5 eee a ome ea NS VED YAOF y RENE Sp CATT ENR DES GLY . PS CSG OWS Sook UF Fad OOPS ORME AON WE eee Nee al NR CR ES SRT OMEN PN (0 PASS gy) Bo Oe, Sal 47 : eo OG SF BS VA Paes 5K RGM OO OMI a/c OER % ey (CT NR mows RA eee EA Jues ZN PUBLISHED WEEKLY (Ga Gite TRADESMAN COMPANY, PUBLISHERS Sag) ZS A SISOS SO OS ESOS CE aT I INSEZASSSSS Forty-ninth Year GRAND RAPIDS, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1931 74) 9 | INO ip Gamsaremucos J STO S\ TIN SSC SSE td 1 oa = 2) g Sg ge Ege g-gn 6g 0-0 ee eee ee eee eae eee ene arene eens eee eeeeee eee TE eee THE TREASURES I have lived and I have loved; I have waked and I have slept; | have sung and I have danced; I have smiled and I have wept; I have won and wasted treasure; I have had my fill of pleasure; And all these things were weariness, And some of them were dreariness. And all these things—but two things Were emptiness and pain; And Love — it was the best of them; And Sleep — worth all the rest of them. i i i a ee i a ottlte.tllte tll, attr. Home Baker Flour The Quality Flour with the low price. Made to our own formulae Home Baker Flour will please the most exacting consumer. Priced lower than this Quality of Flour has been sold during the last thirty years. Every sack guaranteed. CIOL’O Sold Only by Independent Merchants GUOLO LEE & CADY SUMMER SCHOOL Securing a good position is a matter of being pre- pared when the position is open. You may save two months in preparation by attending Summer School. This school is Chartered by the State as a Class A College. All work in business, Account- ing, Secretarial, Law, Income tax, and Economics is of very high grade. It is a pleasure to send rz SS _~—s catalog. M. E. Davenport DAVENPORT-McLACHLAN INSTITUTE President 215 Sheldon Avenue GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN tt = aa MICHIGAN BELL TELEPHONE CO. Long Distance Rates are Surprisingly Low FOR INSTANCE: for or iess, between 4:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. You can call the following points and talk for THREE MINUTES for the rates shown. Rates to other points are proportionately low. Day Station-to-Station Rate SAGINAW 2 $ .70 From MANISTEE ----------- 70 Grand MILWAUKEE, WIS. -- .70 | Rapids JACKSON ------------- 65 Wee 65 SOUTH BEND, IND. -- .60 . owosso —_____...--- 60 ; g é The rates quoted are Station-to-Station Day rates, effective 4:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. :-: Eve- ning Station-to-Station rates are effective 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Night Station. to-Station rates, 8:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m, For fastest service, give the operator the telephone number of the person you are calling, which can be obtained from “Information” Corduroy Tires Known from the Canadian Border to the Gulf—and from New f York Harbor to the Golden Gate—the Corduroy Tire has in ten ) years gained a reputation for value, for.superlative performance and dependability that is second to none! The Corduroy Dealer organization dots the nation’s map in metropolis and hamlet. It is an organization that swears i allegiance to the Corduroy Tire because of long years of unfail- } ing tire satisfaction to the motorists of the country. i Go to your Corduroy Dealer today. Ask to see the tire. Big— , Sturdy—Handsome in all its strength and toughness, the Cor- duroy Tire will sell itself to you strictly on its merit. CORDUROY TIRE CoO. Grand Rapids, Mich. ESMAN Forty-ninth Year MICHIGAN TRADESMAN E. A. Stowe, Editor PUBLISHED WEEKLY by Tradesman Company, from its office the Barnhart Building, Grand Rapids. UNLIKE ANY OTHER PAPER. Frank, free and fearless for the good that we can do. Each issue com- plete in itself. DEVOTED TO the best interests of business men, SUBSCRIPTION RATES areas follows: $3 per year, if paid strictly in advance. $4 per year if not paid in advance. Canadian subscription, $4.04 per year, payable invariably in advance. Sample copies 10 cente each. Extra copies of .-urrentissues, 10 cents; issues a month or more old, 15 cents; issues a year or more old, 25 cents; issues five years or more old 50 cents. Entered September 23, 1883, at the Postoftice of Grand Rapids as second class matter under Act of March 3, 1879. JAMES M. GOLDING Detroit Representative 507 Kerr Bldg. SOME TRENDS IN TRADE. Sidelights on the General Business Situation. General trade, although not active in some lines, held its own fairly well last week. Wholesale buying was mod- erately good. The basic industries were still dull with a slight increase in steel. Average commodity prices last week were the same as the week before, the Irving Fisher index remaining at 69.5, in spite of weakness in agricultural products. Building permits in 215 cities were 13.3 per cent. more in July than in June. Generally June is the better month. So that although comparison with a year ago is still rather dismal— showing a decrease of 37 per cent.— the trend of the moment is decidedly encouraging. Shoe production in July continued the advance which was noted in June, amounting to 28,500,000 pairs, accord- ing to preliminary estimates, a gain over the previous July of 18 per cent. Employment in July fell off 2 per cent. and payrolls 4.8 per cent., ac- cording to the Bureau of Labor Sta- tistics compilations from reports of 46,058 establishments with 4,4491,521 employes whose weekly wages were $104,280,547. Increases were shown by five of fifteen groups. Domestic use of electricity for light and power in the first six months of this year was 7.2 per cent. greater than in the same period last year. The Farm Board suggestion to plow a lot of cotton back under ground has added nothing to the Board’s chances of escape from a flood of surpluses. The state governors will have none of it. The growers greet it only with laughter «in which there is no merri- ment. Most other critics think the gods, contemplating an act of destruc- tion, are up to their usual trick of first inspiring their contemplated victims with delusions of madness. Brazil meanwhile goes on burning coffee it cannot sell. Of 48,832,589 persons found: by the 1930 census to have gainful employ- ment, something more than 3,679,000, nearly 8 per cent., were engaged in retail trade and earned $5,134,000,000, close to 6 per cent. of the estimated National Proprietors, it is computed, numbered 1,470,000. Automobile output in August touch- ed close to bottom—about 155,000 cars compared with 221,485 in July, ford omitted. This the industry regards as a natural pause before a fresh advance in the fall, especially for low-priced cars. A new ford model is expected in October, according to the rumor mongers. They are not always wrong. Sears, Roebuck & Co. has taken over Hallaburton-Abbott, textile store in Tulsa with $2,000,000 business, and will add to it full department store lines. Still looking confidently ahead. Department stores are threatening to income. throw out their book departments un- less publishers allow them a larger initial mark-up. A survey for the Na- tional Association finds that stores doing more than. $10,000,000 total busi- ness a year lost year 2.9 per cent. on their book trade. The action of the governors of Texas and Oklahoma, in curtailing production of crude oil, will have an appreciable effect on Federal legislation to the same end, according to a great deal of unofficial discussion here. Business analysts and economists are practically agreed that prices in major industries must be controlled if demoralization is to be avoided in the future. From the Federal viewpoint, it is best just now to allow the states to control the output of basic raw materials, and there is no doubt that successful campaigns on oil will encourage other states to control their output of various prod- ucts. The present situation undoubted- ly will stimulate legislation to broaden and simplify the anti-trust laws during the next session of Congress. The campaign has already started for the fixing of prices on trade-marked goods. This is a continuation of the backing the Capper-Kelly Bill has had for many years; but there is little doubt that the proposed legislation will be shelved. Price-fixing for profit on manufactured goods meets a _ political opposition that appeals strongly to the public and that cannot be overcome. Therefore, it is most likely that legis- lation in this field will be in the nature of amending the anti-trust laws to en- able manufacturers to get together with their competitors and agree not to cut prices below cost. This method of price-control can be promoted in the public interest. It will require no setting up of additional government organizations, and it has been mention- ed by numerous authorities as the only practicable means of solving the prob- lem of demoralizing predatory price- cutting. Lobbying will be restricted during the next session, although several strong lobbies are being organized here for the purpose of gaining favor for The investigation of all organizations of the kind, fostered certain measures. by Senator Caraway, will be pushed, and it is probable that lobbying will have less effect during the next session than it ever has had. Special influence with Congress and other Government organizations, which is almost invariably claimed by lobby- ists, is something they never have had Several congressmen and a number of lawyers When are paid to and never will possess. ex- pose as having this influence. a - bill that push, the credit is given to their stand- passes they ing with Congress. When such legis- lation fails, they present a standard alibi. Some of these parasites have made money for many years, due to the misunderstandings of the average business man. The truth is that many of these lobbyists prejudice the cases they are employed to promote. The strongest lobby is the fair and open presentation of evidence by busi- ness men and their trade associations. Senators and Representatives are, as a rule, the facts rounding all of the bills that are intro- duced in anxious to learn sur- Congress. Many of them have assured this bureau that they read carefully every letter they receive. They are glad to receive visitors who can furnish them with authentic informa- tion. Also, any business man or au- thorized representative of a trade as. sociation is welcomed. by the various committees who examine the bills in- troduced, and the influence of these witnesses is vastly more powerful than that of any professional lobbyist. Encouragement of advertising is likely to be a feature of the work of the Department of Commerce during the fall. Heretofore the officials of that department have refused to advo- cate any form of advertising except in general terms. Now, however, although the statement was oral and given with the understanding that the official was not to be quoted, a department spokes- man has said that the intangible assets of certain manufacturers are equal, if not greater, than ever before. This statement includes the opinion that in- tangible assets may be decreased in value only when a firm fails to adver- tise, and that the value of trade names, good-will and other intangible assets increases with age. “It has taken years to develop and build these assets in large organizations,’ the statement adds, “and no depression, unless it forces a firm to eliminate advertising entirely, may lessen their value.” The return of beer is again being 1931 Number 2501 rumored and inquiries by the thousand on the subject are reaching Washing- ton. There is no possible chance of legalized beer manufacture for several come, if then. Congress is dry by years to The present a wide majority. Beer bills got nowhere during the last session and there can be no valid hope for the next session. Illegal taxes on business in the form of racketeering association dues, protection service and the like, are being resisted throughout the country. The depression, undoubtedly, has fos- tered courage. The Departments of the Treasury are being importuned continuously to intercede i various cities for the protection of business concerns against the racket- Although both organizations have made an enviable record, they cannot go much further and their at- titude is that localities must promote their own defense. The unofficial esti- mates of losses to business concerns, Justice and e€ers. due to this cause, have reached a stag- gering total. Opponents of increased freight rates are offering a deluge of convincing objections to higher rates before the Interstate Commerce Commission. Well-informed observers state that any general increase is unlikely, if not im- possible; but that the Commission will gradually increase rates of certain clas- sifications, although not to an extent that will disturb distribution. The most interesting phase of the testi- mony the voiced before Commission is the threat of shippers to increase their truck consignments if rates are increased. repeatedly A decrease of third class mail, prob- ably influenced to some extent by radio advertising, has been recorded by the Post Office Department. However, this decrease is serious for the reason that the total volume of mail in fifty cities had declined only 8.15 per cent. for July. not Twelve important cities report on volume every week and their decrease this vear is around 9 per cent. The greatest monthly de- crease was slightly more than 10 per eent, ——_++.+__ Frozen Whale’ Meat To Be Marketed as Food, A Norwegian company has been or- ganized to freeze whale meat in float- ing refrigerating plants. Two vessels have been purchased which are to be sent to the Arctic this summer, the trip being understood to be in the na- ture of an experiment to determine public acceptance of frozen whale meat. However, it is stated by those behind the venture that enquiries have already been received from several dif- ferent countries. Vessels have a capacity of 1,000 or 1,200 tons of frozen and chilled whale meat which will be sold for human consumption and for fox food in Europe. ONLY AS PEOPLE GOVERN Can We Avoid the Pains of Bad Government, All Rights Reserved—Written July 15. One hundred and forty-two years ago yesterday the Bastille was taken by the proletariat of Paris. That was the first spark of the Revolution which culminated in the Terror of 1793— the time familiarly known, in all its local implications, as ‘’93.” And if one may add his impressions of yesterday to those absorbed during a lifetime of intermittent contact with France and the French, enhanced by intimate liv- ing in Paris for more than a month, France forgets not a thing nor permits her memories of her tremendous past in any slightest respect to grow dim. It is difficult to express one’s im- pressions of France, Simply to dwell on her patriotism, in the common ac- ceptation of the term, may Carty the idea of chauvinism, spread-eagleism, “my country right or wrong.” ‘Such is not a true conception. The French love France with a singleness of of- fection, a complete, wholehearted de- votion which no words could possibly overstate. But with the utmost frank- ness, without reservations, they adnut points of superiority in other peoples and, so far as may be compatible with their own national and_ racial char- acteristics, are ready to adopt or adapt any betterment or improvement. It was a Frenchman who wrote that most arresting book, “Anglo-Saxon Super- iority,” not for a second ceasing to be a Frenchman in so writing. It may seem strange—it is indeed, strange, but it is true—that we Ameri- cans may well emulate this French characteristic. Not that many of us have not ample appreciation of, love for, devotion to and pride in our own country; but that many of us—and one such is one too many—are lukewarm in this. Others there are, appallingly too many, who belittle our country, who cast aspersions on our aims, who hold what we do and what we aspire to as being small, puerile or otherwise un- worthy. Not a thoughtful man among us, to my mind, will ever follow through on “My ‘Country Right or Wrong.” Rather than such blind de- votion as that, we shall cling to “My Country: when Right, keep her Right. When Wrong, set her Right.” But how any American who knows his land even slightly, who has rudimentary knowledge of her history, can feel apologetic for her is beyond my under- standing. It is an inspiring experience to wit- ness such a pageant as that of yester- day, even in the unfortunate rainy weather that prevailed. Allowance must be made for the wondrous set- ting, for Paris is, without question, the most beautiful city in the world. But this gathering of men wearing medals earned fifty and sixty years back; of veterans of 1914-18; and of handsome boys of to-day, each and every one of them, of himself and personally, a true embodiment of France, was so im- pressive, so significant, that it is not apt to fade from the memory of any thoughtful witness. Now, as in the time of the occupa- tion of the Ruhr, France stands ‘firm. MICHIGAN TRADESMAN She is alone, single handed, all the world apparently arrayed against her stand. But France is strong, perfect- ly able to care for herself, as she has felt she must do since her plea for a concert of nations to guarantee her safety failed. And France, with her indescribably quiet, self-contained air which so de- ceptively conveys to the stranger an impression of unimaginativeness, iS not bluffed or deceived by Germany. She has no intention of being hood- winked. Germany’s sidestepping brought on the ‘Ruhr occupation. It was not Germany’s first evidence of bad faith. Let us not forget that the British fleet lined up with every gun manned and ready when the German fleet was surrendered; for Britain had learned through bitter lessons not to put faith in any word of Germany. Let us not forget the bad faith which sunk the German ships in Scapa Flow. © Because France would not be bluffed she occupied the Ruhr. The world said she was mistaken and that she would get less that way than other- wise. France said nothing that I re- call. She acted on the theory that maybe she would gét less; but she would be sure that German treachery would not put anything over. France is not mocked in 1931, de- spite all the flurries and smoke screens. She stands ready to aid Germany with plenty of money, to fall in with the Hoover moratorium plan in full, pro- vided that she gets not mere words in return but some definite considera- tions, and gets them now, in advance. Her conditions are: 1, The Reich must abandon the proposed customs union with Austria. 2. She must renounce the construc- tion of the second pocket battleship Lorraine. 3. She must conclude the Eastern Locarno treaty guaranteeing Poland’s frontier just as the Rhine is safe- guarded. 4. She must expel Hitler from the country and dissolve the Nazi Fascist party, by force if necessary. 5. She must cancel all eixsting in- dustrial contracts with Russia, Can we blame her? It may be a mis- take to interdict the German-Austrian customs union. If it is, let Germany blame herself because of her bad faith in the past. France cannot now trust her—and France does not intend to take any chances. For the other con- ditions—look them over and ask your- self if in France’s place you would do otherwise. ‘Consider the fifth condition. There are some billions of unpaid francs owing by old time Russia, bonds re- puliated by the Soviets. Would not France be one big international booby to furnish money now to Germany while Germany loans it to Russia— France thus indirectly financing Rus- sia? The French premier says that German industrialists, although claim- ing to be on the verge of collapse, are able to offer the Soviets more advan- tageous terms to capture the contracts than French, British or other foreign operators could meet, and the Reich government, although confessing itself facing bankruptcy, underwrote and guaranteed those contracts and allo- cated heavy: subsidiés to the industrial- ists to enable them to execute their bids. Washington does not seem to be deceived. Why should France be? Washington’s opinion is that the Ger- man situation is being painted in ex- aggerated colors, for it is pointed out that the budget is a sound one and it is not believed that the government has before it any insurmountable diffi- culties. Germany’s cry of wolf, wolf has worn pretty thin these last seven- teen years, For us in America, this thought: If our bankers buy Germany's bonds, let them find ways to dispose of them. There are probably Americans with German background—few I certainly hope by now—who may properly be hyphenated as GERMAN-Americans. They may buy some of those bonds. There may be men who have plenty of money who feel interest in Europe sufficient to risk some of their funds; and there are those whose personal af- fairs, therefore interest, lie in Euro- pean trade, who are familiar with Eu- ropean conditions, who feel it to be to their own welfare to buy German or other European bonds. Doing this with their eyes open, it is all right for them, For the bulk of us—you and me for example—it is my thought that we shall best keep our funds for America, for our own sakes and for that of our country. We can well devote our- selves to the upbuilding of our own land, remembering the while that all our foreign trade amounts to a small percentage—five, J think—of our total business. It is time we did this. I know one man not a cent of whose investments are in Europe. It is my opinion that he is apt to have more company in the future than in the im- mediate past in this regard. And this is decidedly wholesome selfishness—to let Europe work out her own salvation for her own sake as well as for ours. For there is no permanent salvation otherwise. Germany’s present condi- tion—aside from all other considera- tions—shows the truth of this. For ourselves, this opinion is based on the conviction that we Americans have our hands filled to overflowing to preserve our own institutions, safeguard our own well-being and perpetuate our government on its traditional lines. It is time—high time—for each of us to realize that government of the people can exist only as the people govern. And the people can govern only as each, individually, takes off his coat and pitches into the ordinary, humdrum, unspectacular job of seeing that his own ward and precinct, then his own city, is well governed. Only at the cost of taking pains to insure good government can we avoid the pains of bad government, Paul Findlay. ——»-—2— >—__ Corporations Wound Up. The following Michigan corporations have recently filed notices of dissolu- tion with the Secretary of State: Vacuum Oil ‘Co., Detroit. DeHamel Construction Co., Detroit. Stollman Building ‘Co., Detroit. Acme ‘Cap ‘Screw Co., Detroit. Horrell-Garelic Co., Detroit. Bay City Advertising Co., Saginaw Detroit Ice Cream ‘Co.,. Detroit, People’s Protective Association, : De- troit, . August 26, 1931 Jacobs Bros., Inc., Detroit. LaBelle Box Co., Muskegon, Vandergrift Box ‘Co., Muskegon. Uhl-Sarver-Raymer Well-Drilling Co., Grand Rapids. Gladwin Light & Power Co., Gladwin. Peoples State Bank of Redford, Red- ford. Office Equipment Co., Muskegon. Eby- Investments, Limited, Detroit, Dixie Oil ‘Co., Inc., Saginaw. Youngblood-Stone Co., Detroit, American Trust Co., Detroit. Solon Mining ‘Co., Iron ‘River. Cross Laundry Co., Detroit. S. & R. Holding Co., Hamtramck. Home Machine Co., Detroit, Blue Ribbon ‘Machine Co., Pontiac. Smith Tire ‘Co., Inc., Ann Arbor. Metropolitan Service Stations, Detroit. Graham-Paige of Tulsa, Detroit. Ex-apply Fabric Corp., Detroit. Monarch Pattern Works, Detroit. Brown’s Seed Store, Grand Rapids. Enders-Carver Co., Benton Harbor, Northfield Land Co., Royal Oak. The Berwick Holding ‘Co., Detroit. Mayflower Apartments, Detroit. McKay-Hassett Oil Co., Flint. Oglebay, Norton & Co., Ironwood, Woodcliff Realty Corp., Detroit. Sperry- Candy Co., Detroit. Stahl ‘Sani-Onyx ‘Co., Detroit. Foster S. Shields, Inc., Detroit. 3ethlehem Steel 'Co., Detroit. Putt-Well Co., of Michigan, Inc., De- troit. Embassy Theater Corp., Detroit. Farmington State Savings Bank, Far- mington, United ‘Concrete Co., Detroit. Cusenza Gas Generator Co., Detroit. Riel 'Co., Detroit. Naumkeag Copper Co., Houghton. W. & S. Realty Co., Hamtramck, Sherwood Co., Detroit. Superior Plaster ‘Co., Detroit. Superior Sand and Gravel Co., Detroit. Michigan ‘Chevrolet Sales Co., Detroit. American Broadcasting Corp., Detroit. Round Lake Holding Co., Detroit. Pontiac Plating Co., Inc., Pontiac. Detroit Art aLmp Shade Co., Detroit. Louis E. Jacobson, Inc., Detroit. Cunningham Drug Stores, Inc., troit. Bank of Commerce of Fordson, Union 'State Bank, Fordson, American State ‘Bank of ‘Cadillac. Detroit Bungalow Sandwich Shop, De- troit. Pine River Threshing Co., St. Louis. Richmond Fireproof Door Co., of Michigan, Detroit, Kalman Steel Co., Detroit. Inc., De- ——_»> +. >—_____ Pink Lemons Discovered. Pink lemons have been found grow- ing on a tree in California. However, the tree is a rare specimen, and the U. S. Department of Agriculture warns that there is little chance of the pink lemonade industry switching to the new lemons for raw material. Pink lemons were first exhibited at the National orange show this year. They came from a tree in Burbank and, so far as known, the tree is a bud sport (or freak) of the Variegated Eureka lemon, which was developed from a limb variation of the Eureka lemon, discovered in 1911, Budwood from the pink lemon tree has been inserted in sour orange seed- lings, and the resulting trees will be studied to see if the pink lemon can be further propagated. ——_>-e>____ Such Paper Is Warming. Professor—Science has discovered that paper can be used effectively to keep a person warm, Farmer—Yes, I gave a 30-day note once and it kept me in a sweat for a month, August 26, 1931 STILL CLIMBING HIGHER. New Honor Bestowed on Sidney Medalie, of Mancelona. Sidney Medalie, chairman of the Antrim County Road Commission and Treasurer of the Northern Michigan Road Commissioners Association since its organization in 1926, was last week elected President of that organization at the annual meeting at Bay City. The meeting was the largest and best ever held by the association, ac- cording to the claim of those attending it. A splendid program was carried out throughout the two days. The 1932 meeting will be held at Traverse City, George W. McCabe, of Petoskey, is the new vice-president. George S. Stout, of Lake City, was re-elected secretary and Marius Hansen, of Gray- ling, succeeds Mr. ‘Medalie as treasurer. The Association, which consists of thirty-four Northern Michigan counties has been a power for good in the Northern half of the State since its organization, and in the whole State as Sidney Medalie —-works like the devil so he can get a chance to rest, well. Its trunkline committee has al- ways consisted of broad-minded and far-seeing members, who have worked with the State highway department to have trunklines constructed so as to be of the greatest general benefit. They have been the main support of the bu- reau of highway education for educat- ing the public, and have always kept an eye on legislation lest bills inimical to the interests of the upper half of the State should slip through. The marking and numbering of the county outline roads was started by the Association, and the basic idea in the law giving the counties a portion of the gas tax was conceived in the councils of the organization. Mr. Medalie is a Mancelona boy. He was born October 31, 1895, and attend- ed the local schools. He finished school here in 1912 and entered the M. A. C., now the Michigan State College, for three years in the engineering de- partment. He then came home and went to work—and has been working ever since. Whatever he has to do he does with all his might—so he can get through and have a chance to rest. Mr. Medalie has been village presi- dent four terms, on the village council MICHIGAN TRADESMAN eight, and was secretary of the local chamber of commerce two or three years in its early day. He has been commander of the local American Legion post, is a past master of the Masonic lodge, and has been vice- president of the Antrim County State Savings Bank for a number of years. He has been a member of the Antrim County Road Commission for several years, and is now its chairman. Mr. Medalie entered the service of the U. S. during the kaiser’s war, and after a number of promotions came home a lieutenant in the field artillery —Man- celona Herald. —_++.____ Recent Happenings in the Buckeye State. Columbus — Disputes over several labor claims amounting to $450, have held up the settlement of the case of David Skuller, which was petititioned into bankruptcy in the U. S. District Court here some time ago. Receiver Bernard Feiglinger sold the stock and fixtures, appraised at $1,070, to Mrs. Skuller, mother of David Skuller, for $1,100. The business is being con- tinued at the same location under the name of the Capitol Luggage Co. Cleveland—Involuntary bankruptcy proceedings have been filed in the U. S. District Court here against the Ter- minal Clothing Co. by Attorney Sidney N. Weitz. Toledo—Walter Hoskins, 58, head of the H. M. & R. Shoe Store, died recently following a year’s illness. He is survived by his wife, two sons and three sisters. Cincinnati—It is learned on informa- tion considered reliable that George E. Fritz, now with the City of Paris Dry Goods Co., San Francisco, will join the H. & H. Pogue Co. on Sept. 8 as general merchandise manager, Robert W. Pogue, president of the H. & S. Pogue Co., refused to com- ment on the report. Cleveland — Janette Frocks, Inc., dresses, operating five stores in this city, has filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy in the U. S. District Court here, listing liabilities of $43,401 and assets of $39,657. Akron—Steve Turina, trading as East End Taylor, 41 South Case avenue, has filed a petition in bank- ruptcy in the U. S. District Court at Cleveland, listing liabilities of $3,120 and assets of $2,936. Cleveland — Involuntary bankruptcy proceedings have been filed in the U. S. District Court here against Minnie Melsher by Attorney Herbert S. Men- delsohn, representing M. & D. Simon Co., $293; Hibshman Bros. Co., $193, and Zimmer Cap Co., $66, all of Cleve- land. Warren — Involuntary bankruptcy proceedings have been filed in the U. S. District Court at Cleveland aaginst Howard Shields, trading as Fashion Shop, by Attorney Murry A. Nadler, representing Pollack Altman Co., $600; Miller Cloak Co., $583; Majestic Knit- wear, $41, all of Cleveland. Cleveland—Involuntary bankruptcy proceedings have been filed in the U. S. District Court here against Albert 1. Tobias, trading as Tobias Textile Co., by attorney Joseph G. Ehrlich, representing Emil S. Stern, $190; Charming Kiddie Dress Co., $204, and Parker Wilder Co., $560, all of New York City. Logan—The Logan plant of the Cin- cinnati Shoe Co. is now operating on a basis of 900 pairs daily in the cutting room and it is announced that this will soon be increased to 1200 pairs daily. Cleveland—Schedules of assets and liabilities for Green-Haas-Schwartz are in preparation and will be filed with the Federal Court here times this week. It is understood that local interests have made an offer to pur- chase the company. It is said here by authoritative sources, however, that members of the old firm are not in- volved in the proposed purchase. At- torney George E. Hagenbusch is op- some erating the business as receiver. Green- been in business here for the past twenty-five years. It occupied quarters of 100,000 square feet where manufacturing activities carried on. The business at its best reached an annual volume of $2,000,- 000 and the company had a sizable Haas-Schwartz has were export division. Ashtabula — R. D. goods. Voluntary bankruptcy filed in U. S. District Court at Cleveland, list assets of $2,125 and lia- bilities of $7,393. creditors, Connelly, dry sched- ules, There are forty-five Canton—Creditors of the Harvard Clothine Co., bankruptcy, on Inc., petitioned into Saturday received a letter from the American Clothing & Furnishings Credit Bureau, Inc., of New York City, disclosing that the bankruptcy action was taken because a number of creditors were not in ac- cord with a plan to sell the debtor's assets in bulk for the best price ob- tainable, subject to a minimum bid of 20 per cent. to claims. In view of this situation, creditors are told that a full investigation will be made under the bankruptcy proceeding, and that indi- cations are the estate will have to be liquidated in the bankruptcy court. Ashland—Morganstern, Inc., depart- ment store. Involuntary bankruptcy echedules, filed in U. S. District Court at Cleveland, list assets of $9,721 and liabilities of $16,302. claims of $500 or more. McArthur—O. C. Reed & Sons have moved and enlarged their clothing and store. Women’s apparel and accessories will also be carried. There are no furnishings Cincinnati—Alexander Wolfstein, re- tired and tallow manufacturer, died Thursday at the age of 63. He was born in Cincinnati and business here for over forty years, re- tiring last January. Columbus—The plant of the Blumer- Sartain Packing Co. was recently dam- aged by fire to the extent of $35,000. Circleville—George C. Corey and Arthur C. Hunt, of Cleveland, have purchased the John Groce & Son Co., ham and bacon curers. Portsmouth—Business with the Sel- hide was in by Shoe Co. is still on the upturn with the daily output now more than 8,000 pairs. This schedule has been main- tained for almost two months and in- dications point to a continuation of the brisk business. Orders from salesmen in all sections are very gratifying, it is announced. Cincinnati—Krell E. Spires, trading as Spires Co., retail shoes, filed a voluntary petition in bank- ruptcy in the U. S. District Court here, listing liabilities of $10,738 and assets of $358. Shoe Toledo—Improvements at the Ar- gonne, at a cost of $1,500 have been completed. The interiors of the rooms redecorated, the furniture has been done over and inner-spring have been mattresses have been installed. Dennison—Gustave A. Parr-, owner of a clothing and shoe store here, died recently. Toledo—A new coffee shop has been opened in the Hotel, the management of R. W. Mrs. Mabel Hill is chef. Columbus—In the matter of the Hen- derson Tire & Rubber Co., which was taken to the U. S. District Court here on a petition in involuntary bankruptcy, following an the Court of Common Pleas in Franklin county in which attorney C. M. Gibson was nam- ed receiver and under Beachler. Navarre action in continued as Federal trustee, suit was filed to test the valid- ity of bond issue of $60,000 on the plant and equipment. This question, which has not been adjudicated, is holding up the settlement of the case. Unsecured general creditors have filed claims of slightly more than $20,000. consists of the plant and equipment, de- The assets signed for tire and tube manufacturing, appraised at $40,000. No sale of the plant and equipment can be made until the legality of the bond issue is deter- mined. In case the bond issue is de- clared invalid and the mortgage abro- gated, the holders of the bonds will share with the general creditors, other- wise there will be no assets for dis- tribution to general creditors. Toledo—Members of the Catawba Cliffs Beach Club, recently celebrated the preliminary opening of the new club hotel which was built recently at a cost of approximately $300,000. Norwood—Moses H,. Goldstein, trad- ing as Shirley Shop, retail ready to wear, 4551 Main street, lists assets of $450, of which $350 is stock in trade. $4,022, all unsecured. The only creditor with a claim of $500 or more is the R. B. Mfg. Co., ‘Cin- cinnati, $1,334. Wellington—C. P. Roedel, 60, own- er of the Roedel Bros. Shoe Store, died Liabilities are at his residence here. He leaves his wife, a son, a daughter and _ several brothers and sisters. Cleveland—Sam S. Saah, linens, 14615 Glendale avenue, has ‘filed a vol- untary petition in bankruptcy in the U. S. District Court here, listing liabilities of $11,677 and assets of $1,- 250, Cincinnati—In the case of the Cin- cinnati Merchandise Co., wholesale and retail ready-to-wear, 1125 Main street, unsecured creditors received $9,631, or 28 per cent. Logan—Further increases in em- ployment at the Logan plant of the Cincinnati Shoe Co. are announced. More than 120 employes are now on the payrolls, and it is planned to still further increase the production at the plant. 4 MOVEMENTS OF MERCHANTS. Brown City—The Almont Elevator Co. has changed its name to the Brown City Elevator Co. Detroit—Penn-Guardian Oils, Inc., 181 Leib street, has changed its name to the Penn-Guardian Oils ‘Co. Detroit—The Walker Dishwasher Sales ‘Co., 4600 Cass avenue, has in- creased its capital stock from $5,000 to $10,000. Grand Marais—The Grand Marais Lumber Co. has been incorporated with a capital stock of $25,000, all subscribed and paid in. Clio—Ellsworth E. Huyck, 69 years old, pioneer druggist and undertaker, died Aug. 23, at his home, following a short illness. Wyandotte—August Leffler, owner and operator of August Leffler & Co., dry goods establishment here, died re- cently at his home. Lapeer—George W. Carpenter, 80 year old local merchant, is still active- ly engaged in the Haddrill-Carpenter Co. local store and branches. Detroit—Premier Draperies, Inc., 162 East Jefferson avenue, has been incorporated with a capital stock of $1,000, all subscribed and paid in. Detroit—The Colonial Bean Shops, Inc., has been incorporated with a cap- ital stock of 2,000 shares at $1 a share, $2,000 being subscribed and paid in. Capac—The Stanlake Motor Sales Co. has merged its business into a stock company with a capital stock of $10,000, all subscribed and paid in. Tecumseh—The Lilley State Bank has increased its capital stock from $30, 000 to $80,000 and changed its name to the United Savings Bank of Tecumseh. Reed City—Theodore Schmidt, 65, agricultural implement and hardware dealer, died at Reed City Hospital fol- lowing a heart attack, suffered about a week ago. Wryandotte—The Wyandotte Pack- ing House Market, 3032 First street, has been incorporated with a capital stock of $10,000, $4,000 being sub- scribed and paid in. iansing—H. L. Wilson, dealer in farm implements, leather goods and tourists’ supplies at 215 North Wash- ington street, is remodeling the interior ef his store building. Bad Axe—The W. R. Polewacz Co., conducting a chain of seven stores, is remodeling and enlarging the local store preparatory to carrying a larger and more varied stock. ‘Marquette—The Louis W. Katz clothing and men’s furnishings goods store has been thoroughly overhauled and redecorated. It was damaged re- cently by fire and water. Mayville—Mr, and Mrs. Conrad Burbey, of Marine City, have leased the Brick Hotel here for a period of five years and have opened the house, which has been closed for a time. Thomas—The Thomas Cash Ele- vator has been incorporated to do a general elevator, grain and fuel busi- ness with a capital stock of $10,000, all subscribed and paid in in cash, Detroit—The Co-operative Restaur- ant Owners Association, Inc., 1429 Barlum Tower, has been incorporated with a capital stock of 5,000 shares at MICHIGAN TRADESMAN $1 share, $1,000 being subscribed and paid in. Grant—A, Baars, resident of Grant three years, has sold his interest in the Grant pharmacy to Ira Roberts and will return to Fremont into the drug store formerly owned by his brother, George, who died last May. Ypsilanti—Frank Minniss, who has been connected with the Mathew Max shoe store for the past nine years, has resigned his position and will engage in the shoe business under his own name at 12 North Huron street. Detroit—The King ‘Cole Supply Co., 153 Stimson avenue, has been incor- porated to deal in paper specialties, paint brushes, art goods, with a cap- ital stock of 5,000 shares at $1 a share, $5,000 being subscribed and paid in. Saginaw—The William C. Wiech- mann ‘Co, has opened a shoe depart- ment on the mezzanine floor of its de- partment store. It will be under the management of Edward Koller, for- merly engaged in the shoe business here, Detroit—The Selected & Manage- ments Foundation, 507 West Fort street, has been incorporated to con- duct a management and trust service, with a capital stock of 5,000 shares at $10 a share, $9,000 being subscribed and paid in, Lansing—The work of remodeling the interior of the Jarvis-Estes Furni- ture Co. home furnishings store at Washington and Grand River avenue, has been completed. Floor space has been increased and the lighting system completely altered. Webberville—Mrs. Bessie Seymour has resigned as manager of the W. S. Barrett dry goods store and leased the old post office building which she will occupy with a new stock of dry goods and women’s furnishings as soon as the store building can be remodeled. Detroit—The Dizik Shop, Inc., 1433 Farmer street, dealer in dry goods, women’s ready-to-wear garments and millinery, has merged its business into a stock company under the same style with a capital stock of $200,000, all of which has been subscribed and paid in. Sturgis—Blue & Gilhams, Inc., Hatch and Nottawa streets, jobber and retailer in fuel, grain, feed and fertilizer, has merged the business into a stock company under the same style with a capital stock of $50,000, of which amount $36,000 has been subscribed and paid in. Grand Rapids—In the bankruptcy case of Abe and Barney Katz, an order has been made for the payment of ex- penses of administration, preferred claims in full and a first and final divi- dend of 1.6 per cent. No objections were made to discharge of the bank- rupt and the meeting was adjourned without date, Pontiac-S. ‘Cc. and L. T. Rogers, proprietors of Rogers Sporting Goods Store, have dissolved partnership and Stanley C. Rogers has leased the store at 19 North Saginaw street and will occupy it Sept. 1, with a new and com- plete stock of sporting goods. The store will be conducted under his own name. Dowagiac—W. H. Carpenter has been placed in charge of ‘Michigan sales for the Premier Crusader parlor furnace .made by Premier Warm Air Heater Co. ‘He is very well known to the hardware trade, in Michigan, hav- ing covered this territory for the last eight years. For thirteen years Mr. Carpenter had been connected with the former Globe Stove & Range Co., Kokomo, Ind. Lapeer—A drug business which is said to be the longest to do business under one family name in Michigan, is that of S. N. Vincent & Son, being established by Dr. Wesley Vincent, in 1850. It passed into the hands of the late Shadrach N. Vincent in 1855 and his son, J. T. Vincent was admitted to partnership in 1890. The store has been in the same location, on the cor- ner of Court and Nepessing streets for the past 45 years. ‘ Muskegon—JIn the bankruptcy case of I. Gedulsky & ‘Sons Co., an order was made at the final meeting of creditors recently for the payment of expenses of administration, preferred claims in full and a first and last divi- dend to creditors of 3.42 per cent. Two officers of the bankrupt firm were pres- ent and the trustee was represented by attorney. No objection was made to the discharge of the bankrupt and plans have been made for returning the case to district court. Grand Rapids—S. L. Webster, well known to the hardware industry for many years, has been elected as vice- president in charge of sales of the Metalcraft Heater ‘Corp., Grand Rap- ids., and president of the Kelch Ventil- ating Heater Co., holding company of the patents under which products of the Metalcraft company are made. The company manufactures de luxe heaters for automobiles. Until earlier this year Mr, Webster had been connected with the Sand’s Level & Tool '\Co., De- troit, as vice-president and _ general manager. Prior to that time he was associated with E. C, Atkins & Co.,: Inc., Indianapolis, sales manager. Ind., as assistant Saginaw—Merchants doing business in the North side business district have organized the North Side Business Men’s Association and elected William A. Schmeck as the first president. The organization’s purpose is to insure more co-operation among the mer- chants and to promote business activ- ity in the North.side. The other of- ficers elected by the Association are: vice-president, R. F, Gugel; secretary, L. B. Eighmey; treasurer, A. C, Suth- erland. Arrangements were made for Saturday night band concerts for the remainder of the season, to be present- ed near the intersection of Michigan and Genesee avenues and it was de- cided that meetings of the Association wilt be conducted the ‘first Thursday of each inonth, Bay City—More than 5,000 people attended the annual picnic of the Bay City Grocers and - Butchers Associa- tion held last Wednesday at Wenona beach. It was one of the largest crowds in recent years and one of the most successful affairs attempted by the local association in some time, The huge crowd that was on hand for the fete consumed more than 7,000 sand- wiches with the trimmings that- were offered and thirty gallons of coffee. Music was furnished throughout. the August 26, 1931 day, In the annual ball game between the teams representing the East and West side merchants, the Westsiders again went down to defeat, succumb- ing to a 1 to 0 score. However, the West side merchants retained posses- sion of the “Little Brown Jug,’ the award for the winner of the tug-of- war, when they pulled the Eastsiders all over the park. Manufacturing Matters. Lansing—The Michigan Screw Co., 502 South Hosmer street, has changed its name to the Lansing Screw Co. Benton Harbor—The Hogue Tool & Staple Co., Fifth street, has been incorporated with a capital stock of $20,000, all subscribed and paid in. Tekonsha—The Tekonsha Co-opera- tive Co. has taken over the warehouse, a cleaning mill and all stock and equip- ment of the Warwick Feed & Seed Co, Detroit—The Michigan Findings & Leather Co., 2134 Grand River avenue, has been incorporated with a capital stock of $5,000, all subscribed and $1,000 paid in. Lansing—The Liebermann Trunk Co. of Lansing, Inc., 107 South Wash- ington avenue, has been incorporated with a capital stock of $10,000, all sub- scribed and paid in. Grand Rapids—The Grand Rapids Enamel ‘Sign Corporation, 1331 Phillips avenue, has decreased its capital stock from $25,000 preferred and 25,000 shares no par value to 25,000 shares preferred, Detroit—The Humphrey Heater Co., 315 Orleans street, has been incorpo- rated with a capital stock of $15,000 preferred and 25,000 shares no par value, of which $15,000 has been sub- scribed and paid in. 3urr Oak—jJM. N. Kennedy, cus- todian of the Burr Oak Manufacturing 'Co., store fixtures and agricultural implements, has been appointed trus- tee, with orders to dispose of the as- sets and wind up the affairs of the company. Farmington—The Precise Manufac- turing Co., Inc., 15401 West Chicago boulevard, tools, dies, foundry, has ruerged its business into a stock com- pany under the style of the Precise Products Co., with a capital stock of $50,000, $10,000 being subscribed and $3,000 paid in. Midland—The Dow Chemical Co.’s announcement that a large new unit will be added and ready to go into pro- duction in 90 days on Dowmetal is held to augur great expansion of the chemical industry of Midland. Dow- metal, a magnesium alloy, a third light- er than aluminum, will be reduced from 50 cents a pound to 30 cents a pound in carload lots, making it about 10 per cent. below aluminum on a volume basis. Buildings are being torn down on the site of the new structure, which will house a rolling mill, heat treating furnace, a straightening mill and fab- ricating euipment.q It will have about 20,000 square feet of floor space and will be of brick and steel construction. The metal is found in the brine in the Midland neighborhood and President W. H. Dow says it can be produced in any tonnage desired once the new plant is ready, August 26, 1931 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN Essential Features of the Grocery Staples. Sugar—Local jobbers hold cane granulated at 5.45c and beet granu- lated at 5.25c. Tea—Practically the only change in the market during the week has been an advance of as much as 2c per pound in Congous on account of scarcity. The balance of the list has been more or less quiet, the trade of this country waiting to see what is going to hap- pen in primary markets. Consumptive demand for tea is good. Coffee—There has been no special development in coffee since the last report. The market for Rio and Santos futures, green and in a large way, has been more or less irregular with a weak undertone still in evidence. Spot Rio and Santos, however, are just about where they were a week ago. Mild coffees are unchanged for the week. Jobbing market on roasted coffee unchanged and in fair demand. Canned Fruits—California fruits are still irregular, with some canners ready to do business on the basis that existed just .prior to the formal opening. Others are holding fairly steadily at opening prices, with the usual dis- counts. Northwest berries appear to be firm and scarce with the exception of blackberries which have eased con- siderably, ‘Canned Vegetables—Michigan can- ning factories are closing their pack of string beans, the drouth having cut the crop very short. Usually the pack lasts about six weeks, but this season will be about four weeks. Reports from Wisconsin state that the bean and pea crops there have been lost by drought so retailers would better lay in ample supplies before the price ad- vances. There was quite a carry-over of string beans from last year which will help out the visible supply. To- matoes are cheap. Primarily, the rea- son for the decline seems to be the necessity for money. Bank accom- modations have been such that can- ners, with practically no futuré busi- ness on their books, could not get the necessary funds to meet their going expenses, and the result was that price slashing began, Certainly, these prices may seem a little ridiculous some months hence, if unsold stocks get concentrated in hands capable of hold- them. (‘The reduced packs this season, particularly tomatoes, give no reason other than a pressing money shortage at the present time, for the decline, Dried Fruits—The dried fruit mar- ket is without any particular feature this week. Jobbers report a routine business at prices generally unchang- ed, The trade is filling in its require- ments when necessary, but shows no disposition to buy far ahead. New prices on figs, expected from Califor- nia Friday, did not arrive. New Sun- sweet prunes, however, are quoted at about the level asked by packers gen- erally on the 1931 crop. Apricots con- tinue easy, and there is little interest in prunes. Unsettled conditions in Germany are held chiefly responsible for the weakness in prunes and apri- cots, and will not clear until the situa- tion in Germany improves. While the placing of an official ban on exchange for dried fruits was recently lifted in ing that country, the monetary situation is still pretty much upset. A prelim- inary survey of raisin prospects throughout the Mediterranean basin indicates that the total yield of raisins and currants may approach 230,700 short tons, or about 87 per cent. of the 1930 yield. The prospective yield of raisins other than currants will, in all probability, be slightly better than last year, Canned Fish—New prices have been named for new Alaska red salmon slightly under the spot price, Alaska pinks and chums are still very cheap. The pack of i\Maine sardines has begun. Salt Fish—There is a fair demand for mackerel and other salt fish. Stocks are not in every case up to normal and prices are therefore steady almost throughout the list. The demand is for small lots, Cheese—Cheese has had a firm week on account of strong conditions in the West. Receipts are lighter and de- mand _ better. Nuts—The nut market is fairly well maintained here. Unshelled Brazils have firmed up a little and interest is developing in California almonds and walnuts. The shelled group shows little change. Prices have eased some- what ‘in primary markets. Levant fil- berts and Spanish almonds are avail- able at prices somewhat below those existing recently. Importers, however, are interested in cleaning up stocks of shelled nuts still on their hands. While these stocks are light, they are not moving, but any turn in the tide of buying would quickly be reflected on the spot, as some varieties are not be- lieved to be in sufficient supply to meet trade requirements until the new crop is ready for shipment, Rice—Top grades of Blue Rose are well maintained at higher prices, but buying is. restricted to immediate needs, The usual caution which exists just before the new crop is ready for marketing has asserted itself, and buy- ing is expected to be against only im- mediate requirements. A few varie- ties of new crop rice are quoted, among them Lady Wrights and Ediths. Syrup and Molasse$—Sugar syrup is still in light demand with prices steady. Compound syrup shows no feature, demand being quiet and prices steady. Molasses quiet and unchanged. —_~+~+ + __ Review of the Produce Market. Apples—Red Astrachans $1@1.25; Duchess, 50@75c; Strawberries, $1.25 @1.50. The crop of fall and winter apples will be so large the country over that the price is likely to rule very low. Bananas—3%@4c per Ib. Beets—Home grown, 25c per doz. bunches or $1 per bu. Butter—The price is lower than a week ago. Jobbers hold 1 Ib. plain wrapped prints at 28%c and 65 lb. tubs at 27'\4c for extras, ‘Cabbage—85c per bu. Carrots—25c per doz. bunches. Cauliflower—$1.75 for box contain- ing 6@9, Celery—Home grown, cording to size. Celery Cabbage—75c per doz. 30@50c ac- Cocoanuts—80c per doz. or $6 per bag. Cucumbers—No, 1 stock, $1.25 per bu.; dills, 75¢ per bu. Dried Beans—Michigan jobbers are quoting as follows: © H. Pea Beans... $ 3.90 Light Red Kidney ___.._______ 9.50 Park Red Kidney 10.50 Eggs—Fine fresh eggs are still scarce and are eagerly taken as soon as received. Receipts heat conditions represent a large percentage of the receipts and are hard to move. Jobbers are paying 18c this week for strictly fresh offerings. Egg Plant—$1.25@1.75 per doz. Grapes—Seedless from California, $1.55 per crate; Calif. red, $2.70 per crate. showing Green Onions—20c for ‘Silver Skins. Green ‘Peas—$2.25 per bu. for home grown, Green Beans—$1.75 per bu. Honey Dew Melons—$1.50 per crate of 12 to 16. Lettuce—In good demand on _ the following basis: Imperial Valley, 6s, per crate __--$6.00 Imperial Valley, 5s, per crate __-- 6.00 Home grown leaf. per bu. ______ 1.25 Lemons—Present quotations are as follows: S00 Suglist $9.00 SO) Sets 9.00 3600 Red Bal. 8.00 300 Red Bal... 8.00 Limes—$2 per box. Oranges—Fancy Sunkist California Valencias are now sold as follows: 126) $6.00 SO 6.25 6 8 ANG 5 AG 4.75 Oe 4.50 23 4.00 Onions—Michigan, $2.25 per 100 Ibs. for yellow and $2.50 for white. Osage Melons—Michigan stock sells as follows: oe. $1.25 1 x 2 8 1.00 ee 85 Parsley—40c per doz. bunches. Peaches—Elbertas from [ll. and Ind. command $1.25 per bu. Home grown will be in full sway next week. Pears—$2.75 per box for California. Peppers—Green, 40c per doz. for home grown. Pickling Stock—20c per 100 for cukes; $1 per 20 lb. box for white onions, Pieplant—75c per bu. for home grown. Plums — Burbanks $1.75 per bu.; Americans, $1 per bu.; $1.75 per box for California. Potatoes—New 80c per bu. Poultry—Wilson & Company pay as follows: home grown, 75@ Hieauy fowis 250 19¢c Eight fowls 2205 15c BygGhsS 12¢ Geese 12c Spinach—75c per bu. Summer Squash—90c per bu. Tomatoes—Home grown, 65c per % bu. basket. Turnips—60c per grown; $1 per bu. doz. for home Veal Calves — Wilson & Company pay as follows: Raney 04. 104@13c Ged llc Metin 8c Po6r 2. 8c Water Melons—30@40c for stock from Georgia; Mammoth, 60@75c; home grown, $3 per doz. Whortleberries—$3.50 per 16 qt. crate, —_+ +> Michigan Hotel Men To St. Joseph. Completed plans for the Michigan Hotel Association’s annual meeting at St, Joseph and Benton Harbor on Sep- tember 11 and 12 have been approved by President George L. Crocker and M. H. ‘Willis, for Twin Cities hotels, who is chair- man of the convention committee, The program is as follows: Meet at advertising counsellor Thursday, September 10. 8:30 p. m—Meeting of Executive Council, Hotel Whitcomb, St. Joseph. Friday, September 11. $:30 4. Whitcomb. 9 a. m—Official opening of conven- tion, Hotel Whitcomb. 12:30 p. m.—Luncheon for delegates, Hotel Whitcomb. Luncheon for ladies, Hotel Vincent, Benton Harbor. 1:30 p. m.—Second business session of the convention, Hotel ‘Whitcomb. 2 p. m.—Style show for the ladies, followed by a trip to the fruit market and fruit packing plants. 7:30 p. m.—Annual banquet, Hotel Whitcomb, Saturday, September 12. 9 a. m.—Registration, Hotel Vincent, followed by third business session, at the Vincent. Hotel m. — Registration, 12 noon—Luncheon for delegates, Hotel Vincent. Luncheon for ladies, Edgewater Club, St. Joseph. 2:30 p. m.—Golf tournament, Twin Cities Golf ‘Club. 2:30 p. m.—Ride through fruit or- chards and House of golfers, David for non- 4:30 p. m— Beach party for all. Swimming, races, baseball, etc. Edge- water Club. 7:30 p. m—Old-time Rathskeller style dinner with dancing and enter- tainment. Charles Renner, proprietor of the Edgewater Club, host. D. J. O’Connor, manager of the Ho- tel Vincent, will be in charge of the golf tournament, while J. Tupper Townsend, old-time member of the Association, will be host at the affairs scheduled for the Whitcomb, of which he is manager. A. N. Michaelson, manager of the Premier Annex baths, and regional vice-president of the As- sociation, will be general convention chairman. The hotels co-operating in entertaining the Association are the Whitcomb and Edgewater Club in St. Joseph and the Vincent, Premier, Saltzman, and Dwan in ‘Benton Har- bor, —_>- + ___ A great part of all mischief in the world arises from the fact that men do not sufficiently understand their own aims. They undertake to build a tower and spend no more labor on the foundation than would be neces- sary to build a hut. 6 IN THE REALM OF RASCALITY. Questionable Schemes Which Are Under Suspicion. A corporation manufacturing, adver- tising and selling an external treatment for stomach ailments has agreed with the Federal Trade Commission that it will hereafter not represent its treat- ment as a competent remedy for stom- ach troubles or other ailments which do not have their origin in hyperacidity, sour stomach, or flatulence. The com- pany will no longer assert that its treatment is effective for liver, kidney or bowel complaints, or that it: will tone, vitalize, feed or nourish or in any - other manner affect or stimulate the solar plexus. Neither will the com- pany assert that such artificial stimu- lation of the solar plexus will restore the normal functions and activities of the stomach and digestice system. The company will no longer advertise that a sample is free unless it is sent with- out requiring the payment of money for packing, postage, or otherwise, and without requiring the rendering of any service. Signing a stipulation with the Fed- eral Trade Commission, the vendor of a tablet alleged to be a competent treatment for rheumatism, arthritis, neuritis, myalgia and myositis, declared that he would discontinue representing that his preparation may be used with- out ill effect upon the patient. The vendor will also cease asserting in ad- vertising that his medicinal preparation is a competent treatment for the fore- going ailments, unless such represen- tations are qualified to indicate that the preparation is efficacious only where the treatments result from ex- cessive uric acid. He will also dis- continue averring that the preparation has therapeutic value other than its action as a uric acid solvent or as an analgesic or anti pyretic. An advertising agent placing for publication the advertising copy of a vendor of an alleged treatment for arthritis, neuritis and kindred ailments, signed a stipulation with the Federal Trade ‘Commission agreeing to abide by whatever action the Commission takes against the vendor providing the Commission will refrain from making the agent a joint respondent with the advertiser in proceedings, Advertising an alleged remedy for asthma, hay fever, and bronchitis, a vendor signed a stipulation with the Federal Trade Commission admitting that twelve statements published by it were “wholly incorrect in certain re- spects and greatly exaggerated and misleading in others, in that it (the product) is not a cure for asthma, hay fever, or bronchitis, etc.” The vendor agreed by stipulation to cease from representing that its preparation will cure asthma, hay fever, or bronchitis, or will rid the user of those diseases, and that its use will cause lasting re- lief from those three ailments. An advertising agent placed for pub- lication in various periodicals the ad- vertising copy of a company offering employment. This company in fact merely sold a mimeographed list of MICHIGAN various other advertisers offering home work and solicitor jobs, and had no employment itself to offer. The com- pany was charged with making false representations to the public to sell the mimeographed booklet. The adver- tising agent stipulated with the Fed- eral Trade Commission that he would immediately discontinue placing adver- tising copy for publication for this ad- vertiser: and that he would abide by any action taken by the Commission in this case upon the condition that the ‘Commission refrain from joining him with the advertiser if proceedings were prosecuted. ——_> >> _____ Items From the Cloverland of Michi- gan, Sault Ste. Marie, Aug. 25—The tour- ists are still coming in large numbers. The parks around the hotels and the Government park are lined with auto- mobiles from every state in the Union. When walking around the city in the evening you forget that there is any depression. The leading hotels are filled and the visitors must linger longer to get into the dining rooms, but the meals which are served amply repay any one to wait, The hotels are building up an enviable reputation which will go throughout the country and give the future visitors something to look forward to when they make their next visit to our beautiful city. ‘The Canadian Soo held the Canadian fair last week. The admission was cut to 10 cents, which helped swell the at- tendance. The Johnny J. Jones ex- position was the principal feature. The other attractions and exhibits were up to the usual standard. Half the world does not know how the other half lives, but it has its sus- picions. The Upper Peninsula State fair opened August 24 for a solid week of day and night entertainment. They have eight buildings crowded with ex- hibits of all kinds, a daily horse racing program, also the Johnny J. Jones shows. It looks as if we would have the biggest and best year we have ever had. The Ladies Hosiery Repair Co. has opened its new store at 205 Bingham avenue. Modern equipment has been installed and it is now ready to do business. Miss Annie Bruce, of the Canadian Soo, relates that she had the surprise of her life last week. While picking berries she discovered a bear eating berries in the bushes where she was picking berries. She put her hand in the bear’s mouth before she saw what it was. She said that the bear started to run away, so did she. M. Creighton, the well-known merchant at Nebish, was a business visitor last week, taking back a load of supplies. The Horner flooring plant at New- berry, has resumed full time opera- tions, employing sixty men. F. Ennis, the manager, states that the re-open- ing of the plant was for the purpose of stocking up the flooring. He does not know just how long the plant will continue operating. The Steamer Manitou, which went aground last 'Sunday, near Sailors En- campment, is still hard on the rocks and has been turned over to the under- writers. The crew abandoned the boat and left for their homes, most of them to Manistee and some from ‘Chicago. This will end the excursions from Chi- cago each week for this season, With some people the old adage reads: Honesty is the last policy. A movement is under way in Mar- quette to have the clocks of that city set back this coming fall to Central Standard time and it is likely that the request will be granted by the city commission. It is anticipated that other communities in Marquette county as well as the entire peninsula, will TRADESMAN take action to do away with Eastern time during the winter months, at least. The majority of residents of this section no doubt favor the fast time during the summer season and some stipulation should be made, if the clocks are to be set back within the next few months, to return to Eastern time again in the spring, pos- sibly May 1. The advantages of the added hour of daylight during the summer season are many, but there are disadvantages to be encountered during the period of the year when the daylight hours are fewer in number. Even though it was discovered after action had been taken last spring that Eastern time is not mandatory throughout Michigan, there is no rea- son for doing away with the fast time when it is. of great benefit to the peo- ple. William G. Tapert. —__ ++. Selling the Independent Merchant To the Consuming Public. A very dangerous situation faces re- tail merchants who allow themselves to be lulled to sleep by the belief that anti-chain propaganda will cause con- sumers to completely desert the chains and flock to independents for their focd requirements. Some very good work has been done in putting over the idea that independ- ent stores are the places to be pat- ronized, but merchants should not be deluded into thinking that the job has been done. Some merchants seem to think that the anti-chain wave will solve all their problems and all they have to do is to sit and wait for con- sumers to flock to them. This is far from the truth. Retail merchants must continue to work with all the energy and intelligence at their command to place their stores on a sound and economical basis in order to meet competition by merit and not by sentiment. Despite the fact that some consumers have switched to independ- ents who formerly patronized chains on account of their interest in perpet- uating individual initiative, independent grocers can only hope to hold such patronage by proving that they deserve the confidence of such folks. A large number of consumer buyers have shifted their buying from chains to independent grocers through senti- ment, This opens up a glorious op- portunity to prove that independents deserve such loyalty. It would be a grave mistake not to take advantage of such an opportunity. Independent merchants must keep their stores and service in harmony with the ever-changing conditions. They must be alert and on the job in keeping their stores looking bright and modern, The danger lies in making one change to meet present conditions and then setting back and saying, “Now, that this change is made, there is noth- ing more to be done.” ‘Sentiment is one thing and merit is another. Some people are sympathetic for awhile but their sympathy remains only with those who help themselves. By merit alone can independent mer- chants hope to maintain their place in the sun. Propaganda of any sort will only be productive of temporary results. In the ‘final analysis, he who does a job best will be one to do it and one who does the job of retail merchants best is the one who will not be in danger of August 26, 1931 losing consumer confidence.—Shirley Haas in the Kentucky Grocer. EO Stores Delay on Clothing Orders. A tendency on the part of retailers to hold up orders for men’s clothing for Fall has developed recently, and buyers are not expected to enter the market to any large degree until after labor day, Several stores are reported to have issued orders to buyers to keep purchases to a minimum and not to place commitments far in advance. Re- order volume will depend on the man- ner in which preliminary offerings of Fall clothing are received by consum- ers, and from present indications the outlook is not too bright. ‘Hope is be- ing expressed that the merchandising policies of stores, which appear to be veering slightly away from emphasis on prices to stress on quality and style, may have a beneficial effect on sales. —_—_+»++>—__—_ Feature Crockery Flower Pots. New lines of ornamental flower pots and jardinieres are being offered this week by a number of manufacturers of kitchen crockery and other earthen- ware items. The producers have swung into the production of plant and flower receptacles in the hope of ob- taining some of the increased business expected in those lines this Fall. One manufacturer has brought out a line of square flower pots of glazed earth- enware which can be used individually or set on a windowsill in rows of three to form a sectional window box. The flower pots, made up in shades of green, yellow and white, are designed to sell for $1 each or at $2.95 in lots of three. o> Sheet Buyers Await Price Action. Sheets and pillow-case buyers are awaiting word from mills as to what action will be taken on prices for Fall goods, and it is expected that when the current situation is cleared up volume buying on regular and holiday goods will begin. The decline in cotton has led some buyers to think that present lists may be reduced, but it is consid- ered possible that current quotations may be reaffirmed.. Prices are so low now that another cut would be dis- astrous, agents hold. Solid colored and colored border goods in the nov- elty packaging, which mills stressed last year, are expected to have another big season, —__ >. It is in your own interest always to do the best work of which you are capable, since you are then fitting yourself for the better position which surely awaits you. Your employer is just as eager to secure better and more valuable service from you as you are to give it. There is always compensa- tion for work well done, either in ac- tual money or in something just as good as money. Therefore, do. each day’s work as well as you possibly can, constantly aiming to increase your efficiency and to attain the best results, so that at the close of each business day you may know the satisfaction of personal achievement and gain of added power and resourcefulness. It is this spirit which produces the indis- pensable man, the man who is in con- stant demand.—Grenville Kleiser. August 26, 1931 Chains Are the Greatest Menace To Nation. ‘ How does your local newspaper own- er stand with regard to the chain stores? If you want to find out, you might ask him to reprint this piece from a recent issue of the St. Joseph, Missouri, Observer. Chances are, if he uses it in a good, conspicuous place, he is willing to stand up for the home- owned, independent stores. Otherwise —not so good. Quite by accident we got into a conversation several evenings ago upon the chain store subject with several St. Joseph men, one of whom was a former chain store manager, another a local independent merchant, and the third a traveling salesman for a Kan- sas City drug jobber. What they re- lated impressed us so strongly that on coming home we decided to take a few minutes off and write a warning to the men and women of St. Joseph about the obvious evils of the system. Here you are: A real country-wide fight against the chain store and mail order houses is developing and it is likely the evils of the system may project the issue right into the middle of the political ring before long. Bigger and bigger men, and more and more important newspapers are lining up behind the independent mer- chant every day, as the truth of the dire effects of chain stores on the pros- perity of the community and the coun- try becomes increasingly plain. The governors of Louisiana and New York and of other states have openly deplored the effect of the system in their states and assailed it as a great modern evil. Joseph Daniels’ newspaper, The Ra- leigh (North Carolina) News and Ob- server, the leading newspaper of the State, and the Tulsa World, the most influential paper in Oklahoma, after a long study of the situation, have reach- ed the conclusion of economists every- where that the system is the most severe blow that has ever been struck against the American standard of liv- ing, and have come out into the open against them. These systems are everywhere driv- ing wage levels downward and putting thousands of men out of work. The whole structure of American economic life is threatened by their growth, They reduce wages to the most meager pit- tance able to sustain life and pay their managers only the salaries formerly received by good clerks. Everywhere the tendency is to cheapen labor, put men in the ranks of the unemployed and break down the prosperity of the community. It is not that the independent mer- chant alone is injured. If that were the only effect, deplorable as it would be, it would not be alone sufficient to utterly condemn and discredit the sys- tem. But its baneful influence reaches out and deals a blow to everyone in the community. Its lowering of wages in the indus- trial system as well as in the retail business, its elimination of jobbers, its cut-throat methods of doing business, its standardization, press against every- one in the community and ultimately MICHIGAN TRADESMAN react fearfully against the individual consumer who thinks he is going to save money by trading with such in- stitutions. A large portion of the responsibility for the present serious situation of unemployment and business stagnation throughout the country is justly placed upon the shoulders of the chain stores. The men and women they have elim- inated from the ranks of the employed, the huge reduction in the wages earned by workers by reason of their existence, have brought about in large measure the conditions existing to-day. If you, Mr. St. Josephite, and you, Mrs. St. Josephite, will just turn over in your mind what has happened in this city before your very eyes as a result of the increase in the number of chain stores, the truth of what the Observer is saying now, and what the governors of Louisiana and New York, and the Tulsa World and the Raleigh News and Observer have said on the subject, will become “so clear, so shin- ing and so evident” that you cannot escape the meaning and the logic of the facts. You will then fully concur in the opinion that the existence of systems of 1,000 and 5,000 and 10,000- linked chains of stores is the most dis- astrous thing that has happened in the economic life of the Republic since its birth in 1776. The only way in which this evil can be corrected is by withdrawing from them your support. The local inde- pendent merchant should be supported by everyone in the community to the exclusion of institutions run by Eastern corporations for the benefit of their stockholders. Only the locally owned store builds up the community and pro- vides real opportunities in life for the American people. —_—__+~+>—___ Costs, Markets and Methods in Gro- cery Retailing Studies. Standards of grocery store operation to guide merchants towards profitable and successful merchandising are set forth in Part II of the report of the Louisville Grocery Survey made public to-day by the Department of Com- merce under the title “Costs, Markets and Methods in Grocery Retailing.” After a thorough analysis of the op- erations of twenty-six Louisville gro- cery establishments the report says, “Tt is possible for the retail grocer to examine the conditions of good opera- tion which made possible the good showing of the successful stores and to recognize the shortcomings of those stores which sustained losses.” The study shows that less effort with less invested capital will re- sult from the elimination of hard-to- sell items and competing lines in the retail grocery store, and such a survey is in line with the purpose of the De- partment of Commerce to provide the American merchant with information on costs and methods that will aid him in his efforts to secure profitable dis- tribution and waste elimination. This analysis is the result of an in- tensive study of twenty-six grocery stores in the city of Louisville, and the neighboring cities of New Albany and Jeffersonville, Indiana. It was under- taken at the request and with the co- selling operation of the retail merchants in those cities and presents the market and retail cost analysis phases of the Louisville Grocery Survey. General discussions of the consuming habits, purchasing power and population of these cities, together with and suggestions that may be profitably applied to an individual grocery busi- ness, are included in the study. methods The following four factors revealed as having an effect on the retail gro- cery trade were measured as to their influence on turnover, gross margin, net profit and the distribution of store sales among the fifteen commodity de- partments, representing items usually carried in a grocery store: 1. Location of the store in respect to other retail outlets, 2. The average purchasing power of the store’s trading community. 3. The size of the store as measur- ed. in volume of sales, 4. The quality of management. The twenty-six stores so studied are arranged in the report according to their relative sales volume, with a com- plete statement of the conditions of the retail trade territory and commod- ity sales of each. To permit the measurement of the effects of the customer types on com- modity sales, the report shows how the city of Louisville was divided into four distinct classifications, and information is given on the general character, racial background and prejudices of the people of that city. It aims fur- ther to show how this information may be easily secured for any stores trad- ing community and the same applied to an individual retail grocer’s prob- lems. The report also contains a discussion of the functions of daily routine in a retail grocery store such as, the solici- tation of orders, order assembly, deliv- ery, solicitation and collections, and service to carry customer, etc., with a section of the report being devoted to the allocation of expenses to com- modities, giving the procedure in ap- plying the proper proportion of each group to the individual item of stock. In addition, the entire Louisville mar- ket is discussed, and information in- cluded on the per capita food consump- tion, and industrial development of the city, This publication “Costs, Markets, and Methods in Grocery Retailing,” Distribution Cost Study No. 8, Part II of the Louisville Grocery Survey, may be obtained from the Superin- tendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, or any of the branch offices of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce located in the principal cities for the price of 20 cents per copy. Part II of this survey will contain the individual commodity studies undertaken in connection with this survey of grocery stores at Louis- ville. > +. Go forth into the busy world and love it, interest yourself in its life, min- gle kindly with its joys and sorrows, try what you can do for men rather than what you can make them do for you, and you will know what it is to have men yours, better than if you were king or master. Racing Balloons. It is difficult to stir up much real excitement over a balloon race. The elimination contest to determine the American entries for the international James Gordon Bennett race was not a thrilling affair for the bystanding pub- lic. One balloon stayed in the air only thirty-five minutes and traveled twelve The went 215 miles, but took nearly a day to do it. Nor was it much of a race, since the contestants blew away from each other at the outset and landed far apart. There were some thrills in the affair, however, for the contestants. Some were so badly bounced about by thun- der weather that they were bruised and sore at the end of the journey. All of them were bothered by temperamental winds and the threat of balloon, of course, can do nothing but ride the weather, if the pilot can find some weather that is going in the right direction. The muddled meteorological conditions of this muggy month made it impossible to approximate the flight figures of last year’s race, and none of the balloons came remotely in reach of the record. The American record was made in 1910, when a free balloon float- ed 1,170 miles. In 1914 a gas bag made a non-stop flight with passengers from Germany to Siberia, a distance of 1,895 miles. winner storms. A miles. —_2+>—__—_ $10.50 Basis Seen For Swim Suits. The $10.50 range of pure worsted, ribbed suits is expected to be estab- lished generally as the new low basis for the 1932 lines, which will be opened to the trade about the first of Septem- ber, This price was made by two houses during the past season, but most mills maintained the $11 suits as their lowest number. Selling agents have been reticent about prices and it is possible that a sharper reduction may be contemplated, though it is known that mills are not anxious to go the $10.50 level. From the standpoint of volume, the past season was the best ever enjoyed by the in- dustry, but profits were impaired by the sharp competition and reduction in prices. below ee Is Your Imagination Bankrupt? If you ask me for one of the severest indictments you can hurl on an intel- ligent to-day, I would say it is the building of compe- tition on the sheer price. Every time you admit that the only way you can get business is through the cutting of price route, you admit that you have nothing else to offer, being in business basis of nothing else to sell: your imagination is bankrupt; there is nothing to you ecxept a willingness to work for day wages. Alfred P, Haake. >> New Sausage Made of Fish Now on Market. A new product in the sausage line— fish sauwsage—is now being made by Pacific Coast packers. It is made of salmon, catfish and other fish products, ground, kippered or smoked, and stuffed into casings. It is made in various sizes, may be eaten either raw er cooked, and is said to keep as well as meat sausage. ackers of the new product expect it to increase consumption of fish. VACILLATING POLICIES. In the relief program for next Win- ter, finally undertaken by the admin- istration in an effort to sidetrack un- employment insurance or similar legis- lation in Congress, there is a rather marked contrast to the action taken on the German crisis which may not es- cape even the average citizen. Atten- tion is called to it because similar con- tradictions in policies have had a highly unsettling effect on business in many ways. Announcement of the international debt holiday meant postponement of some $252,000,000 in receipts for this Government which will have to be made up by taxation in view of the large deficit. All the people will be taxed, in short, to relieve the strain upon banking and private investments in Germany. On the other hand, the administra- tion that unemployment relief must come from private and not Na- tional sources although, of course, if even the greatly criticized English sys- tem of unemployment insurance was adopted the Government would be pay- ing into the fund only 25 per cent. of the total, with employers and workers contributing the remainder for the “dole.” The tariff, the Farm Board opera- tions, the anti-trust laws, the trade practice codes, the unemployment bills of Senator Wagner, the Wickersham report and numerous other matters have been subject to similar contradic- tions, inconsistencies and _ vacillation which even the unsettled state of busi- ness conditions cannot condone in the eyes of many observers. As many business men see it, Pres- ident Hoover cannot be blamed for the depression except insofar as he failed to raise his voice in the previous ad- ministration against the encourage- ment of inflation, but there is proper ground for criticism, it is believed, against the vacillating and contradic- tory policies which have intensified difficult conditions. rules ICE TWO MILES DEEP. Greenland is an immense but appar- ently useless country. Lately, how- ever, it has attracted the world’s at- tention because of its possible signif- icance to the air transportation of the future. There have been disputes over ownership and the right to establish way stations for air traffic on its shores. Science also is interested in this great area. For Greenland is still in the grip of the glacial age and specu- lation wants to know whether it will slowly be released and become habit- able. At present it offers few attrac- tions. High mountains and ice make up most of the country, although it is said that stretches of shore well cov- ered with vegetation gave the place its name. Experiments by German scientists have made interesting discoveries in regard to the probable contours of Greenland. It is believed that the land is rimmed around with mountains, some of them 7,000 feet high, but that its center is a deep bowl filled with solid ice. Artificial earthquakes were MICHIGAN TRADESMAN created in this ice by blasting, and measurements taken of the ‘‘echo” from the solid rock beneath. The results in- dicate that the ice in the bowl is in some places 8,850 feet thick, with a minimum depth of 3,280 feet. The tests were made far inland and repeat- edly checked and compared. The ice is thought to be slowly melt- ing and science wonders what will hap- pen if it disappears in time entirely. The probability is that the removal of such a huge weight will change the whole shape of Greenland. The cen- tral plain may rise under the effect of subterranean pressures and Greenland may become a land of infinite possi- bilities. This development will take ages, but it may very well happen that in some distant time a great nation will be living where the ice is now near- ly two miles deep above the crushed rocks of a small continent. FALL RETAIL OPERATIONS. The Fall operations of retail stores so far have been marked by great cau- tion. Three factors have been upper- most: namely, the progress of trade itself, the course of prices and the trend of styles. These influences have acted up to this point to restrict orders, although as a general thing it is believ- ed that merchandise stocks both in the stores and in the hands of manufac- turers are low and would ordinarily mean more liberal purchasing. Trade itself has recently shown a slackening trend and naturally raised doubts about the future. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate to point out that some of this slackening is accounted for by seasonal and weather conditions and that part of it may also be put down to a temporary saturation of de- ‘mand, since the stores have been mov- ing a greater volume of merchandise units for months. Where styles are concerned there was a period of uncertainty in the apparel lines while Paris showed its new modes. But it soon became ap- some parent that there were no major chang- es which had not been anticipated by producers here. The style question, therefore, has now become pretty well settled and the Fall fashions are rated highly from the standpoint of stimulat- ing demand. There is, then, only the matter of prices to be considered, and the thought among not a few progressive execu- tives is that price emphasis has been overdone. The policy which receives their highest favor is to test the new merchandise very carefully with con- sumer demand and then confine their purchases to the best-selling articles, guarding quality to a large extent and paying less attention to squeezing down prices or jacking up discounts. WAR DEBTS TO BE REVISED. Another wave of bank failures and the organization of a relief board for next Winter were developments of the week which were not calculated to im- prove business sentiment much. They seemed to offset, in fact, the Wiggin agreement of bankers on German cred- its, and perhaps because the latter was quite generally accepted merely as a stop-gap, since it passed along to statesmen again the task of preparing the way for long-term financing. This report made clear, however, that in the end another revision of German reparations must be made. It is not unlikely that, once public opinion has been well sounded out, the war obligations of Germany and other countries may be reduced to a parity with present price levels. This would mean a cut of about 40 per cent., which represents approximately the decline in commodity prices since the war. Tf this reduction might be -coupled with general disarmament and all- round tariff reductions the way would be cleared, it is believed, not only for taxation relief and security but also for the free play of commerce, which has been choked up by artificial restraints and barriers. In a business way the week furnish- ed little progress one way or the other, although the weekly index is a shade higher. Commodity prices were per- haps a little firmer, on the whole. However, the recent activity in con- sumer goods slowed down a little and emphasis upon price is stronger than ever, with orders for Fall being de- layed in consequence. PORTRAITS ON STAMPS. Next year the Post Office Depart- ment will celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of the first President by is- suing a dozen new stamps of consid- erable historical and artistic interest. They will all be portrait stamps of George Washington. carefully copied from famous paintings, miniatures and statues. It has taken two months to prepare the dies, which are cut by hand on steel, with the aid of diamond- pointed gravers and magnifying glasses. Collectors of stamps will eagerly await the new issue, although they sometimes complain that the United States pub- lishes more than its share of commem- orative stamps. But* the public also will find it interesting to study these tiny portraits, each representing the work of a skilled artist and all of them copied from pictures done in the eighteenth century. From their com- bined testimony it should be possible to gain an impression of Washington which may modify somewhat the im- pression gained from the familiar two- cent stamp or the popular portrait by Stuart. DRY GOODS CONDITIONS. Some further slackening in retail trade is reported this week and it is ascribed to the usual reduction in ac- tivity which comes as the Summer selling season merges into early Fall business. Conflicting reports continue to be heard concerning results on August promotions. Apparently, the apparel sales have done best on special values where low prices were featured and home furnishing sales have receiv- ed most action on specific rather than horizontal offerings. The leading mail-order chain system reported sales for the period from July 17 to August 13 at 6.2 per cent. below their total for the’ same period last year. The decrease from Jan. 2 has been 6.8 per cent. Department stores are understood to have run somewhat below the July decrease from a year August 26, 1931 ago in their operations for the first half of this month. The decline in July’ was 7 per cent. Earlier prospects of better compari- cons with a year ago have been dim- med recently for two reasons. One is the failure of the general business sit- uation to show much improvement and the other is that from September on last year there was the special attrac- tion of reduced prices. Lower prices, it is pointed out, have lost their novel- ty and therefore some of the pulling power which they enjoyed last Fall. Operations in the wholesale mer- chandise market last week were some- what more active, but even at this date there is still noted a buying tendency toward sales goods rather than regular lines in some fields. For the last three weeks the number of buyers on hand has been close to last year’s total and yet wholesale volume is probably less. WELL MAINTAINED. Although the foreign trade figures for July, which were issued during the week by the Department of Com- merce, disclosed large reductions in both and imports from the same month last year, the trend on a seasonal basios was rather favorable. Thus, exports were reduced in value on a daily average basis 5.4 per cent. from those in June, while the seasonal decline is usually 5.3 per cent. In the case of imports, there was a small rise, since the July daily average declined only 2.4 per cent. under the June av- erage when the seasonal decrease is normally 3.2 per cent. Adjusted for this seasonal variation, the decline in exports has been flat- tening out in recent months and, since the price factor is not taken into ac- count, physical volume must be grow- ing. The curve for imports on a seas- onal basis has climbed upward this year with only decline. exports one brief period of The actual comparisons with a year ago pointed to a drop in exports of 31% per cent., the total for July falling to $183,000,000.. Imports were valued at $175,000,000 and declined in value some 21 per cent. from those in July, 1930. The favorable balance was, therefore, $8,000,000, bringing this total for the seven months of this year to $216,866,000, as against a similar credit last year in the same period of $385,- 935,000. It was no doubt too early last month for the full effect of the German crisis to be reflected in the foreign trade returns and it is expected that for several months longer the figures may prove far from satisfactory. ee After many years the Retail Mer- chants Association of Pennsylvania has abandoned the so-called Pennsyl- vania Plan, a buying organization which has been in use by the retail grocers of that State for about twenty years. At the thirty-fifth annual con- vention, held at Erie, Aug. 10, it was reported that the Pennsylvania Grocer, published by the organization, has been issued at a loss of $235 per month. On this showing the so-called official organ was ordered discontinued at once and the Pennsylvania Plan elim- inated. August 26, 1931 OUT AROUND. Things Seen and Heard on a Week End Trip. Our first call on our last Out Around was at the Getz farm, where we were fortunate in finding the genial philanthropist who dispels the cares and troubles of the people by the dis- play of rare animals and beautiful sur- roundings in his favorite seat near the entrance to the menagerie. | was sorry to have him tell me that this is the last season Getz farm will be open to the public under his auspices. He feels that he has done his full duty to the public by furnishing them with unique entertainment during the past twenty years—in which thought every- one will agree with him—and because the cost of such effort on his part means the expenditure of somewhere from $75,000 to $100,000 per year, he has offered the entire property to the State for 40 per cent. of the invest- ment he has in it. He says that his books show that he has expended $1,- 500,000 in creating the farm—not in- cluding the annual maintenance cost— but he is willing to sell it to the State for $625,000, payable in small amounts covering a period of twenty years, The last Legislature appointed a committee of five to investigate and report on the matter—two from the Senate, two from the House and one from the Conser- vation Department. These gentlemen were his guests Aug. 15 and 16. The last date was Sunday, on which day 56,000 people visited the farm. He thinks the farm can be adequately maintained by charging an admission fee—25 cents for adults and 10 cents for children—and that the amount thus secured each summer would be suffi- cient to add materially to the animal population and floral display each sea- son. It is to be hoped that the report of the committee will be favorable and that the subsequent action of the Leg- islature will also be favorable, because the closing of Getz farm would be a decided loss to the people of ‘Michigan. Even though the Legislature refuses to accept the offer made by Mr. Getz, his name and the beautiful things he has done for the people—at no cost to them—will live forever in the minds and hearts of those who have been en- tertained by him in such a prodigal manner for so many years. During the discussion with Mr. Getz, Major Heath joined the com- pany on his way to call on Hon. Wm. Alden Smith, who occupies a cottage on the Getz farm every summer. Major Heath remarked that, as manager in charge of the construction of Govern- ment buildings he has $700,000,000 worth of building on his hands. He said he had seen the plans for the ad- dition to the Government building in Grand Rapids and that he was sure our local people would be more than pleas- ed with the appearance and utility of the addition. When one considers how many op- portunities present day millionaires have to serve the public, as Mr. Getz has done, and how few avail them- selves of the opportunity to share the blessings of wealth with their less for- tunate brothers, I cannot help feeling MICHIGAN TRADESMAN that some great public testimonial should be accorded ‘Mr. Getz as an ex- pression of gratitude he should receive for expending millions of dollars in entertaining the public, without the ex- penditure of a penny on their part. William K. Kellogg, the Battle Creek millionaire—whose possessions are now approaching the hundred mil- lion dollar line—has recently under- taken to scatter a portion of his vast fortune among the people through the means of well-intended foundations and the presentation of his wonderful Gull Lake property to the people for a ‘bird sanctuary. I hope he de- rives as much happiness from the new methods he has adopted to divide his vast fortune with the people as Mr. Gets has received from the administra- tion of Getz farm. The anniversary dinner and. recep- tion given Frederick .C, Beard on the occasion of his 80th birthday last Fri- day evening at the family home on Gladstone avenue proved to be a very happy occasion and reflected much credit on the managerial ability of the daughter-in-law, who has presided over the home of the veteran grocer ever since the death of her husband. Mr. Beard’s brother merchants and busi- ness men in the East end presented him with a basket of eighty red roses in token of their esteem. The donors had arranged to give their honored brother a ‘banquet at the East Congre- gational church, but the daughter had already issued invitations to personal friends, mostly of long standing, and, of course, declined to cancel her prior plans for the larger undertaking. No one was asked to eulogize the genial grocer, but if I had been requested to say a few words on the subject, I think I would have talked about as follows: Fred Beard is pre-eminently a cour- ageous man. Fear has no place in his heart. He is always glad to listen patiently to everything and everybody. Nevertheless he forms his own opin- ions and rigidly adheres to them, re- gardless of personal popularity. He dares to stand by his convictions. Whatever mistakes he makes are his own and he always accepts responsi- bility for them. Fred Beard is an honest man, honest in his thoughts and honest in _ his deeds. I know him as few other men could ever know him, and J never knew him to swerve from the highest standards of duty and integrity; never knew him to do a low, mean thing in all my fifty-eight years’ association with him. Fred Beard is an intelligent man. His wisdom has been principally learned in the school of hard knocks, that region above all others where men are men and not something less. His mind is full of progressive ideas and he is phenomenally successful in co- operatively making them realities, He spends no time in boasting of what he is going to do; he is satisfied in get- ting things done, leaving others to praise or blame. Fred Beard is unique in his human qualities. Everybody who knows him loves him ‘because he himself is lov- able. Nobody ever appealed to him for help in vain. ‘The sick, the poor, the unlucky and friendless are blessed by his benefactions. In early life he learned that the coin of this realm can- not be legal tender in any other world. He made a fortune during his mercan- tile career in Morley and has used it freely and discriminatingly to assist his friends. Some say that a man who does that is a fool. If that be so, he is one of God’s fools. The charm of Fred Beard’s life is his kindness—kindness in his home, kindness to those who have business relations with him, kindness in public, kindness to those in joy, kindness to those in grief—there are no boundaries to his kindness. All colors, races, creeds and conditions know his kindly spirit. ‘Catholic and Protestant, Jew and Gentile, churched and unchurched, black and white, young and old, chest- nut vender and merchant, bootblack and banker, junk-dealer and profes- sional man—all have a place in his in- clusive heart. It cannot be otherwise, for his favorite sentiment is So many gods, so many creeds, So many ways that wind and wind, When just the art of being kind Is all this old world needs. Fred Beard was a good son, a good husband and a good father. He is a good citizen, a good neighbor and a good merchant. He does not have to die in order to live forever in our esti- mation of his many admirable quali- ties. The knowledge of his good deeds is already embalmed in our hearts and will be enshrined there forever. If I should be asked to write an in- scription on his monument when his Maker finally calls him to go hence I could do it in three lines— He could fight without anger Triumph without vanity Lose without bitterness, Among those present at the gather- ing who have known Mr, Beard many was a Methodist clergyman from Flint, now 87 years old, who was his playmate in England more than years sixty years ago. The writer has known—and loved—Mr. Beard for fifty-eight years. We had four very happy days at Lamont last week, owing to the pres- ence of Paul Findlay and his estimable wife, who has cheered and encouraged her consort forty-two years. Mr. Findlay was born in Glasgow in 1866 and was brought to this country by his parents when he was two years old. They settled in or near Madison, Wis., where the father engaged in the gro- cery business. After a back set which resulted from the inflation period which followed the civil war, succeeded by a deflation period from 1873 to 1877, such as we are now experiencing, he achieved marked success in the gro- cery business, which was continued by Mr. Findlay after the death of the father. He subsequently disposed of the store and moved to California, where he has resided for the past twenty years. He originally located at Pasadena, but now lives in San Fran- cisco, where he occupies a pent house on top of a brick block he owns on one of the principal business streets. He was identified for many years with the sales department of one of the great citrus fruit corporations doing business on the coast. For about a year he served the National League of Com- mission Merchants in the sales exten- sion department, voluntarily retiring from that position to make a personal inspection tour of mercantile condi- tions in Europe, from which he return- ed to this country about ten days ago. As the result of his investigations and conclusions, the readers of his depart- ment in the Tradesman will be able to form conclusions of their own as to how things are going on the other side of the Atlantic, 9 I have had the pleasure of entertain- ing many gifted men in my day, but I have never had a guest who comes nearer the ideal of an “all round man” than Mr. Findlay. His long and varied experience in mercantile lines, his wide travels, his contact with men of all na- tions and the alertness and thorough- ness with which he picks up and stores away valuable information for future use for the edification of his friends places him in a class by himself. I feel very thankful that my contact with him enables me to present to the read- ers of the Tradesman each week the most advanced ideas concerning the fruit, produce and grocery business it is possible to obtain in this world. He is the apostle of right thinking, right acting, right living, liberal dealing and generous statement in all that the word implies. I wish we could all see and hear more of him and read more of his writings. We could not fail to profit by his precept and example. Mr. and Mrs. Findlay go back to San Francisco after an absence of several years, residing in Marysville, Calif., and Washington, D. C., and will take up their residence in the pent house erected by them several years ago. They have lived together as husband and wife for forty-two years and their union presents a beautiful example of marital harmony and mutual under- standing and accomplishment. That there are hundreds of thou- sands of women at work in various vocations, supporting themselves and sometimes supporting others, is ob- Nowadays very many, perhaps most young women, seek and secure remunerative employment, hopefully awaiting the matrimonial moment when they may be released from daily toil and promoted to the proud posi- tion of presiding over a home of their own. The generally entertained opin- ion is that when a woman marries it is from that moment the business of her husband to support her, although there are a good many who marry and keep right on working as before. Mrs. Carrie Chapman 'Catt was asked some time ago whether she thought it right for a woman to earn money after mar- riage except when it was an absolute and unavoidable necessity, such as might arise if the husband were sick. She answered in this fashion: “Tf she hasn’t any children and not enough home duties to occupy her, I do. [ think the woman who sits idly in a boarding house or furnished room is an indolent creature and a parasite; but any wife who is so fortunate as to have a child has no one but her- self to blame if the child runs wild or goes to the devil while the mother absents herself from the home where she belongs and where she ought to be proud to remain so long as the hus- band and father is able and willing to support her. Furthermore, [ have never seen a husband grow cold and indifferent where the wife did her part in a wifely manner. There may be husbands who shave gone wrong through pure love of wrongdoing, but close observation and experience, cov- ering a period of forty years, have led me to believe that when the wife re- mains at home as a wife should and vious, 10 lives within her allowance, making no purchases without the approval of the husband, arranging the house and her own apparel so as to meet his appro- bation, the husband invariably re- sponds to such efforts on the part of the wife and rewards them with the best he has to offer. Frankly speaking, I cannot blame a man for seeking more congenial companions where the wife is a spendthrift, a sloven or is not at home to properly greet him when he returns from his work. The woman who insists on being with her husband during his working hours, tagging his footsteps, interrupting his interviews with customers by injecting the social side of life into business transactions and insisting on knowing the names and occupations of his callers not only makes herself ridiculous in the eyes of her friends, but creates an atmos- phere of discontent and distrust which necessarily results to the disadvantage of all concerned.” There is a good deal of sense in what Mrs. Catt says. Anybody is happier for having some useful em- ployment and working at it a good share of the time. There is precious little happiness to be had in idleness. Those unmarried women who have to work for their own maintenance, as a rule, are very pronounced, not to-say severe, in their criticisms of married women who retain their positions as stenographers, book-keepers, teachers, etc., because they say thereby they are depressing the labor market and keeping other and more dependent women out of work. This is some- thing which each individual must settle without the aid of anyone else. Prob- ably in most cases it is a great deal better for married people to keep house and then the woman has her household and her family cares to occupy her mind and attention. The point that Mrs. Catt, the advocate and apostle of woman’s rights, makes, that idleness is never defensible, is certainly a good one, Unfortunately there are women who neglect their homes and their children and shirk the duties and responsibili- ties of wifehood and motherhood for the sake of being “downtown where things are going on.” Such women are more to be pitied than condemned, because they are either insane or morally depraved. ‘The husband has both a legal and moral right to deter- mine where the wife shall live and un- der what conditions she shall be main- tained and any married man who is able and willing to support his wife at home in a manner in keeping with her environment and station in life ought to insist on her doing her full duty as housewife and homemaker, instead of usurping the place that would other- wise be occupied by some one who needs the money to provide the neces- sities of life. Of course, there are exceptions to all general rules, where a husband has been incapacitated by blindness or deafness, or his temper has been sour- ed by illness, injury, financial loss or betrayal of friendship. In such cases an alert and energetic wife can step into the breach and be of great assist- MICHIGAN TRADESMAN ance in keeping a business intact, in acting as a buffer for her husband by rendering it unnecessary for him to meet people who have no proper call on his time and energy. Such cases are rare, of course, but they do occur occasionally and serve to illustrate the assistance a woman with a keen mind and the possession of exceptional dis- cernment can be under certain circum- stances, The good people of Coopersville owe it to themselves to locate and abolish the bad odor which prevails in the vicinity of the goose pond just South of town om US16. The sooner this nuisance is terminated the more people will think of ‘Coopersville, I am in receipt of a brief letter from Fred D. Keister, stating that he has sold the Ionia County News to East- ern ‘Michigan parties—that possession will be given Sept. 1—only that and nothing more, so I have no idea who is succeeding him, or what plans, if any, he has for the future. I hope he received a good price for his publica- tion because he has worked very hard to build it up to its present high stand- ard and deserves a rich reward for his tireless efforts to make the paper what it is conceded by all to be—one of the very best county weeklies in Michigan. It is not very many years since the National Editorial Association pro- nounced it the most praiseworthy county seat publication in the United States. No one can acquire such a reputation and attain such popularity without working very hard over a long series of years. Notwithstanding the impaired health which came as the result of per- sistent effort of the most painstaking character, Mr. Keister managed to re- tain enough vitality to give the impress of his strong personality on every is- sue of the paper, even when he was under the care of doctors and nurses in a hospital a hundred miles away from home. Any man who can do this deserves the success which has come in such ample measure to the man who put Ionia county on the map in every newspaper office in America, EF. A. Stowe. —__»+<+__— Small Town Merchants Are Modern- izing. Just what is the extent of the ten- dency of small-town folks to buy goods “out of town?” Julius Klein tells about a “business clinic’? on this matter conducted re- cently by an expert employed by the ‘chamber of commerce in a small Illi- nois town of about 3,000 people. The facts revealed there coincide closely with those found in an analysis of the same problem of small town business in New England. In digging up ‘the facts about out-of- town buying, the investigators did not generalize or guess; they went to every house in the place and asked questions —which were answered frankly, And here is what the survey developed: Only 6 or 7 per cent. of the drugs and groceries were purchased out of town; here we see the element of immediate need operating; people are apt to want groceries and medicines in a hurry, and they buy them at a nearby store, When we come to hardware and “houseware” we encounter a sharp rise in the per- centage—16.5 for hardware and 15.3 for the miscellaneous utensils. Meats —rather surprisingly —show a percent- age of nearly 23 purchased out of town. More than a quarter of the furniture for the homes in this small town came from the nearby cities. There is another sharp rise when we come to dry goods—the percentage shooting up to nearly 39 per cent. Exactly half of the shoes and jewelry were purchased out of town. When we come to ready-to-wear clothing, we strike the highest percentage of all —nearly 56 per cent. being purchased outside the corporate limits of this village. Evidently the higher the cost of commodity per unit the wider the shopping effort. Five reasons were given that im- pelled ithe people of this typical small town to go elsewhere to buy merchan- dise: The bigger out-of-town stores were asserted to have a better selection of merchandise, better prices, more modern equipment and arrangement, and better trained, more courteous salespeople—and, besides ithese busi- ness elements, the people who were questioned admitted the attraction of the amusements and recreation facili- ties that the nearby cities offered. Just what fault do people ‘find with the small town stores? As revealed by the survey in New England, the purpose of which was to help the small town merchants correct their difficul- ties, here are some of the allegations: A “lack of style goods,’ a lack of variety and sizes is the criticism voiced most often. Some people charge that local stores are apt to have a two- price policy—and they do not like to haggle. Others say that local stock is likely to be dusty or soiled, and there is objection to the frequent phrase, “We're just out of that.” A comment often encountered is that it is hard to get real up-to-the-minute novelties at the small town store. Fault is found with local store lighting and window dressing. Lack of dignity in stock arrangement is one of the things censured, These criticisms do not apply to all small town stores. Far from it, Thou- sands of such stores are thoroughly progressive, well-arranged, handsome, and efficient. There is a splendid spirit of enter- prise in varied manifestations in small towns throughout the Nation. The American small town is not going to quit or “take punishment lying down.” One of our Washington humorists who sometimes expresses his shrewd wis- dom through the character of an old colored “uncle” made this Uncle Eben say, the other day, ““Whenever you see a quitter, you’s liable to see a man dat was’n’ much of a beginner in de fust place.’ But American citizens of the small town are just the reverse of that. They were valiant, dauntless beginners and will prove to be very sturdy stayers. They are coming to realize that one of the secrets of restoring small town business, where it has shown signs of decadence, is to be found in a brisk, resolute modernization program for the stores, the introduction of more August 26, 1931 rigid efficiency along lines described ‘n our Commerce Department bulletins —remodeling or even transformation of equipment and arrangements, the installing of stock-control systems, the careful training of salespeople, co- operative advertising, chamber of com- merce activity, the creation or arousal of keener civic consciousness, Obviously, one of the most potent weapons available to the small town merchants is the trade developing power of advertising media, Certainly, intelligently guided publicity and con- sistently vigorous local advertising, es- pecially in these days of consumer timidity, represent outstanding means at the command of the smaller com- munity merchant for arousing greater interest in his goods and attracting customers to his door. Look at one example of what can be done in the small town merchandising field. Moved by the striking results of the recent Grocery Survey in Louis- ville, Kentucky, every single retail merchant in one small town in that state carried out an extremely thor- ough modernization of his store. With what result? There has been, ever since, a very substantial increase in the combined net business of all the town’s stores. They have created new business and new profits. Other small towns can do the same through ener- getic and adroit action, —_—_e~+—+—__ What a Difference Fifty Years Make. 1881 Fifty years ago women wore hoop- skirts, bustles, petticoats, corsets, cot- ton high buttoned shoes, ruffled cotton drawers, flannel night gowns, puffs in their hair, did their own cooking, baking, cleaning, wash- ing, ironing, raised big families, went to church Sunday and were too busy to be sick. Men wore whiskers, square hats, ascot ties, red flannel underwear, big watches and chains, chopped wood for stoves, bathed once a week, drank 10 cent whisky and 5 cent beer, rode bicycles, buggies or sleighs, went in for politics, worked twelve hours a day and lived to a ripe old age. Stores burned coal-oil lamps, carried every- thing from a needle to a plow, trusted everybody, never took an inventory, placed orders for goods a year in ad- vance and always made money. 1931 To-day women wear silk stockings, short skirts, low shoes, no corsets, an ounce of underwear, have bobbed hair, smoke, paint and powder, drink cock- tails, play bridge, drive cars, have pet dogs and go in for politics. Men have high blood pressure, wear no hats and some no hair, shave their whiskers, shoot golf, bathe twice a day, drink poison, play the market, ride in air- planes, never go to bed the same day they get up, are misunderstood at home, work five hours a day, play ten, die young. Stores have electric light, trust nobody, take inventory daily, never buy in advance, have over- head, mark-up, mark-down, quota, budget advertising, stock control, an- nual and semi-annual sales, dollar day, founders day, rummage, economy day sales, and never make any money. stockings, ——_~+~-~.___ _ Wanted: a furnished room for a single gentleman looking both ways and well ventilated. August 26, 1931 COURAGE OF CONSERVATISM. Sound Banking Stands in Periods of Economic Stress. That the last two decades have wit- nessed extraordinary actions and re- actions in the affairs of trade and of finance, both national and internation- al, no one will dispute; that trade and commerce are largely dependent on financial policy and operation as the means of exchange of resources and labor of men is a recognized fact. The question may properly be asked, there- fore, whether finance has kept pace with the changing conditions and whether its leaders have proved ade- quate in their comprehension and adaptation of policies and practices. It may be observed that this period has experienced substantial develop- bent in the systems of banking. In most cases the great central banks under governmental supervision have strengthened their power and influ- ence and, in these later years, have made marked progress in co-operation in handling world problems. The Bank for International Settlements al- ready has become a very considerable factor in world finance as a clearing house of payment and exchange and of ideas and opinions. Jt can reason- ably be expected that this agency will have an increasingly important place in the international financial situation. In the United ‘States, the establish- ment of a central banking system un- der the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 has given us perhaps the most scien- tifically conceived banking system of all time and one which proved ade- quate to handle the extraordinary emergency demands which it encoun- tered almost immediately after its in- ception, One scarcely can consider with equanimity what might have happened in those circumstances under inadequate banking system which the Federal Re- serve System supplanted. During its short history it has had to cope con- tinuously with the unusual problems of the war and post-war periods, and its record has amply justified its con- ception and operation. It could not be expected that this new agency could have been administered during this trying period wholly without errors of judgment, but the system as a “sys- tem” has fully proved itself, and the policies of its administration are in- creasingly intelligent and sound. Out of the exigencies of the war period there grew other governmental agen- cies of credit, such as the War Finance Corporation, the Federal Land Banks, the Joint Stock Land Banks, and the Intermediate Credit Banks. The tendency toward concentration of financial power in great banking units by merger or otherwise; the in- creased scope of banking service; the unprecedented growth of investment banking, and the popular demand for the securities which it has to offer; the enlargement of international banking relations and connections; the marked development of chain, group, and branch banking—all these are evidenc- es of the efforts of the banking system to meet the needs of new and changing conditions. New agencies of credit direct to the consumer, as evidenced by the great development of the so-called finance MICHIGAN TRADESMAN companies, have signified in a large way the growth of a new phase of credit “ accommodation. ‘Heretofore, credit agencies have served primarily the producer, the manufacturer and the merchant, ‘but the finance corporations’ service is in the nature of direct credit to the consumer, In our country, the revolutionary changes in this period, which have turned the United States from a debtor to a great creditor nation and which have caused a flow of gold into our vaults to such an extent that the United States now has approximately 40 per cent. of the world gold supply, have thrust upon us entirely new prob- lems and international obligations and responsibilities. These have called not only for an entire re-organization of our banking and credit system and its policies and administration, but have put an extraordinary strain on the qualities of its leadership. Notwithstanding these developments in the banking and credit system (but intimately connected with the events which have made such development necessary) we have experienced with- in the last ten years an unprecedented number of bank failures. It is true that most of them have been of small banks and in small towns and that, in many cases, the failure of the bank has resulted from what amounted to a failure of the community which it served. This may have been occasion- ed by a one crop or one industry col- lapse. Nevertheless, most of these bank failures have come from either frozen or greatly depreciated assets, and these assets usually have accumu- lated from loans originally based on what have proved to be false bases of valuations. The predominant cause of our pe- riodic depressions seems to have been an undue and unwarranted activity in production and in price advances based on over-optimism supported by too easy credit. This is an inflation which arises from an_ erroneous sense of values and is possible only as credits are granted based on false market values instead of sound values. The banking system as a system cannot determine values or distinguish between the false and the real in values; that is a matter for the in- telligence and the sound judgment of its administration. That judgment must be ‘based on a view not circum- scribed by the four walls of one bank or localized by the apparent conditions or circumstances in one community. It must rest on a conception that is far reaching and an intelligence that comprehends broad economic funda- mentals. It is probable that the average banker looks upon economics as aca- demic theory, useful as such but not applicable to the practicalities of the banking ‘business. The economist con- cerns himself with the ‘broad social aspect of commerce and finance rather than with its administration, and with- out the benefit of individual human contacts in his study. The banker, on the other hand, has primarily human relationships and often only so much of economics as he gets through the channels of practical experience. But commerce and finance cannot exist except in and with a distinct bearing on the social order, on the world of human beings and their labors and needs. Again, the social order is at once the source and the consequence of the political system. Hence the al- liance and dependence of these three each upon the other, the economic sys- tem, the social order, and the political and governing system. My point is that we have come upon a time in this country where the mere business of banking is inadequate and where its proper administration de- mands the intelligence, and broad vision which we are accustomed to associate with the best that there is in the professions. Out of barter, the exchange of goods for goods, grew the use of precious metals as the medium of exchange and value. The technicali- ties incident to handling such a me- dium as money or currency were pure- ly a business and mechanical operation. Similarly, the receiving of deposits, the transfer of moneys in exchange op- erations, the mere methods of opera- tion and organization and even, to some extent, the granting of short- time credits to customers are more or less mechanical and have to do with the business of banking. training 3ut as credit operations have almost entirely supplanted the use of currency in the world’s trade and commerce and as such credit operations should be based on sound values rather than on artificial market values, is it not true that a proper sense of such values can be approximated only by minds train- ed and experienced not merely in the mechanics of banking, but in funda- mental economics as well? This en- tails a knowledge of the basic principles of values and a vision of world condi- tions embracing social and political ele- ments. During the great stock market in- flation in 1928 and 1929, the bankers in the metropolitan centers, who were the principal lenders to stock brokers, established arbitrary loan values on in- dividual stocks. These loaning values were in most cases substantially be- low the market prices and were based on what was regarded as more nearly their sound values than on the prices reflected in the wildly speculative mar- kets. When the collapse came in the fall of 1929, the situation even then was difficult enough to meet, but if bankers’ loans to brokers and the re- sulting brokers’ margins to their cus- tomers had been based on market prices instead of on the arbitrary val- ues established, the situation probably would have been accompanied by an entire collapse of our stock marketing system and its administering institu- tions, ‘Similarly, if the country bankers in the rural districts and the bankers in the cities who loaned largely on real estate, had based ther credits of previous years on sound values of the real estate instead of the purely specu- lative market prices which were pre- vailing and which could not be justi- fied from the standpoint of earning power under normal conditions, much trouble would have been avoided and great loss would have been eliminated. There were bankers in cities who, through training and experience and sound economic judgment, were not carried away by the speculative frenzy, and there were bankers in the rural 11 communities who had sufficient sense of values to prevent their extending credits on a false basis, and their banks have come through the storm in sound condition. These men had something more than a knowledge of mechanical banking, and in such times of specu- lative inflation have manifested what took real courage—the courage of con- servatism. The training of the bank clerk and the experience of the average bank officer leaves little to be desired in the mere business of banking. In the rev- olutionary changes which have been experienced in the last fifteen or twenty years, which have put such great demands upon our country and its leadership, there is an increasing need for more men qualified for the profession of banking. Eugene M. Stevens. —_—_+->___ Periodic Physical Examinations Advo- cated, Child welfare is properly a major Well-baby clinics, prenatal centers, dental hygiene, school medical inspection, summer round-ups, toxin anti-toxin campaigns and many other wise procedures have focused at- tention upon the children and have been of incalculable benefit to them. 3ut the subject should not be so ab- sorbing as to exclude the possibility that the parents of these children may be in need of some investigation, re- pair, or treatment themselves. interest these days. Recently a father and mother brought their three children into a physician’s office for a physical check up prior to their going to a camp for a month. These youngsters were the very pictures of vitality, thanks to the application of preventive medicine and wise paternal care. A careful examina- tion gave them a clean bill of health. At the conclusion of this service, the doctor suggested that it might not be amiss for the older folks to have a “once over” as well, and thus make a complete job of it. Smilingly, though half-heartedly, the investigation was made and to their painful surprise both were suffering from an incipient dis- ease—the mother was host to latent tuberculosis, while the father was un- wittingly entertaining an impaired heart condition, This case is by no means an excep- tion. A number of instances have re- cently been noticed where extreme solicitation for the children was offset by an absolute lack of interest in the parents’ own physical well-being. It follows that health concern should not be made an exclusive matter and be thus limited to the younger people. Parents should realize that a number of the leading disease killers of middle life have a habit of taking up their residence in the body long before the average man or woman experiences any noticeable physical reaction. Among these maladies are tuberculosis, cancer, diabetes and heart condition. It follows that the annual physical check up, while good for the young- sters, is equally important for grown- ups. Therefore, parents should be solicitous about their children by all means, but shouldn’t forget themselves in the process, Dr. Theodore B. Appel. 12 FINANCIAL Reserve Bank Will Scrutinize Bills Purchased. The unsatisfactory type of bankers’ acceptances prevalent in this market has been subject to severe criticism for some months. It now appears that our banking authorities finally have be- come convinced that they should ‘“‘clean up” the situation and restore these bills to the position they properly should hold in the financial system. At least it has been reported unofficially that the Federal Reserve Bank will scrutinize with care all bankers’ ac- ceptances originating in foreign coun- tries offered to it for purchase. Difficulty heretofore has been that the Reserve Bank made no particular effort to determine the nature of the transaction which gave rise to the pills it purchased. ‘Rather, it has taken the word of the selling institution, which in turn almost always relied solely up- on the word of the foreign bank with which the paper originated. In many instances the result has been that the bills purchased by the Reserve Bank were based upon trans- actions which could not be completed within the life of the obligations and consequently a further advance of credit had to be secured in order to meet the acceptances at maturity. That is, a new bill had to be substituted for the old one and there was no real liquidation of the credit. Among bankers and other students of the money market it has been recog- nized generally that a substantial por- tion of the foreign acceptances in this market were in reality finance bills and represented for all practical purposes long term loans. Public discussion of this fact, however, has been very un- welcome in some quarters and those who have undertaken to discuss the situation openly have been bitterly as- sailed, notably by the semi-official spokesman of the acceptance market. Needless to say these attempts to curtail discussion have only served to make students wonder if the situation was not even worse than they suspect- ed and caused them to try all the hard- er to discover just what proportion of the total consisted of credit which could not be liquidated at maturity, It has never been possible, however, to get more than rough approximations of this but the most reliable informa- tion has placed the volume at a high figure and there has been grave appre- hension about the future of the ac- ceptance market. It is encouraging, therefore, to have the statement that the Reserve Bank is going to attempt to correct the situation and is willing, if necessary, to require that each bill it purchases be accompanied by documentary evidence showing that it arose from a transac- tion which will be completed within the life of the acceptance and will provide the funds necessary for liquidation of the credit, The present situation in the accept- ance market has been developing for some years. It is too much to expect that it will be corrected over night. This is an excellent time, nevertheless, for the Federal Reserve Board to start a restoration of the acceptance market to a sound basis. MICHIGAN TRADESMAN It is no longer possible to make a case for the belief that the foreign countries which have been originating these bills will be able in a short time to accumulate enough working capital to liquidate the credit and so eliminate the necessity for any action here. The problem now must be met squarely. This means that the Federal Reserve Bank must cease dealing in acceptances which are mere finance bills. If it does this it will be only a matter of time until commercial banks and acceptance houses find it unprofit- able to handle this type of obligation and bankers’ acceptances will return to the standing they should enjoy. Ralph West Robey. (Copyrighted, 1931] —_>->—__ Not Fitted For Analysis. The recent large bank failures in the Middle West have emphasized again that one of the major causes for the financial difficulties from which this country is suffering is the inability of bankers to realize upon the bonds, real estate mortgages, and other invest- ments which they have purchased as a part of their secondary reserves. The errors of our bankers in this regard within the past ten years are without a parallel, regardless of how measured, since the start of modern American banking in 1863. A result of these errors has been that the so-called secondary reserves of our banks, which normally should be avail- able for meeting and offsetting any “freezing” that may take place in the short term commercial loans, have be- come in many instances the least liquid section in bank portfolios, as well as a source of immense losses. These errors of course cannot be allowed to continue, Banks to-day are faced with the necessity either of re- vising the standards by which they make investments or of being subjected to still more legislative restrictions. It is not an easy problem, of course, for a banker to purchase only bonds which may be liquidated with certainty in case of necessity and which at the same time will provide him with a rate of return adequate for his needs. This is because banks as a class are not in a position to make thorough analyses of the securities offered to them for purchase. On the other hand investment bank- ing houses have made no special effort to determine, except in very general terms, the peculiar requirements of the commercial banks to which they sell securities. The net result has been a thoroughly unsatisfactory and danger- ous situation, Banks, primarily in order to get a high rate of return, frequently buy bonds which are thoroughly unsuited to their needs although the securities may be excellently fitted to the re- quirements of other investors, This is an aspect of investment which has received comparatively little attention. It has been assumed that investments may be considered as a class and that what is good for private indivituals also is good for a bank. There has been, in other words, a failure to realize that banks have many kinds of funds and that it is essential to the safety of the bank that a bal- Banks Security ance be kept between the period for which the funds used to make invest- ments will ‘be available and the time for which it will be necessary to hold the security. Expressed in general terms the problem of a sound investment policy for commercial banks is very simple. It consists of a careful analysis of the nature of the funds to be used for the purchase of bonds on the one side and the matching of investments to these funds on the other side. US HELP YOU SOLVE YOUR INVESTMENT PROBLEMS — PHONE 4774 — ETTER, URTIS& ETTER Investment Bankers and Brokers Grand Rapids Muskegon August 26, 1931 ug West Michigan's oldest and largest bank solicits your account on the basis of sound polli- cies and many helpful services ..- - OLD KENT BANK 2 Downtown Offices 12 Community Offtices Investment Bankers Change of Corporate Name == Fenton, Davis & Boyle Mid ~ West Securities Corporation Investment Bankers DETROIT GRAND RAPIDS — Ile =Phone 4212 : till EE - TUTT TATU TT TNTDLILTO DUT TUTTO TD WOOT TOT GRAND RAPIDS 507 Grand Rapids Trust Bldg. 81201 LA.GEISTERT Se CO. Investment Bankers MUSKEGON 613 Hackley Union Bidg. 25749 Telephone 4677 JOHN A. KELLEY & COMPANY INVESTMENT BANKERS and BROKERS 1004-05 G. R. National Bank Bldg. GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN ve August 26, 1981 In actual practice if this matching is imperfect the bank will lose cash. This drain, if the disequilibrium is large, means inevitable failure for the institution, as evidenced by many hun- dreds of examples within the past few years, It is unthinkable that those in charge - of our banking system will permit this underlying defect to continue. Banks must either withdraw from the field of investment or exercise better judgment in the selection of their securities. If they do not take the initiative in fol- lowing one or the other of these cours- es, further statutory limitation of the investment powers of commercial banks is inevitable. Ralph West Robey. [Copyrighted, 1931] ——_+++—___ Investment Value Predicated on Do- mestic Holdings. For many years the preferred stocks of the Electric Bond and Share Com- pany have commanded a high invest- ment rating, both on the basis of assets and of earnings available for dividends. An unbroken dividend record on the preferred shares has been maintained since the predecessor company was or- ganized in 1905, and common dividends have been paid regularly by this and the predecessor company since 1909. As a result of this record and the un- precedented demand this year for sound public utility bonds and pre- ferred stocks, a favorable reception has been accorded the recent issue of 100,000 shares of Electric Bond and Share cumulative $5 preferred stock, offered at a price of $89.75 a share and accrued dividends, to yield 5.57 per cent. The capital structure of the com- pany is conservative, consisting of 1,- 155,655 shares of $6 cumulative pre- ferred and 300,000 shares of $5 cumu- lative preferred, having a combined value at present market prices of $146,- 000,000, and 15,042,148 common shares with a present market value of more than $550,000,000, The wide protection for the pre- ferred shares is seen in the figures on asset value and margin of earnings over dividend requirements. Based on market prices on June 30, last, the pre- ferred stock now outstanding had a net asset value of $482 a share, while, for the year ended June 30, earnings covered annual dividend requirements more than four and a quarter times. Electric Bond and Share’s largest single investment is in American and Foreign Power Company, subsidiaries of which serve numerous countries in Latin America and abroad. In spite of the severe effects of the depression in most of these countries, combined earnings of operating subsidiaries of American and Foreign Power showed an increase in local currencies. The drop in the value of exchange in sev- eral of these countries, however, trans- formed this gain into a decline, when converted into United States dollars. In view of this fact, the question has arisen as to the relative importance of American and Foreign Power in ap- praising the position of Electric Bond and Share preferred, Though complete information is not made public, it is possible to approximate rather exactly the asset value of the preferred shares, MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 13 entirely exclusive of the investment in American and Foreign Power. By ob- taining the June 30, 1931, value of the Foreign Power holdings which were reported at the close of 1930, and de- ducting that sum from the total asset value as of June 30, last, it is found that the asset value of the preferred shares, exclusive of the interest in American and Foreign Power, was $287 a share. Thus, the preferred shares have ample asset protection from holdings of domestic utilities alone. From an earnings standpoint, results exclusive of the foreign investment are equally favorable to the preferred shares. Assuming that no income was derived from investments in or man- agement contracts with companies op- erating outside the United States, an- nual dividend requirements on the pre- ferred, including the new issue, would be earned more than twice over, This margin of safety would be even wider if allowance was made for the total of expenses applicable to operations of foreign properties, [Copyrighted, 1931.] + 2 Unbroken Dividend Records of Some Insurance Companies. Because of a remarkable record of stability and growth of the companies behind them, insurance stocks occupy a favored place in the investment field comparable with that of large metro- politan ‘bank shares. One of the oldest businesses in the world, insurance nevertheless has ex- hibited none of the signs of senility which overtake some of the older in- dustries and eventually lead to decay. It has grown rapidly in the last fifteen years and while the pace of growth was interrupted by the current depres- sion, investment income of the largest companies continued to mount through 1930. Moreover, students of insurance as- sert there is no reason to assume that the business is near its zenith, despite the great expansion of recent years. The investor interested in insurance stocks will ifind the group generally selling around the lowest price levels since 1926, while underlying assets re- main substantially above the totals of that year. Insurance stocks suffered drastic de- flation in the last two years in com- mon with all equity securities. On basis of recent bid prices quoted in the over-the-counter market, yields on shares of the caliber of Aetna Life, Travelers and Aetna Casualty & Surety remain below 4 per cent., in contrast with higher yields afforded on best-grade bonds and utility and indus- trial shares. Insurance shares, how- ever, always have an appeal which make current yield of secondary con- sideration. Unbroken dividend records of some companies stretch back fifty to seventy years. Aetna Life has an unbroken record of sixty years, Hanover Fire seventy-one years, the Franklin Fire Insurance Company seventy-four years and the Boston Insurance Com- pany fifty-six years. “The stock of a well-managed insur- ance company represents wide diversi- fication of interests, not only because of the extent of its portfolio holdings Serer ee ae we eae ee ae eae ee ee ee ee ee ee 61 YEARS OF BANKING SERVICE “Tie Granp Rapiws Savincs BANK” for 61 years has continuously provided a comprehensive banking service. We offer every banking facility broad enough in scope—large enough in resources— small enough to be personal. —___ Tape Reading. In studying stocks on the tape, watch particularly the very active stocks and only those that move in quick swings and rapid moves; that is, the ones that either rise or fall after a movement in active trading. The profits in these stocks are very large if the move has been clearly forecasted and traders should play for these moves. ‘There are a great many sayings in Wall Street. One of the most wisely used is “Never sell a dull market short” but it is also true that it is just as dangerous to buy a dull market in a bear market. Bear in mind that bull operators are not active in a bear mar- ket and their operations for advance can only be anticipated through tech- nical conditions, that is, through tape reading and chart analysis. Also, re- member that stocks rise from their own accord and go down from their own weight, A leading writer advises traders to call dollars instead of points in think- ing of the market. In other words, in- terpret the tape thusly: if 1,000 shares of Steel sell at 100, bear in mind this is a $100,000 transaction. This will indicate whether the buying is of a better calibre than the selling and whether the sale was forced liquidation or was an accumulation by an operator. Disregard wild conjectures about the market; let the tape tell its own story. Trades should be confined for this type of speculation to the intermediate trends and unless very nimble and can watch the market very carefully, do not attempt hourly or daily trading or as it'is commonly called “scalping” the market. Jay H. Petter. —_+++—__ She doesn’t paint, she doesn’t rouge; She doesn’t smoke, she doesn’t booze; She doesn’t kiss, she doesn’t pet; She’s ‘fifty-eight and single yet. —__+++>—_—_ Why do they put so many holes in Swiss cheese when it is Limberger that needs the ventilation? MICHIGAN TRADESMAN Development of Child’s Character. Thoughtful persons, if asked the most valuable possession of man, put good character first, before health and far ahead of earthly possessions. In good character they include fairness, honesty, courage, dependability, will- ingness to make personal sacrifices for others if the situation demands it, and other noble qualities. ‘These are not rare or heroic virtues; they are pos- sessed by the man in the street. How is good character acquired? Modern thought suggests that socially constructive traits of character tend to be inherent in the race and hence in the mind of man; that man perhaps deserves little personal credit for being law abiding, as this quality is a part of his gregarious nature. As man is instinctively social, the race tends to develop qualities which are racially beneficial, If this conception is true, it is logical to believe that were man deprived of present moral and civil laws and compelled to start anew, he would not indefinitely abandon himself to lawlessness as some have predicted. He would probably do so for some generations, but in the course of time throughout succeeding ages he would slowly proceed to organize moral and civic laws as he has done during the course of history. These laws are the expression of man’s innermost nature and could not be imposed upon him if entirely at variance with his inherent tendencies. Man has not always been regarded in this way. He has long been thought of more as a responsible being, restrain- ed by the laws of God and man and as someone who in childhood should be trained out of inherently evil tenden- cies. Of course, this optimistic view of man’s inherent nature applies only to mankind as seen in the history from the primitive state upward. To at- tempt to apply it literally here and now in the treatment of a ‘bad boy would end in disaster, Nevertheless, this theory has certain practical ap- plications and affords a constructive point of view in respect to the develop- ment of character in children. It im- plies that because of inherent qualities children are apt to develop into law- abiding citizens, granted, of course, they are reared in a favorable environ- ment, Of course, children are often selfish, cruel and unkind, They are not born fully developed beings and their first instincts are for self-protection and self-expression. But germs of good character are there ready to be de- veloped. It goes without saying, however, that children need proper opportunity and background to develop character. Cour- age in facing difficulties, sacrifice of personal wants for ideals, fine distinc- tions between right and wrong, these traits to become a part of the person- ality must grow out of the experiences of life, If children fail to develop these qualities, if they are indifferent, callous to others, undependable or deceitful, such conditions are not to be regarded as frailties due to the child’s inherit- ance coming to the surface. Nor should silly explanations, such as minor injuries in infancy, be accepted as a cause. Detrimental influences at home, at school, or in the neighbor- hood are generally responsible for faulty mental development of a child. Perhaps life is being forced upon him in directions which are distasteful or beyond his powers to assimilate. Children need to do disagreeable things at times but if life is continuously dis- tasteful, they naturally rebel. Perhaps thwarting influences are encroaching upon the child’s life, interfering with his development, just as a large and sturdy tree interferes with the growth and development of a delicate plant at its roots. If a child is not developing an ac- ceptable character, a thorough study of the entire situation will generally reveal the cause. An understanding of it may make all the difference be- tween the child’s success and failure in future life, Dr. Sanger Brown, II. —_—_+2+.+___ Disappointments as Cause of Mental Tilness. In every active, ambitious person there arises a conflict between what he wants to do and what he is able to do —between desire and ability. He wants a large salary or a large income from his business; his earning power may not be above the average. He wants a position of high rank; he may lack the necessary qualifica- tions or have no means of attaining it. He wants fine clothes, an expensive au- tomobile, and a luxurious home; he may not have sufficient wealth to ob- tain any of these things, He wants a mate of exceptional beauty and charm; he may be able to find no one who meets his expecta- tions. In these and in many other ways he fails to satisfy his instinctive longings, His attitude in face of these dis- appointments is a test of his real worth. If he adopts the unwholesome- ness habit of blaming others for his lack of success; if he becomes sullen and angry at every rebuff; if he seeks consolation by telling a hard-luck story to anyone who will lend a sympathetic ear; if he loses interest in his work and in his personal appearance; if he in- dulges in worry or day-dreaming; if he retaliates for fancied insults or in- juries—if he does any of these things —he will not only fail to meet the test but render himself less able to satisfy other desires. He may even under- mine his mental health. On the other hand, if he meets dis- August 26, 1931 appointment with renewed courage and vigor; if he puts the ideal of service above the hope of reward; if he places a moderate estimate on his ability and strives cheerfully for the good things within his reach, he will gain strength and may gradually attain a mastery of himself and of his field of work that will yield much personal satisfaction and win for him adequate material re- wards and a large measure of social esteem, Dr, Horatio M. ‘Pollock. —_——__++~+—_____ Pullman Rates Cut on Certain Routes. The Interstate (Commerce Commis- sion has just approved a proposal of the Pullman Company to cut the rates for upper berths in Pullman sleepers to one-half the charges exacted for lower berths between Washington and Jersey City and New York, and be- tween Chicago and ‘St. Paul and Minneapolis, effective Aug. 20. ‘The reduction in charges for upper berths is an experiment, according to the Pullman Company’s application to make the change on less than the statutory notice of 30 days, and will terminate on Nov. 20, unless extended by further application. Its purpose is to stimulates the use of upper berths. The charge for uppers has been 80 per cent. of the lower rate since early in 1911, prior to which date both upper and lower berths were rated ‘the same. Michigan State Normal College Opened in 1852 EDUCATIONAL PLANT Campus of one hundred acres. Eleven buildings with modern equipment. Training School, including Elemen- tary and High School Depart- ments. CERTIFICATE AND DEGREES Life Certificate on completion of Three Years’ Curricula. A, B. and B. S. Degrees on comple- tion of Four Years’ Curricula. SPECIAL CURRIRCULA Home _ Economics, Kindergarten, Physical Education, Public School Music, Music and Drawing, Drawing and Manual Arts, Com- mercial, Rural, Agriculture, Special Education, Normal College Conservatory of Music offers courses in Voice, Piano, Organ, Violin, Band and : renee. ‘a erm Begins September 22, 1931. Write for Bulletin and list of rooms. Rooming houses for women students offer a single bed for every girl. C. P. STEIMLE, Registrar YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN The ability to invest wisely is the keystone of prosperity A. E. KUSTERER & CO. 303-307 Michigan Trust Building GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN The Oldest Investment Banking House in Western Michigan Phone 4267 August 26, 1931 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 15 MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE Cause and Cure of Farm Fires. Stand beside the smoldering ash heaps of 100 million dollars worth of barns and farm houses that burned last year, and you can hear men say over and over again, “This would never have happened if...” Or step quietly into the country church yard, where every year the last words are being spoken over 3,500 fathers, mothers or little children, and over and over again you can hear someone say: “He would be alive to-day if...” The farm fire loss of life and prop- erty is a challenge to every right think- ing man and woman. It used to be that thousands every year died of yel- low fever, until a man found the cause and taught the world how to prevent the infection, so that to-day yellow fever is of trifling importance. Diph- theria, which once took a frightful toll of children’s lives every year, is under control and well on the way toward extinction. Tuberculosis in mankind and the related disease in cattle are being conquered, and at this writing four states are proclaimed to have less than one-half of 1 per cent. infection in their dairy cattle. It is a case of finding the cause and then stamping it out. We must do the same thing with the farm ‘fire loss. It seems of little consequence when you merely read the figure, 100 million dollars and 3,500 lives, but let one of those lives come from your own family, or let those de- vouring flames sweep away the sav- ings of a lifetime on your farm, and they are no longer cold statistics. Fire prevention on the farm must start in the minds of the people who live there. This means not only that the farmer and his family and his hired help must be determined to prevent fire loss, but that they must search out and understand the fire hazards of the place and guard adequately against them. We know as a matter of experience that when thunderstorms start in the spring, reports will come in steadily of barns and houses set on fire by lightning. We know the remedy. Properly rodded buildings, or metal roofed buildings properly grounded, do not catch fire from lightning. A few weeks after the beginning of the haying season we know as a matter of experience that here and there all over the country barns will go up in smoke, sometimes taking the house and the live stock with them, from spon- taneous combustion in the hay, There’s still a great deal to be learned about spontaneous combustion, and scien- tists are working on it constantly, but we already know that thoroughly cured hay practically never causes such a fire. In some seasons this is a diffi- cult problem for the farmer, but it is a known factor and it is under his control, On the first frosty mornings in late September and early October, we know that somewhere out in the country someone is going to use kerosene to hasten a lazy fire in the kitchen stove. They do it every year, and every year there are ‘fire losses and funerals from this cause. Let us say to every man and woman who starts to use kerosene in this dangerous manner, “Last year hundreds of homes were destroyed and several hundred people went to their graves by taking this chance.” One of the most dangerous spots on the farm is the old chimney. It has stood there for years and has never set the house on fire, and so we for- get about it, just like the man who had been firing an old cast-iron cannon for years, and it “never busted before.” Ten cents worth of cement and a little sand and a few minutes time to close the cracks will often suffice to elim- inate this most dangerous of hazards. If we could only substitute hind- sight for foresight—if we could turn the picture backwards and let a man look into the smoldering ruins and then say, “Now will you fix the chim- ney?” of course he would do it. But too often beforehand he is too busy or he forgets, and after the house is gone and the lives lost it is eternally too late. No farmer has done his best in fire protection unless there is a ladder right where the roof of the house can be quickly reached. No man should feel satisfied until he has installed hand fire extinguishers at the places where they are needed. If the question of expense arises it can be settled quick- ly by saying, “What would I do about it if I knew the house would catch fire to-night?” High commendation is due for the progress of community organization for fire protection, Good roads and universal telephone service are making the rural fire truck generally effective. New trucks that are going into service to-day are powerful fire fighting ma- chines, built specifically to handle the rural fire. Effective as this commun- ity organization is, there remain two or three more important things for such communities to do. First, every farm in a district reached by rural fire truck service should have a reserve emergency water supply that can be used with the booster pump. A cistern of 2,000 gallons or more can be used to immense advantage. Second, every such organized community should work toward the day when it will con- duct a regular neighborhood survey of farm fire risks, Every farm in such a survey would be subjected to the closest scrutiny, and gradually, year by year, fire hazards would be eliminated. In other words, the rural community fire company, like the good doctor, should seek as rapidly as possible to work itself out of a job by prevention before the fire occurs. Every community which has no or- ganized fire protection should seriously investigate the splendid work which such rural fire companies are doing, saving many times their cost every year, We will always have fire losses, but if we can eliminate those which are caused by carelessness and thought- lessness, we will have gone a long way toward solving the problem, Arthur C. Page. —__>+ + __ Walter Baker, 437 Park Place, Mus- kegon, renews his subscription and says: “Your magazine is well worth the price. It has so many items of in- terest which I do not find in other magazines.” ” 2, INSURE and feel sure that when you have a fire you will have money to pay at least the most of the cost of re-building; but place your insurance with the company that will furnish this protection at the lowest cost, as there IS a difference, and it will pay you to investi- gate. The company that gives the most SAFE insurance for the least money is The Finnish Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Calumet, Michigan 1909 22 Years 1931 Losses Paid Promptly — Saving 30% For FIRE and WINDSTORM Insurance THE GRAND RAPIDS MERCHANTS MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY afhliated with THE MICHIGAN RETAIL DRY GOODS ASSOCIATION 320 Houseman Bldg. Grand Rapids, Mich. OUR FIRE INSURANCE POLICIES ARE CONCURRENT with any standard stock policies that you are buying The Ne cots BO% Less Michigan Bankers and Merchants Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of Fremont, Michigan WILLIAM N. SENF, Secretary-Treasurer CHURCH PROPERTIES The Federal Mutuals church properties of better con- insure struction. This service rendered communities by the Federal organization. Trustees are interested in the annual dividend savings that have been paid every year with- is another distinctive out fail. FEDERAL HARDWARE & IMPLEMENT MUTUALS Retail Hardware Mutual Fire Ins. Co. Hardware Dealers Mutual Fire Ins. Co. Minneapolis, Minnesota Stevens Point, Wisconsin Minnesota Implement Mutual Fire Ins. Co. Owatonna, Minnesota 16 COMMUNITY LOYALTY. Remedy To Cure Loss of Business. ‘The fate of many country towns and villages hangs in the balance. In our own State, many small towns and villages have disappeared. Many of these flourished during the lumbering days and with the passing of the for- ests these towns and villages passed with them. However, many towns and villages were located in agricultural areas, where the clearing and develop- ment of farms built up prosperous communities, ‘Many can remember those days, not a great many years ago, when both the farms and country towns and villages were prosperous. It was the horse and buggy days of travel, No one got very far away un- less he took the railway train and such a journey was quite a thrilling event in the lives of most country people. While farm products were often low, so was everything the people had to buy. No one complained much about taxes and life moved along serenely and there was some kind of a job for everyone wanting work, Almost every- one who was at all thrifty had a nice reserve of cash in the bank. In those days the wealth of the community was kept largely at home. People purchas- ed their needs from the home mer- chants and prosperous farms and country villages were the rule. During the past decade or two the changes which have come over coun- try communities by the building of good roads and the development of rapid transportation have had a serious effect upon many country communities. The millions of dollars it has itaken to build new highways and to provide nearly every family with a car have made a ‘theavy drain upon the resources of every community. Reserves in country banks have been drawn down and the yearly income was so far spent that needed reserves could not be re- placed. Very little was retained to keep farm buildings and fences in re- pair and to keep up the fertility of the soil, ‘Country town and farm income was largely diverted to the cities. While a “higher standard of living” may have been achieved, it was at the expense of better farms and country towns and villages. ‘We read much about ithis “higher standard of living,” the so-called American standard, but trying to live beyond our income has made a lot of trouble for many people. This era of travel piled up great wealth for a few corporations making motor cars, but it raised havoc with millions of people of small means. Country towns and villages to-day are suffering from this overspending upheaval, The inroads of mail order and chain stores into country com- munities are important factors which are blighting country towns and vil- lages. Community loyalty is at a low ebb, not only among its own people, but even among its merchants and business men. Instead of patronizing each other, many buy outside. If you find a country town or village in which the merchants are loyal to each other, you will find its people possess greater community loyalty. The desire for travel takes many to the cities to do their buying. They do not stop to Only MICHIGAN TRADESMAN think what the effect is upon the home merchant. Many do not care. The merchants and citizens, who have help- ed to build up the community and who are its heaviest taxpayers, see business and property values gradually dwindl- ing, while the chain stores come in and rent a location and skim the cash from business and send it on to the financial centers daily. These stores pay the lowest taxes and have no interest in the community, except what they can get out of it. Some day there is going to be a big awakening, but it may come too late. Those owning farms and village prop- erty are going to notice the values are gradually going lower. They will see their community is becoming impover- ished. Country towns and villages are a necessary adjunct of every farming community, ‘The interests of the farmer and country town are identical. ‘This tendency in country communi- ties to buy and invest outside is one of the ‘big factors which brought on the present financial depression. Rapid transportation, expensive highways, modern luxuries and high taxes ran ahead of income and lowered reserves. When we look back to the “good old days” and compare them with present conditions we :find that living beyond the income any great length of time brings a penalty we do not like. While the “old folks” of a few decades ago, did not possess modern improvements, the country folks took pride in their farms and country towns and villages. The thrifty had money in the bank, there was no unemployment problem and the people were happy and con- tented. Well may we ask, can country com- munities come ‘back to their former prosperous position? Or has so-called modern methods forever removed our former prosperous country towns and villages? The writer still has faith in the return of country prosperity. De- stroy country communities and it will not be long until our large cities and financial centers will wither away. Prosperity always must first spring from the soil. ‘While to-day, “the man with the hoe’ seems ‘to be poorly recompensed for his labor, he is assur- ed of a living, which is more than thousands, who are tramping the streets of our cities seeking employ- ment, 'The future of country towns and vil- lages rests with its people. They can do more to restore prosperity for themselves than political legislation. First must come community loyalty. Country merchants must practice it by patronizing each other. Farmers must do their. buying at home. Trade with the home merchant and build your re- serves in the home banks and not speculate in the large cities, or for that matter do not speculate at all. Carry good reserves to safeguard your own business or interest, and when you do this by using the home banks, you are helping to build strong and safe banks, which are the first necessity of country communities, A large percentage of country banks which were obliged to close were weakened by outside ‘buy- ing and investing. In many cases bank funds were drawn down so it was im- possible to properly finance the needs of local business. Community loyalty is the only rem- edy to cure the loss of business and to restore prosperity to country towns and villages. We have got to go back and live within our income. Those in debt must economize and pay up. This will release funds for new business and as we practice thrift and economy, buying power will return. It is all to the advantage of every country mer- chant and business man, to practice and preach the gospel of community loyalty. E. B. \Stebbins. — 7.2 >__—_ Succoring the Sucker in the State of Illinois. Governmental regulation should be avoided wherever possible because such regulation and its enforcement, even when carried out by officials who are doing the best they can, is bound to be more or less paralyzing in its effect besides being irritable to the business people and citizens of the community generally. The modern system of financing is infinitely more complicated than that which existed fifty years ago. Up un- til 1890 the average person who de- ‘sired to invest his money could usually find an investment that he knew some- thing about personally. He could either buy a first mortgage on property which he was familiar with, or he could buy a small business and operate it, or he could buy an in- terest in an industry in his immediate neighborhood which he could learn all about, or he could buy a piece of real estate, or he could invest in cattle or other live stock. But to-day the vast majority of in- vestments offered to the average per- son represent some sort of interest in businesses or enterprises or properties which the investor knows nothing about and about which it is difficult for him to obtain information. Then, also, the very interest which he buys is liable to be of such a char- acter that it is practically impossible for him, without considerable trouble, to find out about it. The average cor- poration turns out every conceivable kind of stock, such as first and second preferred, Class A and Class B and various kinds of common stock, every one of which represents a different in- terest in the corporation with varying rights in each case. Some stocks are par value stock, some are non par, some have voting rights and some have not. ‘There are all sorts of bonds. I could name you seven or eight different kinds and several different kinds of deben- tures, which are nothing but promises to pay. When the ordinary investor starts to buy a security these days, he is more or less helpless and is frequent- ly dependent almost entirely on the in- tegrity of the person from whom he is buying, The question then arises how far is government justified, how far can it successfully go in helping the man who has money, who wants to keep it but who wants it to earn a fair income, It is certainly not a debatable question how far government should go in stop- ping the out and out crook or in curb- ing, shading dealers who operate under the name “broker.” There are many ways in which sharp-shooters in the security business August 26, 1931 operate. Some time ago a company had been organized and its stock sold. The company was a failure, but there had been a considerable amount of stock distributed. About two years later. some sharp- shooters got hold of the list of stock- holders. They visited these people and told them a story about like this, “I understand you have some of the stock of the AXZ company.” The stock- holder probably admitted that he had and, perhaps, asked a few questions. The sharpshooters went on, “Well, the men who originated this company thought it was a good idea but they didn’t know enough about methods of handling the business, they didn’t know some things that we have found out and because of that we know that we can make this thing go with the infor- mation we have found. What we want to do is to pick up this stock and in order to do it quickly we are going to pay about 25 per cent. more than was originally paid for it but we have to get it in a hurry before news of our new organization leaks out.” Of course, the stockholder admitted that he had some of the stock and per- haps told them that he had about $200 worth. “That’s too ‘bad,” said the sharpshooters, “because we have to buy it in at least $500 lots because we don’t want to take chances of this leaking out.” The stockholder remembered where he got the stock and, thinking he could pick up more of it, he did some figuring in his own mind and asked the sharp- shooters if they would come back later, “Well,” they replied, “If you are sure you can get this stock, we'll be back in about a week and take it off your hands at that time.’ The stock- holder got in touch with the source of his original stock—that organization being in on the scheme—and ordered 300 shares more of the stock at $1 a share. Needless to say, the sharp- shooters never came back and_ the stockholder was then out the cost of 300 more shares. Another favorite scheme of the sharpshooter is to send out so-called market reports giving information about stocks listed on the stock ex- change. These market reports are com- piled by a sort of a central agency who furnishes them to these operators in different parts of the country and they are then mailed out to selected lists of names, gathered from various sources. The market report is commonly known as a “tipster sheet” and the list of people to whom the list is sent are commonly called “sucker” lists. The first numbers of the market report ad- vise people to buy perfectly good se- curities and pretend to give a lot of gossip about the different securities that are suggested. If the people who receive the market sheet don’t write in or call up sooner or later, some fellow who purports to be a broker with no connection to the sender of the market report will call on the long distance telephone and, inasmuch as the party can’t see him or identify him in any way, there isn’t any reason why he should ‘be careful about what he says so he naturally tells anything that will suit his purpose, By all sorts of high pressure methods he tries to induce the intended victim to send money in lectern nit esonicemaaieasi iterate éy ge August 26, 1931 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 17 to ‘buy a perfectly good security with some specious story regarding inside information about the security. Generally inside of two weeks after the man has bought the good security from the “broker” he gets in touch with him again, tries to persuade him to transfer into another security which has made its appearance in the market report with glowing accounts about its prospects. The man on the telephone explains to the victim that the good securities which the victim already has bought haven’t done what was expect- ed. They assert a responsibility to make money for him and tell him they have managed to get hold of a certain amount of the other stock at a figure below market quotations just to prove that they are looking after their cus- tomers’ interest. Of course, they control all the stock in this new “company” and maintain the market at a fictitious figure. When they have sold enough of it they simply disappear and the stock goes down to nothing. The stockholder loses his money. Sometimes the long distance artists don’t take the trouble to invest the man’s money at all, but after enough suckers have sent in their checks they simply close their offices and disappear. To show to what extent this thing is done, we found that one “broker” who had closed up his office in Chicago had spent $3,000 on long distance telephone tolls in eight days. The question arises, “Why don’t the prosecuting officers stop these people and send them to prison? They do try to stop them, but the trouble is that 80 to 90 per cent, of the people who are defrauded in this way are ashamed of themselves and refuse to tell about it. Furthermore, if a complainant does appear, the chances are the crook will give him back a portion or all of his money and the complainant will refuse to testify. The prosecuting officers are then left without evidence. Occasionally when a man is de- frauded and the newspapers give pub- licity to it, a large number of people come in to complain about the same crook and some of them are sure to see the prosecution through because the crook can’t buy them all off, Once in a while we are practically forced to put our stamp of approval on a broker whom we suspect is not go- ing ito work in a legitimate fashion, be- cause of the influential pressure that is brought to bear but, more importantly, because we find it impossible to get any tangible evidence against the man that would give us an argument to re- fuse to recognize him. Such a situation occurred only a short time ago in Chicago. The man had New York references that were excellent, he was represented by a strong, reputable ‘Chicago law ‘firm and there was no evidence to indicate that he was a “sharpshooter.” He was ac- cepted by the securities department al- though our private opinion was adverse but in the face of only favorable evi- dence we had no choice. Only six weeks later sufficient tangible evidence had been secured to prosecute him but he immediately disappeared. In a magazine editorial published last July, the statement was made that one authority had estimated the losses in the United States through the sale of fraudulent - securities or through fraudulent sale of securities, amounted to $1,700,000,000 annually. Another organization estimated that the amount thus stolen from the American people is equal to one-half of the money spent on education. The foregoing losses are those which amount practically to theft. When we add to these losses the amount which is annually taken from the American people through stock manipulation by syndicates, with the other kindred loss- es caused by gambling in securities on marginal accounts, all of which runs into hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars every year, a situation is cre- ated which demands tthe most serious consideration of government and is a challenge to our ‘financial leaders and to our leaders in business and industry. The state endeavors to protect the investors of Illinois and neighboring states from sales of fraudulent securi- ties and also from fraudulent transac- tions in fairly good securities. It does not seek to prevent speculation or the risking of money in new or precarious enterprises, but it does insist that the owner of money shall not be given a speculation under the name of a safe investment and does insist that the person who wants to speculate shall not be defrauded. In attempting to accomplish the foregoing purposes, the securities de- partment operates in three principal ways: first, by passing on certain se- curities; second, by registering brokers, and third, by educating the public. Throughout the entire work the de- partment tries to see that there is not only substantially dollar for dollar back of the securities, but we do our best to give the ultimate control of an enter- prise into the hands of the people who put the money into it. We also do our best to compel ithe issuers of securities to tell the truth about them. Our theory is that the man who has worked hard for his money is entitled to know the facts about any invest- ment he may make. Perhaps he does not want to speculate, if so, he should not be sold a speculation in the guise of an investment. Perhaps he is will- ing to speculate. If he is, he should not be made a victim of fraud and mis- representation, In 1929 the department qualified se- curities of one kind or another amount- ing to over $800,000,000 and since the organization of the department up to December 31, 1929, a total of $5,550,- 000,000 had been qualified for sale. During the same _ time _ securities amounting to about $500,000,000 have been denied qualification. In 1930 up to August 31, there had been qualifications amounting to ap- proximately $738,082,000. Of course the fact of qualification is no evidence of sale and probably indicates mostly the inherent optimism of our people. The legislature, in its wisdom, has exempted from any control by the de- partment certain securities, among them practically all first and second mortgage bonds and listed securities on the presumption that these securi- ties do not need governmental super- vision. Unfortunately these were the two classes which caused the most dis- astrous, not to say disgraceful, losses during the past year and a half. Most sales of securities are handled through dealers of some kind and if the crooks can be driven out of that busi- ness, then fraud is less likely to be per- petrated. It is almost impossible to estimate the amount of money we save annually to investors by keeping crooked dealers out or driving them out when they sneak in. However, if I were making a guess, I would say the amount might run into hundreds of millions of dollars annually. From what [ can learn about ‘the amount that can be cleaned up in a few weeks by these racketeers before we discover them, 1 would not say the foregoing estimates are not far from correct. David 'H. Jackson, Chairman Illinois Securities Com- mission, —_+++____ Underwear Prices To Be Deferred. With the lightweight underwear trade still in a state of uncertainty re- garding 1932 openings following the cotton crop forecast and consequent es ROYAL QUICK SETTING GELATIN DES- SERT is a best seller everywhere, because it declines in prices, it is regarded as likely that the new lines may be de- ferred until Sept. 8, at which time an- other Government report will be is- sued, either confirming the previous forecast or revealing a possible reduc- tion in the crop. In either event, the time will be more propitious for nam- ing prices than a week earlier, as was the original intention. Reductions may even exceed the 10 per cent. pre- viously forecast, according to opinions. ——_2++___ College Lines Less Competitive. In a market otherwise strongly marked by the keenest kind of price competition, the business being done in misses’ and juniors’ college and school apparel stands out by contrast. Relatively better merchandise is be- ing bought by stores which cater to this trade than is true in the usual run of ready-to-wear, although there has been some reduction in dollar volume. Units, however, show a slight gain and retailers are encountering less difficulty in maintaining the medium and better price lines in the merchan- dise. PUSH IT and PROFIT! meets the housewife’s demands for variety and ease of preparation. Get behind ROYAL QUICK SETTING GEL- ATIN DESSERT. No large stocks necessary. You buy only enough to meet your require- ments for a short period. You profit quickly with Royal. . ROYAL . and your profits are BIGGER! Quick Setting Gelatin Dessert A Product of Standard Brands Incorporated »b Another ROYAL Profit Maker! Chocolate Pudding is the newest member of the Royal family. Takes only 6 minutes to prepare. Everyone's enthusiastic about it. Feature it! Telephone Cadillac 1411-1412 COLLECTIONS We make collections in all cities. Bonded to the State of Michigan. Prompt remittance of all moneys collected is guaranteed. Write us for information regarding our system of making collections. CREDITOR’S COLLECTION BUREAU 7th Fl. Lafayette Bldg., Detroit, Michigan 18 DRY GOODS Michigan Retail Dry Goods Association. President — Geo. E. Martin, Benton Harbor. First Vice-President —J. T. Milliken, Traverse City. Second Vice-President—George C. Pratt, Grand Rapids. Secretary-Treasurer—Thomas Pitketh- ly, Flint. Manager—Jason E. Hammond, Lansing. Late News From the Dry Goods Association. Lansing, Aug. 24—Our members have been informed of the tragic death of T. M. Sawyer, which occurred on July 5. Hezekiah 'N. Duff, of Lansing, has been selected as Mr. ‘Sawyer’s successor to begin his work on Aug. 15. Mr. Duff is an able and experi- enced man. ‘He was formerly a news- paper man and was head of the Mich- ° igan Securities Commission during the administration of Gov. A. J. Groes- beck. He is also prominent in the organization of the Veterans of the Foreign Wars. We compliment the Lansing merchants on their choice and our ‘best wishes go out to our friend, Mr, Duff. We notice with pleasure that Gov- ernor Brucker has selected James T. Milliken, of Traverse City, as one of the State Advisory Committee on uni- form budgeting, reporting and account- ing. We congratulate Jim and also the ‘State of Michigan that he is will- ing to give his time and ability to this very important commission, The com- mission consists of seven members appointed by ‘tthe Governor who serve without compensation. The first meet- ing of this commission was held in Lansing on Aug. 10. Its purpose is to assist in securing uniformity and econ- omy in the direction of. municipal af- fairs to the ultimate aim of reducing the cost of local government. Every- one knows that there is need of united action in this direction. We were favored recently at our new headquarters by calls from sev- eral of our members, including former presidents H. J. Mulrine, of Battle Creek, and F. H. Nissly, of Ypsilanti, and former secretary, D. W. Robinson, of Alma. Mr. Mulrine has presented us with a fine photograph of himself to be framed to grace the walls of our office. We promised to hang it by the side of Calvin Coolidge’s picture. We already have the pictures of former presidents Christian and Knapp and letters have been written to others to send their pictures also. Mr. Nissly reports business fair in Ypsilanti. A recent closing of one of the local banks caused a temporary local depreession. Mr. Robinson is not yet located in business. His plans to become man- ager of a large store in Oklahoma— mentioned in one of our previous bulle- tins—did not materialize. Some of our members will be very fortunate if they can secure Mr. Robinson’s services. ‘We observe on page 488 of the August bulletin of the National Retail Dry Goods Association that Miss Celia R. Case has returned from her trip to Asia Minor, India, and the Far East. She was absent from this coun- try nearly one year and has traveled extensively making a circuit of the globe. Her announcement indicates that she is ready to go back to her educational work for the National Re- tail Dry Goods Association. We con- gratulate Miss Case on her vacation and are sure she will be welcomed back into the service of the National Association, We quote from a postal card re- ceived from our son, R. 'S. ‘Hammond, from Little Rock, Arkansas, in which he says, “Business is getting better every day. Our business (Johns- Mansville Corp.) for the year 1931 will be much better than 1930.” Stuart is Division Superintendent of the South- ern Division of the Corporation which has jobbers agencies in nearly all of the Southern cities. MICHIGAN TRADESMAN The W. D. Hardy Co., of Muskegon, and the Addison-Baltz ‘Co., of Grand Haven, have recently made very ex- tensive repairs on the interiors of their stores which indicates the faith that Mr. Thornton, of Muskegon, and Mr. Baltz, of Grand ‘Haven, have in the future business of those localities, In driving through these cities call and look these stores over, Jason E. Hammond, Mgr. Mich. Retail Dry Goods Ass’n. ——_.+-+ Dress and Jacket Rival of Three-Piece Suit. Fashion is undoubtedly doing a few loops but no nose dives, and the first Fall clothes that are seen around town are definitely not puffed out with hoops, bustles and enormous sleeves. Anything radical in the change will be felt chiefly in formal clothes, but, still, the daytime things have a decidedly new fillip, a different and more flatter- ing look about them, They grow upward and, from there, outward, Skirts are being a_ little longer and obviously slimmer—the tendency leans toward a pencil sil- houette that stretches the height of the wearer, with the skirt slinking into the figure, And then, exaggerating this, shoulders broaden out with a loose, full, too-big look. This is accentuated by the fact that the newest sleeves are raglan-cut, with great wide armholes that disappear into indefinite fullness when the arm is down and that wing out in generous width when the arm is raised, The whole effect in the upper part of the body of a dress is one of un- hampered bigness, and then suddenly, at the waist, that fullness is bound un- der a widened, close-fitting belt, the slim skirt hanging below. This, then, is the general feeling of the little wool dresses one puts on at the very first signs of Fall, (More and more their fabrics are getting away from the flat, uninterest- ing surfaces of the once popular wool crepe. The trend now is toward find- ing out how your fabric is going and then giving it free rein. If, for instance, it is sheer it must be very sheer, more transparent than silk. But this par- ticular type of fabric is used chiefly for trimming—as a wide yoke at the neckline or as long cuffs. If it is a boucle type of woolen it must be very rough and irregular, a thready weave that leaves lots of loose ends hanging —not hard and scratchy ends _ that make life miserable, but loose ones and soft, like the fabric itself. If it is heading toward a smooth, close-woven surface, it must be _al- most as flat as serge and as tightly knitted together. The serge type of fabric, incidentally, is returning in enormous chic. It has a newly sub- stantial look that comes as a pleasing respite from so many seasons of trans- parency in fabric. Your first ‘Fall dress will almost in- evitably have a jacket, a jacket so cut and worn that the costume will have the practically indistinguishable look of a suit. It will look newest if the jacket has an upward motion in its center of interest—that is, if it has but- tons going up from the waistline, straight or diagonally, a highish neck- line, or a close-wrapped or close-fitting look around its clinched-in waist. Bet- ter a half dozen buttons in front this year than a fur band about the hips. In sleeves there is almost invariably some center of attraction. Sometimes they are short and pointed over the elbow, sometimes they are seven- eighths length, gradually widened to- ward the wrist, and sometimes they are slim and tightly fitted from the wrist to the elbow, bagging widely just at the joint, and slightly narrowed again above. There are so many good com- binations in this dress and jacket en- semble. It has become so attractive that it has well surpassed the three- piece suit in smartness this season.— N. Y. Times. —_—_—_>-+ > —___ Eugenie Hats Continue, But Are Modified, The day of the Empress Eugenie hat is not over, despite its record dive to low prices and cheap versions, but the coming interpretations will be less ex- treme and more wearable, it appeared at the Fall showing of the Retail Mil- linery Association of America the other day. In addition to the contribution of American designers, new models from Patou, Agnes, Descat, Talbot and others were shown, practically all pointing in the direction of a modified Eugenie silhouette. Even that classic, the riding hat, succumbed to the mode of the moment and appeared with a coy droop over the right eye. Which brings to mind the comment of a thoughtful mascu- line observer that what the Eugenie hat really needs is a horse. The milliners have succeeded in do- ing what the dress designers did two years ago—made us feel we must throw away the old things and start all over again. ‘By no stretch of im- agination or skill can you transform a still perfectly good off-the-face hat into a successful dip hat. Even if the brim lends itself to such manipulation, the architecture of the hat is all wrong for the new lines, And the milliners in- tend to fight it out on these lines if it takes all Winter. Felt predominated but did not monopolize the show. Velvet was sponsored for many formal hats, and that old favorite, hatters’ plush, had its backers. Cire ribbon was a new note. Each hat was shown with an appropriate costume; sometimes they matched in color, but frequently they carried out the newer idea of contrast- ing—a red hat with a black outfit, for August 26, 1931 example, a brown hat with a green cos- tume, With everyone pretty well accus- tomed by this time to the up-at-the- left and down-at-the-right movement, interest centered particularly on trim- mings, which are back with a ven- geance. It was refreshing to note that official approval was not given to the long, floating ostrich plumes which are currently making life harder for sub- way riders. Feather trims there were in abundance—few hats seemed with- out one of some sort—and ostrich was represented, but the newer use was in small, curled ornaments, Hats have shapes again—so much is definite, but there is plenty of va- riety. Talbot’s stiff sailor is a success. Tricornes are popular. Crowns are mostly shallower than ever, but some very new hats wear them distinctly high. Increasing popularity is predict- ed for turbans, which, like everything else, now dip over the eye.—N. Y. Times. ——_++>—— Novelty Jewelry More Elaborate. With the Second Empire influence now featured in practically all new of- ferings in the accessory field, the trend is chiefly marked by the introduction of much more elaborate pieces in nov- elty jewelry. The view is expressed that this development is likely to aid better grade merchandise, owing to the difficulties experienced in bringing out elaborate necklaces and bracelets to sell at low prices. It is also reported that good cameos to be used for medium-price locket effects of Victor- ian inspiration are in relatively small supply. Handbags likewise show a trend toward more elaborate designs in leather, without, however, much effect on the design-piracy situation. —_+ +--+ Caution Hampers Rug Trade. Uncertainty over consumer willing- ness to buy floor coverings is prompt- ing retailers to restrict Fall orders to a minimum, according to reports sent in by rug salesmen now on the road for Fall business. Merchants are not satisfied with the returns obtained on current rug sales, and this has increas- ed their tendency toward extreme cau- tion on purchases. So far the number of orders has been good, but quanti- ties called for represent only the re- placement of goods actually sold. Salesmen report that sheen type ax- minster products lead other makes in orders placed. Dresses--Beautiful Assortment-- Are In Stock TERMS 8/10 E. O. M. SEE OUR SALESMAN OR VISIT US. $1.00 Retailer — Cotton Prints and Foulards in Medium and Dark Shades. $1.98 Retailer — $2.98 Retailer — Rayon Dark Prints. Rayon Dark Crepes. $3.95 - $5.95 - $9.99 Retailer—Silk Crepes, Travel Tweeds, Satins, etc., in latest and best styles— all new up-to-date merchandise. C. J. FARLEY & COMPANY Jobbers of Dresses and Dry Goods 20-28 Commerce Ave., S. W. Grand Rapids PRR cE eshte ts August 26, 1931 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 19 SHOE MARKET Michigan Retail Shoe Dealers Association. President—Elwyn Pond, Flint. Vice-President—J. E. Wilson, Detroit Secretary—Joe H. Burton, Lansing. Asst. Sec’y-Treas.—O. R. Jenkins. Association Business Office, 907 Trans- portation Bldg., Detroit. Is Style Conference in Jeopardy? Some very significant changes are in the wind. Announcement is made that the Tanners’ ‘Council will hold its spring leather opening in the early weeks of October; that the National Boot & ‘Shoe Manufacturers’ Associa- tion will hold its national seasonal opening and shoe display week in mid- November and that the National Shoe Retailers’ Association will hold its an- nual convention in early January. All are creditable endeavors of associa- tions to put their best foot foremost. But what is to become of the Style Conference? It is pretty much an orphan child. As a \Style Conference it has existed for many years. Back in the days of the World War the allied trade con- ference was used as the instrument of accord among the various associations in the trade working for the common good. That super-organization was of great usefulness in preventing the standardization of shoes into price classifications in 1918, It lived as a voice of the three major associations for several years and then there was evolved the National Style Conference, which brought in the na- tional bodies of retailers, manufactur- ers, tanners, wholesalers and traveling salesmen. Year by year the conference grew and expanded, from a participat- ing body of a few dozen men until this spring there were in attendance up- ward of a thousand people interested in shoes, styles and materials. Now we are in August and the fate of the National Style 'Conference as a continuing instrument of contact be- tween the various associations through the practical development of a platform of color and fashions in footwear, is yet to be decided. The Style 'Confer- ence should not be made a football in association politics. It should stand on its own feet as a vigorous instru- ment of progress and as a useful tool of anticipation in colors, materials and specifications forecast for the coming season, The very fact that the Style Con- ference is the most enthusiastically attended of all the sessions of the trade indicates that as an unselfish conference of men and women gather- ed for the discussion of style, it has life, virility and great usefulness. To kill the Style Conference, as such, be- cause there are separate promotions by separate associations, would be an error. It would be a national and in- ternational mistake, for much good came out of the conference in its selec- tion of colors and types of shoes and the entire world of shoes acknowledges its appreciation of the platform work of the conference. The Style Conference had its critics and many cunning footwear operators _made it a point to do business contrary to the conference recommendations. _ That is no new thing in collective un- dertakings, because there will always be individualists who feel that they can profit most by operating directly op- posite to the common impulse of trade. But that is, in no sense, a criticism of the conference. The conference will make its errors, new colors will come in in late season, new ideas will evolve, but this we do know—that the major course of business each season is pretty much in line with the recommendations of the Style Conference. There is trade safety in color accord and no one wishes to return to the days of hunch, guess and “hope so,” when it has been proved that by collective action, much waste in business can be eliminated. As the matter now stands, the fact than the Style ‘Conference is in peril as a continuing instrument of the trade, is viewed with concern and alarm by many merchants, manufac- turers and material makers, They want the benefit of some sort of a com- mon thought on colors, materials and specifications for next spring. It is time for the national bodies to come to some decision on the matter of the Style ‘Conference, and if no such as- sociation acceptance comes forth, then it is time for the Style ‘Conference to organize itself as a committee of the whole, There never was a season when it was more important to know the cen- ter path of color, materials and style, for if each branch of the trade is to go down its own pathway, there will be experienced the irreparable loss of a style understanding based on active and harmonious co-operation.—Boot and Shoe Recorder. —_+++___ The Cost of a Practical Joking Em- ploye. There is no gainsaying the advan- tage to a retail merchant of having em- ployes who are of a sunny sociable disposition in their contacts with cus- tomers. Employes of this type are trade getters, and their value in build- ing up good will for a business and in retaining same should not be over- looked, On the other hand, where an em- ploye goes beyond this and develops into a practical joker, with a flare for trying his talents upon customers, we have an entirely different situation. For employes of this class may quite easily prove a serious liability because, if a so-called practical joke results in in- jury, the merchant, as the employer, may be saddled with responsibility. Of course each case of this kind must necessarily be decided upon its particular facts, and the subject cannot be covered by any iron clad rules. However, as an illustration of the pos- sible danger to a merchant in having a practical joker on his pay roll, the following case is worth a brief review. Here a customer of a retail merchant ordered, among other things, a loaf of bread. An employe of the merchant sought to play a practical joke on the customer and wrapped up a dead rat in the package which was supposed to contain the bread. This employe then instructed a delivery boy to request the customer to open the package up- on receipt. The customer, a woman, opened the package as requested in the presence of the delivery boy, but the so-called “joke” . failed to connect. The cus- tomer at sight of the dead rat fainted, fell to the floor, with the result that she was seriously injured. The mer- chant and the employe who was most to blame sought to excuse the affair on the ground that the wrapping up of the dead rat was done by mistake. However, this excuse did not impress the customer and she brought suit for damages against the merchant, and alleged injury to her nervous system, pain and mental anguish, as the result of the experience. The case was tried before a jury and resulted in a judg- ment against the merchant for $1,000. On appeal, the higher court in affirm- ing this judgment had this to say: “The declaration as drawn presents a case against the defendant (mer- chant) for injuries sustained by the plaintiff (the customer) as a result of a practical joke. Under the decisions of this court damages may be recover- ed for physical injuries caused by fright or shock. “There was evidence from which the jury might have found, as they did, that the plaintiff had ordered and ex- pected to receive from the defendant a loaf of bread, and that in sending the bread to ther home the defendant’s em- ploye, in the performance of his duty while acting within the scope of his employment, had carelessly and*negli- gently performed his duty by substitut- ing by mistake the dead rat for the loaf of bread, and that when the plain- tiff opened the package containing the dead rat the sight of it so frightened and shocked ther that she became a ‘nervous wreck.’ “The rule is that the master is re- sponsible for the wrongful acts of his servant, even though they be wilful, or reckless, if the act done by the ser- vant be within the scope of his em- ployment and in furtherance of his master’s business. Judgment affirmed with costs.” Now, it may be stated in closing, that a retail merchant, or any other employer for that matter, may not be held hable for every practical joke played by an employe. If the employe goes “out on his own,” as the expres- sion is, and indulges in practical jokes unconnected with his employment, his employer will not be liable. But, the difficulty from an employ- er’s standpoint here is in being able to show such a state of facts, especial- ly when an employe plays a practical joke while on duty. The employer may argue until he is black in the face that the duty of an employe does not include the playing of such jokes, and such a defense may upon occasion re- lieve the employer of liability. However, in most cases of this kind, the employer is placed in a difficult position to defend if the facts show that the employe was engaged within the scope of his employment when he played the joke, and quite generally the joke is on the employer as repre- sented by a judgment for damages. Moral, if any is needed, don’t hire known practical jokers, and if one de- velops in the employment disconnect him from the pay roll as a potential source of liability, —~+~+<.___ Fred Boulton, dealer in general mer- chandise at Fostoria, renews his sub- scription to the Tradesman and wiites: “Enclosed find $3, the best spent mon- ey of the year.” $475,000.00 HAVE YOU RECEIVED YOUR SHARE? This amount has been paid to our policyholders in dividends since organization in 1912. Share in these profits by insuring with us we MIcHIGAN SHOE DEALERS MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE CoO. Mutual Building LANSING, MICHIGAN Phone 20741 20 RETAIL GROCER Retail Grocers and Meat Dealers Associa- tion of Michigan. President—William Schultz, Ann Arbor. First Vice-President—Paul Schmidt, Lansing. Second Vice-President—A. Bathke, Pe- toskey. Secretary — Herman Hanson, Grand Rapids. Treasurer—O. H. Bailey, Sr., Lansing. Directors — Ole Peterson, Muskegon; Walter Loefler, Saginaw; John Lurie, Detroit; Clayton F. Spaulding, Battle Creek; Ward Newman, Pontiac. and French Department Stores of Food. The general food market, otherwise the food department store, is compara- tively new in our country—except where ancient folk habit has made it institutional. Places like Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Boston, Wor- cester and Reading have had the cen- tral food market in varying forms from pioneer days; but speaking generally, our food trade has been in the hands of specialists. I have told about the food depart- ment in Wertheim’s, Berlin, Germany store. My story was inadequate be- German cause without pictures no fair idea can - be conveyed, To say that all vege- tables are sold in immense quantities leaves much to be imagined. A picture of the department in action would tell the tale far better. I told of live fish in tanks—all kinds of fish—but a picture of the interior which looks like a municipal acquarium is needful to a fair conception of the size and scope of that amazing “Fische Halle.” Groceries in Germany are called Lebensmittel which, perhaps, may be translated as things which sustain life. A quaint word is Wurstwaren, literal- ly sausage wares. I said Wertheim’s sausage department contained ‘fifty varieties, J guessed at tthe number. Actual count of the catalogue shows fifty-three. The catalogue, which is of special lines only, quotes 2119 separate items. There are fourteen kinds and sizes of asparagus; sixteen of beans; thirty- one cheese; nineteen figs. Naturally there are 571 kinds and characters of wines, beers and liquors—and prob- ably I short counted at that. The stock is large and varied, some French wines dating ‘back to 1913. Complete assortments are grouped only under the manufacturer’s name—eight of these together—among them Huntly & Palmers, which alone embraces hundreds of kinds and sizes. Easter and Christmas articles are also merely mentioned as a class. Perishables are not mentioned, neither is fresh meat nor bakery goods yet of all these there is carried stocks such as would be a credit to the biggest of special shops, Felix Potin, pronounced falix po- tang-potan; which is as near as our alphabet will get to it. The surname is to be pronounced kind of between the two I have hyphenated, is a true de- partment store of food with branches scattered about stragetic Parisian loca- tions. But these are ground-floor” stores, placed on prominent, corners, right down among the people—and, be- lieve me, the people know them. This house was founded in 1844, the original Potin having ‘been gathered to his fathers in 1871. Here, too, pictures would be neces- ws ts Nat ns wooed MICHIGAN TRADESMAN sary to convey any idea, particularly of one astonishing Paris custom—that of selling on the sidewalks, under a capacious awning, any and everything one can think of almost. But when I asked these folks for pictures, all they could answer was what everybody knows: that it is “ver-ray deeficult” to take pictures, except a certain kind, of which see below. I wanted to show the crowds all around the three sides of the point of one of Potin’s stores, buying bread, biscuits, candy, lemonade to drink on the spot, coffee likewise, meats, poul- try, fish, eggs—every staple and spec- ial item aside from extra fine articles. But nothing doing. This shop is on a point that has a peak about thirty-five feet wide, and runs back perhaps 100 or 120 feet, gradually widening to sixty-five feet. [It is therefore lighted splendidly from all sides and the interior is bright and attractive. It is completely and logically de- partmentized. Every counter, scale, uniform and utensil is brilliantly clean. Food could not be displayed in more appetizing form. Quality could not be bettered anywhere. Variety is liter- ally endless. Interior pictures would be quite simple to take, but it appears that this advertising department has advanced little beyond the kinder- garten stages of publicity as we know it. This enterprise of one man—and his wife, of course (every Frenchman takes his wife into full partnership)— has grown into a corporation capital- ized at $30,000,000 and probably worth several times its capital. It is, there- fore, a large manufacturer and whole- saler. There is to-day literally a town of Potin factories. The biscuiterie is big enough to lend dignity to the National Biscuit ‘Co, in many of its branches. Its terrefac- tionerie — coffee roastery — is large enough for a big wholesale grocer. Its charcuterie, which means pork butch- ery, is housed in a long, concrete build- ing and big enough for a Cedar Rap- ids pork packer. Its wineries—well, why try to tell of those? Its “caves,” the interesting French word for cel- lars, look like long tunnels, Hence, Potin’s publicity takes the shape of an expensively printed pam- phlet which tells the history of the house, illustrates the factories and suc- cursales—branches—and shows forth its numerous tangible possessions. There are illustrations in this pam- phlet, but mostly it is embellished with half tones of the original Felix and his good wife, and twenty-five other per- sonal phases. Most of the men-virtu- ally all, in fact—are airedales ala Francaise, having luxurious crops of alfalfa on cheek, chin and upper lip. And they all take themselves mighty serious, believe me. Only one has responded adequately to the “look pleasant, please” of the photographer. That is the rather bright young man who handles the publicite. The only other whose ex- pression verges on the cheerful is peculiarly named ‘M. Wurry, who, be- ing Directeur des Services de Traction, perhaps the drayage department, might seem properly named Much Worry. But now I bethink me, M. stands not for an initial but for Monsieur—pro- nounced M’sieu. If our American grocers, who come to Europe this summer—who will be well on their way when this story ap- pears—make a thorough inspection of Potin’s, Julien Demoy and Luce, all in Paris, I incline to think they will get more ideas adaptable to America than they will find elsewhere along their itinerary. There are some ‘fine food shops in Berlin, aside from Wertheim’s depart- ment store; notably Kempinski’s, who is a restaunteur with a food business on the side. In Munich there is Alois Somebody, famous enough to be found without more exact name. But by and large, the shops wherein Americans can get most ideas to take back home August 26, 1931 and use are in Glasgow—Cooper’s for example—Edinburgh where is the famous Gibson— London with its Selfridge on the one hand and its marvelous Fortnum & Mason on the other—and in Paris. Paul Findlay. —_—_2++>—_ German Theater Gives Frankfurters Free, One of the leading theaters in Berlin has reduced ‘the price of seats to 20 and 30 cents and is serving frank- furter sandwiches free between the acts. This move is part of a campaign of the legitimate stage in Berlin to meet increasing competition from the movies and to make it possible for peo- ple to attend the theater in spite of hard times and decreased incomes. Rademaker-Dooge Grocer Co. Distributors Fremont Sweet Peas Miss Michigan Ex Stand Cut Wax Beans Miss Michigan Ex Stand Cut Green Beans Miss Michigan Sweet Peas Miss Michigan Early June Peas Above all packed by Fremont Canning Co. W. R. ROACH & CO., GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN Hart Brand vegetables and fruits are building prof- itable repeat business for thousands of Michigan re- tailers .... POUTNAMS RITE ’N SITE 19c PACKAGES Choice candies put up in cellophane to sell at a popular price. We have an attractive offer for a display. PUTNAM FACTORY . NATIONAL CANDY CO., INC. GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN August 26, 1931 MEAT DEALER Michigan State Association of Retail Meat Merchants. President—Frank Cornell, Grand Rapids Vice-Pres.—E Y. Abbott, Flint. Secretary—B. J. La Rose, Detroit. Treasurer—Pius Goedecke, Detroit. Next meeting will be held in Grand Rapids, date not decidea. How You Can Sell More Sausage. A well-managed sausage department in a retail meat store or a general food store is a particularly valuable adjunct especially in the warm ‘Summer months, Sausage, judging by increases in volume of sales, is growing more popular continually, At the present time a sausage adver- tising campaign is being conducted in the city of Chicago, under the auspices of the Meat ‘Council of that city. With their permission we are reprinting the introduction paragraphs of a booklet which they have distributed to Chi- cago retailers, in the hope that you may ‘increase your profits by building your sales of sausage. Selling sausage is as simple as it can be profitable. No expensive equipment is required, no costly stock involved. About all that is needed is a willingness to dis- play sausage and to talk sausage to the consumer. Probably no other meat product sells itself as readily on proper display as sausage. Sausage is important to the dealer not only ‘because it is profitable mer- chandise to handle in itself, but also because it can be used repeatedly and continually as a means of adding a sizeable amount of the customer’s meat order, and in this way increase volume and decrease the dealer’s cost of doing business. Sausage, moreover, is easy to handle. There is virtually no shop shrinkage, almost no time at all is required for cutting or preparing for the consumer, and it can be wrapped easily, quickly and inexpensively. In brief, sausage is a very desirable product to handle and sell. A book could be written about the art of selling sausage, but some of the most essential and valuable points can be expressed briefly as follows: 1. Give a definite space in store to the display of sausage. 2. Place the display counter or case in the front part of your store, if pos- sible—right where everybody coming in will be sure to see it. 3. Display sausage in your windows whenever you possibly can. 4. ‘Neatly label all sausage on dis- play so your customers will know what to ask for. Frequently people hesitate to buy when they don’t know the name of the object they want. 5. Show the prices of all products on display. This is one of the best means of stimulating sales. The fig- ures can be lettered neatly on the small card used to show the name of the sausage. 6. The addition of suggested uses to the card showing the name and price of the product also will be a powerful aid in stimulating sales. Thus the card referring to liver sausage might read: Liver Sausage. Price to-day 25c per pound. Fine for sandwiches, for fry- ing, for croquettes and for broiling. Try some to-day. 7. Since neatness and cleanliness your MICHIGAN TRADESMAN are most valuable selling aids, cases in which, or counters or tables on which, sausage is displayed should be kept clean, neat and attractive. 8. In displaying sausage, the skill- ful use of parsley or fern leaves will help to add a touch that will appeal to the eye of the consumer. 9. Displaying sausage in combina- tion with other foods, if done neatly, is sure to attract attention and aid sales. Showing ‘bologna or liver sausage sandwiches, for example, or a platter of cold meats garnished with parsley and pickles, or a delicious looking waffle with a few nicely browned pork sausages on top all will help to increase your sausage sales. 10. When you have cut sausage in display, be sure to trim the surface frequently enough to assure an at- tractive appearance. Discolored sau- sage and sausage which has the ap- pearance of being dried out will dis- courage sales. 11. Require your employes to sug- gest sausage at every opportunity. This should be done tactfully, of course or some customers are likely to resent it. One good way to suggest the pur- chase of a specific kind of sausage for a specific use, such as, for example, bologna for sandwiches, pork sausage for breakfast and frankfurters for picnic lunches. 12. Utilize every opportunity to tell consumers of the merits of sausage; of the fact that it is high in food value. and relatively low in price; that it is virtually all food and without waste; that it is highly pleasing to the taste, and that it is available in many forms and varieties, some of which are sure to appeal to every consumer. 13. Train your salesmen to ask cus- tomers, after having sold them a meat order, “And now, Mrs. Smith, how about a little bologna to-day? It’s so nice in sandwiches.” Or, ‘These are good pork sausage days, ‘Mrs. Jones. How about some for breakfast?” Or, “Have you ever tried liver sausage sandwiches, Mrs. Brown? Your bridge club members would enjoy some, I’m sure.” 14. Finally, think sausage, talk sausage, interest your customers in it, sell more of it. There’s money in sausage. Get some of it for yourself. ~~») — > Finding Foreign Markets For Horse Meat. Through the solicitation of the Washington office of tthe California Bureau of Commerce, the Foodstuffs Division of the United States Bureau of Foreing and Domestic Commerce has been interested in the horse meat industry in this State. A single plant in the Bay area has advised that they have a capacity of 75 head per day. They are able to sup- ply from 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of either fresh, pickled, or frozen horse meat trimmings per day. This iis in addition to fresh cut. While the European market for horse meat is highly competitive on price as well as quality, it is none the less active. Federal specialists in this type of product have expressed the be- lief that should the California plant in question be able to make definite com- mitment as to delivery, the present operation at 15 per cent. of capacity could be materially improved. Due to drought conditions, which limited the supply of horses, certain horse meat packing plants in this country have been forced ‘to cease op- eration. This naturally tends to de- crease our export and to invite in- creased orders for those plants which continue to operate. With this in mind the California Bureau of Com- merce, through its Washington office, is endeavoring to provide market out- lets for this California product through the establishment of European con- 21 tacts principally in the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. William R. Gage. —_+-++—__—_ Mrs. M. C. Bidwell, with the Zahn Dry Goods Co., of Racine, Wisconsin, renews her subscription to the Mich- igan Tradesman and writes: “The ex- cerpts on the front page are worth the price as well as the “meat” in the in- side.” > S A. G. Anderson. of Lansing, writes the Tradesman that he renews his sub- scription with pleasure. ame eae ah Serve with fried or poached Te r Rusk Bakers Since 1882 Leading Grocers always have a supply of POSTMA’S RUSK as they are in Demand in all Seasons Fresh Daily POSTMA BISCUIT CO. GRAND RAPIDS. MICHIGAN EGGS Eggs, at full market prices. Quotations mailed on request. EGGS WE BUY — WE STORE — WE SELL KENT STORAGE COMPANY - EGGS We are always in the market for strictly fresh current receipt We can supply Egg Cases and Egg Case Material of all kinds. GRAND RAPIDS GRAND RAPIDS PAPER Box Co. Manufacturers of SET UP and FOLDING PAPER BOXES SPECIAL DIE CUTTING AND MOUNTING G R AN D R A.P I oe) | G A N° C H I GRIDDLES 7 N. IONIA AVE. BUN STEAMERS Everything in Restaurant Equipment Priced Right. Grand Rapids Store Fixture Co. Phone 67143 URNS N. FREEMAN, Mgr. ka Fiour Rowena Yes Ma’am Graham Rowena Golden G. Meal Rowena Pancake Flour Rowena Buckwheat Compound Rowena Whole Wheat Flour Rowena Cake and Biscuit “THE FLOUR THE BEST COOKS USE Always stock these fully-guaranteed, widely-advertised flour products! Valley City Milling Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. VINKEMULDER COMPANY Grand Rapids, Michigan BRANCH AT PETOSKEY, MICH. Distributors Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Cranberries, Grapefruit, “Yellow Kid” Bananas, Oranges, Onions, Fresh Green Vegetables, etc. gai Mticinciastng atop + SES a ete Mens. HARDWARE Michigan Retail Hardware Association. President—Waldo Bruske, Saginaw. Vice-Pres.—Chas. H. Sutton, Howell. Secretary—Harold W. Bervig. Treasurer—William Moore, Detroit. Suggestions For the Hardware Dealer in September. With the summer and_ harvesting business over, the hardware dealer will now have time to concentrate on the fall trade. With the advent of September, there should be some pick up in business after the slackness of the summer months. Many lines can be advantage- ously featured at this season. To bring his fall campaign to a suc- cessful issue, however, the dealer must display both energy and initiative. The proper displaying of goods is a very necessary adjunct to a suc- cessful retail sales campaign. One of the first considerations is to get all un- seasonable lines out of the way. With this object in view many progressive hardware dealers finish the summer season with a clearance sale of all strictly hot weather goods. This sale serves a dual purpose. It makes room for the proper display of fall lines. Also, it turns into a cash a lot of odds and ends that otherwise would clutter up the stock and -have to be carried over at a loss. One hardware firm in a small com- munity holds an annual clearance sale of summer goods from ‘September 1 to September 15. Discounts ranging around 20 per cent., with some drastic cuts on feature items, are usually of- fered. The firm makes the following announcement: ‘It is our policy to keep our entire hardware stock new and up-to-date. We have no room for merchandise that is not seasonable. We find on go- ing over our stock that we have sev- eral lines of summer goods wo do not want to carry over. These are simply tail-ends of our immense summer stock; and to clear them out entirely we offer them at big reductions.” The goods listed in preliminary an- nouncements included lawn mowers, haying tools, garden hose, screen doors, poultry netting, hammocks, watering cans, refrigerators, etc. As a rule it is difficult to sell these lines so late in the season; but this firm states that good results have been experienced from previous clearance sales in the first half of September. Thrifty buyers, they claim, are always on the lookout for good values. Most hardware dealers hold the clearance sale somewhat earlier, on the assumption that people are more likely to buy when they will still have at least a few weeks’ use of the goods in the current season. With summer goods disposed of, the dealer will ‘find the problem of featur- ing fall goods a less difficult one. The stove department, for instance, can be given more space. The stove department is, of course, one of the big items in the fall trade. Every dealer should give ample space at this season to his ranges and heat- ers. Sufficient space should, if pos- sible, be allowed to show to advantage each stove in stock, and to make it possible to demonstrate any stove to customers, MICHIGAN TRADESMAN When the days begin to shorten, the dealer should accept this as his cue to prepare for the fall sporting goods trade. In the fall months there is al- ways a heavy demand for guns, am- munition, hunting bags, etc., for the fall is recognized as pre-eminently the hunter’s season. There is, in addition, the demand for football supplies; while in the more remote distance the skate trade looms up. ‘That seems a long way to look ahead but wide-awake dealers look ahead that far sometimes. I recall some very busy clerks one hot August day in the back room of a small town hardware store. They were putting together an electric sign in the shape of a star, with places for colored light bulbs. “What is that contrivance for?” I asked. . “Oh,” returned the dealer, “we be- lieve in getting ready amead of time. We are going to have an early winter this year. We mean to celebrate the first ice with a display that will fairly hit them between the eyes. This thing is an electric star to form the central attraction of a big ice skate display.” Out of doors at the moment it is sweltering August; and inside the boys were planning displays for No- vember and Christmas. That may seem iike looking and planning and working a long way ahead; but that is the spirit that keeps the hardware trade alive and gets re- sults in the long run, In September, country fairs, harvest festivals and similar events are popular in rural communities. The hardware dealer in the country town will usually find it worth while to take an active part in the promotion of such events. If there is an exhibition, he can use a booth; he can now and then donate small prizes for contests; and it is also worth while to throw his store open for committee meetings. The average dealer will help such events anyway; he will find it well worth while to give his help cheerfully and ungrudgingly. An exhibit of hardware lines in the main building at the fall fair will usu- ally be found worth while. It is a good form of advertising; it brings the dealer into personal contact with a lot of town and country customers; and if he is sufficiently wide-awake, he can get a line on a good many prospects for stoves, paint, washing machines and similar lines. In addition to such lines, the dealer can use the fall fair to show farm implements, cream sep- arators, etc. If you put on a fall fair exhibit, plan it carefully; take charge of the booth yourself, at least for the busy hours; aim to meet and greet as many people as possible; and, in short, get everything possible out of it—in- cluding a lot of names for your pros- pect list. Incidentally, put on a first class dis- play, and wherever possible demon- strate your kitchen range, your cream separator, your paint or floor finish. A demonstration is the surest way of making people stop, look and listen. Hand out advertising matter, being particular to put it into the hands of adults who are real prospects and above all get the names and addresses of such prospects, to be followed up later by advertising matter and per- . sonal solicitation. And, of course, never miss a chance to make a sale. In the sporting goods department this fall, it may be necessary to go out after business, This will be particu- larly the case where you are just launching a sporting goods department, or where the department has not been pushed aggressively in the past. A little outside work this season, even if the immediate results are not encouraging, will do a great deal to put your sporting goods department and your business generally, on a firm- er footing. Simply because you keep sporting goods and your stock is al- ways clean and well selected is no rea- son why people should purchase from you. With sporting enthusiasts, per- sonal contact counts for a good deal. It is the man who makes a good, sub- stantial bid for trade who gets the bulk of the business. Splendid window and interior dis- plays can be contrived of hunting goods — guns, riflles, ammunition, knives, camping outfits, hunting ac- cessories of one sort and another. A camping scene with a dummy figure on a log in the foreground, a tent, a tripod and pot, will always get a lot of notice. A stocky display of hunt- ing goods is good, but a scenic display is still better. In the sporting goods department, selling stunts should help. The offer of a prize to the hunter bagging the largest amount of game or to the win- ning football team in your district is sure to advertise your store. If you are offering a football trophy, make it a standing offer from year to year. Then you get .cumulative results that vou don’t get when the trophy is of- fered for one year only. A standing trophy, particularly if the champion- ship is keenly contested, will bring your store a lot of free advertising. In September the fall paint campaign should be well under way. In the early stages of the campaign, it is often worth while to do some personal can- vassing. Concentrate on a number of the most likely prospects—those who may be regarded as sure-fire, if there are such prospects in the paint busi- ness—and get their orders if at all pos- sible. A ‘bunch of orders secured early will do a lot to boost the campaign later, You can point to them and say: “So and so is painting with our brand of paint. Took at the string of orders we have already.” The fact that one man has bought paint from you, or August 26, 1931 that six or a dozen have bought, will carry a great deal of weight with the prospect who is still hesitating. Toward the close of the campaign, too, personal work will quite often clinch sales with a number of prospects who are hanging ‘fire. In September, the window displays should be given special attention, At- tractive displays can be made of many seasonable lines. ‘In sporting goods a hunting or camping scene is good, In the household department a model wash room with up-to-date washing machine can be shown in another dis- play. It is good policy to work out in ad- vance a regular program of displays. The window trimmer who knows be- forehand that he is going to show a kitchen range on the first, paint on the fourth and a hunting scene on the seventh will more or less unconscious- ly assemble ideas for these displays beforehand; while the trimmer who takes out one display before he knows what to put in next will find his work doubly hard. As a rule your newspaper advertising and your window trims should deal simultaneously with the same subjects. Victor Lauriston. ee : See $5 Sterling Hollow Ware Call. Concluding three weeks’ observation and enquiry as to probable Fall trends in hollow ware, manufacturers report themselves as convinced that sterling silver will outrank silver plate or com- binations of pewter and copper in pop- ular appeal during the coming season. Candlesticks, vases, bonbon plates, sugars and creamers and similar ar- ticles, if held to a $5 retail price, will be ordered in quantity, buyers promise. Some sterling goods have been sold through the Summer at the desired price, but the supply has been limited. ——_—->-o “Wagon” Food Sales Increase. The volume of business handled by food distributors who use wagon sales- men to serve retail grocers has shown a steady increase since the business depression started, it was brought out last week at the fourth annual conven- tion of the National Food Distributors’ Association held in New York (City. The tendency on the part of grocers to carry smaller stocks has made the merchandising methods of the “wagon men,’ who make weekly calls to sell, deliver and collect for goods, more at- tractive. Michigan Hardware Co. 100-108 Ellsworth Ave., Corner Oakes GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN BH Wholesalers of Shelf Hardware, Sporting Goods and FISHING TACKLE C) Saas essa sich pitt winter” * ches eR rane bate Se August 26, 1931 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN CHOICE OF A CALLING. A Few Main Principles To Be Ob- served. Right now in many homes the ab- sorbing subject of thought and con- versation is what is the best calling for a son or daughter. Shall Robert, who finished high school in June, begin an engineering course this fall, or enter college for two years of general work, with the intention of then taking up the study of medicine? Another family, not so well off, is discussing whether Albert should ac- cept the place offered him in a drug store, studying pharmacy evenings; or, being handy with tools, would he bet- ter stay at his present job, helping re- pair cars, in time becoming an expert automobile mechanic? Selection of the vocation is one of the great decisions of the lifetime. To the occupation chosen the boy or girl will plan to devote his or her main energies; from it will expect to obtain at least a livelihood and hope to gain a compentence or even wealth; in this vocation the ambitions will center, and upon success in its pursuit future hap- piness will largely depend. Never should parents presume to make this decision without the con- currence of the child. As to what he shall do in the years to come, it is for him, not for them, to speak the final word. Almost as rarely should the choice be made by the child alone. For this happens only when his selection is con- trary to the judgment of the two per- sons who, in all the world, have his welfare most at heart. The boy who can’t now see things as Father and Mother do, should wait a little before taking the bit in his teeth. A few years upon his head and his ideas may coincide with theirs. And parents should be reasonable. Family pride and tradition should not govern. A lad whose bent.is mechan- ical or executive should not be coerced or even persuaded into studying law, merely because some of his ancestors have been distinguished jurists. Parents must not expect their own aspirations will be fulfilled in their children. A father who, through lack of early opportunities, has been com- pelled to follow some humble calling, always aching for larger things, most earnestly desires that his son shall cap- ture some of the big prizes in com- mercial or professional attainment. But little Jimmy may have no spark of his father’s undeveloped genius. Often ambitions are not transmitted from one generation to the next. A mother who had in her the making of a famous prima donna, may have a daughter who cares nothing for music; is, in short, just a good commonplace little thing, quiet and domestic in her tastes. : Dr. Eliot, famous president of Har- vard, said that one should find satis- faction and happiness in doing one’s work, in the recompense which it yields, and in seeing its beneficent re- sults. Here in a few words is a mine of wisdom, applicable to the choice of a vocation, It is for the tactful parent to guide . the son or daughter in applying these principles, and also to point out, in any occupation, disadvantages that the boy or girl does not see. It is best to figt shy of every craft or business that taboos workers past thirty-five or forty. To the youngster, early middle-age seems a long time ahead; but we elders know that a per- son should be better in his calling at fifty than before, and good up to sixty or beyond. The healthfulness of any pursuit should be considered, as also its dangers, moral and physical. Of late years many mental tests have been devised for ascertaining a person’s natural bent. How far it is safe to be guided by these findings I cannot say. It might be well to have every boy and girl measured up in this way, and then see how the chart com- pares with the facts. I believe it will often be found that John and Mary have traits sufficiently pronounced to be reckoned with vocationally, but which the home folks never have dis- covered. Now and then a child shows so de- cided an inclination toward some one art or profession, that the occupation question settles itself. A boy may be so fond of music that he will consider nothing else. A girl may so love to write that year after year she will go on writing, even though her poems and stories fail to keep her from going cold and hungry. Fortunately most people are more adaptable. Usually the young person of good all-round capability can suc- ceed in any one of several callings. So, after weighing his powers against oc- cupational requirements, he should set- tle on the vocation for which he seems naturally best qualified, the one that appeals most strongly and in which he believes he can render best service to mankind, and which also warrants ex- pectation of satisfactory returns. The choice of a calling for a girl presents a real dilemma. Say an oc- cupation demanding thorough prepara- tion is selected. The young woman may scarcely begin her career before aban- doning it for matrimony. On the other hand, the maid who takes up some un- skilled work, just to earn clothes and spending money until she shall be led to the altar, may never marry. Or, if she does, may have to “go right on working,” always handicapped by lack of training. For either boy or girl, the selection of an occupation now presents one grave difficulty almost unknown to the old-timers. Up to fifty years ago, when a person chose one of the standard occupations, the choice could be con- sidered made “for keeps.” But in re- cent years, employments that formerly sustained many thousands, have van- ished from the picture. How long will any of to-days occu- pations continue? Never before was costly preparation so essential to gain- ing a foothold, and never before was there so great risk that such outlay might not long serve its purpose. It is a strong point in favor of any call- ing, if skill acquired in its pursuit, can, in a considerable degree, be carried over into some other occupation. In the perplexities of choosing the calling, it is most fortounate if parents can lend sympathetic, understanding counsel. Wise are the boys and girls who, wile having minds of their own, still heed Father, Mother, and other friends of ripe experience. Ella M. Rogers. ee Under this mound lies Goofy Bean, His chemistry few extol, He filled his tank with gasoline, Himself with alcohol. ——_ + +. In keeping with the current rage, there comes the miniature cocktail— one drink and in a minature out. Wonderful Flavor JENNINGS PURE VANILLA Jennings Flavoring Extract Co. Grand Rapids, Mich. TRAVERSE CITY BRANCH Fruit Growers Union Building We are opening a branch, Aug. 20th, in Traverse City. A. Grossman will be local representative. I. Van Westenbrugge Kraft Distributor SARLES Detective Agency Licensed and Bonded Michigan Trust Bldg. Grand Rapids, Mich. Kent Products Co. Service Distributor Eskimo Creamed Cottage Cheese. Borden Cheese. Meadow Gold Butter “June Flavor.” Grand Rapids and Western Michigan Phone 64-929 Sand Lime Brick Nothing as Durable Nothing as Fireproof Makes Structure Beautiful No Painting No Cost for Repairs Fire Proof Weather Proof Warm in Winter—Cool in Summer Brick is Everlasting GRANDE BRICK CoO. Grand Rapids. SAGINAW BRICK CoO. Saginaw. These Be Our Leaders Sold only by The Blodgett-Beckley Co. Members India Tea Bureau Main Office Toledo Detroit Office and Warehouse 517 East Larned Street Phone 61366 JOHN L. LYNCH SALES CO. SPECIAL SALE EXPERTS Expert Advertising Expert Merchandising 209-210-211 Murray Bldg. Grand Rapids, Michigan FISH OCEAN, LAKE, SALT & SMOKED Wholesale and Retail GEORGE B. READER 1046-8 Ottawa Ave. GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 24 HOTEL DEPARTMENT News and Gossip Concerning Michi- gan Hotels. Los Angeles, Aug. 22—The annual convention of the International Stew- ards of America, held at Detroit last week, was one of the most successful and largely attended of any ever held by the organization. Several instruc- tive sessions were held and much en- tertainment offered. Carl M. Snyder, manager of Hotel Book-Cadillac, De- troit, and Fred J. Doherty, vice-presi- dent of the ‘Michigan Hotel Associa- tion, were in charge of the program. ‘(Charles E. Gatton, former chief clerk of Hotel Majestic, Detroit, has been appointed manager of that house to succeed Richard Calahan, who re- signed recently to take over Hotel Kenwood, at Pontiac. What is claimed to be a price-cutting war has been going on some time be- tween some of the leading restaurants in Chicago, with a tendency to reduce prices to a pre-war standard. [ know of no reason why these prices should not have been reduced without “‘blood- shed.” The cost of supplies has been going down for the past few years, but there are many restaurants and some hotels I know of, which have main- tained their prices and are wondering what has become of their patrons. I can tell them. The $1.50 meal, for in- stance, is a thing of the past. One dollar is and will be the limit—except in case of extraordinary service or sur- roundings—for some time to come, One of my commercial friends writing me from Michigan, speaks of an inter- urban hotel which advertises Sunday dinners for one dollar, but when you order one, unless you are mighty care- ful, you are liable to cross over a very faint dividing line and get into the $1.50 class. With two single excep- “ions I do not know of a table d’hote service in Los Angeles which exceeds one buck, and they certainly are offer- ing some very “spiffy” meals, I am glad to know that despite his transplantation from Hotel Olds, Lan- sing, to the management of Hotel Berkshire, Reading, Pennsylvania, George Crocker, president of the Mich- jgan Hotel Association, will be on hand at the annual meeting of that as- sociation, to be held at Benton Harbor, next month. John J. Decker, who has served effi- ciently as chairman of the educational committee of Detroit Charter of Greet- ers, No, 29, has been appointed secre- tary pro tem to handle the work of the Charter during the absence of Fred Nussbaum, who has ‘filled that office for many years, but who has been obliged to retire temporarily from his office on account of failing health. Mr. Nussbaum is spending some time at the Greeters’ home, in Denver, in an effort to regain his health and he xpects to be able to return to active hotel work, in Detroit, shortly. The leading hotels of the East have satished themselves that while they have been paying advertising bills, it was not for a satisfactory service. In other words, endeavoring to reach a class of patrons, they had been expend- ing their substance in channels where their advertising would never be seen by prospective guests. This is true, al- most uniformly, among hotel oper- ators, and I have spoken of it many times. Find out the medium which reaches the class of people you want to secure for patrons and then adver- tise discreetly. The Ann Arbor authorities were certainly to be credited with prompt- ness in their handling of the culprits responsible for the atrocious attack made near there some days ago, Cer- ERASED AEN cB i I A MICHIGAN TRADESMAN D HOTEL. ETROITER ROOMS 75O BATHS FREE GARAGE tain ‘Californians expressed regret that Michigan could not mete out capital punishment, but I feel that prompt- ness in punishment is fully of as much importance as the degree of same. Here, where capital punishment is featured, about one per cent. of the murderers go to the gallows. The re- mainder are pawed over by weak sisters, judges with weak intestinal equipment and wobbly-kneed gov- ernors, Virginia is the lowest down of any state in the Union—in radio minded- ness. A total of 530,000 families have but 90,000 receiving sets. However, the state has a balance of $5,000,000 in its treasury, which provides a unique- ness to its setting. Here is another Breakfast Club of- fering: “I’ve had a hard day,” said the tired business man aboard the train for home. One of my office boys asked for the afternoon off to’ attend his aunt’s funeral. So, being on to his scheme ,as J thought, I said I was go- ing along, too!” His friend chuckled: ‘Great idea! Was it a good game?” “That's where I lost out,” sadly ad- mitted the man of business. “It was his aunt’s funeral.’ Forty-two per cent. of the apartment owners in Los Angeles have declared against the admission of dogs. They already have strict regulations con- cerning children. But a great many people want to combine the two, One good thing about this regulation will be that parents will move to localities where there will be plenty of room out doors, and no danger of disturbing oc- cupants with nervous’ dispositions. People who rent apartments for the purpose of securing quiet are certainly entitled to have same. All sorts of suggestions have been offered to cover changed conditions in life and business. One writer suggests thicker slices of ham—‘“thick enough to give a ham taste.” He objects, as do all the other picnickers and non- picnickers, to those machines which get “forty-seven slices to the inch.” We are rapidly becoming a Nation of sand- wich eaters, and some of our major crimes are perpetrated under the guise of sandwiches. The ham is sometimes scarcely visible—is often applied with a rubber stamp. At best it is only a stain upon the bread. We have long ridiculed the old countries for their parsimony in consumption and general tightness, but it is a safe bet that we have the skimpiest meat slices of any sandwich-consuming nation, The other countries do not have our wonderful machinery—and it sure does require a delicate machine to cut them so thin. If the Chinaman, by adding an inch to his shirt-tail could make cotton growers prosperous in the United States then thicker meat slices ought to give a big boost to our live stock industry, All the world has heard that famous “Aloha” song from Hawaii, and been impressed by the aparent fact that the Hawaiians were the only natives of a small and recently primitive country to produce “typical” which has spread all over the world. The average man who doesn’t know much about music but thinks he knows what he likes can recognize certain cadences as_ Irish, Spanish, [talian or Negro, and then he is about through. He cannot say surely whether an air with which he is not familiar is the product of one country or another, But when he hears the Hawaiian strain he thinks he knows his haunting melancholy. “Those Hawaiians,’ he says, “have done something to music of the world which no little bunch of musicians ever did.” As [ have explained on various oc- casions, admittance to movie studios UNDER August 26, 1931 KNOTT MANAGEMENT SINGLE ROOMS an |e ae =U vant NO HIGHER Occidental Hotel FIRE PROOF CENTRALLY LOCATED Rates $2.00 and up EDWART R. SWETT, Mgr. Muskegon “te Michigan Columbia Hotel KALAMAZOO Good Place To Tie To HOTEL CHIPPEWA MANISTEE, MICH. Universally conceded to be one of the best hotels in Michigan. Good rooms, comfortable beds, ex- cellent food, fine cooking, perfect service. Hot and Cold Running Water and Telephone in every Koom. $1.50 and up 60 Rooms with Bath $2.50 and $3 HENRY M. NELSON, Manager In Kalamazoo It’s the PARK-AMERICAN Charles Renner, Manager W. D. Sanders, Asst Mer. “We are always mindful of our responsibility to the pub- lic and are in full apprecia- tion of the esteem its generous patronage implies.”’ HOTEL ROWE Grand Rapids, Michigan. ERNEST W. NBIR, Manager. acing Grand Circus Park. 800 Rooms : : - NEW Decorating and Management FAMOUS Oyster Bar. 800 Baths Rates from $2 HOTEL TULLER HAROLD A. SAGE, Mgr. Park Place Hotel Traverse City Rates Reasonable—Service Superb —Location Admirable. GEO. ANDERSON, Mgr. ALBERT J. ROKOS, Ass’t Mgr. SOMETHING NEW. For those desiring to reduce the cost of living, the COMMERCIAL HOTEL will board you for$12 to $15 per week Best meals in Michigan, no fooling, we mean it. Hundreds say so. Good Beds. PENTWATER, MICHIGAN MORTON HOTEL Grand Rapids’ Newest 400 Rooms -t- Hotel 400 Baths RATES $2.50 and up per day. FOUR FLAGS HOTEL In the Picturesque St. Joseph Valley. Seventy-eight rooms. Con- ducted on the high standard es- tablished and always maintained by Charles Renner, landlord. New Hotel Elliott STURGIS, MICH. 50 Baths 50 Running Water European D. J. GEROW, Prop. “A MAN IS KNOWN BY THE COMPANY HE KEEPS” That is why LEADERS of Businesa and Society make their head- quarters at the PANTLIND HOTEL “An entire city block of Hospitality’ GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Rooms $2.25 and up. Cafeteria + + —___ Proceedings of the Grand Rapids Bankruptcy Court. Grand Rapids, Aug. 20—In the matter of Landman’s, Inc., Bankrupt No. 4446, a special meeting of creditors was held Aug. 6. The bankrupt was represented by attorneys Burs & Hadsell. Creditors were present by attorneys I. W. Riford; Charles H. Kavanagh; Francis L. Wil- liams; Dunham, Cholette & Allaben, and by Grand Rapids Credit Men’s Associa- tion. The trustee was present in person and represented by attorneys Jackson, Fitzgerald & Dalm. The trustee’s first report and account was approved and allowed. Several bills for administration expense were approved and ordered paid. An order was made for the payment of expenses of administration and a first dividend to general creditors of 5 per cent. Preferred taxes were also ordered paid. The special meeting then adjourned with- out date. Aug. 20. We have received the sched- ules, order of reference, and adjudication in the matter of Ralph E. Soles, individ- ually and as a copartner of Soles & An- drews, Bankrupt No. 4603. The bankrupt is a resident of Fremont, and his occu- pation is that of a merchant. The sched- ule shows assets of $2,275, with liabilities of $4,965.59. The court has written for funds, and upon receipt of same the first meeting of creditors will be called. The creditors of said bankrupt are as follows: City of Belding: 0. $ 22.73 Mrs. Marlette, Belding ~----------- 20.00 Mrs. Ferrick, Grand Rapids ------ 9.00 Elizabeth Soles, Kent City ~------- 500.00 A. Spencer & M. Foster, Belding 123.50 3elding Gas Co., Belding -------- 32.42 Sunnyvale Dairy, Belding __-__.--__ 98.74 Continental Coffee Co., Chicago -_ 40.60 Mich. Bell Telephone Co., Belding 19.35 B. &. Heller & Co., Chicago ...__ 29.04 C. W. Mills Paper Co., Grand Rap. 40.00 National Candy Co., Grand Rapids 36.63 Arctic Dairy Products Co., Grand R. 241.99 Belding Water Works, Belding --_ 3.84 Woodhouse Cigar Co., Grand Rap. 33.30 Swit & Co, Lansing .._ 3.75 Mich. Produce Co., Carson City -. 56.00 Lee & Cady, Grand Rapids ------ 34.32 Cady Candy Co., Lansing .._..__ 70.80 A. E. Brooks & Co., Grand Rapids 91.14 Ee. Cowles, Belding .....__._._ 29.40 Belding Hardware Co., Belding ____ 29.50 Smith & Whitney, Belding ___---_- 48.60 George Haney, Fremont - _-_------ 150.00 Owosso Merchandising Co., Owosso 6.50 G. R. Store Fixture Co., Grand R. 9.00 E. B. Gallagher, Grand Rapids --_ 4.38 Weea YForter, Begin —_............ 3.00 rea Shurie, Relding _.._............... 6.00 Lawton Ice Co., Greenville ~.._.._- 42,22 Greenville & Ionia Bot. Co., Ionia 8.00 Will Corder, Helding _..... 225.00 Montcalm Creamery, Greenville __ 5.00 Ionia County News, Ionia —_----__ 2.25 Carl Gamble. Saginaw —_..________. 5.00 Schust & Co., Grand Rapids _.... 1.67 H. Leonard & Son, Grand Rapids 4.10 Bston Bates, Belding _.._-__._ 32.02 Shotwell & Metzger, Belding __--___ 41.62 Charles Andrews, F'rremont __-_-_- 1,200.00 George Thomas, Belding .__._._____ 4.50 Augie Busk, ‘Belding 3.95 LincolIns Store, Belding -—...._____ 8.90 Abe Friedman, Belding _...._._._..___ 25.00 Salzman’s Dry Cleaning, Belding __ 6.10 Dr. Hollard. Belding _....____. 27.00 Dr. Hufford, Grand Rapids ________ 148.00 Drs. Grant & Huizenga, Grand R. Wurzburgs Store, Grand Rapids __ Carlson & Trofast, Kent City ____ A. Ei. Saur & Sons, Kent City ____ Saur & Saur, Kent City . A. Kennedy Ford Garage, Kent C. Shotwell & Metzger, Belding ______ Walter Anderson, Belding ________ National Clothing Co., Grand Rap. 34.75 Dr Miller, Sparta 3: Kent City State Bank, Kent City 250.00 i. Soles, Ment City 650.00 Dr. ©. LL. Price, Belding .___ 49.50 Belding Savings Bank, Belding __ 72.00 Kingsford Gros., Fremont _...._._ 66.16 Kiint Kerns, Belding ss 23.84 >.> Over Emphasizing Co-operation in Agriculture. We are hearing a great deal nowa- days about the necessity of co-opera- tion in agriculture. Some authorities give the impression that the farmer's problems can be answered only through co-operation. Anyone who is in close touch with farmers knows, however, that these are times when the ability of the individual to cope with his difficulties comes before co- operation with other farmers. One of the greatest disservices that has been done to the co-operative movement has been the placing of em- phasis upon it as a means of meeting all kinds of problems simply by united effort, which is apt to consist in join- ing some organization and_ paying membership dues, with the idea that this organization will then solve the problem of distribution and see that the farmer will get a better price for his product than would otherwise be the case. It is true that co-operation and mem- bership in organizations belong in the agricultural picture, but the first step and by far the most important one is the ability of the individual farmer to adjust himself to present conditions Do You Wish To Sell Out! CASH FOR YOUR STOCK, Fixtures or Plants of every description. ABE DEMBINSKY Auctioneer and Liquidator 734 So. Jefferson Ave., Saginaw, Mich Phone Federal 1944. and to place his operations on an eco- nomic basis, We think that some farmers writhe inwardly when co-operation is stressed as a solution of all our difficulties, par- ticularly those who have had experi- ence in organizations that have not functioned efficiently because of mis- management, poor financing or lack of any real need for the movement. —__+~-. Chinese Rug Prices Firming Up. A slight improvement in the demand for imported Chinese rugs brought a stiffening in prices of better grade fab- rics in the wholesale market and buy- ers shopping for merchandise for early 10@15 for goods this Fall sale were forced to pay cents more per foot week than last. At the trade opening early this month buyers refused to con- sider any Chinese merchandise priced above $1 a square foot and managed to pick up some of the lower-end goods at that figure. In spite of the slack demand for rugs since then, importers have insisted upon a better price and most of the sales now being made are at reported prices of $1.35, $1.50 and better. Business Wants Department Advertisements inserted under this head for five cents a word the first Insertion and four cents a word for each subse- quent continuous insertion. if set in capital letters, double price. No charge less than 50 cents. Small display adver- tisements in this department, $4 per inch. Payment with order is required, as amounts are too small to open accounts. For Sale—Factory site in Grand Rapids, railroad frontage. Also suitable for oil station. When constructing building, se- lect location with all improvements. Cash price $2,100. Terms, $2,200. Owner H. Scott, 1209 Roseland Ave., Kalamazoo, Mich. 451 3,000 in Southern Michigan. Stock will invoice about $3,000. Fixtures about $1,000. Stock absolutely fresh and clean. Location on brick paved street, third door from main four corners in city. Present owner has been in same location thirty years. Good opportunity for right man. Address No. 452, c/o Michigan Tradesman. 452 FOR SALE—RAINBOW TRAIL INN— RESTAURANT. ALMA, MICHIGAN. FULLY EQUIPPED. TERMS. INQUIRE OF J. S. Knoertzer, Alma, Mich. 453 For Sale—Good meat market in college and manufacturing city. Address No. 454, c/o Michigan Tradesman. 454 Merchants Special Sales—We conduct money-raising or closing-out sales for stores of any kind. New _ proposition. Lower rates. Greene Sales Co., Mechanic & Pearl, Jackson, Mich. _ 443 PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON wanted to buy modern brick office, living rooms, garage and equipment of late Dr. Moore. $1,000, easy terms. Frank R. Reed, Car- sonville, Mich. 450 For Sale—Fixtures and complete equip- ment old established meat market and grocery. Good location in city of 15,000. Fine opportunity for party desiring to establish retail market and grocery in hustling city. Charles D. Hunt, Trustee, Senton Harbor, Mich. 7 Drug Store—Or general store, wanted in exchange for 640 acres good pasture land in Cherry county, Nebraska. Rented. Clear title. Wm. I. Benedict, 601 Axtell St., Kalamazoo, Mich. 446 Wanted—Position as meat cutter by one of the most expert meat handlers in Michigan. Long experience, and up-to- date. Understands groceries alsq. Ad- dress No. 444, c/o Michigan Tradesman. 444 I WILL BUY YOUR STORE OUTRIGHT FOR CASH No Stock of Merchandise Too Large or Too Small No Tricks or Catches—A Bona Fide Cash Offer For Any Stock of Merchandise Phone—Write—Wire L. LEVINSOHN Saginaw, Michigan ce rg a DETROIT DOINGS. Late Business News From Michigan’s Metropolis. Two million people will witness the parade of the American Legion here Sept. 22, officials making plans for the National convention have estimated. Brigadier-General Edward G. Heckel, in charge of the grand stand seat sale for the parade, predicted that every inch of space along the route of the parade, through East Jefferson avenue and Woodward avenue, from the Belle Isle bridge to Vernor highway, would be packed with people, and city officials estimated that upwards of two million people could view the parade along that route. The Legion will have 40,000 grand- stand seats along East Jefferson avenue all of which will be sold for $3 each. The Detroit banks, including branches, are handling the sale of these tickets. The Legion’s four-day National con- vention, which opens Monday morn- ing, Sept. 21, will reach its high point in attendance on the day of the parade, it is expected. Reports received from surrounding states indicate that thou- sands will drive to Detroit to see the parade, returning to their homes that night. The number of Michigan vis- itors, in addition to the registered Le- gionnaires, is expected to be several thousand greater on the day of the parade than any other day of the con- vention, Plans for entertaining the thousands of visiting Legionnaires are practically completed, Rex Humphrey, chairman of the entertainment committee, an- nounced. Each Legionnaire who regis- ters at the convention will get a book of tickets admitting him to dozens of entertainments planned by Humphrey’s committee. There are entertainments scheduled for practically every hour of the day and evening from the Saturday night preceding the convention through the closing day. Electromaster, Inc., manufacturer of Electrochef ranges, resumed operation on a five-day week basis last week, fol- lowing two weeks grouped vacation. R. B. Marshall, vice-president and gen- eral manager, reports that production has been increased to meet the greater demands for the product, July and August showing an increase of 20 per cent. over a year ago. Production is based upon orders on hand, Mr, Mar- shall points out. Leland T. Norton, 74 years old, 45 Richton avenue, Detroit representative many years for the Bemis-Indianapolis Bag Co., dropped dead of a heart at- tack in the main post office Saturday morning. He had been to his bank, made a withdrawal and was filling out a money order blank at the post office. He is survived by his wife, Gertrude M. Norton. Charles I. Sherk, Jr., of the Peoples Wayne County Bank of Detroit, and Noble Travis of the Detroit Trust Co., were guest speakers at the monthly meeting of the Thumb district bankers held at the Montague hotel, Caro, last Tuesday evening. Over fifty bankers from the Eastern part of the Thumb territory attended to discuss the rela- tionship between city and country MICHIGAN TRADESMAN banks and to exchange ideas of policy. O. M. Harrison, manager of the Baker-operated Detroit-Leland, has opened the large new coffee shop on the ground floor of the house, fronting upon Cass avenue, which replaces the former coffee shop in the basement and occupies the space of the fountain room, which has been discontinued. The room has been redecorated and refurnished and presents a most at- It seats 275 tractive patrons. appearance. Hughes & Hatcher, retail men’s fur- nishings, have withdrawn their 40 per cent. composition offer at a meeting of creditors. An involuntary petition in bankrupt- cy has been filed in U. S. District Court here against United Surplus Stock Corp. by Irwin I. Cohn, attorney, rep- resenting Broder Bros., $517; Rice & Ash, Inc., $54; Alexander Lanport & Bros., $44. A composition offer of 20 per cent. has been filed in involuntary bankrupt- cy proceedings against National Stores, Inc. It is payable in promissory notes of 10 per cent., maturing in thirty days, 5 per cent. in ninety days and 5 per cent. in 120 days following confirma- tion. Liabilities are given as $40,835 in schedules filed in U. S. Court here. — ee How the Chain Stores Fool the Con- sumer. Articles have appeared in the public press in opposition to the campaign now waged by the New York State In- dependent Retail Merchants Associa- tion to have written into the laws of that State a multiple chain store license tax, in order that independent mer- chants may be placed upon a parity with the chains in their struggle for existence. Most of these articles are inspired hy the Association whose members will be most affected by the tax, namely, the National Chain Store Association. The opposition seems to be centered in the thought that the chains now are selling more cheaply than independents and that burdens placed upon them would cause them to raise commodity prices. Chains do not sell more cheap- ly than the independents. They do, however, give the semblance of doing so. They indulge, for example, in the practice of “loss leaders.” They will take a Nationally advertised brand and mark same below cost. They will sell three cans of soup, which ordinarily retail for 10 cents each, for 25 cents. They hoodwink the housewife into the belief that all the other articles in the store are just as cheap, whereas, in truth and in fact, on the so-called “blind” articles in the store, such as tea, coffee, rice, sugar, flour, eggs, butter, etc., and which are not usually sold in packages, she pays the high price. In other words, on the “open” articles the chain store will lose money, but on the “blind” articles, it will more than make up the difference. The “loss leaders” are used as a bait to entice the housewife into the store and into the belief that she is getting a cut price on everything. No man does business at a loss and the chains must make up these losses. Many of these “blind” articles are put up under private brands and the chain store clerk, when asked for a Nationally advertised article, will palm off on the customer a private brand as a substitute, with the statement that “it is just as good.” There is plenty of evidence in the files of the Federal Trade Commission to indicate that sub- stitutions are practiced by the chain stores on a widespread scale. Chain stores have not only used their mass buying power selfishly, but have used it so abusively that many have questioned the mass buying power of the chains in our system of distribu- tion. They will often force the man- ufacturer to put up an inferior or adul- terated article under the same label which covers the more expensive but unadulterated article sold to the inde- pendent. Chains can often dictate the manufacturing policies of large manu- facturers. They force them to use a different formula and reduce the qual- ity of the goods, while the same label is used as on the regular brand. In , that way, of course, the article soid by the chains is cheaper. It is cheaper in quality and, therefore, must be cheaper in price. Some chains have been known to advertise, for example, a vanilla wafer at 17 cents per pound, and then sub- stitute common molasses cakes, placed in the bags of a well-known advertiser of biscuits and wafers, to create the impression that these wafers were the product of this National advertiser. They have often forced manufactur- ers to reduce the size of the packages, so that only the closest scrutiny would disclose the fact that the cheaper pack- age bought at the chain store was smaller than the package bought at the independent store. The consumer, however, is deceived into the _ belief that he is buying the identical package at the chain store at a reduced price. It was recently discovered that a well-known brand of salt was put up in packages for a number of chains and ran thirty-two boxes to the case in- stead of the usual twenty-four boxes, as in the case sold to the independent retailer. The total amount of salt in each case was the same. The chains naturally sold the salt cheaper than the independent but gave a reduced quantity. The housewife was deceived into the belief that she was getting the same package. In certain instances, some chains have advertised cloth at a width of twenty-four inches and upon opening the package, the consumer finds to her sorrow that the width is but eigh- teen inches. The files of the Federal Trade Com- mission, now investigating chains un- der a Senate resolution, may be con- sulted for ail manner and kinds of false advertising by chains. Some chains have been known to charge different prices for the same goods in different sections in the same city. When dealing with a number of chains, it is a case of “caveat emptor.” As to the question of price cutting on Nationally advertised brands by the chains, or the so-called “loss leaders,” let me point out what Judge Brandeis said many years ago on this subject: August 26, 1931 “Americans should be under no illu- sions as to the value or effect of price cutting. It has been the most potent weapon of monopoly—a means of kill- ing the small rival to which the great trusts have resorted most frequently. It is so simple, so effective. Far-seeing, organized capital secures by this means the co-operation of the shortsighted, unorganized consumer to his own un- doing. Thoughtless or weak, he yields to the temptation of trifling, immediate gain, and, selling his birthright for a mess of pottage, becomes himself an instrument of monopoly.” Emanuel Celler, Representative Tenth N. Y. Con- gressional District. —__> 2.+___- Late Business News From Indiana. Anderson—Hearing on E. G. Smith (Co.’s application for discharge from bankruptcy will be held on |Sept. 15 be- fore Judge Robert C. Baltzell in the U. S. District Court at Indianapolis. Schedules filed in office of Referee Carl Wilde, at Indianapolis, list assets of $18,937 and liabilities of $13,520. Debts due on open accounts are $2,419. Secured claims of $6,128 are listed, with taxes due of $376. Bloomington—4In the matter of Bender-Welch Dry Goods Co., Inc., the first creditors’ meeting will be held on Aug. 28 before Referee Carl Wilde. Schedules list debts of $19,510 and as- sets of $9,549, the latter including debts due on open accounts, $7,500. Stock in trade and fixtures, recently sold for $1,205, had been appraised at $1,309 and $700 respectively. Crawfordsville—Wide Awake Mer- cantile Co., operating a variety store. Schedules filed in office of Carl Wilde, referee at Indianapolis, list liabilities of $11,678 and nominal assets of $12,- 857. Stock in trade is listed at $8,000; bills, promissory notes and securities, $1,652. Unsecured claims total $10,- 413. Lafayette—John C. Dewenter, head of Dewenter & ‘Co., retail and whole- sale men’s clothing and furnishings house, died here recently. ‘Crawfordsville — Daniel Roundtree 78, business man and one time exten- sive wool buyer, died at his home here recently. The widow and one son survive, Indianapolis—The opening of Dorr’s Juvenile Shoe Shop, 4219 College avenue, gives Indianapolis its first chil- dren’s footwear shop. The store was opened by Ray Dorr, formerly man- ager of the Foot Saver Boot Shop and more recently manager of the Foot Saver Shop in Evansville. ‘Columbia City—An agreement has been reached whereby the branch of the Globe-Superior Garment Works is to remain here. Columbia City has agreed to erect a building 200 by 80 feet at a total cost of $45,000. Fifteen thousand dollars of the purchase price is to be donated to the company. For the rest stock will be issued and each stockholder will get 6 per cent, interest on his stock. Three hundred dollars a month will be paid as rent for the building over a period of ten years, after which the company will own it. The company has agreed to pay out in wages in this:city during the ten years $1,000,000. The new plant will employ about 250. Heese ee 4 Prosperity in the Making Too frequently we hear intelligent men say that we shall never return again to the golden days of the past thirty years, because there is no auto- mobile, or radio, or phonograph or electrical indus- try on the horizon. ‘They say they can see no counterpart in industry of the automobile, which gave work to three or four or five million people. But who is so reckless as to say that the stimu- lation of men’s minds which every depression brings, will not produce something which will again sweep the country by storm, will tap reservoirs of potential desires? Pessimists say that television is too expensive, but how many said the automobile was too ex- pensive? They say that air transport will never take the place of land transport, but, again, who would so rashly stake his reputation on such an assertion ¢ In a land where industrial advances are the rule, history deals with change rather than with crystallization. The high “standard of living” of which the United States is properly proud is but another way of saying we have more con- sumers consuming more things that make for comfort and happiness. Philosophers may rail that we are material- minded, that national well-being is not dependent upon the creation of new things to satisfy new wants, and that individual happiness is not a matter of possessing more and more conveniences. Yet anyone with half an eye can observe that John Per Capita, Mrs. John Per Capita, and all the little Per Capitas are better clothed, better fed, better housed, better warmed and better cooled, and better cared for in a thousand ways, through the competitive zeal of their business servitors, In sum, better civilized. gene Ice eee Rn i on nn cen The decisive urge of American business to im- prove its goods and services inevitably discomfits the reactionary, the laggard and the drone. It even offends those arbitrary “gentlemen of the old school,” but more than the point of epigram is in the thought that the good old days were never so good as advertised. Whether we like it or not, the history of prog- ress chronicles a surging forward, a slipping back, another surge forward, another period of stagna- tion. The surge forward is not a happenstance. It is a result of hard thinking under the spur of difficulty. It may be that necessity is still the mother of inventive genius. Whatever the moti- vating force, never doubt that a thousand minds have hatched new ideas—ideas of selling, of financing, of manufacturing, of transport, of communication, and of agriculture. As in biology, so in economics, the individual who is quick to adopt, to adapt, will survive usefully, and in so doing, will lift thousands of his fellow men to higher levels of living and life. It has been well and truly said of business that it can never see too much, never be too wide awake. Yet it is readily apparent that management is not immune to drowsiness. Played-out methods are still in the industrial saddle because we do not test tradition against fresh thinking. Better times will not come through mere lip service to our expecta- tions, nor can our enthusiasms be kept alive by talk. The only way to give substance to our pur- poses is to work for them. The only defense against the decay of enthusiasm is action. The need of the hour is a national crusade for up-and- going wakefulness——Merle Thorpe in Nation’s Business. pe Rn ate Why Sacnihice Profits? It is not necessary when you stock and sell well-known merchandise on which the price has been established through years of consistent advertising. In showing the price plainly on the package and in advertising Baking Powder Same price for over 40 years 25 ounces for ay (more than a round and a half for a quarter ) we have established the price—created a demand and insured your profits. You can guarantee every can to give perfect satisfaction and agree to refund the full purchase price in which we will protect you. Millions of Pounds Used by Our Government At 7] Ever oe HEKMAN s Cookie-Cakes and Crackers ASTERPIECES _ & OF THE BAKERS ART De (A ceo i —— 4] ral Pex aan | a ay — oasusion Aman Discuit Co x SS Grand Rapids,Mich. oe mens —S—=— CALL US WE SAVE YOU 25% TO 40% ON YOUR INSURANCE COST GIOL’O THE MILL MUTUALS AGENCY 208 NORTH CAPITOL AVENUE _ LANSING, MICHIGAN Phone 20741