before, particu-
larly as the work of the census force
commences to show signs of nearing an
end. Of course, the immediate purpose
is to make permanent offices and _posi-
tions of those which are now fresh]
created with the taking of every census.
The arguments used in favor of the
plan, however, are plausible enough.
It is contended that, with a permanent
Census Bureau, the census work could
be more systematized and could be more
thoroughly prepared for in advance.
The enumeration and the _ statistical
work that grows out of the census each
decade would, under a permanent sys-
tem, be done by a corps of trained as-
sistants, instead of by a temporary force
gathered together for the occasion and
appointed largely through political fa-
voritism. It is also held that, under a
permanent system, there would be
greater economy for the Government.
While, of course, there is something to
be said of the permanent system, every
effort to add to the already complicated
machinery of the Government and to
the number of public offices should be
regarded with suspicion. It is no doubt
true that trained clerks and statisticians
could accomplish more and better work
than temporary help, but it may be
doubted if the census alone would war-
rant the creation of an independent
bureau.
The Government does a great deal of
expert statistical work for the benefit of
commerce and agriculture over and
above the census work. It might be
profitable to concentrate all this statis-
tical work, including the census enumer-
ation and special investigations undera
single bureau to be known as the Statis-
tical Bureau. Such a bureau could su-
pervise and control all statistical work
of the Government, and thereby insure
not only greater uniformity in reports,
but also greater simplicity and accur-
acy, as well as effect a considerable
saving to the Government.
No government in the world does
more in the way of gathering and dis-
seminating useful information than
ours. Much of this information is dup-
licated and unnecessarily strung out.
This is due to the fact that the statistics
and information are issued by several
separate bureaus, This wastefulnes and
confusion necessarily arising from use-
less duplication would be obviated if
all statistical work intended for publi-
cation were controlled by a single
bureau, where it could be carefully re-
vised and all unnecessary matter elimi-
nated.
Such a bureau, provided with compe-
tent statisticians and a force of trained
clerks, would be in a better position to
take the census and compile the data se-
cured from the army of enumerators
which must of necessity be employed
for a brief period than any temporary
Census Bureau, such as is usually or-
ganized each decade, no matter how
competent the management of sucha
temporary institution might be. There
may be justification for the organiza-
tion of a permanent Statistical Bureau
of the sort described, but certainly none
for a Census Bureau alone,
> 2s—___
No matter how poor a man is, there
may have been a time when he rode in
his own carriage—while his mother
pushed it along,
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 1%
SOUND HORSE SENSE.
There is a young farmer in the North-
west who is going to amount to some-
thing. Full of strategems and schemes
the spoils are sure to be his in due time
and when they come they will be the
rich reward of the good horse sense
the exercise of which he has lately
shown. Young, full of the ambition of
youth, he hoped to win fame and for-
tune at one fell swoop and on the Mon-
day morning of an early August day
with plans materialized he started out
on his bicycle to circumnavigate the
globe. These plans covered a trip of
three years, with a yearly income of
$1,000 a year, after which, with his
name written down at the head of the
world’s bicyclers, he was to retire to
the private life of distinguished Amer-
ican citizenship and repose in peace on
his laurels. After two days, however,
he changed his mind. His sound horse
sense, the behest of a sturdy New Eng-
land ancestry, brought him to his senses
and instead of pushing across the con-
tinent to San Francisco and then visit-
ing the countries of Asia, Europe, Af-
rica and South America, he gracefully
but determinedly turned upon his wheel
and went home. Whether the bars of his
bicycle recalled the plow handles he
had left is not known, but the fact that
he gave up the idea of lecturing and
writing for the newspapers and went
back to the work that heaven intended
he should do marks the young man as
one of a thousand and one that will be
found a few years from now benefiting
his section and the rest of the country
with the wisdom which the world stands
much in need of.
To those who watch even slightly the
tendency of the times it hardly need be
said that the time for the passing of the
freak has come. The journey around
the earth afoot or awheel, the. shooting
of the Niagara rapids in a barrel, the
going without food for forty days, the
thousand and one things that amount to
nothing after they are done is getting to
be an old and a very tiresome story and
the doer of them needs only the old-time
cap and bells to mark him as the
buffoon that he insists on making of
himself. Everybody is getting tired of
it and the sneer that the statement of
the doing produces shows that this
practical age wants something in its re-
sults even for its amusement. It is to
be hoped that the young Northwestern-
er’s action will commend itself to his
countrymen the land over. The plow
he has gone back to will prove more
remunerative a hundred to one than the
wheel and the senseless journey he had
planned to take. In both ventures there
will be hardships to endure, but while
the returns of the wheel ride will be un-
certain, the soil will not forget the hand
that has cultivated it and there, if any-
where, will be reaped the harvest of a
hundredfold. He has already accom-
plished one object of his undertaking—
the furnishing of an item for the papers
with his name in it—and the carrying
out of the whole design would have
done but little more. Now he can rest
on his laurels and begin his life in
earnest, feeling certain that in the
minds of most of his countrymen he has
shown more sound horse sense to the
square inch than the whole freak fam-
ily have shown or can show in a life-
time.
——__> +. —___
The kodak companies have formed a
$35,000, 000 trust and the snapshot fiend
will hereafter have to pay for his fun.
Geo. BH. Reeder & Co.
Wholesale Dealers in
Boots, Shoes and Rubbers
28 and 30 S. Tonia St. Grand Rapids, Mich.
No. 61. Box Calf. No. 62. Vici. No. 63. Valour Calf. No. 64. Patent Calf. No. 65. Enamel Calf.
Our up-to-date line of heavy sole English welts at $2.00.
They are just as good as they look. We have a complete
line of up-to-date leather goods. If you have not received our
It’s full of good things.
fall catalogue write for it.
The most
We carry at all
Double Wear Rubbers, made only in Lycomings.
durable and best selling Rubbers made.
times a complete line of Lycoming and Keystone Rubbers;
also Woonsocket Boots.
We are here to serve you. All orders will receive our
careful attention.
sit
+
£ é
mga teonimane pH
18
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
THE BOOK TRADE.
Improved Conditions Under the Net Price
System.
A distinguished librarian, who has
been a pioneer of progress in the library
movement, has recently suggested the
propriety of abolishing bookstores and
allowing public librarians to receive or-
ders and forward them to the publish-
ers. If the distinguished gentleman did
not have in view visions of personal
gain for public librarians, he should
have carried his philanthropic sugges-
tion further and proposed to abolish
both booksellers and librarians and to
allow the public to procure their books
directly from the publishers, thus sav-
ing that moiety of gain that would be
made by either in return for the service
rendered. It can not be supposed that
so able and conscientious an administra-
tive officer ever contemplated main-
taining an extra corps of assistants, at
an extra expense to the municipality or
to those liberal benefactors who have
endowed public libraries, in order that
opulent citizens may still further in-
dulge their tastes by purchasing larger
private libraries, without paying the
small commission or profit that is usual-
ly allowed to retail booksellers. On
the other hand, if this proposal -was
made for the purpose of allowing jibrar-
ies maintained by taxing the munici-
pality to engage in gainful occupation,
this is carrying the Socialistic idea
further than even our Populistic friends
have ever yet proposed.
However, inasmuch as this question
has been raised, we are bound to treat
it from an economic point of view. The
question is, ‘‘Shall the bookseller be
abolished and his office merged into
that of the librarian, and can the librar-
ian perform the offices of the book-
seller?’’
No one has ever questioned the value
of the public library, from the burning
of the Alexandrian Library to the pres-
ent day. The value ofa iibrary asa
librarium or storehouse for the perma-
nent preservation of books has always
been manifest.
Again, the public library gives a
larger opportunity and a wider range
than are possible in the private collec-
tion, and scholars, authors, historians,
and students of all classes are daily
made grateful to the trained, profes-
sional librarian, who has so classified
the contents of the library as to make
the whole available ata moment’s no-
tice.
Still another inestimable feature of
the public library is that it maintains a
public reading room for children as
well as adults.
Finally, the library furnishes read-
ing at home to those who are not yet in
a position to become owners of books.
The benefit derived from reading of this
character is often of questionable value.
The habitue of the circulating library
makes his selections from misleading
or sensational titles. Little care and less
intelligence are exercised in choosing
either title or author. As a result,
librarians are constantly complaining
that only the trashiest and most worth-
less books are read.
But, to continue the argument, sup-
pose we abolish the bookseller, as has
been proposed. This would not bea
difficult matter. Most of them would
gladly be ‘‘abolished,’’ if they could
sell out their stock for anything near
what it cost them. Their profits have
been so'reduced by unfair competition
that they are not sufficient to pay the
cost of doing business. They have
been compelled to carry side lines, as
Stationery, newspapers, _ periodicals,
sporting goods, bric-a-brac and wall
paper in order to make a living. By
this means they have learned that other
lines of merchandise yield a better profit
than books. Asa result, most of them
‘have greatly reduced their book stock or
entirely abandoned the sale of books
and put in more profitable lines of mer-
chandise. |
To carry the proposition to its con-
clusion, suppose we abolish the book-
seller.* Can the librarian take his place
and send the orders in to the publish-
ers? If so, if this is all there is to the
bookselling business, why should the
publisher pay a commission to the li-
brarian for doing what the people could
as readily do for themselves? But a
general publishing business can not be
carried on in this way. Publishers
have tried it for years, yet only com-
paratively few people are willing to or-
or degree of civilization for a given age
is marked by the character of the litera-
ture the people produce and read, we
cannot hope for a golden age in Ameri-
can letters unless the present system is
reversed. Work of real merit is never
done by accident, nor is it the product
of mediocre talents. If we are to de-
velop a National literature that shall
fitly characterize the sterling qualities
of the American people in this, the full
strength of the early manhood ‘of the
Nation; at the time when the Nation
has taken its place in the vanguard of
civilization ; at the time when the con-
sumptive power of the Nation is equal
to one-third of that of the entire civ-
ilized world; at the time when men of
talents and genius are annually earning
and expending, for their comfort and
pleasure, more munificent sums than
were ever lavished on the most opulent
princes—I say, if we are to preduce a
literature that shall fitly characterize
der books that they have not had an op-
portunity to examine, and of this class
librarians are the most conservative.
They, too, want to know what they are
buying before they place their orders.
Hence this postulate: If the librarian
is to succeed the bookseller, he must
become a merchant; he must. order
stocks of books and take the specula-
tive chance of selling them. But the
librarian has had no experience or
training in merchandising. Can he
afford to hazard his own capital in an
untried field; can he induce his
friends to supply him with capital to
invest in a business of which he con-
fessedly has no knowledge? It must
manifestly be a perversion of the funds
of the institution in charge of the li-
brarian to invest them ina gainful oc-
cupation.
Perhaps the most baneful effect of this
craze for ephemeral literature is upon
the people themselves. As the standard
this age of our Nation, we must hold
forth such rewards for the pursuit of
literature as will attract men of genius,
men of the most lustrous talents, men
who are the peers of their co-workers in
other walks of life. But this will not be
possible so long as the present strife to
furnish cheap literature to the people
continues.
It should be observed that the book-
seller has not suffered alone in this
cheapening process, The publisher has
suffered. Within the past few months
two names that for a half century were
household words—synonyms of all that
is excellent in the publishing world—
have fallen from their pinnacles of high
repute and crumbled in the dust of
failure and ruin. Others were approach-
ing a crisis.
Fortunately one firm stood out so
prominently as a_ bulwark of financial
strength and security that its President,
Charles Scribner, of Charles Scribner’s
Sons, could afford to take the initiative
in calling for reform. He invited the
co-operation of other publishers, and a
year ago this month they met in New
York and organized the American Pub-
lishers’ Association. Their organization
now includes practically all of the gen-
eral publishers who contribute anything
of real value to current literature. The
publishers canvassed thoroughly the
causes that had led to the decline of the
trade, and they appointed a committee
to draft reform measures.
In reviewing the decline of the trade,
two facts stood out so prominently that
it was impossible to disassociate them
as cause and effect: The 3,000 book-
sellers. upon whom as purveying agents
the publishers had depended a genera-
tion ago had shrunk in number until
only about 500 could be counted who
were worthy to be called booksellers.
The other fact, which doubtless made
quite as deep an impression upon the
minds of the publishers, was that the
long line of books, on each of their
published catalogues, was practically
dead. Those books of high standard
character, by eminent authors, books
that for years had had a good annual
sale, no longer moved. These standard
books have been a large source of rev-
enue to publishers and their authors for
many years. But now, so few of them
are sold,that it hardly pays the publish-
ers to send their travelers over the road.
From the character of the reform
measures adopted by the American Pub-
lishers’ Association, which went into
effect May 1, it is evident that the pub-
lishers have determined to restore the
old-time bookseller. This can be done
only by the publishers enforcing ‘the
maintenance of retail prices.
On the other hand, the nearly 800
members of the American Booksellers’
Association have entered into a mutual
agreement to push with energy the sale
of the books of all publishers who co-
operate with them for the maintenance
of retail prices and not to buy, nor put
in stock, nor offer for sale the books of
any publisher who fails to co-operate
with them. This is substantially the
Same system that was adopted in Ger-
many in 1887, in France a few years
later and in England in 1900.
The effect of this system in Germany
has been to lift up the trade from a con-
dition even more deplorable, if pos-
sible, than that into which it has fallen
in this country, and to make it a pros-
perous and profitable business. It has
proved beneficent and satisfactory, not
only to dealers and publishers, but also
to authors and to the reading public, for
every city, town, and village in Ger-
Many now sustains a book shop that
carries a fairly representative stock of
books, so that the people are able to
examine promptly every book, as soon
as it comes from the press, and the
authors are sure of having their books
promptly submitted to the examination
of every possible purchaser.
The results in France and England
are equally encouraging, and it is be-
lieved that as soon as the American sys-
tem is fully understood and as soon as
enough books are included under the
net price system, so that a bookseller
can once more make a living on the
sale of books, many of the old-time
booksellers will again put in a stock of
books and help to re-establish the book
trade in America.
W. Millard Palmer.
———>2.____
A genius is a man who, when he acci-
dentally says a good thing, can make
his hearers believe it was intentional,
IicdcIedeledlelelededede
The Flour That Sells
The real value of any flour---the profit either to you or to
your customers---depends upon its baking qualities. If it
will make the lightest, whitest and most nutritious bread, it
will please your trade.
Pillsbury’s Best Flour
does this. It will please your trade and help you on other
lines. It is the King of all Family Flours. Dealers and
public have been testifying to its merits now for 30 years.
If our salesman does not call on you, write us for quotations
on carload or less quantity.
= Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Co., Ltd.
Michigan Branch,
413 Michigan Trust Building, Grand Rapids.
J. P. McGAUGHEY, Manager
wIicIeICewIcIswdIcIeIcIsIeIeIe Ne
IP OR FR RR ee PF FE AE AP IP AER EAE
So ea
PEt
SABA ep
20
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
GREATER GRAND RAPIDS.
Interurban Railways the Greatest Factor
in Its Advancement.
The growth and development of the
city of Grand Rapids and the territory
tributary thereto is a practical business
proposition which has had the best
thought of the progressive and active
citizens of this busy manufacturing city
since the time of its foundation; and
any movement, whether of a business
nature or otherwise, which has tended
to build up and make stronger the city
of our business and homes has met uni-
versally with the hearty support of the
strong men who have made Grand
Rapids what it is and who are still aid-
ing and abetting with their time, their
money and their brains to make in the
next decade a new and Greater Grand
Rapids.
All honor and respect is due to the
sturdy pioneers who more than fifty
years ago established the village of
Kent, on the site of which stands to-day
the busy mart of Grand Rapids, with
its hundreds of factories, its numberless
schools and churches, its many chari-
table institutions and its thousands of
homes. Those pioneers did their work
in their time, ably and well. May we
of this twentieth century and electrical
age do our work as well and ably and,
in so doing, do our full duty to our fel-
low men, our families and the commu-
nity in which we live!
Less than sixty years ago, the only
communication which existed between
Grand Rapids and the outside world
was by the overland stage coach.
Every day, in and out of Grand Rap-
ids in all directions, came and went
the old-fashioned stage coach, over the
different roads radiating out of the then
village of Grand Rapids. The only
other means of communication—and it
was a great one—was by the steamboats
which plied upon Grand River between
Grand Rapids and Grand Haven and
between this point and Ionia.
A trifle over fifty years ago, the first
locomotive engine pulled into Grand
Rapids, and up to that time its only
means of reaching the outside world
was by the stagecoach and the steam-
boat. There was no other way of com-
municating with the rest of the world
except by the mail route, with postage
at the rate of 12% cents.
The change which has been effected
in the mode of communication between
men within that short period is best il-
lustrated by some one who wrote the
following :
Time was when one must hold his ear
Close toa serene voice to hear,
Like deaf men nigh and nigher;
But now from town to town he talks,
And puts his nose into a box,
And whispers through a wire.
But the change which has been made
in the mode of communicating one’s
thoughts is not more wonderful than
that which has been wrought in the mat-
ter of transportation. No man twenty
years ago would have had the hardihood
to say that within a quarter of a century
cars would be climbing up Lyon and
Bridge street hills without any apparent
motive power other than that which
makes it easy for us to ‘‘whisper
through a wire’’ from Grand Rapids to
New York and the other large industrial
and financial centers of the country;
but, by the ingenuity of that wonderful
product of the New World, ‘‘the Ameri-
can,’’ that something which we know
so little of and which is called electric-
ity, to-day permits men to accomplish
what to our forefathers would have
been pronounced preposterous and
which even to men of the present gen-
eration would have seemed ridiculous
less than a quarter of a century ago.
Your cars move up Lyon and Bridge
street hills, at a grade of nearly 10 per
cent:, loaded down with people travel-
ing to their respective homes, and what
before the age of electricity was abso-
lutely impossible for want of the proper
motive power is to-day a very simple
proposition.
The same wonderful force carries
passengers in palatial cars up the
mountain sides of the West and the
steep grades of the various hillside
cities of this and. other lands; and 1
have no doubt that this wonderful force,
which is still in its infancy, can and
will, through the ingenuity of the Amer-
ican, be used to accomplish yet greater
things and more than has yet been
dreamed of by the mind of man.
The electric car in the city has been
the greatest factor in the development
admonition of such a foolish proposi-
tion; yet within this decade we have
seen our neighboring city of Detroit
penetrated by seven distinct and separ-
ate electric interurban lines, devélop-
ing the metropolis of the State and the
adjacent territory contiguous thereto, to
a greater extent in the same length of
time than ail other forces combined
have ever done. What is true of De-
troit is also true of such towns as To-
ledo, Columbus, Cincinnati, Milwau-
kee and hundreds of other cities
throughout the nation. Nor has this
wonderful force been confined to the de-
velopment of the cities and towns of our
country alone; it has reached, through
the push, business ability and energy of
the ‘‘American,’’ to the remotest
corners of the earth. France, Germany,
Great Britain and even Greece are now
being invaded by American capital and
brains, and thus the wonderful develop-
ment and progress of this electrical age
of the centers of population that has ever
been known. By this means of quick
transportation and cheap fares men of
small and limited means have been en-
abled to own their own homes in the
great majority of cases, especially in
this, our beautiful city ; because it- has
extended the limits of the city and
made it possible for the man earning
small wages to buy at a reasonable fig-
ure a home of his own.
Some years ago a progressive Ameri-
can had the hardihood to suggest that
electric lines for the transportation of
passengers, freight and express, doing
an interurban business, would not only
pay handsomely those who invested
their money in such enterprises, but
would be great factors in the develop-
ment of our large cities and the towns
tributary and adjacent thereto. This
idea was ridiculed by practical traffic
men, and the wise men of the conserva-
tive business world shook their heads in
are awakening all Europe in wonder and
amazement.
The benefits to be derived by Grand
Rapids from interurban railways and
the towns through which the lines will
pass, together with the territory adjac-
ent to them, are so great and manifold
that it is impossible, in an article short
as this must necessarily be, to go into
details. Suffice to say, no other factor,
save perhaps the improvement of Grand
River, will do so much toward the im-
provement and building up of Greater
Grand Rapids than the system of inter-
urban railways which has so recently
been commenced here. The extending
of the limits of the city of Grand Rap-
ids for fifty miles in every direction,
as the building of these lines will do,
must necessarily be of immeasurable
benefit to every one interested in the
city, directly or indirectly ; because the
building of these lines for a distance of
fifty miles or more in every direction
out of the city, with their quick service,
cheap fares and accessibility for passen-
ger and freight traffic will necessarily
stimulate business and travel; and
Grand Rapids, being the metropolis of
Western Michigan, must, in the very
nature of things, be greatly benefited
by this close connection with the terri-
tory tributary to it.
While figures are dry, yet in this con-
nection I want to call attention toa few,
which will substantiate what I say. As
an evidence of the manner in which
these lines stimulate traffic, it appears
that the average earnings, per mile,
annually of the steam roads of the coun-
try amount to $1,674, and that of inter-
urban roads, per mile, average annually
about $3,800, or nearly 2% times as
much. The report of the Interstate
Commerce Commission shows that the
average cost of operation of the steam
roads of this country in 1900 was 64.6
per cent. of their gross earnings; while
the average cost of the operation of the
interurban electric lines was 54 per
cent. only of their gross earnings.
Some interurban roads have a much
larger earning capacity than that above
mentioned; for instance, the Union
Traction Co., of Indiana, earns $4,884
per mile for passenger traffic, and the
Northern Ohio Traction Co. shows an
earning capacity of $5,220 per mile for
passenger traffic; and while the Big
Four Railroad, which parallels the line
of the Union Traction Co., has an op-
erating expense of 69.9 per cent. of its
gross earnings, the Union Traction Co.
is operated at a cost of only 51.9 per
cent. of gross earnings, or nearly 20 per
cent. less. With such a difference in
parallel lines, in the cost of operation,
and their earning capacity, there can
scarcely be a question as to the future
of the electric lines.
In the matter of fares the interurban
road carries its passengers for nearly 50
per cent. less than the steam roads and
gives its service much oftener than the
steam road can. As an instance of
this, the Detroit, Ypsilanti & Ann
Arbor, from Ann Arbor to Detroit,
charges only 50 cents, while the Michi-
gan Central, which this interurban road
parallels, charges $1.20. This is one
of the best interurban roads in the coun-
try and is owned and operated by one
of the gentlemen interested with the
writer in the Grand Rapids, Grand
Haven & Muskegon Railway.
The Toledo, Fremont & Norwalk
line, running from the city of Toledo to
Norwalk, built last year by Westing-
house, Church, Kerr & Co., the con-
tractors and engineers now building the
Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Mus-
kegon Railway, charges for its fare
from Toledo to Norwalk only 90 cents,
while the fare on the Lake Shore &
Michigan Southern, which this road
parallels for the same distance, charges
a fare of $1.60. These facts immedi-
ately demonstrate to anyone how these
interurban roads increase, build up and
multiply traffic over the old methods of
transportation, and the reason for this
large increase in the moving of the
population by means of the new method
is apparent when we consider the cheap
rates, frequent service and the pleasure
it is to ride on a first-class, well-
equipped electric line, without dust,
noise or dirt, as compared with the old
method of transportation, with its smoke,
cinders and noise,
All of these interurban roads are now
being closely combined together, and
are extending their usefulness and con-
tributing to the welfare of the country
‘MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 21
aS The State Bank
2
we vi
of Michigan “KG
Capital, $150,000.00
Surplus, $65,000.00
SS 4 The bank that is favored by depositors to-day.
Highest rates. Courteous treatment. Customers |
, who desire to open an account by mail, either com- Ce
i) mercial or savings, will find here the bank they 5\()
desire. Deposits of one dollar or more will be re- 9 A
es ived in the Savi D t t
> ceived in the Savings Department. Q
= 2
38 3 3% per cent. interest paid FA Dy
De on savings deposits. ( \F &
ey By A
a
S
ws
DANIEL McCOY, President “ G)
EDWARD LOWE, Vice President Or
CS: M. H. SORRICK, Cashier 57
Gr 2
De || WS
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22
MICHIGAN
TRADESMAN
which they develop by the extension
and consolidation of their lines.’ As an
illustration of this, one is now akle to
go by means of the interurban road
from Port Huron in this State through
Michigan and across the State of Ohio
nearly to the borders of Pennsylvania,
a distance of 360 miles. In the East
one can go from New York to Boston,
by way of Hartford, over electric lines,
with the exception of about 28% miles,
which is connected by steam road. One
can go from Hartford to New York over
electric lines, a distance of 143 miles,
the actual running time being a little
over eleven hours, the fare over all the
lines being $1.96, with the exception of
about twenty miles connected by a
steam road; or you can go from Hartford
to Boston,a distance of about 130 miles,
on the electric lines, save about 8%
miles of steam road connection, ina
little less then twelve hours for $1.66.
The frequent service and cheap fares
afforded to the public by electric lines
are strong factors in the stimulation of
passenger traffic. This is further illus-
trated by the fact that people ride on the
steam roads when low rates of fare pre-
vail, and were these low rates of fare to
continue the year around, they would
ride more, but otherwise they will not.
When low rates of fare prevail, the vil-
lager comes to the centers of population
oftener; the farmer visits his village
store more frequently; the man having
a general store in a village is compelled
by the education that frequent travel
gives to a community to better his stock
of goods and make his place of business
more attractive and in other ways make
it pleasant for the people who do busi-
ness with him; and this has always
been the result of the building of inter-
urban roads in all the centers of popula-
‘tion, the towns adjacent thereto and
connected therewith, and the surround-
ing country. The big town is benefited
and all the towns on the line, as well as
the country through which the line
passes, which is also benefited by the
largely enhanced value of real estate;
and what has been and is true of all
other cities and towns throughout the
United States which have the benefit of
interurban electric lines, will be true of
Grand Rapids.
As the interurban line for Grand
Rapids is only another way of extend-
ing the city limits, we can not have too
many means of transportation for bring-
ing into the city all the good people
along the lake shore, extending from
the Straits on the North to Chicago on
the South and on the East to Lansing
and Detroit.
Manufacturers, wholesalers, jobbers
and merchants generally in our city who
have given any attention to the matter
know and realize full well the great ben-
efits to be derived from cheap freight
rates; and our people generally should
know and realize that the rate charged
for the carriage of freight can either
make or break any city on the conti-
nent. No city ever prospered or became
great in a manufacturing or commercial
sense except where it was able to ob-
tain cheap transportation. Chicago,
which was a mere hamlet a few years
before the rebellion, has astonished the
world by its wonderful growth and de-
velopment, solely and wholly because it
was located where cheap transportation
for its freight traffic was inevitable, the
steamship and railroad lines coming in
close competition and Chicago receiving
the benefit of this competition; and,
largely from this cause, Chicago in less
than fifty. years has taken the place and
ranks as the second city in the New
World.
As the interurban lines have so ma-
terially reduced the cost of passenger
traffic, can any one fora moment seri-
ously doubt that, as the freight
business on these lines increases and is
taken up generally by the management
of the interurban roads, the freight rate
will not be decreased in proportion as
the passenger rates have been; and as
the electric lines are consolidated and
made long distance, all cities, and par-
ticularly Grand Rapids, will be bene-
fited largely and materially by the less-
ening of the freight rates, which is now
one of the crying needs of this town?
The reducing of freight rates for Grand
Rapids is one of the things that has got
to come, and the interurban line is one
of the means which will bring it about,
and nothing is so much needed as this
one factor in the building up of Greater
Grand Rapids.
It has been predicted that within the
present decade we will have high speed
through electric interurban lines con-
necting all the important cities of the
world. Even now in Germany the
Kaiser has given the sanction of the
imperial government to a high-grade,
high-speed interurban electric military
line, upon which they hope to cover the
wonderful distance of 125 to 150 miles
in an hour.
Every citizen of Grand Rapids inter-
ested in its welfare whether as mer-
chant, manufacturer or otherwise will be
either directly or indirectly benefited by
the interurban roads coming in here.
Our town will be largely increased in
population and we will be brought into
closer connection and daily communion
with the citizens, not only of the vil-
lages and towns along the line, but the
country as well, for a distance of many
miles in every direction.
The city will help the small town, and
the small towns, in turn, will help the
city. Their relations are mutual, and
every city, village and hamlet connected
by the interurban line will be immeas-
urably ‘benefited by it. To-day Coopers-
ville, on the line of the Grand Rapids,
Grand Haven & Muskegon Railway,
which road is almost ready to turn its
wheel over its entire line, has seen the
benefit which these lines are to the
towns through which they pass. As an
illustration of this, Coopersville was
never so prosperous as it is to-day,
never had so much ready money, and
there is not a vacant house in the vil-
lage. Fruitport, where the power house
and car barns of this road are located,
can not take care of the people brought
in there by the interurban road. Board
is as high as it is in Grand Rapids and
rents are equally as high; and both this
town and Coopersville, and all the other
towns along the line, as soon as this
road is completed, will feel the benefit
and stimulus of it; and what is true of
the Grand Rapids, Grand Haven &
Muskegon Railway is true of all other
good lines entering Grand Rapids from
any direction. Grandville and Jenison
are a further illustration of what inter-
urban roads are doing, as both of these
towns are entering on an era of great
prosperity, due largely to the interur-
ban road, the Grand Rapids & Holland
Rapid Railway passing through them.
However, all of our people are not
aware, as yet, of the great benefit these
roads will be to Grand Rapids, for the
reason that they have not given the sub-
ject much thought, not being directly
interested, but as the large passenger
cars commence to pass through our
streets with passengers every hour of the
day stepping from them from all the:
surrounding country, all intent upon
business or pleasure and all necessarily
spending more or less money, the pulse
of the city will quicken and our people
will then generally realize in a sub-
stantial way the great benefits they are
to receive from these lines.
These projects are undoubtedly en-
titled to the hearty support and best
wishes of all of our people,and I do not
doubt but what they have them. I have
never known Grand Rapids not to re-
spond in a substantial manner to any
and all projects which have for their
purpose the betterment of the commu-
nity ;and I know that, as our people be-
come better acquainted with this new
and wonderful means of communication
with the outside country, it will meet
with their hearty endorsement. Let us
all encourage and help along all good
interurban projects, and anything else
which will tend to better our city, to
build up and expand and make ‘‘Greater
Grand Rapids.’’ Thomas F. Carroll.
6
Making the Dried Fruit Department Pay.
Dried fruit is one of the particular
items in a grocery stock that ought to
be looked after with greater care than
any other.
Properly conducted, the dried fruit
department should be a source of profit
and a trade winner. If neglected there
is nothing to lose money on quicker, or
which will result in trade being driven
away sooner,
This question might be divided into
three different parts: Buying, display-
ing and selling. :
In buying the merchant should study
the wants of his customers. If you have
a demand for high class goods, buy ac-
cordingly; if for the lower priced, try
and educate your trade to use the best.
It will please your cistomers better and
bring you better returns.
I would advise buying goods in orig-
inal packages as much as_ possible.
Most jobbers fut up what they style the
very finest goods in twenty-five pound
boxes. These packages make poor pur-
chases for several reasons. In the first
place you do‘not like to empty the box
to ascertain if you have received full
weight. This would spoil the good
looks of the package. As a result you
always lose from one-half to one pound
weight on every such package. I do not
suppose it is intentional that these
packages should fall short, but I have
never yet found one that held out in
weight.
Furthermore, you are usually asked to
pay from % to I cent more per pound
for goods in this kind of a package.
Every jobber puts a higher price on his
private brand.
By buying in the original package the
seller can afford to make you a better
price, which is within reason. Do not
pay for 80 pounds of peaches if the
sack only contains 79 pounds. It looks
small, but you are obliged to sell three
or four pounds of the goods first to
make up the shortage in weight, before
you can begin to make your profit.
Make it a strict rule to always weigh
your purchases. This will apply to all
lines of goods. Many merchants do not
do this, but they would be surprised to
know how much money they give away
each year as a consequence—enough to
pay for a trip to Buffalo.
For displaying dried fruit, if your
store is not equipped with special cases
for the purpose, I know of nothing better
than to dump the goods into clean
bushel baskets, displaying the same on
a stand or table well raised from the
floor. Turn the goods over often, from
one basket into another, every day, if
possible. It will make them look fresh
and new always, and do not forget to
have a canvas to cover them up with
while you sweep and dust. Jn selling
dried fruit it is a good idea to make the
price at so many pounds for the dollar,
Give your customer an extra pound
when buying a dollar’s worth at one
purchase. You can afford to do this
rather than to sell goods in one or two-
pound lots.
1f you sell a customer a dollar’s worth
of prunes at one time, you will feel as-
sured that she will not buy any prunes
from your competitor across the way for
some time,and that is what competition
means—you to sell all you can. See to
it that you get your share of your com-
petitor’s business. You may be sure
that he is looking out for himself in the
same manner. There should be hon-
esty but no sentiment in business.
. A nicely printed price card should be
put in each basket, showing the number
of pounds of fruit for a dollar. A price
card is a silent salesman, selling the
goods while you wait on the other fel-
low.
Do not allow a few pounds of odds
and ends of your dried fruit stock to
accumulate on your hands. Close them
out at cost, or, if necessary, at a little
less, and do not carry dried fruit over
into the summer season. It is better to
sell what is left very cheap, without a
profit, or even ata small loss. If you
have had a good dried fruit trade dur-
ing the past season you can afford to do
this better than to have the goods get
wings and legs and walk away from
you.—B. T. Monson, in Commercial
Bulletin.
. ——_~>2.___
Don’t Hold Another Man’s Letters.
Those of us who are so unfortunate as
to have names not out of the ordinary
have suffered from the annoyance of
having our letters delivered to persons
bearing similar names; and often letters
intended for one firm are delivered to
another having a name nearly in com-
mon.
As a rule, it is the carelessness of a
clerk which is responsible for the delay
in the letter reaching its proper desti-
nation, but sometimes the delay is in-
tentional. No matter what the cause, a
precedent is established in the case of
Cohen vs. Cohen recently decided by
the Texas Court of Civil Appeals for re-
covering damages for delay on the part
of the receiver of an erroneously deliv-
ered letter in its transmission to the
party for whom it was intended.
A certain A. Cohen, of San Antonio,
Tex., should have received a letter ad-
dressed to him referring to the sale of
some real estate at Houston. Another
A. Cohen got the letter and was the
cause of several days’ delay in having
it reach the proper addressee, who in
the meantime lost an opportunity to sell
his property.
He thereupon brought a suit against
the wrong A. Cohen, winning his case
in the lower court, which judgment was
affirmed on appeal, on the ground that
under section 3892 of the Revised Stat-
utes the appellant owed a duty to the
appellee not to obstruct his mail, and
that by failing promptly to return the
letter he had violated that duty and was
liable for the damages approximately
resulting therefrom,
2s
The trouble with a great many men is
that you can’t depend on what ‘they. say.
MICHIGAN
TRADESMAN
WM. H. ANDERSON, President
JOHN W. BLODGETT, Vice Pres.
UNITED STATES DEPOSITARY.
DIRECTORS
Geo. P. Wanty,
G. K. Johnson,
A. D. Rathbone,
Wm. H. Anderson.
John W. Blodgett,
C. Bertsch,
W. H. Gay,
JOHN A. SEYMOUR, Cashier
LAVANT Z. CAUKIN, Ass’t Cashier
ateoste: THE .de.3
FOURTH NATIONAL BANK
OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.
Statement of Condition at Close of Business Oct. 26, 1901.
RESOURCES.
Loans and Investments........ ee
OS) Bends ee
remus on U.S Bones: o.oo ee
Banking House, Furniture and Fixtures...........
Gash on Hand and in Banks ei fai 773,149 93
$3,173,935 84
LIABILITIES.
ee ee ere ta cl sly et aia ial a etal aia eer ala $ 300,000 00
Suirpins and Undivided Protits eo ee 109,376 56
CPEMIALIOH Se 200,000 00
Certificates of Deposits. ..0000 24.0 las $ 869,942 75
Commercial DEpOsits 1,694,616 53
Total Depesiis. 220 ss a
foe. o ee $1,761,285 91
Sa 550,000 00
oe eee ee 18,000 00
eee ae 71,500 00
eee gi 2,594,559 28
Wm. Sears,
S. M. Lemon,
A. G. Hodenpyl,
$3,173,935 84
Choice new cake.
ferent flavor.
eating.
~ EDEN”
A ditf-
Very fine
Has the charac-
teristic good features which
Sears Bakery alone pro-
duce. About 25 to pound
in cans and small boxes.
Send for sample.
Remember “Seymour But-
ter,”
the cracker which
never disappoints.
Sears Bakery
Grand Rapids
For Men, Women, Misses and
Children.
a
Fabrics: Cotton, Merino and
All Wool.
2
Embodying Style, Weight, Fit
and Finish.
GRAND RAPIDS,
MICH.
Samuel S. Walker, Pres. and Gen. Mgr.
Austin Walker, Vice Pres.
Geo. T. Kendal, Sec’y and Treas.
Established 1882.
Our Union Suits.
Are to-day recognized as the proper ap-
parel for underwear, giving warmth and
‘ comfort to the wearer and added grace to
the figure.
Our range of qualities is sufficiently
large to meet the requirements of all
classes.
Our cheaper qualities are finished and
shaped with the same care and precision
given the higher grades.
Our two-piece garments for ladies, misses
and children are equally as good and
give universal satisfaction.
We give herewith an accurate system of
measurement for the benefit of those de-
Siring to give special orders.
Ask Your Dealer or Address Us.
STAR KNITTING WORKS
DIRECTIONS for ORDERING
Chest Measure
To be taken under
arm pits.
Waist Measure
Around the body
above the hip
bones.
Sleeve Measure
From center of
back across bent
elbow to the wrist.
Inseam Measure
From crotch to
ankle.
Full Length Measure
From shoulder to
ankle.
WE CAN FIT ALL SIZES.
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a
Rs
q
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se fossat lies seas
24
MICHIGAN
TRADESMAN
THE BUSINESS COLLEGE.
Cannot Remedy Defects of Early Educa-
tion and Environment,
Whether the business world has or has
not changed its attitude towards the
business college, the writer of this arti-
cle does not pretend to say. The fact
that the number of business colleges has
increased rapidly during the past
twenty-five years indicates that some-
body has faith in them. Beyond a doubt
a very large number of the graduates of
these so-called colleges do enter the
business world. It is also true that a
large number of these graduates who
have entered the world of business tes-
tify to the value of their previous train-
ing. Still there are a large number of
first-class business men who feel that
the business college is without a mis-
sion. Doubtless this feeling is in many
cases well grounded. Not infrequently,
the business college manager and his
corps of teachers are ignorant of the
fundamental principles of twentieth
century business demands. They admit
anybody and everybody to their courses
of study. The result is that a large
number of young men who graduate
from these institutions find themselves
incapable of meeting the demands of
the business world. Meeting with dis-
appointment they throw the entire
blame upon the business college. The
employer joins them in the same kind
of condemnation. Higher institutions
of learning have discovered this condi-
tion of things and have made an at-
tempt to offer a better product. These
higher institutions propose to do this by
giving the student a broader and more
extensive training. Beyond a doubt,
this is a good sign of the times.
The time has gone by when men who
can not read and write, men who are
not familiar with the source of the prod-
ucts they handle, men who are not fa-
miliar with the laws of trade can, with
a few dollars, engage in business and
accumulate a fortune. The day has gone
by when ignorance can occupy a high
place in any calling. Notwithstanding
the advice of Carnegie and Schwab, the
business world to-day is swift to admit
that an education that introduces the
voung man to himself, that enables the
young man to make a correct inventory
of his own mental resources and liabili-
ties is of infinite value in any calling.
It is difficult, however, to convince
young men.that this truth must be _ rec-
ognized. The majority of young men
love position, power and wealth. At the
same time, they are not willing to pay
the price. The truth of the matter is
the business college of to-day is as good
an institution as the people are willing
to pay for. They forget that this is the
twentieth century. Too many of them
are living in the first part of the cen-
tury that has just closed.
Fathers and mothers recognize the fact
that their boys are reading the news-
- papers and magazines only to be made
restless and ambitious. Their boys are
trying to get away from the farm and
the shop. They read flaming advertise-
ments from various business colleges
and conclude that there is a royal road
which, if pursued, will lead away from
routine and drudgery. Parents select
the school that will turn out a full-
fledged business man in from three to
six months. They seem to think that
the quality of the grain that is brought
to the mill should have no bearing upon
the quality of the product that is ground
out.
At least two things are necessary in
order to bring about a change in these
conditions: First, parents must recog-
nize that a business training can be of
little or no value to the boy who has
little or no natural business ability.
Business men are born not made. It is
quite necessary, however, that they be-
born first and in the making some at-
tention must be given to foundation
work,
No boy should be allowed to enter
any business college who is not master
of the essentials of a high school course
of training, not of a high school course
that is a feeder to a college or univer-
sity. The young man, on entering the
business college, should possess a work-
ing knowledge of English. That is to
say, he should be able to speak and
write forceful English. He should be
rapid and accurate in arithmetic. He
should be an easy, rapid, legible, busi-
ness penman. He should be familiar
with the geography and history of his
own country and, so far as possible, he
ity to carry on his own business success-
fully. He knows that it has taken years
for him to acquire a fair degree of skill.
When the business college recognizes
that a young stripling from the country
or a rejected student from the city high
school can not, from the very nature of
the twentieth century demands, com-
plete a business course in three months,
the business college will cease to be an
institution that excites laughter and con-
tempt. Better to throw a young man
who has ‘‘gumption’’ and who possesses
a thorough high school training into a
whirlpool of business and expect him
to come out triumphant than to throw a
business college graduate who is ignor-
ant of common affairs into a smooth flow-
ing river of business and expect him to
even make a respectable ‘‘floater.’’
For the well equipped candidate, one
year in a business college is _ little
enough time. If, poor as they are,
business colleges have a mission, what
°
should know something of the history of
the world. He should be master of the
elements of modern science and know
something of practical economics. With
such preparation he could find a busi-
ness college that would give him an in-
valuable training in the science of ac-
counts and the science of business.
On the other hand, managers of busi-
ness colleges ought to demand that
every student be prepared for entering
upon this special course. So long as the
managers of business colleges put a
premium upon ignorance in order to
collect a few dollars of tuition, they
must be content with the censure that
first-class business men are prone to in-
flict. If a young man can not speak
English or write English, if the candi-
date has little or no general knowledge,
he should be told plainly that he is on
the wrong road.
Furthermore, the business man knows
the price that he has paid for his abil-
might they accomplish if they would
only recognize these higher demands?
What an inspiration would come to the
business colleges if the business world
would discriminate and give proper
recognition to those institutions that are
working vigorously to approach twen-
tieth century ideals. The business col-
lege should be made a_ professional
school. The ‘high schools can do mucb
toward helping along this good work,
but there is still a field for the progress-
ive business college. There are few
business colleges in the larger cities of
the United States that command the ad-
miration of the business world.
No longer does even the brilliant can-
didate read medicine in an office with a
view to becoming a full-fledged physi-
cian. Twentieth century science de-
mands that the candidate graduate from
a professional school and, therein, be-
come familiar with every phase of the
well-equipped laboratory. Likewise, in
the business world,there ought to be the
demand that the candidate for specialty
work have a broad and well-equipped
training.
In conclusion, let the young man who
wishes to economize in time and
strength consider the importance of giv-
ing himself the elements of a liberal
education. Then, if he is convinced
that he has business talent, let him se-
lect a business college that gives a
legitimate course of business training.
Second, let the business college recog-
nize the qualities that are involved in
our demands upon the candidate. Let
the business college offer not less than
one year of thorough specialty training
in the science of accounts and the
science of business. Third, let the cap-
tains of industry recognize that trained
men are the cheapest men; in other
words, that they give larger returns for
the large salaries that they ought to
command. Let the business world wise-
ly determine their own needs and insist
that these demands be made by the _ in-
stitutions that profess to give business
training. W. N. Ferris.
—> 2. —___
The Short Skirt.
The American woman has the satis-
faction of setting a fashion now and
then, even in Paris itself. The latest
blessing she has conferred upon the
French woman is the short walking
skirt.
During the Exposition the Parisian
women cast envious eyes at the Ameri-
cans. Nine out of ten of the latter wore
walking skirts. They shared the dis-
tinction with the English women; but
with all true cousinly affection for the
English it must be said that ‘‘their fig-
ures are not our figures nor their walk-
ing skirts our walking skirts.’’
In fact, the look of longing which
would creep into a French woman’s
face when she saw an American girl in
golf skirt and trim shoes would fade
into a Nay nay Pauline, expression when
jshe caught sight of a lank English
woman bearing down upon her.
The Paris papers took up the skirt
question and seemed to promise that the
short skirt would be worn by French
women before the summer was over.
But the Parisians are prone to regard
any foreign fashion with suspicion.
They are buying no pigs in pokes. So
the Exposition shut its gates and yet
the short skirt remained the sign of
Americanism.
The only encouraging thing was the
appearance in the shape of the double-
faced cloths for the making of these
skirts. Even then the tailors did not
know how to handle them. They talked
about linings and gave estimates on a
suit with silk lining or with a cotton
one! But at last the inevitable has hap-
pened. The Parisian woman has yielded
to temptation. A Paris fashion corres-
pondent writes:
Coats are much stitched and the skirts
of walking dresses are being made
shorter; in fact, to show the foot. There
have been no end of talk here about the
length of the gowns worn in the street
and much uncertainty as to what would
be adopted ; but it is now beyond dis-
pute that all really smart people wear
their walking gowns well off the ground.
2s >—____
For Anonymous Letter Writers.
Don’t fail to tell the editor you are
going to quit taking his paper.
Don’t neglect to Say you
whereof you speak.’’
Don’t forget to declare that you expect
he ‘‘will be too cowardly to print this."’
Don’t waste time trying to disguise
your handwriting. Nobody will bother
over it.
**know
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
We WR Ws. (war ar, a ao. ar as, or. wo A
Best Values —
for the Least
Victory is on the side of the army with the heaviest artillery---of the re-
tailer who buys best values for the least money.
Loosen yourself from those old, unprofitable connections. Untie yourself,
anyhow, long enough for us to talk to you.
You are a dealer in the fight with other dealers, aren't you? You want to
carry the fight into the enemy's camp. Wantto be able to cut prices with a
smile while the rival gets desperate. All depends how close to value you can
buy. You must get the same value for less than your rival does.
Price! That’s rarely the first consideration. The best for their money 1s
what most men want. Pan American Guaranteed Clothing is the kind that
fits. The better a man’s clothes fit the longer they'll fit. The better they look
the longer they'll wear. Before looks and fit there’s something more important
---material. The life of every garment depends upon the quality of the goods,
the wool, the weave and the color fastness. Where to get the goods, the right
house to deal with. These are questions which worry every thinking dealer---
the kind of a dealer who is progressing. Try
Wile Bros. & Weill,
Makers: of Pan American Guaranteed Clothing,
Buitalo, PD. Y.
Detroit office in charge of IN. J. Rogan, 19 Kanter Building
wR WHR WH WH WHR Wn. Wn OH Wr wo. WA
SEB BBB OS. ww DB BPE
j
s
é
26
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
WHOLESALE GROCERY TRADE.
Marked By Gradual Improvement in
Every Department.
A review of the wholesale grocery
business of Michigan for the past
twenty years, or since your valuable
journal first came before the public,
would call for an article too long for
this occasion. The growth and influ-
ence of this particular line of distribu-
tion have been fully commensurate with
the development of other branches of
industry in our commonwealth. The
number of wholesale grocery houses is
increasing from year to year as the
growth of different sections of the State
seems to warrant.
The establishment of each new
wholesale grocery house of course means
a certain amount of loss of sales to the
older houses, but in this democratic
country, where ‘‘the greatest good to the
greatest number’’ should be the motto
of every broad-minded business man, it
is a cause for congratulation, not for
complaint, as some narrow-minded mer-
chants seem to consider it.
The personnel of the wholesale grocer
has advanced with the increase in his
business. There is no more intelligent,
broad-minded, cultivated, up-to-date
set of men engaged in any line of in-
dustry than is to be found among the
wholesale grocers of our State. The
methods of doing business have been
entirely changed in the past twenty
years. The equality plan, so beneficial
alize to the manufacturer, the whole-
saler, the retailer and the consumer, is
no longer an experiment. Every
thoughtful merchant acknowledges its
value. While at times some merchant
violates his agreement to maintain the
““system'’ and so makes it unpleasant
for his competitors, still we must re-
member that the ‘‘system,’’ being hu-
man, is not perfect and that it is the in-
dividual, not the ‘‘system,’’ that is to
blame.
The establishment of credit, the mak-
ing of collections, the terms and dis-
counts allowed in selling certain lines
of merchandise, have all been improved,
but perhaps the improvement in the
qualifications of the traveling salesmen
is greater and more marked than is any
other one adjunct to the business. Char-
acter, the only imperishable thing in
this world, is the first consideration,
among employers to-day. It is right
that it should be so. The reputation of
the house is in their hands, and it is
worthy of passing comment that nowa-
days one can form a fair estimate of the
house by the conduct and conversation
of its representatives.
The general profits in the business
are not what they used to be, but it is
gratifying to know that fewer failures
and extensions occur among the whole-
sale grocers of the entire country than
among a like number of people en-
gaged in other lines of industry. No
better evidence of the intelligent, watch-
ful care of those in charge could be
asked for.
The tendency of the times is toward
consolidation among’ manufacturers.
Heretofore competing interests are now
brought under one general management.
They are erroneously called ‘‘trusts.’?
Very few who criticise and denounce
them have a clear understanding regard-
_ing them. Competition is so sharp and
profits so narrow that the greatest econ-
omy is essential in all lines of business.
The decreased cost of administration
is a large sum to be considered. That
many individuals are inconvenienced
and suffer from the loss of employment,
at least temporarily, is true, but when
the final results are realized, then the
wisdom of the consolidation is plainly
seen. The wholesale grocers can secure
better profits only by organized efforts.
To do this associations are necessary.
These exist in most of the states and
are very helpful in proportion to the
loyalty and fidelity of the individual
members. If every merchant would keep
his pledges, absolutely, the power and
influence of the association would be
almost unlimited. Unfortunately, there
are merchants who imagine their pros-
perity depends upon the magnitude of
their sales, and to secure this coveted
end they resort to underhanded means
to draw away their neighbors’ custom-
ers. ‘‘Competition is the life of
trade,’’ but the kind of competition
that increases the expenses of doing
business, out of all proportion to the
profits received, must inevitably end in
disaster and ruin.
efforts to improve the business of our
State in all its branches.
Giibert W. Lee.
—__—_>22—__
Average Cost of Food.
‘‘The average person spends 25 cents
a day for food, and any surplus goes for
unseasonable or perishable articles of
diet,’’ said Miss Helen Louise Johnson,
in a lecture before the Brooklyn Insti-
tute last week. ‘‘Fifty cents a day for
the food of an individual is extrava-
gance. Much of the cost of living is
incurred for custom's sake. If the girls
and boys can be induced to get along
without a daily dessert they will be the
better for the sacrifice.
‘*Extravagant cooking,’’ Miss John-
son said, ‘‘is far easier than making
simple preparations delicious. It is an
art to make baked beans so toothsome
that everybody will want to eat baked
beans every day. .
‘‘In order to make the best of your-
In looking back over the past score of |
years, and recalling those who have
been prominently known in the whole-
sale grocery business in Michigan, I
must leave it for each one to remember
the different men who have passed on
to their reward.
I think it appropriate that mention
should be made of the late Walter J.
Gould, of Detroit, and Bernhard M.
Desenberg, of Kalamazoo. They were
among the oldest and best known of the
merchants of Michigan. Both were ag-
gressive and progressive—good mer-
chants, good neighbors, good citizens,
They will long be remembered, as they
deserve to be, in the cities where their
influences were expended.
I am sure the cleanness and intelli-
gence of your influential journal have
contributed largely to the present favor-
able condition of the trade and I am
equally sure that the merchants of Mich-
igan wish you ‘‘God speed’’ in your
self you must be properly fed. In order
that your child may be capable of great
thoughts and be inspired to great deeds
you must learn to feed him right. Food
is the only means by which the mental
power of man can be sustained, and be-
cause of this fact a heavy responsibility
rests upon the housewife. There is a
best food for each individual—that is, a
combination of elements or materials
which will enable him to do his best
work. There is a best food for children,
by means of which they may grow into
healthy, active, happy girlhood or boy-
hood. ’’
Miss Johnson used the steam engine
as an illustration of her subject. ‘‘It is
always plain,’’ she said, ‘‘that the en-
gine moves by steam generated from
heat by burning coal. It is the object
of the engineer to feed to his engine
that fuel which will burn freely, but
not too quickly, and which contains a
small amount of stone or ash, Excess
of ash clogs the grate and prevents
draught. Poor coal limits the efficiency
of the engine. To attempt to run the
engine with dry leaves would be mani-
festly absurd.
‘Food is the fuel for the human en-
gine, and such food is required as_ will
be freely digested, but not too rapidly
assimilated, and which contains only a
moderate amount of waste material. The
uses of food are threefold—growth, re-
pair and energy. For these three pur-
poses, different nutritive ingredients are
required, and these are classed as pro-
teine, fats, carbohydrates and mineral
matters. After learning the meaning of
these terms and the classification of the
different articles of food under them,
the next step is to learn how to appor-
tion the different food elements in plan-
ning a meal. To do this intelligently
the percentage composition of the
different foods must be learned.’’
Sweet corn soup and fricassed chicken
were prepared before the audience. For
the first, a pint of canned corn was
simmered in one pint of chicken stock
until it was sufficiently tender to press
through a sieve. Then one pint of milk
was scalded, and three tablespoonfuls
of butter that had been creamed with
two even tablespoonfuls of flour were
stirred into it. The corn and liquid
were added, and when it came to a boil
a half cupful of cream and the yolks of
two eggs that had been previously
beaten together. Paprika, salt and
chopped parsley were added last.
**Salt,’’ the speaker said, ‘‘should
never be put into any cream sauce un-
til just before serving, because if the
milk is not perfectly fresh there is dan-
ger of its being curdled by the salt. All
cream soups should be milled, that is,
beaten thoroughly with a Dover egg
beater, like chocolate, before sending
them to the table.’’
For the chicken fricasse, the bird was
cut into eleven pieces—second joints,
legs, wings, three pieces of the back
and two of the breast. These were first
slightly sauted in tried out bacon, and
then covered with boiling, unsalted water
and simmered until tender. The chicken
was removed from the saucepan, and
the liquid was strained. Two table-
spoonfuls of butter were cooked for four
minutes with two tablespoonfuls of
flour. Then a pint of the chicken broth
and cream mixed was added and
stirred until the mixture thickened.
The yolks of two eggs were beaten in
thoroughly and a little chopped parsley,
the salt and paprika were the last in-
gredients.
Putting the chicken on the platter so
that the carver can readily find the
different parts without feeling aimlessly
around under the sauce for unrecogniz-
able portions is not the least important
part of the work. This was demon-
Strated, the pieces of the back being
placed in the center of the platter. At
the right side, as it faced the server,
the legs were arranged, and at the left
the second joints. The wings occupied
Conspicuous positions directly at the
front, and the breast on the top of the
central pieces. The carver should re-
ceive a lesson in the arrangement of the
platter and the same method should be
always employed.
st >—_
An Apt Answer.
Teacher—How long did it take Julius
Caesar to conquer Britain, Tommy?
Tommy—I dunno.
Teacher—You don’t
don’t you know?
Tommy—’Cause I wasn’t there,
know? Why
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
WHOLESALE ONLY
FEWELRY AND NOVELTIES
RINGS CHAINS BROOCHES CHARMS
LOCKETS BUCKLES LINKS CUFF BUTTONS
HAT PINS SCARF PINS COLLAR BUTTONS HAIR ORNAMENTS
SOLID GOLD OR GOLD SHELL
COMBS AND SILVER NOVELTIES. ELEGANT AND COMPLETE LINE.
NEWEST STYLES. LATEST IDEAS.
THE MOST PROFITABLE LINE YOU CAN HANDLE.
Write us for particulars and have our salesmen call and show you our money makers. We will
send samples on approval. Every article fully guaranteed.
AMERICAN FEWELRY CO., 46, 47, 48 Tower Block, Grand Rapids, Mich.
s : ®OO0o
National Bank :
of Grand Rapids The leading
F union made
Gives
sti \o
10 cent cigar
its particular attention
in
to the
ee Michigan.
needs of out of town
Sold by all dealers.
customers. E
Se OOOO
CAPITAL STOCK, $800,000.
B. J. Reynolds
eS ee State Distributor,
Both Phones 172. Grand Rapids, Mich.
rs
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
OLD MEXICO.
Interesting Features of the Land Beyond
the Rio Grande.
The first town we came to by daylight
was Toreon. The porter had awakened
us in time to get off here and get our
breakfast. Here we had the first sight
of Mexico and the Mexicans. As the
train stopped’ we saw three soldiers,
two on foot running back and forth be-
side the train and one sitting on a horse,
watching the movement of all persons.
Our first impression was that they were
looking for some escaped prisoners or
some dangerous persons from the States,
but we were informed that there were
soldiers at every railroad station to
guard us and the train from train rob-
bers and bandits. Diaz keeps a good
part of his soldiers busy—gives them
employment and thus keeps them
healthy and happy. As soon as he be-
came President he directed his attention
to suppressing highway robbers and
bandits. He sent for the most noted
bandits and had a talk with them: told
them that he was going to do away with
this brigandage and lawlessness; told
them they were too smart and brave for
such a calling and offered them a posi-
tion in his army, which they readily ac-
cepted. He made them officers accord-
ing to their ability and fitness and set
them to hunting bandits, and to-day
Mexico is as orderly and safe as most
countries.
As we stepped out of the car we were
in another world—another country. New
and strange scenes greeted our vision.
Dark or copper colored men and women
were running around with baskets of
oranges and other Mexican fruits, or
trays of tortillas, tamales dulces and
gorditas, trying to sell them to the pas-
sengers from the train. The first words
that an American learns are, ‘‘Quantro
vale?’’ (‘*What is the value?’’) Then
he learns ‘‘No ard si,’’ and to count
and tell a paso from a real, and he
thinks he can talk Spanish. The men
wore broad sombreros and white tunics
or shirt waists made of white cambric
or muslin—the Mexican peon is by sev-
eral bundred years the author of the
men’s shirt waist craze—and white
trousers, or, as they cal] them, panta-
loon-es,and sandals made of sole leather
and fastened with leather thongs to their
naked feet. The women of the laboring
class wear a colored waist and skirt.
Their head is always bare, also their
feet unless they are in little better cir-
cumstances, when they wear shoes.
Mexican women wear no hats or other
headgear than their black tresses or a
rebosa. The better class of women
sometimes wear over their shoulders a
black mantilla (mahn tee-yah) of lace or
other fine texture, and occasionally you
will see them wear it on their heads.
Many persons come to see the Grin-
goes (green ones) and they stood back
a little, like so many statues. The men
were dressed much like the fruit and
food venders excepting that in the early
morning they wore a blanket of bright
colors or a zarape around their shoul-
ders. The zarape is for show as well
as for warmth and when not needed for
warmth they double it up and carry it
on the arm or over one shoulder, the
ends hanging down in front and behind.
It is used mostly by the middle class.
The eating house was run by Chinese,
as most of the railway eating houses
are, We found a good breakfast await-
ing us. We here drank the first cup of
Mexican coffee. It was good, but we
had not yet learned how it should be
used and found, to our sorrow, that the
coffee was very strong. The usual
method is to have the coffee so strong
that a spoonful is enough for a cup of
coffee. One pours a spoonful of this
into his cup and fills the cup with hot
milk or hot water as he desires. A lit-
tle boy came alongside the train lead-
ing a larger one who was blind. He
kept calling to us, ‘‘Dadme centavo,”’
and when someone tossed him a penny
he said, *‘ Mucha gracios.”’
Our journey south from Toreon lay
through a wide sandy valley, large
mountain ranges were ever in sight,
and in this vast desert scarcely a green
thing greeted the eye except a few
bushes of greasewood and occasionally
a musquite tree. During the day we
Saw several droves of goats with one or
more peons herding them. Most of the
northern part of the republic is dry
and infertile.
low wells until be waters all his vines.
Thus this whole valley is watered. We
saw many novel ways of irrigating. At
Lake Chapala large wheels carried up
cups of water, like the cups that ele-
vate flour and grain in a flour mill.
There were pegs in the wheel. A peon
sitting at the top of the wheel would
put his foot on a peg, push it down un-
til anotker peg came down to where he
could put his other foot upon it, when
he pushed this down, etc. The water
fell into a wooden flume, or long box,
that conducted it to the upper side of
his little garden, and he continued to
push the wheel until his garden was all
irrigated. In another place we saw a
mound built up with rock and earth
and a burro was on top hitched toa
sweep which brought up water from a
well beneath. This was carried-in one
of these races to the highest point in a
Where they get irrigat-| wheat field. From this high point there
ing water they make it bloom like a| was a ditch that conducted the water
garden.
den wealth in these vast mountains,
much mining, and this industry has
built up many large and interesting
cities.
We changed cars at Irapuato for
Guadalajara. It is said of Irapuato
that strawberries are sold to people on
the train every day of the year, and
such lovely large sweet strawberries,
We bought a basket each time we
passed through this place. Here we
saw the first of their hand power irriga-
tion. All over this rich alluvial valley
one could see the old-fashioned well-
sweeps, with Mexicans pulling down
the sweep, then bringing up a bucket of
water and pouring it into a trough
which leads off to ditches that are at
regular distances through the strawberry
patches. When the Mexican gets one
bed watered he puts the further end of
the trough to another ditch and _ contin-
ues to draw the water out of these shal-
There is a great deal of bid-|
clear across the highest side of the field.
A peon, with his pants rolled up above
the knees, barefooted and barearmed,
threw the water with something like an
old-fashioned bread trough all over the
land for twenty-five feet on each side
of the ditch until it was thoroughly wet
down. Then he let the water run down
to another lateral ditch, and then an-
other. The boy ever urged on the pa-
tient donkey, the water continued to
flow down the ditch, the peon ever kept
at work throwing the water with his long
wooden bowl. This could only be done
where help was plenty and wages 371%
cents silver a day. There is no open-
ing in Mexico for a Northern laboring
man unless he be a technical expert.
The plowing is mostly done with
wooden plows drawn by oxen. Fora
yoke they have a straight stick in front
of the ox’s head, lashed with leather
thongs around its horns, and the pa-
tient, plodding oxen think it a “* good
thing’’ and ‘‘push it along.’’ They
plow and crossplow until they get the
ground pretty well hatcheled up. We
noticed many queer-looking stacks of
corn stalks in thetrees. They fasten
bundles of stalks on top of the lower
limbs, going clear around the tree,
They put other bundles on to these, mak-
ing the center of the tree the center of
the stack, adding more and more until
they have a stack ‘‘up a tree,’’ out of
the reach of the cattle.
Very much of the products of the
country are brought into the city on the
backs of burros. Oranges and other
fruits are packed in a sort of wicker
basket or box and these, as well as to-
matoes, lettuce and all other vegetables
and fruits, are often carried in this
manner for miles. Small stacks of straw
moved quietly along, but as we observed
these more closely we could see the lit-
tle burro’s feét moving and also his
head down under the front edge of the
stack, They thus lash straw, corn stalks,
etc., and five or six of these patient lit-
tle fellows, with a driver, form a moving
caravan. They bring wood and char-
coal from the mountains, about fifty
sticks constituting a burro's load, and
selling for about 20 cents our money ;
from three to five sacks of charcoal
make a load. They transport silver
from the mines, sugar from the sugar
houses. Sometimes the poor burros’
backs are employed to bring adobe
bricks into the city. These are of un-
burned clay, with which they build
their houses. Water is carried for short
distances in large red earthern jugs
(allas) on the people’s shoulders. They
carry it longer distances in the same
large allas, usually four of them placed
in a wicker panier, upon the burro’s
back. Milk is brought to town in the
same way. In some instances a man
will come into town on a horse with two
or more tin cans full of milk. He rides
up in front of a house and strikes the
can loudly enough to be heard inside by
the lady of the house, who comes out
with her measure and gets the milk.
When a person lives in the city and
has only one or two cows he may be
seen leading or driving them through
the streets and the maid comes out and
milks her measure -full and pays for it.
In this instance there is no fear of the
milk being watered.
Of all the Mexican cities we visited,
we found Guadalajara, perhaps, the
most interesting. It is the second city
in the republic and probably stands
first in regard to cleanliness and free-
dom from beggars, A stranger is safe
within its gates. It is a well governed,
orderly city, with many beautiful parks
and plazas, a fine market and many at-
tractive homes. Mexican homes are
usually one story, built around a square
or patio, which is filled with beautiful
flowers and flowering trees to be found
only in these sem!-tropical countries.
The Mexican’s house comes clear to
the sidewalk. His veranda is inside,
out of sight of the idle and curious.
When he closes and bars the door to the
entrance hallway he bars out the world.
Rut in the daytime the wooden door is
usually left open and only the barred
door is shut and fastened, so any one
may look in at the flowers and plants.
Out of the ashes of Montezuma’s em-
pire there is rising’a great republic—
one whose foundation rests on justice
and right, whose people are being edu-
cated and taught to be good citizens.
They are building railroads and manu-
factories and school houses. Education
is the rule. She has liberty and good
order. Her star is rising, prosperity is
advancing. The republic has come to
Stay, and we welcome her as our friend
and neighbor. Adios, Mexico.
Oscar F. Conklin,
PURITAN GIRL
HOROSCOPE
A
i:
W
NOVEMBER.
This is the most delightful month in the year if
you likeit. Weare not just sure which planet is
- responsible for the conditions this month, and we
wouldn’t tell you if we did, simply because we
don’t want you to harbor ill feeling toward any of
‘hem,
November people are the most frisky assortment
we have. They are usually checked up pretty high
and as they go without blinders they see every-
thing that’s going on. The men are always bluff-
ers in a poker game, and the women are just as
nice as they can be. We rather like November
people because they never sail under false colors.
You should always keep a close watch on
the men or women who are continually telling you
how good they are.
Some of the mean-
est men we ever
knew are owners of
a large size Bagster
Bible which they
display conspicu-
ously on their way
to church.
November people
are what they claim
to be, especially the
women and you
couldn’t get one of
them to wear any:
thing but a
Puritan
Corset Waist,
_ Style 458.
FRISKY PEOPLE. 13
A
DEALERS TELL US THIS BOOKLET A\
HAS SOLD MORE CORSETS FOR THEM aN
THAN ANY OTHER ADVERTISING x
THEY EVER USED. *& & as
aE
t Puritan Corset
Bo LO LL LOLOL LO LA Me LL ML MM Le.
Do You Want t Know What the
Future Has in Store for You?
ERHAPS you were not born in
November, some people were
not, you may be one of them.
Our little booklet has a page
for each month in the year, and any dry goods
.dealer can obtain a quantity of them for dis-
tribution among his trade by writing us to
that effect. Of course you will have to buy a
few Puritan Corsets, but you ought to have
them anyway, whether you have the advertis-
ing or not. |
We print the dealer’s name on the back
of the Horoscope, and in that way it makes
the advertising yours.
5St
9 Kalamazoo,
Michigan.
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MICHIGAN
TRADESMAN
RETROSPECTIVE.
Standing in the Light of Reflections of the
Past.
All things have a beginning, a cer-
tain period of existence and an
ending. Between the beginning and
the ending of anything lies its record,
which reveals its nature, whether it be
good or evil. A tree is judged by the
fruit it bears. ‘‘Do men gather figs
from thorns or grapes from thistles?’’
When a new thing appears, we can only
judge of its future by comparison with
similar things. A comparison with dis-
Similar things will not furnish data
sufficiently reliable upon which to form
a judgment—such reasoning would be
but wild conjecture. It is only when a
thing has had some existence, or has
commenced to fulfill its mission, that
we are enabled to predict its future with
any degree of certainty, and we do this
by making ourselves acquainted with its
past. Prospect is based on retrospect.
We look for the sun to rise in the east
to-morrow because we have seen it rise
in the east every day in the past.
When | was in Eastern Washington
twelve years ago, a hot wind blew over
the country and burned up the crops.
Such a disastrous thing had never hap-
pened to the country before, yet the
people became panic stricken. They
were afraid it might occur again and
they all wanted to sell out and leave the
country. Prospectors were afraid to
buy for the same reason that made the
settlers anxious to sell—a fear that what
had happened once might happen again.
Everything must be viewed in the light
reflected by its past, and according to
this light will the prospect of its future
be cast. Man is no exception to these
conditions of being, but before making
a general application of my subject to
him, 1 wish to request my readers to join
me in tendering hearty congratulations
to the Michigan Tradesman on its safe
and prosperous arrival at the threshold
of the nineteenth year of its successful
existence.
The Tradesman has a history. It has
been put on record. It has carved out
a name which it must answer to in the
years to come. It has a past, and let us
sincerely hope it may have a future still
more prosperous than its past has been.
To-day the Michigan Tradesman stands
before the business men of Michigan in
. the light reflected by its past eighteen
years of existence. Reader, what think
you of the retrospect? Does it look
pleasing and bright when viewed in
this light? If so, your best wishes are
for its future prosperity. Has it been
of any material benefit to you in the
past? Then you will remain loyal to
it in the future. Are you new in busi-
ness and unacquainted with it? You
have no excuse for a doubt; for your
predecessors have established its repu-
tation. The Tradesman has stood the
test of eighteen annual revolutions, and
as it enters upon its nineteenth the un-
divided good will and support of the
mercantile fraternity, wholesale and re-
tail, go with it. While you are taking
a retrospective view of the Tradesman,
think what a wonderfully varied record
of events is contained in its office files
for the past eighteen years! Bound in
volumes and filed away for future refer-
ence, what a story they contain! If the
business men ever secure a judgment
day of their own, these will constitute
the books which will be opened on that
day. What a record of successes and
failures, of ups and downs and ins and
outs; of unwise moves and lucky in-
* vestments; of blasted hopes and cruel
disappointments; of short-sighted and
ill-advised adventures; of disreputable
practices and crooked methods; of chat-
tel mortgages to skin creditors; of as-
signments including a few ‘‘traps’’ in
sight, but forgetting the cash which
was not in sight; of advice unheeded,
and of valuable pointers thrown aside
and overlooked! There is not a retailer
in Michigan who would allow the sub-
scription list of the Tradesman for the
nineteenth year to stand without his
name inscribed thereon, if he would
take a retrospective glance at that shown
in any one past year’s hound record.
May the Tradesman attain the same
ratio of increased prosperity for its
owners and utility for its readers during
its succeeding years, and may every
business man in Michigan read it and
prosper in his business.
We are all anxious to know what are
our future prospects for success and
everything is turned upside down—ex-
cept the right thing--to find out. We
overlook the fact, as before stated, that
prospect is based on retrospect. We
are told that life is too short, the
exigencies of the present too urgent,
and the future fraught with too great
importance to mope over the dead past.
This will apply in youth when there is
nothing to look at in the past, but it is
a fatal mistake on the part of a man of
middle age to blot out the past from his
book of remembrance. Every man who
has measured swords with his fellows in
the din of business battle has put his
powers and capabilities to the test, a
careful record of which has been indel-
ibly written on the scroll of departed
years. The years pass away, but those
individual records remain as lamps to
light our footsteps along the pathway of
life, and the older we grow the more we
need them. They are the lights which
enable others to judge our capabilities
and predict our future prospects, and
why should they not illuminate our own
minds as to our capabilities and future
prospects? Have we failed so far in
the conflict to win success? Let us
blunder on no longer. Life may be too
short to mope very much over the past,
but it is certainly too short to blunder
any longer as we have been doing. Let
us consider the retrospect and thereby
learn something of the prospect before
us. Did we try the grocery business
when we were young, careless and _ in-
experienced, and have age, wisdom and
business experience failed to remove
the desire to handle codfish, soap and
crackers? Then grocery success may
be among the possibilities; but, if we
did our level best before, and have
learned nothing since, it is safe to con-
clude that the smell of dried herring
and fragrant onions does not agree with
us. Did we leave the farm because we
got too lazy to ‘‘watch gap?’’ If so
there is no use in going back to the
farm, for we would find that our old
malady had become tenfold more inten-
sified. If we find that we have set sail
two or three different times in as many
different kinds of mercantile craft, each
of which went to the bottom, leaving us
afloat on the wreckage before we were
aware that anything was the matter, we
may rest assured that, should we make
another venture, our friends would not
ship with us. They measure our future
chances by our past successes, and it
would be the part of wisdom on our
part to do likewise. Two or three at-
tempts to run a retail store in as many
different branches of business, followed
by aS many unaccountable and unex-
plainable failures, would indicate that
the Almighty had made us too loose
jointed and sloppy to take care of _the
‘*wees’’ that make the ‘‘muckle’’ ina
retail business. This is no reflection
on our creation. It only shows that we
are intended for another calling in life,
and that we sin against the light re-
flected by the past when we undertake
to keep a retail store. It may be that
our lives have been one series of mis-
takes and blunders, and that we have
made a miserable failure of everything
we have undertaken. If such be true,
let us examine each case carefully.
Where we find inability the cause, lay
it to a foolish piece of blundering and
avoid a repetition of it; but where neg-
ligence or carelessness resulting from
loose habits appears to be the cause, one
thing is certain—cure the habits; or fu-
ture prospects can promise nothing. If
bad habits knock a man out in one un-
dertaking, they will do so in another.
We might as well go down with the
burning deck ufon which we stand as
to fly to another with a burning brand
in our hand. If we find that every at-
tempt has met with failure which ap-
pears to have been entirely unavoid-
able on our part, let us not be discour-
aged. It is cowardly to whine. Never
give up while life lasts. The most bit-
ter pang of hunger is that which im-
mediately precedes relief. God helps
those who help themselves. To lose
heart is to lose the battle before it is
fought out. To claim that the fates are
against us is to set ourselves up as
‘““hoo-doos’’ and court the everlasting
contempt of all practical business men.
A closely analyzed retrospect will show
that a series of such unavoidable fail-
ures is caused by incapacity, incom-
petency or uncongeniality, and that an
untried field of usefulness is waiting
somewhere for the wanderer, where his
efforts will be crowned with success, if
he does not faint by the wayside. Some
men are so constituted that sometimes
it is late in life before they succeed in
finding their own true love; and, some-
times, owing to their faint-heartedness,
they never find it.
The man who never indulges in retro-
spection never knows ‘‘where he is at.’’
The ‘man who never looks back after
putting his hand to the plow may main-
tain a hold front, but how is he to know
what kind of a furrow he is striking?
If deep, regular and straight, well and
good; but if shallow, uneven and
crooked, others know it, while he, poor
fellow, remains in blissful ignorance—
he never looks back. If the field belong
to himself, he may root it up to hisown
sweet Satisfaction, but, if it belong to
another, he wonders why he loses his
job so often, having heard no complaint
or received no instructions. If he would
only stop and look back, he would see
what the matter is. If we could only
see ourselves as others see us, what a
different opinion some of us would have
of ourselves,
Old Father Time is dogging our foot-
steps continually with his great kodak,
taking ‘‘snap’’ pictures of us every
moment of our lives, which are photo-
graphed and hung up on the walls of his
silent corridors for present and future
inspection. These corridors are lighted
with a pale, ghastly, yet distinct, light.
Like that reflected by the moon, it is
borrowed. It is the light of departed
years, which have disappeared forever
below the horizon, reflected on the stony
face of the Silent Past. Let us take a
walk through these corridors; it will do
us good. Do you shudder at the thought
of caliing up the past, or is it the great
distance through the corridors that dis-
courages you? Come, we are only in
middle life and will have but half the
distance to travel. There they are, ar-
ranged in countless numbers of rows,
and the rows of varying length. Ah,
here is our row. Out with notebook and
pencil, for this is retrospect, and from
the data gathered here we are to figure
our prospect. Look down the line!
What are those frisky scenes in flashy
colors away down there at the end of the
row? Ah! They are the scenes of early
manhood, when the animal spirits con-
spired with all the other spirits to down
reason and strangle common sense,
Egotism, self-conceit and self-indulg-
ence are the predominating features;
but early manhood is not supposed to be
capable of any good thing, and we pass
on. Now we come to where we suppose
the real earnest work of life had com-
menced. How startled we are at the
awful significance of what we consid-
ered mere trifles at the time of their oc-
currence. How eager we are to blot
them out, but they belong to the past
and can never be erased. Mere tritles
that are reeled off unnoticed and un-
heeded with the passing moments, how
they stare at us and chide us now that
we can not recall them! But we must
return to the present, and, by improv-
ing it, pave the way for a future bright-
er even than the past has been.
E. A. Owen.
—->_ 2 ___
Conversation in the Garden of Eden.
‘‘How does it come dinner isn’t
ready?’’ demanded Adam impatiently,
as he arrived home after a hard day’s
toil in the garden.
‘‘I am sorry, Adam, dear,’’ said Eve
penitently, ‘‘but 1] have been embroid-
ering you a new fig-leaf. There is really
no reason why we shouldn't have more
a when fig-leaves are so plenti-
ul.
‘“Do you know,’’ said Adam, tenta-
tively, ‘‘I sometimes question the pro-
priety of you wearing a fig-leaf?’’
c ,» Adam!’’ exclaimed Eve,
aghast. ‘*What do you mean?’’
‘*Er—well,’’ ventured Adam, ‘‘don’t
you think a fig-leaf is a trifle decollete,
so to speak?’’
‘*No,’’ said Eve, rather snappisbly,
‘so long as I don't give any garden
parties, | think a tig-leaf is all right.
Dear me! Do you wish me to wear a
sealskin sacque this warm weather?’’
Adam did not answer this last sally,
but sat down to the table and poured
out a cup of coffee,
_ ‘'This coffee is too weak,’’ he said
irritably.
‘You are very touchy to-day, Adam, "’
said Eve reproachfuily. ‘‘Next I sup-
pose you'll be telling me that I can’t
make coffee like your mother used to
make.,’’
‘I wish I had my rib back,’’ returned
Adam. ‘‘I’d about as lief live alone as
drink lukewarm dishwater. ’’
‘Well, if I had a mamma,’’ sobbed
Eve in an injured tone, ‘‘you bet I’d go
home to her,’’
_ Adam ate the remainder of his meal
in silence.
——_>-2~»__
The Mirror of Business.
The local paper is the one thing by
which strangers judge the size of a town
and the ability ot its business men,
hence the paper that does not have the
advertisement of every business in its
town is forced to misrepresent it, The
paper is a mirror that shouid reflect a
true picture of the town and every busi-
ness conducted therein,
= They Had More.
Do you ever wish you were a girl?’’
asked the visitor who was waiting in the
reception room,
Only at Christmas time,’’ answered
= boy, who was lingering in the door-
‘ Why do you wish it then?"?
Because of the stockings they wear,””
was the prompt reply,
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
We are Headquarters for
AUTOMOBILES
White Steam Carriage, $1,000.00
The “ White” is the FLOWER, the PEACH, the BEAuTY of all steam carriages.
The “White” triumph in the famous New York to Buffalo Endurance Contest (480 miles) was very
striking—some people called it “sensational.” 4 “Whites” entered this contest. Out of over 80 different vehi-
cles that started about one-half of them finished. All of the “Whites” finished the run and two of these vehicles
made the best average time for the distance of any American machine (either steam or gasoline) and were only
beaten by one French 30 H. P. racing machine. At Detroit, on Aug. Io, the “White” captured the 5 mile race in
4 10:01 3-5 andthe romile race in 19:05 4-5.
The “White” is a gentleman’s carriage. It has the “mark of high degree.” It is made and guaranteed by
the White Sewing Machine Co , a thoroughly responsible concern.
The “ White” is perfectly safe, strong, handsome, comfortable, trustworthy. A lady can operate it. It has
many special features—described in catalogue, to be had for the asking.
THE OLDSMOBILE GASOLINE RUNABOUT
oT sl
Oldsmobile, $600.00
Is made by one of the oldest and largest makers of gasoline engines in the world—the Olds Motor Works—
who have had 15 years’ experience in building gasolineengines Itis simple, safe, compact and reliable; always
ready to go any distance. We have no hesitancy in saying that we consider the Oldsmobile the best horseless
carriage on the market ever offered at the price. Write for catalogue.
Auto-Tri, $350.00 Auto=Bi, $200.00
Here we show a couple of “ warm” ones, the Motor Tricycle and the Motor Bicycle. Both have long since
passed the experimental! stage and can be fully relied upon.
The 3-wheeler is filled with a 3 H P. gasoline engine and the bicycle (Auto-Bi) witha 1% H. P. engine.
The Auto-Bi is our baby Automobile—smallest and cheapest we have found, and it is guaranteed to “ mote.”
Motor Cycles are rapidly winning their way into public favor and the bicycle dealer who does not look to his ~ *
own interests and secure the agency for the “ Thomas” line of Motor Cycles and attachments for 1902 will surely
miss it. Up-to-date and progressive dealers everywhere are taking hold ofthis line. It is none too early to
open negotiations with us. Remember, we are headquarters for Automobiles, parts, fittings, etc. Correspond-
ence solicited.
ADAMS & HART, 12 W. Bridge St., Grand Rapids, Mich.
Let us
quote you prices
when in want of
Wrapping Paper,
Twine,
Woodenware,
Chimneys,
Stationery and
School Supplies
. ; ‘
sere ornate ee nares
SrA
PAPER COMPANY,
KALAMAZOO, MICH. -
i The Finest - |
; The Newest ;
The Latest
Designs in Wall Paper
> are always in our stock. \
Our Paints are
Pure and Fresh
of Picture Mouldings in
the city and our Frame-
makers are experts.
A complete Artists’
Material Catalogue
for the asking.
|
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SE a
C.. L. Harvey & Co:
59 Monroe Street
Grand Rapids, Mich.
¥ Exclusively Retail \
Bee SS
32
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
FORESTRY MOVEMENT.
Its Progress and Promise in the Wolver-
ine State.
Twenty-five years of agitation of
questions relating to forestry are bearing
fruit in Michigan. In the beginning
‘of the movement attention was simply
called to the blowing sands of Western
Michigan and the great danger of their
encroachment upon the valuable lands
that border Lake Michigan. Later on
the discussion was taken up by organi-
zations of fruit growers, having in
mind the calamities that might be in
store for Michigan horticulture as a re-
sult of the ruthless destruction of the
timbered area. Later on there were in-
dications that the entire agriculture of
the State was affected by the removal of
the timber and the sweeping winds in-
cident to the new conditions. It was
found that the even flow of the streams
had changed to great flood seasons and
seasons of scarcely any- fow. These
conditions affected every industrial in-
terest. Men of sentiment in the mean-
time who understood well that Michi-
gan’s most promising advertisement
was in the beauty of the Peninsula
spoke out promptly against the continu-
ance of the pioneer habit of clearing
and the lack of intelligence in, and the
almost total neglect of, replanting the
timber areas. All of these discussions
resulted in an awakening of some in-
terest in reforestation, but it was not
until the lumbermen began to feel the
pinch from lack of material to work
upon that an earnest and intelligent
interest was manifested in the forestry
problems of the State. In truth, before
this final condition appeared upon the
surface the agitation had well-nigh
died out. All the earlier discussions
dwelt upon the duties of individuals to
preserve trees and plant trees and care
for the wood-lots with reference to the
needs of all the people; but it was diffi-
cult to arouse in individual owners of
wood-lots a spirit of self-sacrifice which
would lead them to save pieces of tim-
ber at an immediate loss to themselves
for the purpose of adding to the satis-
faction of living on the part of their
grandchildren.
The second epoch of agitation was in-
augurated as a matter of statecraft.
The State had not only lost, during the
profligate methods of the early lumber-
men, its great weaith of timber and in-
cidental advantages which render it an
attractive place for immigrants, but, as
a legacy of these methods, it found in
its possession a tremendous area of
cut-over lands upon which the owners
refused to pay taxes, allowing them to
come into possession of the State as a
result of these delinquencies. Fires
and thieves swept off all that was of
any present or promising value, and
the State had no machinery adequate to
self-protection. At the instigation of a
few public-spirited citizens the Legisia-
ture provided for a Forestry Commis-
sion and authorized a careful investiga-
tion of conditions, commanding its
servants upon the Commission to report
findings and recommendations upon
which to base future legisiation. This
Commission put in three years of pains-
taking work, made its first set of recom-
mendations to the Legislature and re-
ceived some encouragement in the set-
ting aside by the State of 57,000 acres
for forestry purposes. It is still at work
upon a plan which will provide for the
maintenance and care of a large part of
the State’s domain that is now in ap-
pearance an ‘‘abomination and desola-
tion,’’ to the end that it shall finally be-
come a source of satisfaction and profit
to the State.
The Commission entered upon a plan
of agitation which should awaken an
interest on the part of the public in the
great problem of what should be done
with the millions of acres of land in the
State not suited to agriculture, but hav-
ing in it promise, through proper meth-
ods of re-forestation, of large values in
the future.
The Commission to-day is made up
of three members: Mr. Arthur Hill, of
Saginaw, a successful lumberman, a
student of forestry and a man of wide
experience in travel through the valu-
able timber regions of North America
and Europe; Mr. E. A. Wildey, the
present Commissioner of the Land
Office, who is a member of the Com-
mission by virtue of his office, and who
is thoroughly imbued with the import-
ance of re-forestation as a method of so-
lution of the problem of what shall be
gained through these institutions. For-
estry deals with science as well as art.
We not only need men skilled in the
matters which relate to the wider influ-
ence of forestry, but we must have men
who know how to deal with the tech-
nical methods of forest handling, so as
to make the forests most profitable in
their immediate management as well as
their influence on the occupations of
men and the highest development of the
men themselves.
The Commission has succeeded in
enlisting the assistance of the United
States Government in so far as to place
a party of experts in our field to study
the conditions and recommend methods
of action. This party of experts has
spent several weeks in Roscommon and
adjoining counties under the guidance
of Mr. F. E. Skeels, than whom there
is no more intelligent student of forestry
in oumState. Two departments of State
have become thoroughly interested in
done with the cut-over lands in North-
ern Michigan; the third member of the
Commission is the writer of this article.
The members of the Commission serve
without compensation, giving their time
and best thought to this great interest
of the State, and they should receive the
support of every public spirited citizen
—not a_ tacit acquiescence in their
recommendations, but a thoughtful con-
sideration of their suggestions and
kindly criticism of the method which
they endorse.
As a result of the work of this Com-
mission, a Department of Forestry has
been organized at the State University
and resolutions have been adopted by
the Board of Agriculture relating that
Forestry hereafter will be an intrinsic
part of the education given at the Mich-
igan State Agricultural College. As
auxiliaries to the forward movement of
the Commission, we can not conceive
of more promising help than can be
the movement, represented by the Com-
missioner of the Land Office and the
Auditor General. Both of these gentle-
men have signified their willingness to
use the machinery of their offices in
promoting the work in hand,
The location settled upon by the Com-
mission as the most suitable one for the
State timber preserve is at the head of
the Muskgeon River, and includes a
number of townships in Roscommon
and Crawford counties and some lands
in townships contiguous to the boundar-
ies of these counties. The plan is to
solidify this area, which includes some
large inland lakes, by the acquirement
of nearly all of the holdings, only ex-
empting therefrom such parcels as can
be utilized for agricultural purposes.
These excluded parcels may be attract-
ive to settlers, thereby furthering the
ability to care for the forestry preserve
by having in its immediate vicinity
men who will reap advantages from it
and whose interests will be somewhat
centered in its proper preservation and
care. If the State should turn over to
the Commission all of its own holdings
in this vicinity, there is a promise al-
ready given that individual citizens
owning a great many patcels will be
glad to contribute to the forestry move-
ment by turning over their holdings to
the Commission in the interest of the
State.
By the time the next Legislature con-
venes the Commission will be able to
outline very clearly defined plans for the
future, with estimates of the expense
which will naturally be incurred in the
care of the preserve. Thoughtful men
having the welfare of the State at heart
are interesting themselves in the work
of the Commission; institutions of
learning are arraying themselves with
the Commission; women’s clubs are
taking up the active discussion.of for-
estry ; farmers’ clubs, horticultural soci-
eties and agricultural institutes are all
making forestry a prominent feature in
their programmes for discussion; busi-
ness men and men who have large finan-
cial interests to be conserved by the at-
tractions of our State for resort purposes
are rallying to the support of the work;
railroads, which have seen their receipts
decreasing rapidly as a result of the de-
struction of timber, are anxious that the
State should enter into the business of
re-forestation, that their immense abil-
ity in the carrying trade may be util-
ized.
The eyes of other states are upon us
in connection with these movements be-
cause the conditions in our State are
ripe for the most generous activity.
The outlook is certainly promising, and
through the aid of all of these allies the
Forestry Commission of Michigan ex-
pects to see, during the next decade, a
reward for its pioneer work in the
adoption by the State of a definite for-
estry policy, ably supported by men
and means. The problem is one worthy
of the highest intelligence and the most
unselfish spirit. The people of the State
who have the future of our great and
beautiful commonwealth at heart will
not defer their sympathy and activity if
only they can become imbued with the
importance of reforestation in the State
as it has appealed to the few men who
have in recent years given serious study
to the subject. Charles W. Garfield.
Was Sure She Was Dead.
A convict at a French penal settle-
ment who was undergoing a life sen-
tence desired to marry a female convict,
such marriages being of common occur-
rence. The Governor of the colony
offered no objection, but the priest pro-
ceeded to cross-examine the prisoner.
‘Did you not marry in France?’’ he
asked.
“ies, **
‘““And your wife is dead?”
**She is.’’
‘“Have you any document to show
that she is dead?”’
"No. ?"
“Then I must decline to Marry you.
You must produce some proof that your
wife is dead.’’
There was a pause, and the bride-
Prospective looked at the would-be
groom,
Finally he said: ‘‘I can prove that
my former wife is dead,’’
‘‘ How will you do so?”’
‘‘I was sent here for killing her.’’
Tha bride accepted him notwithstand-
tenets
One thing that money can’t buy is a
clear conscience,
Sa i tel adh innit pallida th dg aston
pn shingreal eeeeechniatenepipegrtiit pian geet onan See
ee See hh eT a eros mceniees
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
Central City Cigar Co.
Manufacturers of
S22%High Gradest2.%
CIGARS
Corner Francis Street and Michigan Avenue.
Domestic.........
and Havana
Jackson, Miche, October 1, 1901.
To our customers and friends:
We wish to inform you that we have
organized the above company, and that it is
our intention to solicit patronage from our
old friends and customers of Michigan terri-
tory, assuring you that we have spared no ex-
pense or pains in making a line of cigars
that are up-to-date in all respects, and
which we will be very glad to show you soone
Kindly thanking you for all past favors,
and hoping when we call you will favor us
with at least a trial order, we are
Yours truly,
Central City Cigar Coe
We Be
Ae We
BurriSe
Stitte
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OF THE SANITAS NUT
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any other foods known to science.
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SANITAS NUT FOODS ARE DELICATE, TOOTHSOME AND
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Originators and Sole Manufacturers,
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., U. S. A.
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34
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
THE GUM BUSINESS.
Only in Its Infancy, Large as It Is Al-
ready.
My first recollection of gum wasa sort
of paraffine wax called ‘‘kerosene gum.”’
This was followed by spruce gum, which
is still sold to some extent, but so many
hardships and dangers confront the
spruce gatherer, who has to spend sev-
eral months of the ‘winter living in a
rude hut, tramping over the mountains
and through the forests and fording
streams in search of the ‘‘spruce tears,’’
that the price of these tears is so high
that few manufacturers attempt to make
the spruce gum. Then, too, the demand
is now for a flavored sweetened gum.
When I began, twelve years ago, to
make gum in my own kitchen | had
very few gums to compete with, but
now everybody who can not do any-
thing else tries to make gum.
Some people have an idea that chew-
ing gum is made of just ‘‘any old
thing ’’—rubber boots, etc.—but this is
not the case. Gum chicle is a near rel-
ative of the rubber tree and is the foun-
dation of all good gums. It is a prod-
uct of South America and Mexico.
From wounds made in the ‘‘ Ya’’ tree
the sap that exudes is of a milky white-
ness and consistency. This partly co-
agulates after continued exposure to the
air. It is sent to New York by boat and
there sold to the highest bidder. When
marketable, it resembles putty, but is
much harder. Tuxpan, Mexico, is the
largest shipping port for this gum.
The manufacturers of gum take a
great deal of pains with chicle. They
chop it all by hand, then pick out with
small knives all the bits of bark, leaves,
etc., and when the gum is rolled and
scored for sticks, they cut out with scis-
sors any black specks before they wrap
it. This makes the gum strictly hand-
made and as clean as it is possible to
make it. They use the finest confec-
tioners’ sugar and only essential oils for
flavoring. Beware of gums flavored
with etherized flavoring.
The gum business has had its trials.
First, the duty of Io cents per pound
was levied. Then we were compelled
to help pay the debts of the late un-
pleasantness with Spain and were taxed
4 cents per box. Many of the gum
manufacturers raised the price of their
gum to cover this and asked the dealer
to pay it. Now the gum trust threatens
our lives by cornering chicle, which is
the bone and sinew of our business. So
far they have only succeeded in raising
the price of chicle about 25 per cent.
Despite these things we are pleased to
note that the gum business is not on the
wane, but is steadily increasing. Mil-
lions of sticks are chewed now by old
and young, where formerly only hun-
dreds were.
I think the gum business, large as it
is, is only now in its infancy and that it
will be used more and more, as a con-
fection and as a medicine. There is
nothing more beneficial to digestion
than to chew a little gum after a hearty
meal. Kate W. Nobles.
—--—~> 4 >
Observations of an Old-Time Merchant.
After an absence from home of some
weeks, I have been reading a copy of
the Tradesman for the first time since
my departure from home. I have al-
ways set a high value on this paper,
but had not, until I laid it down and
began to reflect, realized how much I
had missed its familiar visits; and I
thought it just possible that there were
merchants even in Michigan who potter
along year after year without subscrib-
ing for the best journal for retailers ever
published, in ignorance of the daily
help it would afford them, not alone in
business matters, but in many other
ways. The thoughtful and well-consid-
ered articles, the carefully selected mis-
cellany, the market summaries, the
short and pithy hints (which often save
their reader many times the cost of the
paper), and the general make-up of
this journal form, in the aggregate, a
publication the existence of which has
never been possible save in the first dec-
ade of the twentieth century.
Business men of twenty-five years ago
would scarcely know ‘‘where they were
at’’ were they to step into the arena of
active commercial life of the present,
and if you make it forty years ago or
more, the difference is far more marked.
For instance, I have just been ‘‘a-fish-
in’.’’ What seems remarkable js that I
do not seem to feel ashamed of this ex-
pedition, although when I was a boy the
business man who sought recreation
with rod or gun did so under a sort of
mental protest, and commonly sneaked
off very quietly, for such indulgences
were not considered creditable. And
the clerk who once or twice in a year
got a day or a half-day to himself was
a very lucky fellow.
My father was a merchant, having
begun business in 1817, and I have
often smiled on looking over some of
the prices current which he received
from city correspondents, for that was the
only way he could keep posted when not
personally in the market.
Some may think that it was easier in
those days than now to do business and
make money, but I think this impres-
sion anerror. The use of many of the
modern business methods was not then
possible, even had the necessary educa-
tion in such matters existed. ‘‘ There is
always room at the top’’ is as true now
as when it was first uttered, and ifa
young man makes choice of trade as a
profession, and is willing to give to this
calling, in whatever branch, the best
efforts of his life, to strive and study to
obtain an absolute mastery of his busi-
ness in all its details, to shun allure-
ments of doubtful nature, to be scrupu-
lously and sternly upright in all his
dealings, not to have too many irons in
the fire but to stick to the business that
he undertakes, his chances are as good
in these first years of the new century as
ever before in the history of the world.
And such an one can hardly do better
than make careful study of the weekly
issues of the Tradesman.
F. H. Thurston.
Che
Michigan Crust
Company
#
WAS ORGANIZED FOR THE EXPRESS
PURPOSE OF ACTING
AS
Executor, Administrator,
Guardian, Trustee, Assignee,
Receiver, Agent, Etc.
#
Capital, 2S a ee $200,000 00
Additional Liability of Stockholders, 200,000.00
Surplus and Undivided Profits, - 100,000.00
Deposited with State Treasurer, 100,000.00
#
Directors
Chas. H. Hackley,
Muskegon, Mich.
Henry Idema,
Willard Barnhart,
James M. Barnett,
Darwin D. Cody.
W. W. Cummer, 8. B. Jenks,
Cadillac, Mich. Wm. Judson,
F. A. Gorham, J. Boyd Pantlind,
E. Golden Filer,
Manistee, Mich.
Thomas Hefferan,
Anton G. Hodenpyl,
Harvey J. Hollister,
‘Alfred D. Rathbone,
Wm. G. Robinson,
Samuel Sears,
Wm. Alden Smith,
Dudley E. Waters,
T. Stewart White,
Lewis H. Withey.
#
Officers
LEWIS H. WITHEY, President.
ANTON G. HODENPYL, Vice-President.
GEORGE E. HARDY, Secretary.
F. A. GORHAM, Ass’t Secretary.
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN . 35
TALKING SHOP.
Dry Place Where All the Fun Is Elimi-
nated.
We all work the better for a good
laugh now and then. I haven’t the least
desire to go back to the old days when
we began work at 7:30 a. m. and closed
at 9 or 9:30 p. m., with an extra _ ses-
sion lasting until midnight on Satur-
day ; but I confess to an occasional han-
kering for the little gatherings we used
to have around the stove after 11
o'clock, when trade began to slacken
up, the boss had his cigar going and the
few late comers were mostly turned over
to the Saturday night extra help. The
Saturday rush always had something of
a fascination for me, a sort of tighten-
ing of the nerves, every muscle tuned
up to the highest pitch in readiness for
the fray.
In our larger modern stores, where
every day is Saturday, and the rush and
strain are constant, | wish we could
have something of this kind—a little
meeting together after the rush of the
busy day, where, with perfect freedom,
each might have his little say, and
proprietor, salesman and _ stock boy
might compare notes, ask advice, talk
over their customers and tell their little
jokes.
We used to carry all our _ heavy
working shoes, plow shoes, brogans,
stitchdowns, pegged and screw-fastened
creedmoors, kip, oil grain and calf
boots in a back room. The fellow who
got caught with a customer in that room
alone about 4 o’clock in the afternoon
had a splendid chance of staying there
until 11 o'clock. The others would re-
fer all trade for those goods back to
him, and there was no escape.
I remember being caught in that
room one Saturday late in September.
It was the first Saturday we had a rush
from the farmers and fishermen along
the Lower Potomac. They were up in
great numbers, all wanted boots and we
got a good, big share of the trade. 1
nearly worked my arm off and wore out
the peg cutter scraping out pegs. One
old man bought boots for himself and
‘three sons. The younger one, he said,
wore No. 3. I banded them to him
and went on with some one else.
Pretty soon he came back and said the
No. 3 was too small. I handed him a
No. 4; that was too small, so I handed
him a boy’s No. 6. A little while after
the boy came with a pair of boots in his
hand and said they were all right, he
would ‘‘take ’em.’’ I scraped out the
pegs and wrapped the boots for him.
When I had put my stock away I| found
the boy had one No. 3 and one No, 6.
He never came back with them, and
I've often wondered if that boy had one
club foot and neatly tricked me.
We had a bright young fellow to help
on Saturday nights, a graduate of the
high school, quick-witted, with a keen
sense of humor. He wouldn’t wait on
white people if he could get a darkey.
He would rant away in the biggest
language he could use to a darkey that
couldn’t spell his own name, until the
mystified look on that darkey’s face
would make a horse laugh. Some col-
ored girl would say tohim: ‘‘I only
wears fives, but I has to git sixes, cause
my feet swells.’’ ‘‘Sort of a chronic
swelling,’’ Charlie would say. ‘‘Yas,
suh, I reckon dat’s it.’’
A woman came into a store not long
ago and asked to see some men’s shoes
that had been advertised for several
days at $1.90. She wanteda7E. The
goods had been on sale for several days,
and there were only sizes 8% to 11 left.
The salesman suggested a $3 shoe to
her, but she wouldn’t listen; $1.90 was
her limit. ‘‘Well,’’ said the salesman,
“if the man wants a good, comfortable
shoe to wear to work, as you say, I
think if he would come in and see our
$3 shoe he would rather pay the differ-
ence.’’ ‘‘He can’t come in, he’s work-
ing,’’ replied the woman. ‘‘Can’t he
come in before or after he goes to
work?’’ ‘‘No, he goes away at 7 in the
morning and don’t get home unti! 7 at
night.’’ ‘‘Well, does he work every
day? Don’t he get a day off now and
then?’’ ‘‘Yes, he works every day.’’
‘‘Well,’’ said the salesman, ‘‘if he
works every day from 7 a. m. to 7
p. m. and can’t get a pair of comfort-
able $3 shoes a couple of times a year,
he might as well stop working.’’ The
woman saw the point and bought a pair
of $3 shoes.
I wish we shoemen could get together
and talk over these things that bring a
smile and daily come in the experience
of every one selling shoes. There can
be no fixed rule for fitting and selling
shoes, but the little gatherings once a
week, or once a month, to talk over the
difficulties met and overcome, would, I
am sure, help each one to a sounder
judgment and better tact 1n meeting all
the various phases of humanity that
daily drift into the shoe store.—H. T.
Dougherty in Shoe Retailer.
a
Repairing Free of Charge a Good Adver-
tisement.
A feature in the retail shoe store that,
as a rule, is given but little attention
is the repairing of shoes sold by the
house, where a shoemaker is employed.
As a rule, there is no charge made for
small repairs, such as a_ patch, sewing
a rip, etc., yet no mention of this gra-
tuity is ever made in the shoe adver-
tisements. A line that could be used in
all advertisements by a house that does
these small repairs gratis is: ‘‘All
shoes sold by us will be kept in repair
free of charge excepting half soling and
attaching rubber heels.’’ This would
prove profitable advertising, and the
added cost in the repair shop would not
be very great. As an offset to the cost
there would be orders for putting on
halfsoles, repairing shoes bought else-
where and attaching rubber heels. As
a regular charge would be made for this
work, it would help pay the expense of
the repair shop.
ee eae ace
Cloth-top Shoes Again in Style.
Cloth-top shoes are making a strong
appearance in the sample line of up-to-
date manufacturers, and, considering
the high price of kid at the present
time, there is no doubt at all in the
minds of the manufacturers that these
shoes will again renew their command
on the market. Many manufacturers,
foreseeing that vestings will be the -ar-
ticle this coming season, purchased the
best quality of this cloth, and this, com-
bined with beautiful designs and color
combinations, renders useless to say that
they are showing sharp, snappy and at-
tractive lines, which will make strong
rivals for all-leather shoes. You will
always find that in fancy oxfords inser-
tion of cloth is always admired, and
with the perfect grades now in use deal-
ers need not be afraid to try some.
>
The Craze For the Antique.
From the Philadelphia Record.
‘‘The prevailing craze for antique
furniture, old clocks, ancient china and
such things has emptied nearly all the
farm-house garrets within a radius of
fifty miles of Philadelphia. The coun-
try people, who used to regard their old
possessions as truck and trash, are ful-
ly educated up to the market values
now,’’ said a dealer in antiques yester-
day. ‘‘They have lost their guileless in-
nocence regarding heirlooms, and now
have an eye to business,’ *’
You are just as anxious to buy
our shoes as we are to sell them
Because.
‘They are the best proposition in
well-wearing, all-around shoes on
the market.
They retail for
$2.00
$3.00
$3.50
and these are the prices a prosper-
ous public is paying for its footwear.
At these prices our shoes are
not only profit-bringers and quick-
sellers, but business-holders and
worth every cent of the money
you ask for them. A postal card
will bring the agent.
Rindge, Kalmbach, Logie & Co.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
i
¢
fr
‘
sf
e:
:
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¥X
36
MICHIGAN.
TRADESMAN
RETAIL HARDWARE,
Radical Changes During the Past Thirty
Years.
*Time is a great innovator. Human
activity is the great author of change.
Standing upon the threshold of the
twentieth century we look back in awe
and wonder upon the marvelous changes
which have been wrought in every
sphere’ of action. Industry, science,
literature—all have their place in the
great march of Progress. Each day
brings to light some new discovery,
some new idea, some new development.
The wise man of to-day is wiser than
the man of yesterday and he of to-mor-
row wiser than the man of to-day. The
world and all that is in it is involved
in a perpetual evolution. The crude
printing press of Guttenberg has evolved
into a huge machine which stamps intel-
ligence upon millions of papers a day.
The simple engine of Stevenson now is
an immense and powerful locomotive
that thunders down canyons and sweeps
along the very edge of cataracts with
wondrous speed. The insignificant light
of the candle has been superseded by
electric lamps of intense power.
Change, change, and progress with
every change, is the watchword that
rings along the avenues of Time and is
taken up to be repeated by every sci-
ence, art, business and profession. It
has been assigned to me to review the
changes that have taken place in my
own business, that of retail hardware,
and to confine myself to the last thirty
years. This limitation permits me to
write of my own personal observation
and, therefore, I accept of it gladly.
Thirty years ago the hardware busi-
hess, judging it by comparison with its
present development, was still in a crude
State, and its gradual change for the
better has been much like that of the
uncouth, untutored youth, who, by the
grinding stone of time, has been
rounded out into a finished and polished
gentleman. The hardware business of
the '7os was, perhaps, the most untidy
of all mercantile branches. It supplied
nearly every line of manufacture and
.trade, from the shipbuilder to the tinner,
from the butcher, blacksmith and baker
to the florist and farmer, and it dealt
with articles so large and so small, from
implements to penny nails, it was at
once a store, a factory and a repair
shop, and it was all conducted in so
small a place that it was difficult to
create order out of chaos.
Imagine a small store 20 feet wide by
_ 100 feet deep lined from the front to the
rear by shelving, combining unsightly
paper packages of locks, knobs, casters,
hinges and tools, with samples of each
attached to the outside; a counter in
front of the shelves, narrowing the
Space into a small aisle; the opposite
wall decorated with shovels, spades,
chains and iron, a narrow coop of 5x10
for an office and a trap door witha hand
elevator near the front entrance where
customers, stoves and heavy traffic all
entered together. Then clog up the
Space with a few refrigerators anda few
old-fashioned wood and coal stoves; put
in a plow; scatter a few wagon jacks
and wooden pumps here and there; then
don’t forget the scythe, grain cradle and
hay forks and you have a picture of the
ground floor of a typical hardware store
of thirty years ago.
There have been changes and radical
changes; not only in the appearance of
the store, but in the character of the
- business and the methods of doing it. I
have only to look about in my store of
to-day and reflect upon what it was
thirty years ago to be impressed with
the wonderful changes that have taken
place in the retail hardware business in
general. The 2o0xI00 feet have been
succeeded by an immense floor space.
The entire store has been divided into
departments, the unsightly wall decora-
tions have disappeared and in their
place is a display that is pleasing to the
eye. The dim light of gas lamps has
changed place with electricity. The
freight elevator is now in the rear of the
store and no longer requires the mus-
cles of lusty clerks for its operation—
machinery does all that. In the front
of the store a trim passenger elevator
conveys customers to and from the va-
rious floors and departments. No more
is each clerk a jack of all trades, selling
stoves and following them to the homes
of customers to set them up. With the
division of the store into departments
came the department salesman, espe-
ualizes the responsibility, and if blame
is to be attached or reward given, the
employer knows immediately where it
belongs. In the larger cities a hotel
department is added in which the cul-
inary needs of hotels, railroads, boats,
boarding houses and restaurants receive
special attention.
Thirty years ago the hardware man
was Satisfied to sit on his keg of nails
and wake up only when some customer
insisted upon coming into buy. Win-
dow decorations he had none. If by
chance there was some article in the
window it remained there until it was
sold. Advertising had been thought of
in those days, but not by the hardware
man. There may have been some who
were ahead of their time; but even with
these, if they did have an announce-
ment of their wares in a newspaper, it
was rarely changed all the year around.
To-day the progressive hardware mer-
chant must be a liberal advertiser and
cally trained and equipped with a com-
plete knowledge of the particular line
of goods over which he is given charge
in the store. He has complete super-
vision of the stock in his department
and his duty isto give it his special
attention, to attend to the sales within
it and to keep it supplied and in order,
Then we have the builders’ hardware
department and the builders’ hardware
salesman; the cutlery department and
the cutlery salesman; the tableware de-
partment and the tableware salesman;
the sporting and athletic goods de-
partment and the sporting and athletic
goods salesman; the tool department
and the tool salesman; the shelf hard-
ware department and the shelf hard-
ware salesman; the house furnishing
and: stove department and the house
furnishing and stove salesman. That.
this system is far superior than to have
each clerk in charge of every line of
goods is at once apparent. It individ-
he must use judgment and variety in
his advertising ; in fact, newspaper ad-
vertising has become such an important
factor in these times that advertisement
writing has risen to the dignity of an
art, and we have among us men who
make it a profession.
The progressive hardware merchant
of to-day-must also give heed to appro-
priate window dressing of frequent va-
riety and to attractive display within
his store. In the seventies it was by no
means a pleasure to visit a hardware
store, with an ugly sight of wash _boil-
ers, coal scuttles, milk pails and chains
greeting the eye and freight jostling one
along the narrow, unscrubbed aisles
made up ofa long row of dull finished
stoves on one side and a counter (none
too fancy) on the other. To-day the
hardware merchant’s emporium is as
much of a shopping place which ladies
delight to visit as a fancy bazaar,
Even women clerks have their place in
areca Nani se juntincssurshireshaan disor innationametnnaiic paar
a modern hardware establishment, and
such a thing was unheard of when I
made my beginning in that business,
Their appearance accounts much, of
course, for the disappearance of the un-
tidiness of the hardware store of old.
Whether the business is as profitable
to-day as it was thirty years back is a
question that depends much upon the
individual merchant. It is certain, how-
ever, that it was easier to make money
in it in those days than it is now, be-
cause the demands now are greater,
The hardware merchant of the present
must have more ingenuity, more busi-
ness ability, more tact, more taste than
his brother of the earlier days. Com-
petition among the retail dealers and
combination among the manufacturers
have decreased the profits on each sale.
While it is true that competition is the
life of trade,it is also true that its abuse
in late years has led to an utter disre-
gard of quality of goods. Every stand-
ard article of value has its hundred im-
itations by the cheapness of which the
innocent public is gulled into buying
that which afterwards proves worthless,
For this reason the consumer must rely
largely upon the word, the integrity and
reputation of the merchant when he
pays more for an article that is else-
where advertised as cheaper, because he
is getting quality.
Another notable change that has taken
place in the hardware trade within thirty
years is the tendency toward special-
ties. Before the panic of 1873 every
hardware dealer, whether large or small,
handled every class of goods that be-
longs to the trade. The first departure
of that sort was made in Michigan by
the late Jas. L. Lischer, in conducting
exclusively a builders’ hardware store.
Rohns & Schafer were the pioneers in
the exclusive blacksmith and carriage
supplies. A more recent instance of
this specializing is the tool hardware
emporium of Chas. A. Strelinger &
Co., of Detroit, and of Coulson & Mor-
hous, who sell only such hardware as
is used in house furnishing. In my
own store, while it is a general hard-
ware and house furnishing business, |
have been making a specialty of Gar-
land stoves and |: have exhibitions
of them on the second floor, equal in
exclusiveness and variety to the show
room of any stove foundry. The rea-
son for this specializing may be found
in the fact that, with the progressive-
ness of the times, the hardware business
has expanded into so wide a field, each
part of which must be cultivated with
such cate, because it is-attended with so
many details that it almost requires all
the emergency of a single man to master
all there is to a single branch. In fact,
the tendency of the times has been to-
ward specializing in almost every busi-
ness and profession. We have special-
ists among lawyers and doctors, as well
as among hardware men and merchants
In general.
The remarkable advance in the hard-
ware trade, the wonderful changes that
have occurred and the progressiveness
of the merchant of to-day, are largely
due to the influence of trade journals
and of hardware associations. These
two forces have been the medium of
disseminating advanced ideas; they
have afforded an interchange of thought
between merchants, not only of the
Same city, but of the state and country ;
they have _created a better feeling and
understanding among dealers and have
raised the standard and character of the
business. In fact, the trade journals
and the associations are now indispens-
able to the successful hardware man.
They are the means of a mutual co-
Operation that is necessary for the pres-
ervation of the individual dealer. God
Las sarc rnes rs errihrasceaemnonereiatrn
bless them! Henry C, Weber.
ee
MICHIGAN, TRADESMAN
37
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*
MICHIGAN
TRADESMAN
CRANBERRY CULTIVATION.
Origin and Growth of This Industry in
Michigan.
When I consented to write for the
Tradesman an article on cranberry cul-
ture in Michigan I supposed it would
be an easy matter to gather information
in regard to present conditions and
prospects from persons engaged in the
business. In this, however, I have been
disappointed. Only one person, John
Clarke, of Whitefish Point, has _ re-
sponded to my appeal. I mention this
as a sufficient excuse for the meager
facts which appear in the article.
The first cranberry marsh I mention
is just over the State line in Indiana,
but it is so near us that it may very
properly be considered in the Michigan
group. I refer to what was known years
ago as the Blair marsh a few miles from
Michigan City. According to the
most reliable information I have been
able to obtain, it was at one time one
of the most productive and valuable
marshes in the Western country. It
covered, I am told, some seventy acres
of ground and a single year’s crop is
said to have been sold for $17,000.
When I visited the marsh some twelve
years ago only eight or ten acres re-
mained covered with vines. The marsh
was ewned by a Chicago banker named
Blair and for years was very remunera-
tive. The cause of its declension was
the want of water for flooding in win-
ter and for keeping the soil properly
moistened in summer. The marsh was
in a level region of country and de-
pended wholly on surface water, hence
when the adjoining lands were cleared
and drained the supply was cut off and
failure necessarily followed. :
Another, but smaller, marsh that was
once prosperous was the Johnston, near
Three Rivers, in St. Joseph county.
From producing an annual crop of 1,500
bushels years ago, I am told it has
nearly failed. I am unable to learn the
cause of the failure.
The Walker marsh at Glen Arbor, in
Leelanau county, was flourishing some
fifteen years ago and gave promise of
success. Of late, I understand, it has
greatly deteriorated, caused mainly by
ferns crowding out the vines.
About the time I planted my first
vines at Walton two parties started the
business near Cheboygan. They both
went out of the business years ago,
wiser but not richer than when they be-
gan.
About the same time parties made a
small planting of vines at what used to
be called North Unity, Leelanau county.
I believe their reward was cranberries
enough for one small pie!
From these facts it would seem that
cranberry growing in Michigan has
proved a complete failure. But it is not
quite so bad as that. I have shown
only the debit side of the question.
The credit side, however, is not remark-
ably rich in its showing of results.
There are a few cases where a fair de-
gree of success has been achieved, but
in a general summing up there would
doubtless be a considerable balance on
the debit side.
I suppose Mr. S. H. Comings, of St.
Joseph, has been one of the most suc-
cessful of Michigan cranberry growers. I
visited his place many years ago. It
was then in a fairly prosperous condi-
tion, but I do not remember the num-
ber of acres in vines nor the quantity of
berries produced.
Mr, John Clarke, of Whitefish Point,
is doubtless among the largest produc-
ers of Michigan cranberries. He kind-
tral and northern
ly answered my letter of enquiry. At
the time of writing he estimated his
crop for the current year at 2,000 bush-
els. There is no other marsh in the
State which yields that amount of fruit
unless it is that of Mr. Comings.
My own plant at Walton has not fully
met the anticipations that I indulged in
when I engaged in the business; and
yet, when I recall the fact that I went
into it without any practical knowledge,
I feel that I have been as successful as
it was reasonable to expect. I have en-
countered obstacles that I never dreamed
of. Some of them have been over-
come, and I trust that the experience |
have had may enable me to overcome
others in the near future. I have the
satisfaction of knowing that I have in-
troduced to the Michigan public the
choicest cranberries ever grown in the
State—if not the finest in the world.
There are some other parties in the
State cultivating berries on a small
between Lake Michigan and Houghton
Lake in Roscommon county and I have
seen but one marsh where the berries
were light colored. There was a small
part of what was then known as the
Blodgett marsh, near Hcughton Lake,
that bore a large, long, beautiful light
colored berry. All others colored as
highly as could be desired.
A Chicago dealer once told me that
Michigan cranberries would not keep—
that they would break down in less than
a month after they were harvested.
Against this statement 1 put the fact,
which can be substantiated by many
dealers and scores of families, that my
berries have no superiors as long keep-
ers, and I have reason to believe that
this is generally true of all Northern
Michigan berries.
Michigan is all right for cranberry
growing, but a man must know what he
is about when he goes into the business.
Somebody, somewhere, sometime, will
scale, but the aggregate does not count
in a general summing up of the busi-
ness.
When the country was first settled
wild cranberry marshes were found, I
suppose, in every county in the State.
This was especially the case in the cen-
counties. In the
vicinity of Houghton Lake there were
hundreds of acres that in favorable sea-
sons were literally red with cranberries.
Does not this wide distribution of the
berries, many of them of large size and
fine color, indicate soil and climate fa-
vorable to their culture?
A cranberry grower in the south part
of the State said, a few years ago, that
Michigan cranberries were generally of
a very light color. How it may be in
his section I can not say, but I know
from personal observation that the cran-'
berries of Northern Michigan are al-
most universally highly colored. I have
been on every wild marsh of any note
find the right location, where soil, water
and climate are all favorable, and will
establish a cranberry plant that will be
known all over the State for the quan-
tity and quality of its large, red, de-
licious berries. If | were a young man I
might aspire to be that *‘somebody.”’
D. C. Leach.
——_>9.—__
Telephone Courtesy.
It is hard to see why one should not
receive the same courtesy and attention
whether he presents himself indirectly
by the telephone or actually in the body
at his correspondent’s place of busi-
ness, Too little attention has been given
to the employment of clerks to answer
the telephone, and many employers
have apparently forgotten that the tele-
phone is an open door and that it should
be guarded by a person of intelligence,
discretion and good manners.
—_»seoa_____
Berlin, Germany, is to be equipped
with a Chicago telephone somes which
, has been under test for fifteen months,
FATAL DEFECT.
Lack of Knowledge as to What Expenses
Really Are.
A good many years ago, when the
writer was a young business man,
Franklin MacVeagh said to me in his
office: ‘‘One reason why retail mer-
chants do not succeed any better is be-
cause they do not get the right cost on
goods.”’
Naturally, I did not quite understand
what he meant, and said so. Said he:
‘*If you buy a barrel of sugar at 7 cents
a pound and freight is one-half cent a
pound, what do you call your cost?'’ Of
course I said 7% cents. ‘‘How much
does it cost you to do business? What
percentage of the year’s sales are the
year’s expenses?’’ ‘‘ About 12 per cent.
or 13 per cent.,’’ I answered. Then said
he: ‘‘You ought to add to the cost and
freight the per cent. of expense to get
your real cost.’’
This has been a very helpful thought
to me and I feel like taking advantage
of the privilege extended me by the
Bulletin to pass it along, hoping some
other retail dealer may take it to heart
and get at histrue cost. If every re-
tailer realized that the only part of the
price he receives or hopes to receive
for the goods which go out of his store,
that belong to him, is what he gets
above what he pays for the goods, with
the freight and expense of doing busi-
ness added, there would be less price-
cutting ; less making ‘‘fool’’ prices on
goods, and fewer retail] merchants who
after years of hard work and honest
effort, find their capital all gone and that
they are, perhaps, unable to pay their
debts.
There seems to be a very great lack
of knowledge on the part of retailers as
to what expenses really are. Many of
them own their own buildings, and you
hear them say: ‘'I don’t have any rent
to pay and so can sell cheaper,’’ forget-
ting that if they didn’t use the building
someone else would rent it and pay
them for it.
Others never borrow any money, and
they say: ‘‘I have no interest to pay
and can sell cheaper,’’ forgetting that
if they were not using the money, some-
one else would pay them interest for it.
Probably no retailer figures his own time
aS an expense item, but the man who
can successfully manage a retail busi-
ness could earn from $1,000 to $3,000 a
year doing business for someone else.
I believe reliable statistics show that
the expense of doing retail business is
from 12 per cent. to 15 per cent. of the
total sales—not of the cost price, but of
the selling price of goods. Grocers’ ex-
penses are greater than many _ other
lines, because of delivery, calling for
orders, losses on perishable goods and
bad debts.
All these items should be added to the
expense account each year.
I trust the time is coming soon when,
through the educational influences of
the trade papers, of the conventions,
wise wholesalers and traveling men, the
now well nigh universal system of mark-
ing costs and expenses too low, and
prospective profits too high will have
passed away and that the next genera-
tion of retail merchants, after having
spent their working years in honestly
and faithfully ministering to the needs
of their neighbors, will be able in old
age to retire and enjoy their well earned
and deserved rest, which, as far as my
knowledge extends, is a prospect before
very few of the present generation of re-
tail grocers and general merchants.—F.
P. McBride in Commercial Bulletin.
ie)
©
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
EDSON, MOORE & CO. ®
Detroit, Michigan
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We control the entire line of the
Are you thinking of Wash Goods
for Spring?
Celebrated
The scarcity of these goods last spring will
be repeated next season. As heretofore, we
have arranged to take care of our customers
by securing a very large supply, but we advise
early selections before the assortments are
broken.
Handkerchiefs
and
Other Holiday Goods
FI Ae AR A FO Oe A
UU EVER RMR RRR RY
Ladies’ “Ready to Wear”
Are now going very fast. Look through your Garments
stock and see what you need in these lines
and send us your orders. Are you selling these goods? If not, why not?
he che cbs ha Cha ch Ss ha De De De She She She She She She De Sd See De Be De De De De De Be De De De DD
VRE RRR eee Reeey
eR RR
PRC Rey
; S - : 84 CANAL ST.
oecnarsahigny ngs WALTER K. SCHMIDT, THUM a 4 ae, Analytical Chemist, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.
CHEMICAL TESTS AND ASSAYS, MICROSCOPIC INVESTIGATION, BACTERIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION
Of Baking Powder, Soap, Tea, Coffee, Chocolate, Cocoa, Dyes, Cheese, Butter, Beer, Wines, Whisky, Carbonated Beverages, Meats, Syrups, Blood, Feces, Gastric
; uice, Saliva, Semen, Canned Goods, Vinegar, Preservatives, Disinfectants, Embalming Fluids, Malt Extracts, Spices, Ores, Sugar, Diastase, Pepsin, Pancreatine, Soils,
Fe; Infants Foods, Dietetic Products, Fertilizers, Fabrics, Coal, Coke, Oils, Pus, Stains, Ale, Drinking Water, Mineral Water, Urine, Sputum, Wall Paper, Drugs, Chemicals
Milk and Boiler Water.
On eter eatin nt otras 28
- thus far, effective.
+
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
i GRAND RIVER.
Obstructions in the Way of Its Improve-
‘ment.
Since accepting your invitation to
contribute an article for your anniver-
sary edition on the subject of Grand
River, I have wondered whether it is
worth the while.
The agitation for deep water naviga-
tion on Grand River began thirteen
years ago, with considerable enthusiasm
on the part of the business interests of
the city, and progressed without oppo-
sition for three or four years during the
period of preliminary surveys and ex-
aminations. After Gen. Ludlow’s very
favorable report in 1892 the railroads
centering here realized that deep water
navigation to this city would necessarily
reduce freight rates and imagined it
would interfere with their receipts.
Their opposition has been constant and,
Through their busi-
ness and social relations they have se-
cured the co-operation of some of our
influential citizens, although, in lending
this co-operation, these citizens have
worked against their own financial in-
terests. It is only another illustration
of the effect on the average citizen of
receiving attention from one who he
imagines occupies a position in the
business world or in the social whirl a
trifle more exalted than his own. His
vanity and his pride, rather than his
hard-headed business sense, are ap-
pealed to. His own importance is mag-
nified if he can touch toes under the
mahogany with a prominent railroad
official, and it is easy to convince him
that Gen. Ludlow did not know his
business and that Macatawa Park and
Ottawa Beach, although lake ports, do
not receive their coal supply by boats.
Of course, all the esteemed citizens and
railroad officials are in favor (?) of the
improvement of the river, provided it
can be done by the Government and not
more than an average of $25,000 per
year is appropriated for the work. This
would permit of its speedy completion
in about 100 years and the brilliancy of
this result would stamp those who fa-
vored this. course as bright examples of
the public spirited citizen whose wis-
dom is unimpeachable.
Is there any use, Mr. Editor, in
spending more time in trying to con-
vince the citizens of this city of the im-
portance of this project and the neces-
sity of financial aid on our part? The
enormous savings that would accrue
annually from its completion, its bene-
fit to the home owners, to the business
man, to the laboring man, and even to
the railroad, in increased tonnage, have
been repeatedly stated and urged during
the last thirteen years. Nothing more
can be added. Shall we burn more
powder, or shall we leave the work for
some future generation?
Michigan’s geographical location
gives her the most commanding posi-
tion of all the great commonwealths of
the North. Surrounded, as she is, by
water on three sides, she has the great-
est possibilities of any Northern State.
With her internal waterways improved,
as they will be sometime in the future,
transportation will cost less than can
possibly be attained in any of our neigh-
boring states. With her mineral, tim-
ber and agricultural resources, she hasa
great future. Obstructionists can re-
tard, but they can not prevent the up-
building here of a great community.
The improvement of Grand River is
a great project, much greater than its
cost would imply. It would make the
city one of the greatest manufacturing
cities of the North. With this improve-
ment and the other advantages which
we possess, we would be sought by those
looking for locations where manufactur-
ing can be carried on economically and
the products distributed profitably. We
are a one-industry town to-day because
the high intelligence of the furniture
manufacturers has enabled them to sur-
vive, notwithstanding the disadvantages
they labor under. Shall we continue
the fight for river improvement or shall
we concede that the obstructionists have
won the day?
I am aware of the fact that all great
improvements are accomplished only
after strenuous exertions and disappoint-
ments. De Witt Clinton and his asso-
ciates fought for nearly a generation in
building the Erie Canal. They were
opposed in their day by the prototypes
of the obstructionists whom we encoun-
ter now and with the same weapons and
the same excuses. They won by a nar-
Lime as a Fertilizer.
A renewed interest in the use of lime
on the soil has been excited by the ex-
periments of the Rhode Island Experi-
ment Station, at Kingston, in which a
large increase of certain crops was pro-
duced by liming the soil. While the
Ohio Experimental Station was located
on a gravelly, clay loam at Columbus,
experiments in liming were made, but
with negative results. This work has
recently been undertaken again, how-
ever, on the lighter, more sandy clay of
the soil on which the Station is now lo-
cated, and although it has not yet gone
far enough to justify positive state-
ments, the present indications are such
as to encourage a more extended trial.
In one case a half acre of land on
which wheat is being grown year after
year was treated with a thousand pounds
of lime, freshly slacked and applied
broadcast just before sowing the wheat.
The crop immediately following showed
row margin in one of the most bitter
elections ever held in New York State.
Oblivion has become the portion of
their opponents. The great Erie Canal
is their monument.. It has made New
York City what it is, the metropolis of
the Western world, and the Canal’s
usefulness, not only to New York, but
to all the Great West,has exceeded even
their most sanguine expectations.
The improvement of Grand River will
accomplish for this city what the Erie
Canal has for New York.
Shall we continue the fight for river
improvement, or shall we concede that
the obstructionists have won the day?
Chas. R. Sligh.
A Direful Threat.
Sideshow Manager—The tattooed man
has struck for a raise.
Circus Manager—You don’t say.
Sideshow Manager—Yes; he says if
you don’t increase his wages he'll wash
all his tattoo marks off!
but little effect from the lime: but the
second crop, just harvested, shows an
increase of about six bushels per acre
for the limed portion over the unlimed
half acre adjoining.
In another case, half of a tract of
three acres was limed in the spring of
1900 and planted incorn. There was
an apparent increase in the corn crop
for the limed part of this tract over that
left without lime, and in the oats crop,
following the corn, there has been a
further increase of over nine bushels
per acre.
In a third case part of a block of
alfalfa was sown on limed soil,and part
on unlimed, with the result that the
limed portion made by far the more vig-
orous growth.
One method of applying lime is to
pile unslacked lime in small piles on
land which has been plowed and har-
rowed, slack by wetting and covering
with earth, then mix thoroughly with
net ae
et rete nae ae tetee Cee eae
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loose earth and spread with the shovel,
Piles of a peck each, a rod apart, will
give forty bushels, or 2,800 pounds per
acre, which would be considered a mod-
erate dressing.
Slacked lime can not be easily ap-
plied with the ordinary fertilizer drill,
but unslacked lime ground to coarse
meal is now on the market, and this
may be successfully applied in this
manner.
The function of lime is not, properly
speaking, that of a fertilizer, as its
effect is not so much due to the actual
plant food which it carries to the soil
as to the rendering available of plant
food already in the soil, and of improv-
ing the physical condition of the soil
itself; hence the lime should be as
fresh as possible.
In consequence of this effect of lime
it should always-be followed by liberal
manuring or fertilizing, otherwise its use
will tend to exhaust the soil; but lime
should never be mixed with manure, nor
with other fertilizers, especially those
containing ammonia, as it will liberate
the latter and cause its escape. It
should be applied as long as possible
before the crop is planted, and is likely
to be especially beneficial to clover, tim-
othy and other grasses.
Chas. E. Thorne,
Director Ohio Experiment Station.
a
Autumn Hastle.
The best way to determine what ad-
vertising will do for a business is to
make a practical experiment. It is im-
possible to theorize with any degree of
satisfaction. It is impossible to realize
what you could do until youtry. The
man who has a business to push can get
better results from starting and pushing
it than he can by waiting for inspiration
to strike him, or waiting to see what
his neighbors or friends are going to do.
It is better to start the fall season with
the idea that you are going to handle
this advertising proposition in an in-
telligent and businesslike way. Outline
the plan in advance if possible. See
wherein business can be pushed most
profitably. Put all the vim and vigor
into the advertising proposition. It
takes practical ideas to win out on any
business proposition, and the advertis-
ing is certainly an important requisite
of the establishment. The man who has
gained a little experience in the past by
dabbling in publicity has his founda-
tion well laid for the success of the
present season. Every step should be
taken wisely and intelligently. Each
proposition should be well considered
before going into it. Start with the
intention of making a success of the
effort if success is any way within your
reach. Plan and push. Be persistent
and enthusiastic. Get into the business
as many interesting features as possible.
Start early and stay with it to the end.
This is the only way to prove the value
of what is being done.—Advertising
World.
——__>2>__
The Chamois Becoming Extinct.
The chamois is another animal that
seems doomed to extinction. The com-
plete disappearance of the pretty ani-
mal from the French Alps is seriously
threatened, and the scientific papers are
calling for measures that will protect
it. The chamois makes its refuge and
home in the most inaccessible places,
at heights varying from 2,500 to 11,500
feet, and yet the gun mercilessly hunts
it out and shoots it down. There is a
large reserve in Italy on which the
animal is protected, and it is suggested
that the same means be. adopted in
France.
Richins Sd
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MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
41
It Pays to Put Down Sauerkraut
There is money in it.
This machine will last a
lifetime.
Made in two sizes for
hand and power.
Best Kraut Cutter in the World
Cuts 600 head cabbage
in an hour.
The World’s Site Meat Cutter
The Buffalo Silent
Have you seen it? It
is a wonderful machine.
Makes no noise.
Cuts a batch in three
minutes.
Time and labor saver.
John E. Smith’s
Sons,
Manufacturers of
Butchers’ Machinery,
BUFFALO, N. ¥.
; Also made to turn by hand.
wl walatrlala leer a aaa laa sara aaa ra
Whaler Waiaha Wiehe
Something New for Retail Grocers.
“Search-Light” Soap
It is packed 100 big double bars in a box,
with 15 large samples. 100 circulars and
show card in each box.
Price $3 60 per box—‘‘less freight’’ on a
trial box order. We will ship it to you
through any wholesale grocery house on
regular terms, or direct from the factory.
State which way when ordering.
Retail price only 5 cents (fully worth 10)
profit 40 per cent.
«‘Search-Light’’ Soap saves boiling or scald-
ing and saves hands, clothes, toil, time and
fuel. It can be used with hot, warm or
cold water and is guaranteed to do a perfect
washing “both ways.’’ It is a pure benzine
and borax labor-saving solid bar of sanitary
soap. It makes 2 bars of excellent soap for
removing dirt, grease, grime from the hands.
You can order from your jobber’s traveling
salesman or write direct to us. The less
freight offer on one box is good only to Dec. r.
SEARCH-LIGHT SOAP CO.
Office and Works, DETROIT, MICH.
Phones, Main 4883 and 3045.
|
AAARARAAARARAARARAAAAARRAAAAAAAARAARR
SIERRA C EE
= Che Williams Bros. Gs.
Packers of
Fancy Pickles, Preserves, Fruit Butters,
Jellies, Catsups, Efe.
These goods are of the finest quality.
For sale by the trade generally. At
wholesale by CLARK-JEWELL-
= WELLS CO,, Grand Rapids,
jobbers in Detroit, Bay City
and all
and Saginaw.
Mich.,
Che Williams Bros. Zo., Detroit, Mich.
Picklers and Preservers
:
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3
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MICHIGAN
TRADESMAN
THE BICYCLE INDUSTRY.
Will It Eventually Resume Its Former
: Activity ?
Your request for an article on the Rise
and Fall of the Bicycle has been re-
ceived.
Iam not willing, personally, to ad-
mit that the bicycle itself has fallen
into disuse or disrepute. It still re-
mains as it did—and always will—the
poor man’s conveyance. Where can we
find a vehicle capable of so much for so
little? Even at a price of $100 each,
bicycles would be cheap for hundreds of
thousands who could hardly get along
without them; and with the price of a
really good bicycle below half that
sum, the demands for its use as an eco-
nomical vehicle
doubled. My knowledge of the actual
cost of producing and selling a good,
strong, serviceable bicycle, as compared
to other vehicles, leads me to say that I
do not believe its equal for efficiency
is going to be produced in many years
at many times its cost to the consumer.
A chain bicycle, as made by standard
producers during the past three years,
_ is good for three seasons’ use, during
which time it will carry a 150 pound
rider over from four to six thousand
miles per year with little if any repairs.
‘At the end of that time, new tires,
sprockets, chain and pedals may be nec-
essary, to make it practically as good as
new for another year or two, after which
time the cost for repairs will make it
unprofitable to use. In other words, it
will be cheaper to invest $40 or $5oina
new wheel. The life of a bevel-geared,
_ Chainless is apparently more than twice
that of a chain wheel. I know of
chainless bicycles which have been run
more than thirty-five thousand miles
with less than $5 worth of repairs (ex-
cepting the cost of three sets of tires)
and are still doing service. The aver-
~age user will not ride his wheel over
ten miles a day, or about three thousand
miles per year.
With such facts before us, can we
fairly and with reason expect the bi-
cycle to fall into disuse? Is there any
known means of transportation which
can effectively take its place? The trol-
ley car and 3 cent fare will come the
nearest to supplanting it, and, even
then, there will be hundreds of small
towns and thousands of farmers who
can not be protitably reached by the
trolley system for many years to come,
if ever. So much for the bicycle itself.
The rise of the bicycle and bicycle
business I discussed in your sixteenth
anniversary number. At that time the
business had begun to feel the effects
- of over-production. A combine or trust
was being formed with a view to better-
ing conditions and, as I then said, ‘‘If
this combination employs the right
methods, means and men, it will un-
doubtedly better the conditions, ’’ which
we all foresaw, and the rapid fall of the
bicycle business from a commercial
point of view would have been stayed,
_ if not entirely prevented. The bicycle
business has been, or is, passing
"through much the same experiences as
have all great moneymaking industries,
and in time it will find its level. Mal.
ers who deserve it will succeed ; the de-
mand and price will be properly gauged
‘—Over-production and obsolete models
will be unknown to the trade. Then,
and only then, will we be able to say
truthfully that ‘‘the bicycle business is
- picking up.’’
_. 1 am often asked if the trust was of
any benefit to itself or the trade in gen-
are far more than-
inevitable. Its methods were unwel-
come to the dealer and publisher. The
former, if he handled trust goods at all,
did so with little if any confidence in
them. He ceased to advertise a par-
ticular brand, fearing its factory would
be closed and he be left without the
very brand of wheel on which he had
spent time and money in creating a de-
mand. If he were an anti-trust man—
and thousands were—he dropped the
line which had been his leader for years
and took up an independent and _ prob-
ably unknown make. Such moves put
certain independent makers, whom the
trust said were insolvent, on their feet,
The press was antagonized by the trust’s
department of publicity, which resulted
in the circulation of all unfavorable re-
ports and the suppression of all favor-
able ones. Space writers who had been
mistreated never lost an opportunity to
‘‘roast’’ the trust. All the advertising
possible could not overcome this un-
the part of the dealer was due, no
doubt, to several causes: First, the
press reports tended to unsettle matters ;
next, the trust failed to come out and
announce its policy (if ever it had one
other than that of ‘‘concentration with a
view to economy’’). This, the most
important of all points, was carefully
guarded. Dealers did not know what
to do. They consequently did nothing
and, naturally, sales fell off. If they
wanted a repair, an order filled or any
other information, so much ‘‘red tape’’
was in evidence as to disgust many.
Competition among dealers in many lo-
calities ceased, as might be expected.
On top of all this came the closing of
many popular factories, followed by an
unmistakable evidence of a lack of har-
mony in the ‘‘cabinet.’’
All things taken into consideration, it
‘“‘looks to a man up atree’’ as if the
bicycle trust had failed to benefit the
trade, itself, the public or the industry.
popularity. The trust made the great
mistake of not selecting the proper man
for its department of publicity and
then, again, in assuming that it had
control of the business and of dictating
to the dealer (which was properly and
promptly resented in a manner which
very materially affected the sales of the
combination) ; to a lack of confidence in
the trust more than to any other one
thing do I attribute the sudden and aw-
ful falling off of sales which resulted
in what many people persist in terming
the ‘‘ downfall of the bicycle business. ’’
_The day is not far distant when bi-
cycles will be sold by dealers every-
where much the same as other hard-
ware, by the hardware merchant. The
market will have been freed of the trash
now being unloaded through mai] order
houses and other sources equally as_un-
reliable and annoying to the legitimate
dealer.
_ eral. In my opinion it but hastened the
The lack of confidence in the trust on
I doubt if the sales of the entire combi-
-hation equal those of the two largest
concerns at the time of its organization.
In time, the combination may succeed
in adjusting itself to the conditions and,
if harmony becomes a feature of its
management, we may look for its final
success. By that time the old bicycles
now in use and those in warehouses will
be worn out and new ones needed. The
trade will then say, as they are now
saying of the carriage business, ‘‘It’s
on the boom.’’
A word in regard to export trade: At
one time we had a_very large foreign
trade. American bicycles were in fa-
vor and led all others in the estimation
of foreign riders, as do most American-
made products. Had this demand been
properly handled and advertised by
well-known American makers, who
should have sent good representatives
abroad and thus personally warned for-
eign dealers of the danger in buying
American trash, our best bicycle makers
would now find a ready market for good
wheels. Our export trade was ruined by
the unloading of cheap trash made by
makers who did not care for a good rep-
utation and, as a result, American
made bicycles are in disrepute.
J. Elmer Pratt.
——__> 20> __
Greater Commercial Happiness Than Ever
Before.
The Michigan Tradesman, noting the
fact that some of the trade papers are
devoting much space to the matter of
collecting old accounts and exterminat-
ing dead-beats, remarks that it fails to
find any reference to a subject of far
greater importance than the collection
of poor accounts and bad debts.
That is an exceedingly timely and
appropriate comment and applies with
force to the majority of the discussion
which is going on.. The Trade Journal
agrees with its contemporary that if
one-half of the thought and effort and
expense expended on devising schemes
to bring poor paying people to time
were devoted to creating and maintain-
ing methods to prevent the making of
bad accounts, the merchants as a class
would be better off. Credit transactions
would be on a firmer basis and greater
harmony between the merchants - and
consumers would prevail.
Merchants of St. Paul have had their
experience with the old-time credit sys-
tem, through which they have found
their capital largely tied up in promises
to pay that were never made good.
Recently these gentlemen have tacked-
ship, as it were, and while not aban-
doning effort to collect accounts long
standing and due, have highly resolved
that no more such claims should appear
upon their books. The customer who
can not make payment or satisfactory
settlement every thirty days is one
whose patronage is regarded as undesir-
able. Other communities than this will
be glad to be made aware that the sys-
tem, which was only adopted the first of
September, is working admirably and
is in every way satisfactory. In the first
place the retailers are standing together
on the resolve to extend no credit ex-
cepting as above specified.
This unity is wholesome, because of
the fact that the old miscellaneous
credit way was born of the fear of com-
petition, which was largely responsible
for the situation of the accounts of the
merchants, but when the new leaf was
turned over, it was mutually agreed that
all should keep the covenant and ob-
serve the new credit system.
The retailers hereabouts are now well
aware, if they never were before, that,
as theTrade Journal has often said, they
themselves are largely responsible for
their predicament. This having been
made plain to them, and appreciated by
them, they wisely assume the responsi-
bility of proceeding upon a different
system and one which will leave them
no bad accounts, and better still, no
dead-beats to deal with. As a conse-
quence, there is now greater commer-
cial happiness in this community than
ever before in its history.—St. Paul
Trade Journal.
—__——e0-2___
No Disguise.
No man can disguise his voice in
talking through a telephone. Every
person has some little peculiarity of
speech that, no matter how infinitesimal
it may be, is sure to be accentuated and
made more recognizable over the wire.
voice will seem to speak more sharply;
a gruff voice will be made more gruff,
and by the same rule an insincere voice
is given a greater tone of insincerity.
The man who has a sharp ring in his -
mentee CS,
Piste eh seb,
| BALL-BARNHART-
{| PUTMAN CO. &
Wholesale Grocers
and Importers of Tea
Established Incorporated
a 1864
1890
er we aim to carry a stock which is complete in every department, we especially desire to call
attention to the following goods, which we control in this territory and which we are able to guaran-
tee to our customers because of their superior quality and uniform excellence :
¢ Duluth Imperial Spring Wheat Flour
Diamond Winter Wheat Flour
Elk Chop Japan Teas
Heekin’s Coffees
Tiger Brand Spices
~ Hemingway Canning Co.’s Extra
Fancy Canned Goods
Riverside Cheese
Celebrated Right Thing Cigars
We are always “at home” to our friends, and Retail Grocers visiting the city at any time are invited
to call and shake hands and be shown through one of the oldest, largest and best equipped wholesale
grocery establishments in the Middle West.
os
Ee
Ball-Barnhart-Putman Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.
MICHIGAN
TRADESMAN
EARLY DAYS.
Pioneer Merchandizing Methods In An-
trim County.
If tradition may be relied upon, the
first wagonload of goods intended for a
Central Lake store was never put in-
side the building. This was some
thirty years ago, and the places where
supplies might be obtained were few
and far between. Brownstown, now
Torch Lake, was the nearest, and that
was nine miles away. The inhabitants
of this region had, however, a choice of
trading places,and they went sometimes
to Elk Rapids, twenty-five miles, oc-
casionally to Pine River, now Charle-
voix, twenty miles distant, and not in-
frequently to Traverse. City, forty-three
miles by road from Central Lake. When
it became known that a store was to be
Started at this point, excitement among
the people within a fifteen mile radius
was something to be talked of around
the firesides for years to come. The be-
ginning of the Spanish American war
was nothing compared with it. As the
time approached for ‘‘the opening,’’
men started for Central Lake, and for
three or four days preceding the coming
of the goods a small but anxious crowd
thronged the neighborhood of the little
building near the river bank. There
was some delay in the arrival of the ox
team that pulled in the supplies, and a
number of prospective customers who
_ lived at a considerable distance, camped
out or stayed with accommodating
friends. And so it came that when the
deep reverberations of the ox teamster’s
voice first echoed across the hills and
through the fertile valleys of the Inter-
mediate, as the lumber wagon that bore
salvation to hungry Central Lakers
creaked and groaned its sinuous way
through the windings of what is now our
beloved State street, and bumped over
logs and dodged stumps as best it
might, an eager throng was ready to
carry off every scrap of merchandise
that was in the load. And how they
went for it! This was something like
living! Goods at their very doors!
(Some of these men lived fifteen miles
away.) Was there meat? Of course.
A whole barrel of salt pork—the kind
we used to get, great slabs that weighed
eighteen or twenty pounds, and some of
it tougher than sole leather. A whole
barrel! The-head was knocked in and a
mental calculation made. Everybody
wanted some, and in order to make it
go around, the pieces had to be cut.
These were weighed out on a set of
steelyards. There was flour, too. Two
barrels of it. Sugar? Fifty pounds—
that was distributed. Tea? Yes, and
tobacco. Nobody asked the brand. No
one said he couldn't use that kind. He
took what he got and looked pleasant,
and when the goods were all parceled
out and darkness had once more settled
upon Mother Earth, the customers of the
first store at Central Lake shouldered
their burdens and started home on foot.
And that was the beginning of the busi-
ness that is now conducted under the
firm name of Thurston & Co.
It is now about twenty-three years
since father and | landed at the Torch
Lake dock and walked over to Central
Lake. It was the month of May, the
weather warm and pleasant, and the air
filled with the beautiful blue vapor that
hangs over this region the greater part
of the year. The country was new and
raw and unpolished, the farmers’ fields,
what there were of them, plentifully
studded with stumps, and the fences
made of rails, logs or brush. The houses
were of logs—some of them roofed with
elm bark—the roads so bad it made one
cry to ride over them. There were two
horses only in this township and none
east of us. Few farmers were as yet
able to own cattle. One man, somewhat
later, became locally famous by driving
a team composed of a cow and a very
tall, raw boned horse. Everything was
in the rough.
The experience of the writer does not
cover a large area of Northern Michi-
gan, and the ground touched upon by
this article has very narrow confines.
Twenty-three years ago Central Lake’s
sole mercantile establishment consisted
of a small room in a house near the
bridge. There was a counter on one
side, and the stock carried. consisted
only of the most staple necessaries of
life. The establishment was known as
‘‘The Central Lake Store,’’ and the
goods were the property of Dexter &
Noble, of Elk Rapids. My father and
another man bought out the claim, en-
about the only things that kept business
moving.
During the early part of this period,
when there was absolutely no money in
circulation here, people got so sick of
“*slivers’’ that they frequently shoved
them off in utter recklessness. A man
with a pocketful bought what supplies
he needed, and having a quantity left,
said: ‘‘I don’t want to take these cussed
things home. What else have you got
that I can buy with ’em?’’ When the
last one was gone, he departed happy
but with an empty purse. Silkman had
a store and sawmill at Torch Lake, and
he issued scrip, too, but always pre-
ferred to take it back from first hands,
so that it never got into circulation as
did the maple slivers.
About this time Hannah, Lay & Co.,
of Traverse City, were doing business
in a lot of wooden buildings near the
bay, back of where their present store is
situated. Smith Barnes was the man-
larged the building and the stock, and |
all seemed favorable for a rosy future.
Great interest was manifested by the |
residents of this part of the country at |
the improvements that were being made.
People came for long distances to trade |
here. It seemed encouraging to have |
a large selection of goods to choose |
from and a chance to sell country prod-
uce. The Elk Rapids Iron Co. bought |
quantities of cord wood, and paid for it |
largely with due bills on Dexter &
Noble’s store. This firm pursued quite a |
liberal policy toward country merchants,
and did a heavy business in supplying |
them with goods at reasonable prices, |
taking from them this scrip, or ““maple |
slivers,’’ as it was commonly called, in|
payment. Pearl at Eastport. and Coy |
at Alden (then Spencer Creek) also
handled large amounts of this medium
of exchange, and at times when money |
was scarce, it and leeky butter were
ager of the mercantile department, and
they tell even now of the large quan-
tities of some kinds of goods that he
bought in the fall, before navigation
closed. This firm supplied numberless
lumbering camps, besides many country
stores, and it was said that if he bought
pork cheap in the fall, it was sold at a
corresponding price as long as it lasted.
However, as it sometimes happened
that the purchase was made at a high
figure, and the market slumped after-
wards, merchants found it to their ad
vantage to haul their supplies of meat
from even as remote a point as Big
Rapids. But this store is now con-
ducted in a modern building, and, al-
though erected some time ago, is prob-
ably the largest of its kind in Northern
Michigan, and its manager, Herbert
Montague, is considered one of the rep-
resentative and progressive business
men of the State. The changes for the
better in Traverse City are many and
from
marked. I bave spoken of some of them
in a previous paper,and do not feel that
I could do justice to the subject even
were | to try. Traverse City is its own
best exponent.
At Spencer Creek R. W. Coy hada
funny old barracks where he sold goods,
and he parted with lots of them, too,
even in the times when customers were
scarce. He lived to see his small be-
ginning grow into a large and _prosper-
ous business, and to build a fine store
and equip it as he wished. He and *
Smith Barnes, William Cameron, of
Torch Lake, and H. H. Noble, the
pioneer merchant of Elk Rapids, have
passed to the Great Beyond. But they
each set a mark for honest business
methods, for liberality and fair dealing,
and from the fastnesses of the primeval
Michigan forests they carved for poster-
ity a path that is broad and straight and
stretches onward and ever onward to
something more than the mere acquire-
ment of a heavy purse.
The trade in Northern Michigan
twenty years ago was vastly different
from what it is now. The residents of
this region were generally known as
‘‘mossbacks,’’ the legend running that
one who would voluntarily immure
himself in the fastnesses of the Grand
Traverse country was like a fallen tree
—dead to the world and would soon be
covered with a thick mat of nature’s
green, The mossbacks took this sally
in good part and carried on the joke by
playfully scraping imaginary moss from
one another, or backing up to a conven-
ient door jamb and rubbing their spinal
columns against its edge.
They were a jolly lot, as I remember
them. Happy-go-lucky—many of them—
some shiftless and improvident. They
(not all) were content with a log shack
and a two acre clearing where were
yearly grown a small patch of potatoes
and a handful of hay. Fish from the
lake in summer, a stray deer shot in or
out of season, a job of cutting cordwood
in the winter and a little maple sugar
in the spring furnished their rather ir-
regular menu, and the means wherewith
to get their few simple requirements
““the store. ’’
This was the people from whom .the
merchant of the early days drew his
trade, and it stood him well in hand to
make the most of it, for it was all there
was. But if the means and the neces-
sities of the early farmer were confined
by narrow limits, the same may be said
of those of the dealer. The law held
good then that does now, namely, to
gauge expenses according to size of in-
come.
How those early settlers used to
swarm into the store on stormy days and
sit around, smoking villainous home-
grown tobacco in all manner of foul-
smelling pipes. They told Stories,
compared notes on the weather, the
crops, the prospects for a reduction in
the price of flour and better figures for
logs and cordwood. They cursed the log
scaler roundly—in his absence—and for-
mulated plans for his ultimate destruc-
tion. They told how they used to do
things in Canady, or down t’ the south
part. This expression, a very common
one here at one time, may need a word
of explanation. It was sometimes varied
to read ‘‘down t’ the south part the
State,’’ or over in Alpeny, and never
failed to draw unfavorable comparisons
between the methods, the goods and the
prices of the home dealer and those of
some merchant in the far off valleys of
their boyhood dreams.
They said that farming wouldn't pay
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 45
RBEERABBBEBLBB BRB
Established 1872. Incorporated 1890.
BS
LEMON & WHEELER
f
SS
2
COMPANY :
S
Ss
i
ss
%
§
“ Largest Importers of Teas ¥
in Western Michigan, controlling the distribution of the
following well-known brands:
r
= :
A e
Q
Oo
“Forget Me Not” Japan Teas,
Thompson & Taylor Spice Co.’s “Diamond” Coffees,
Bay State Milling Co.’s Wingold Flour, »)
Coal Oil Johnny Soap,
Acme Canned Tomatoes,
“Rapid” Canned Tomatoes,
Larson’s Celebrated “Champion of England” Canned Peas,
Seward Fancy Red Alaska Salmon,
“Climax” Extra Fancy Canned Corn,
Imperial Fancy Canned Corn,
Acme Cheese.
ais
Being conveniently situated near the Union depot, we most cordially invite
all merchants visiting Grand Rapids to confer upon us the pleasure of calling at
our establishment when in the city, to the end that closer relationship may be cul-
tivated to our mutual benefit.
preres Ah Hh Ak Ah Ah Ae SSR RST Ah Hh Ae Ae Re
Ss
Ss
Ss
53
Simon Pure Spices and Extracts, %
§
§
5
:
id
PL a Se SR ae a a a
MICHIGAN
TRADESMAN
in ‘‘Grand Travis.’’ They believed it,
too, and repeated it unti] it became an
_axiom. It was so. With the cordwood
played out and the sawlogs cut, the
farms would all grow up to brush.
Northern Michigan would become a
barren waste.
That was twenty years ago, and even
yet, with splendid farms on every side,
with farmers who have grown rich till-
ing the lands of which we speak, even
in the face of this, the same old croaker
is abroad with the same old song,
‘*Farming in Grand Travis won’t pay.
As soon as the timber is cut and the
sawmills shut down, nobody can’t live
in Grand Travis.’’
Bosh!
These early settlers had a mission to
perform. They cleared land, established
highways, built schools and elected rep-
resentatives who made many wise, al-
though some impracticable, laws. Later,
when they had proved up on their
homesteads, many of them sold out or
mortgaged, and these lands fell into the
hands of a more thrifty and provident
class who, perhaps not adapted to the
opening up of a new country nor to en-
during the hardships incident thereto,
were nevertheless able to take up the
thread of ‘improvement and follow it
with a steadier stride and a better un-
derstanding of the requirements of mod-
ern civilization than those who went
before.
Northern Michigan is now dotted with
thrifty, well-built and wisely-governed
modern villages. The business of sell-
ing goods was never in better condition,
nor did its future ever wear a brighter
smile than now. With good railroads,
splendid service by the lake boats, and
the quick and reliable communication
with the large cities thus obtained, with
prosperous farming and fruit-producing
communities on all sides, and many
large and apparently permanent manu-
facturing establishments throughout its
entire length; with climate, soil and
scenery of a quality difficult to excel, I
see no reason why Northern Michigan
will not be a better, richer and more
populous country and make greater ad-
vancement. for good in the next twenty
years than it has in the twenty years
last past.
What the future holds in store for us
is largely a matter of conjecture. But
come what will, let us voice the senti-
ment of the lay brother who, when unex-
pectedly called upon to ask the blessing,
said in a subdued voice:
“*For that which we are about to re-
ceive,may the Lord make us thankful.’’
Geo. L. Thurston.
> 0. ___
Necessity For Occasional Rest.
From the Springfield Republican.
The necessity for an occasional rest
from labor, and more particularly for
some out-door recreation, is shown by
some interesting experiments recently
conducted at Munich, which demon-
‘Strate that the system loses oxygen to
the amount of one ounce as the result of
a hard day’s work. It has been found
that the laborer does not recover during
the night the oxygen he has thus over-
drawn, but that an occasional day of
rest intervening at the right time will
serve completely to restore him. It is
equally the case in other kinds of labor,
whether mental or physical. A complete
day’s rest gives renewed vitality and
renewed energy to recommence work.
0
__ A Japanese firm has leased an old
brewery in West Berkeley, Cal., and
proposes to manufacture liquors for the
-Japanese residents of this country. Jap-
anese heverages made here can be sold
at a_price much lower than the cost of
the imported liquors at San Francisco.
THE BEAN TRADE.
Michigan Stands at the Head in Point of
Production.
The writer may be said to have started
in on the ground floor in the bean busi-
ness, his first experience having been as
a boy on his knees in the dirt, pulling
beans at 10 cents a row in New York
State away back in 1866. The rows,as I
remember them now, looked at least ten
miles long. This, however, is probably
due to the backaches, which are also
easily remembered.
The raising of beans in quantities for
market commenced in New York State
about 1840, when the first wagonload of
them was sold in Orleans county. The
production has gradually increased up
to 1901, when we _ produced about
10,000,000 bushels in the United States
and Canada, Michigan standing at the
head in the amount produced, although
she did not get into the field very ex-
tensively until about 1890. The price
expense of about 10 cents per bushel,
all told. Formerly the pods were stored
in the barn until! the first cold days of
winter, when they were threshed out
with the old-fashioned flail, which as a
gymnastic exercise beats all the mod-
ern appliances out of sight. Sometimes
the barn floor was covered to the depth
of one or two feet and horses were
driven around on them, two or three
men constantly turning them with forks.
After threshing came the cleaning
through the fanning mill to remove the
vast amount of pods, dirt, etc. All this
was tedious, slow work, but kept the
appetites of the boys up to high water
mark. Prices, as a whole, did not aver-
age much different from recent years.
The production in Michigan twenty
years ago was probably not over 100,000
bushels; this year’s estimate is over
4,000,000 bushels.
The process of handling beans in the
elevators has necessarily changed very
has varied greatly, ranging as high as
$6 in 1870 and down to 50 cents in 1806.
The demand, on the whole, has kept
pace with the production, and we be-
lieve will continue to do so.
Great changes have taken place dur-
ing the last twenty years in the methods
of handling on the farm, as well as by
the elevators. Then they were usually
planted with a hoe and cultivated with
a one horse cultivator. Now a two horse
planter plants ten to twelve acres a day
in rows thirty inches apart and a farmer
rides on a two horse cultivator and
cares for the crop. At that time all
were pulled by hand labor at a cost of
$2.50 to $3 per acre. About 1880 the
first successful harvester was brought
out. One man, with a pair of horses,
now harvests ten acres a day at an ex-
pense of 25 cents per acre. The bean
thresher, with power furnished by a
steam engine,, was introduced about
1875, the threshing being done at an
much also in the last few years. They
were usually thrown into a bin and from
there scooped by hand into a fanning
mill turned by hand, then placed on
stationary tables and the inferior beans
picked out by girls or women, and from
there carried and dumped into bags or
barrels. At the modern elevator the
farmer drives to the door, dumps his
bags into a hopper beside his wagon,
from which they are elevated into a
large power cleaner, from this into a
hopper scale, and then elevated to the
top of the building, then passing
through a machine-picker that removes
about three-fourths of the discolored
beans, passing again to the cupola,
where they are spouted onto a moving
canvas, either a separate macbine with
one girl at the end, or a wider and a
longer one with a row of girls on each
side, who remove all the defective beans
which the machines have failed to
catch. For this work they get 2% to
3 cents per pound for each pound they
pick out. The good beans, which are
now called choice hand picked, pass to
bins below and are ready to be drawn
into bags. The only hand labor from
farmer to car, except sorting by girls,
is sewing the sacks and wheeling into
cars. I have gone over this process
briefly, thinking it might be of interest
to those not familiar with the process.
The industry is of more importance
than generally supposed, and will bring
into the State this season from $6,000, -
000 to $8,000, 000, C, E. Burns.
> -»—___
Will Not Be Permitted.
A physician who describes himself
as a nerve specialist, but who must he
more or less of a freak, recently went to
Chicago and announced his purpose to
make suicide not only easy but attrac-
tive. His proposition is a most grue-
some one. He points out that com-
munities are frequently shocked by find-
ing a discolored human body in a lake
or, badly mutilated by gunshot wounds,
in the park or by the roadside. So he
thinks he will establish a place where
those who wish to put an end to their
existence can do so with environment
and surroundings to them attractive.
All they will have to do when they go
into this suicide parlor is to sit down in
an easy chair, touch a button and the
apparatus will do the rest. This remark-
able physician answers the objections
which statutory law would raise against
his project by declaring that the law of
humanity seeks to make the grave easy
of approach to those who wish to lie
there.
There are those who advocate that
suicide is of itself a sure evidence of
insanity. This is not a unanimously
accepted theory, because in many cases
cowards prefer death to confessing the
consequences of their deeds. The de-
faulter discovered, the man who mur-
ders in the heat of passion and like
offenders, suddenly overcome by a reali-
zation of their sins and prompted by
keen remorse, sometimes hasten to
death rather than endure humiliation
and penalty. Another class of suicides
—and it is a large one—are those whose
minds for some reason or other become
temporarily unbalanced. Suicidal op-
portunities put within their reach would
be quickly improved,and yet these same
people, if committed to a hospital for
the insane and properly treated, show a
large percentage of recoveries and
many of them lead busy, useful lives
and die a natural death. The suicidal
mania seems to be contagious. A_sen-
sational suicide is pretty sure to be fol-
lowed by others apparently influenced by
it, because their disordered minds have
been attracted and they have not will
power and sense enough to serve asa
balance wheel in the temporary excite-
ment. Of course, this physician’s sui-
cide parlors will never get further than
a suggestion, but the circulars he is
sending out and the advertising he is
getting are of themselves a baneful in-
fluence.
— o> ______
Tramp Cars.
A great many oranges are shipped
East in what are ‘known as ‘tramp
cars.’’ There is no fruit the price of
which fluctuates as much as does that of
oranges, conse quently thousands of car-
loads of the fruit are started East with
some uncertain destination. The car
may be consigned to Kansas City, but
in the meantime there are agents watch-
ing in the East for the best markets and
on telegraphic information the car may
be ordered on to Chicago or New York.
2. __
The Dissatistied Customer.
The customer is the merchant's right-
ful critic, and must be carefully studied
in his various phases, more especially
in his protests. His approval is seldom
expressed by other than silent endorse-
ment. Likes and dislikes must be di-
vined from his tantrums when matters
go wrong. A man in your line of trade
understands the difficulties and vexa-
tions that daily beset you, but the aver-
age customer is uncharitable, prone to
fly elsewhere when dissatisfied. While
infinite pains is needed to please him,
there are several dozen ways in which
he may he slighted or offended—many
little shortcomings that will creep into
the best-kept shops despite constant
watching. A green clerk can undo six
months of his employer's best efforts in
five minutes, and send a regular pur-
chaser out of the front door full of pre-
judice against that particular store.
Certain goods may have deteriorated
in quality, or a defective article may
have been sold unwittingly ; a customer
may have been kept waiting beyond his
turn, a flippant boy may have indulged
in a bit of slang repartee—any one of a
score of common causes may have
aroused his resentment and undermined
his good opinion of the place. The
merchant must, perforce, regain his
good will and remedy the defect by the
hard-won hint.
Of course, almost every business day
brings its example of the unreasonable
or chronic or habitual grumbler, but it
is plainly good policy to study the dis-
satisfied customer and adjust faults in
stock, system and working force by his
dislikes, for he is the most reliable indi-
cator of things gone wrong. —Keystone.
——~»s202s___
Minor Chords.
Do not ‘‘blow’’ about your business
to customers; they might conclude that
you are doing too much.
Do not ask two prices. Your customer
might think that the other fellow gets
the lowest.
Do not keep a clerk down. Your com-
petitor might lift him up.
_Vo not fail to keep your engagement
with the traveling salesman. His time
Js money.
Do not expect returns from your first
advertisement the same day. It takes
— for seeds to take root.
© not say a word in your advertise-
ment that you will have to ‘‘eat.’’ In-
digestion is troubles a i
Penteher esome.—Cloihier and
OF GRAND RAPIDS
Authorized Capital Stock, One [lillion Dollars
Owned by Michigan People. Managed by Michigan Men
sh aS SR TSS ate MSO og oi oe ae
This map shows the Independent Tele~
phone toll lines and connections now in
operation, except that the broken lines
indicate that construction is not yet
completed.
There are over 24,000 Telephones on
these lines in Michigan.
INDEPENDENT
TELEPONE TOLL UES GIMMECTHONS
OF LOWER MICHIGAN
Published bv
CITIZENS TELEPHONE COMPANY,
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.
May, 1901
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