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Vifty-second Year GRAND RAPIDS, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1934 Number 267%

 

 

 

 

Che Christmas Spirit

WHAT is the Christmas spirit?

It is the spirit which brings a smile to the lips and
tenderness to the heart; it is the spirit which warms one
into friendship with all the world, which serves one to
hold out the hand of fellowship to every man and
woman, to every boy and girl.

For the Christmas motto is “Peace on earth, good
| will to men,” and the spirit of Christmas demands that

it ring in our hearts and find expression in kindly acts
and loving words.

What a joyful thing for the world it would be if the
| Christmas spirit could do this, not cnly on that holiday,
| but on every day of the year. What a beautiful place
| the world would be to live in! Peace and good will
| everywhere and always! Let each of us resolve that,
so far as we are concerned, peace and good will shall be
our motto every day, and that we will do our best to

make the Christmas spirit last all the year round. ...

 

 

 

 

HARD CANDIES

BISCUITS Leader Mixed

Christmas Mixed
oy Cut Rock ao
Marigold 100% Plastic Filled

Dinas

CANDIES FOR CHRISTMAS

CHOCOLATES, CREAMS
AND SPECIALTIES
Paris Creams
Small Crystal Creams
Fancy Mixed
Champion Choc. Drops

lon Fe m Fs] 9) Primrose 50% Plastic Filed Wintergreen Berries
Ss Order From Your Jobber

MAY BE BOUGHT

National Candy Co.,inc. PUTNAM FACTORY Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

 

 

WITH CONFIDENCE
AND SOLD :
WITH PRIDE

  

 

FIRE and BURGLAR PROOF

AFES

GRAND RAPIDS SAFE CO.
31-33 Ionia, N.W. Tradesman Bldg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

—

 

Home Baker Fiour

A High Grade Kansas Hard Wheat Flour

High Quality - Priced Low

Milled to our own formulae which is pleasing
thousands of housewives. Sold throughout the
entire State of Michigan. Will prove to be a

valuable asset to your business. Sold by Inde-

eer

pendent Merchants Only.

LEE & CADY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9

 

 

Fifty-second Year

GRAND RAPIDS, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1934

Number 2674

 

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 RATESare as follows: $3. per year,
if paid strictly in advance. $4 per year if not paid
in advance. Canadian subscription, $4.56 per year,
payable invariably in advance. Sample copies 10cent_
each. Extra copies of current issues, 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 Postoffice of
Grand Rapids as second class matter under Act of
March 3, 1879.

 

JAMES M. GOLDING
Detroit Representative

 

 

507 Kerr Bldg.
Printed by the Tradesman Company, Under
° NRA Conditions

 

 

Days of Organized Greed Nearing the
End

In a recent issue of the Tradesman
two high authorities on merchandising
express their views on this broad sub-
ject. Much of what they say is com-
mendable. One of these writers is of
the factulty of a large Eastern univer-
sity, which supplies an exhaustive
course in business practices. Neither of
these writers has any criticism of the
chain store system, but they see many
faults in the smaller independent mer-
chants, among them the following:

Ignorance and lack of training.

Dingy and unclean stores with time-
worn fixtures. Poorly displayed stock
and failure to render prompt and effi-
cient service.

Failure to co-operate with other
merchants in buying on a par with the
chain store corporations.

Too many merchants in business,
especially those selling foods.

Have every advantage of the chain
store corporations, but fail to use it.
Wrong in asking special chain store
tax.

In many cases some of these charges
are true, but it does not include the
principal cause that has driven thou-
sands of merchants out of business.
There is no question but many small
merchants lack business training and
were not fitted by nature for trades-
men. Nearly all large merchants start-
ed in business in a small way and,
being adapted to their chosen line,
have achieved success. Those who
have the ambition and desire to enter
the mercantile field or any other
should have the opportunity, providing
they cam meet the requirements, al-
though it is quite natural for those al-
ready in that line to not welcome fur-
ther competition. Neat, clean and well
stocked food stores are not something
new and modern, as we have had them
for the past fifty or more years. There

are merchants who have grown old
and who have become negligent and
their stores are not kept as well as in
former years, as they have gotten into
a rut and have not the ambition or
capital left to get out. They are not
able to keep abreast of the times. As to
the buying power of the independent
merchants being placed on an equal
footing with the gigantic chain store
corporations, this cannot be done. It
would require unusual genius and im-
mense capital, which the small mer-
chants could not command, especially
after the past five years of depression,
during which time they have been op-
erating with little if any profit and
thousands have had to go out of busi-
ness. This charge against the smaller
merchants is preposterous. It is
charged there are too many merchants
in business, especially those selling
foods.
other line of business. This situation
always has adjusted itself to the possi-
ble demand of the people. Efficiency in
distribution might be improved by
having fewer merchants in every line,
but we have the human problem to
meet and this problem should come
first. Many communities could be
served by having only one merchant
for each line of trade, or even the sta-
ple lines of trade might be combined
and all sold in one large store. This
might be a fine thing for the owners
of this store, but what kind of a town
would result? In these days of un-
employment it would add many more
to its ranks. What we need is more
who can supply jobs to those needing
them. Many small merchants employ
one or more clerks and this helps to
ease the stress of the unemployed.
When the chain store corporations in-
vade towns and cities, buillt largely
through the efforts of home merchants,
they come to replace a home owned
business, as they do not care to own
local property. As more chains come
in, it is soon noticeable that less clerks
are needed and the number of the un-
employed increases. All the chain store
corporations are interested in is to ex-
ploit the community, and they remove
every dollar of the profit on trade.
These two eminent authorities on mer-
chandising say nothing regarding this
loss that falls upon every town and
city invaded by these greedy chain
store corporations. A careful survey of
Michigan shows that on an average the
chains are receiving 50 per cent. of
local trade. Every dollar of the profit
on this trade is removed from the
community and most of it is sent out-
side the state. The amount runs into
many millions of dollars. This not
only impoverishes local communities,
but the entire state and is the main
cause of our tax burden. If the people
understood the menace of these greedy

monopolies, they would drive them out

This charge might apply to any -

by refusing to buy from them. This
would restore again the home mer-
chant, who keeps the profit on trade
in the community. It would permit
other merchants to occupy many store
buildings long closed, and the list of
clerks would be increased largely.
When the profit on trade is again
restored to each community, it will
not be long until better times ap-
pear. roperty values now largely
destroyed, will gradually improve and
there will be increased employment
for labor in every line. In the midst
of plenty, the people are suffering and
millions depending on public charity
to sustain life. The concentration of
wealth by a few, is at the bottom of
our troubles. The great chain store
system is but a part of this strangu-
lation system from which we suffer.
There is no hope ahead as long as this
infamous system continues. As_ it
has expanded distress has followed
in its tracks. Those who make the
statement that the small merchant has
every advantage possessed by the great
chains are either ignorant or propa-
gandists for the greedy monopolies,
especially so when they raise a protest
against a special tax being levied
against the chain store corporations.
Possibly they do not know that this
tax applies to others than chain stores.
It is a law that takes into considera-
tion that any person, firm or corpora-
tion, which is able to own more than
one place of business, should pay an
extra tax, which is just and fair. How-
ever, the big chain store corporations,
which have never paid their just share
of taxation, are trying to escape it by
appeal to the supreme court, after the
lower courts had declared the tax con-
stitutional. When we limit the oppor-
tunities of the small merchant, we limit
the opportunities of youth. To-day
thousands of high school and college
graduates are among the unemployed.
As chain store monopolies spread,
there will be more. The chain system
is founded upon greed. It wants but
one thing and that is your dollar. It
has no heart or soul and it is deaf to
the cry of suffering. What we need
is more opportunities to get into busi-
ness, not less. The days of organized
greed are nearing their end. It will
die at the hands of the people, whom
it had hypnotized with its deadly sting.
E. B. Stebbins.
— +++
Time Conducive to Re-establishment
of Confidence

Business continues to reflect some
improvement. Steel operations are es-
timated at approximately 33 per cent.
of capacity, with the outlook relatively
good after the holidays. Automobile
production increased sharply as a re-
sult of production of new models. Elec-
tric power output continues to increase
with demand approaching- more normal

levels inasmuch as it now stands at the
four-year peak. Freight car loadings
are showing a better trend. Factors
indicating a sharp increase or a sharp
break in business do not appear pres-
ent, as the Government is expected to
continue funds for relief and inventories
are not considered out of line with the
level of business. Experiments which
might result in temporary spurts, like
that experienced in the early part of
1933, are not expected.

The lapse of time brings many sober-
ing reactions. After watching experi-
ments fail or bring some success, with
business still 30 per cent below normal
and unemployment high, there is now
a greater tendency to realize that laws
of nature are stronger than those of
men. However, the defeatist attitude
is being washed away. The statements
of General Dawes and Colonel Ayres
with regard to the immense amount
of prospective need and demand for
so-called capital goods at least is indi-
ative of the possibility of recovery
minus artificial means if confidence is
revived. Time is alse conducive to the
re-establishment of* confidence, a con-
tributing factor being the gradual ad-
justment of debt, thus releasing more
funds for other purposes.

Jay H. Petter.

— +++

Doubt Clothing Delivery Delay

Although deliveries of cloth provide
the main problem for men’s wear man-
ufacturers now, the market does not
expect any appreciable delay in the
shipments of clothing to retailers in
time for the Spring season. Fear of
advancing clothing prices, however, has
caused stores to call for earlier than
usual deliveries of Spring goods, most
of them now specifying February, and
it was regarded as possible that in some
instances this date cannot be met. Once
the industry gets under way, it was
pointed out, manufacturers are able to
catch up on production and deliveries
rather quickly. At the present time,
however, there is a shortage of top-
coats and overcoats, because of the
small volume which was cut up.

——_>++_____
Shoe Output Passes 1933 Mark

With last month’s shoe production
passing that for November of 1933, the
eleven month’s total swung ahead of
the figures for the corresponding peri-
od last year, according to estimates in
the trade. The October output brought
this year’s total for the first time under
the 1933 figures, but the heavier No-
vember output wiped out the loss. Last
month’s production was estimated at
about 26,000,000 pairs, as compared
with a volume of about 27,000,000 in
the preceding month and 23,695,000 in
November, 1933. For the first cleven
months the figure is approximately
332,000,000 pairs, as against 330,287,600
for the corresponding period of 1933.

 

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FROM SHELBY TO SEBRING

 

Description of Some Interesting Fea-
tures En Route

Seven days enroute, with the speed-
ometer indicating 1,161 miles, consti-
tutes a record of both elapsed time
and mileage in our several migrations
from North to South. We also par-
ticipated in another record in arriving
at our destination coincidentally with
the coldest weather known here in for-
ty years or since the cold saeson of
1894. The frost damage—where frost
has not been known for many years—is
now reported to run from fifty to eigh-
ty per cent. in the market gardening
sections, where’ strawberries and
“green stuff” exceed in value the tour-
ist crop. And great fear is felt for the
effect upon the citrus crop and the
trees as well.

Leaving home with a snow-fall of an
inch or more, all trace of which was
lost within thirty miles, we spent the
night of Dec. 1 at Grand Rapids, where
the writer again attended the annual
re-union of his old National Guard
company (Co. I, “Custer Guards”) in
which he enlisted Feb. 2, 1887. As
these gatherings decrease steadily in
attendance with each succeeding year,
as the membership lof these bygone days
pass on, one by one, I can appreciate
the sensation of any group, which in
the inevitable course of nature, is ap-
proaching its last roll call.

Stopping for brief visits with rela-
tives at three homes in Southern Mich-
igan, on Sunday lunching at Kalama-
zoo, we ambled along to Peru, Indiana,
for the night, raving picked up US 31
again at Niles. Indiana, the Hoosier
state, the line of which we crossed at
three in the afternoon, has naturally
much in common with Michigan, its
borderline being longer than we have
with any other state. For the most
part, Indiana’s agricultural practice is
more like that of Illinois and states
East and West of its own latitude than
that of Michigan, especially that fol-
lowed from mid-state on North. This
is particularly noticeable in the way
Indiana “harvests” much of its corn
crop—turning cattle and hogs into the
fiields and letting them do it.

We were making definitely less
speed this year than last, when, with
our junior son at the wheel, we reached
Kokomo the first day. This interesting
city is twenty miles further along the
way than the town we had reached the
second day out, is 125 miles South of
Kalamazoo, has gone through a natural
gas boom, was once the site of the
Haynes automobile industry, for a time
was Indiana’s Detroit, still has a plant
of the Pittsburgh Glass Co., numerous
other industries and some 30,000 in-
habitants, all well convinced of the
future of Kokomo. It is a city with
a historical background of ninety years,
taking its name from an Indian Chief
with a disputed record of virtues and
accomplishments.

US 31 through Indiana was the long-
est stretch of universally good high-
way that we traveled either last year
or this and we followed 31 for a longer
distance than ever before. Besides our
mileage in Michigan we traversed it
the whole length of Indiana to New
Albany, where we crossed the Ohio
river to Louisville, wholly across Ken-
utcky and much of the distance
through Tennessee and Alabama.

Several times we have stopped at
Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where
Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks
were married and had been piloted to
the very site where the nuptials had
been performed, had visited the still-ex-
istant log cabin at Hodgeville, where
was born their son, the Great Emanci-
pator, stopped at the Mammoth Cave
and other points of historical interest,
duly described in this column, but this
time we picked Munfordville, up in
the Kentucky hills, county seat of Hart
county, which has a historical back-
ground of unusual interest, dating back
to 1796, when it was settled by a pio-

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

neer from Virginia,
Munford.

Here occurred some of the most
hotly contested minor engagements of
the civil war, in which were engaged
distinguished natives of the commun-
ity, divided in their sympathies and al-
legiance. Within the limits of the pres-
ent little city was born Thomas J.
Wood, a veteran of the Mexican war,
who became a Brigadier General in the
Union army, brevetted for gallantry at
the battle of Missionary Ridge and a
Major general for his services at the
battle of Nashville, a less spectacular
but no less important combat.

At Chicamaugua General Wood
faced a boyhood friend and school-
mate, General Simon Bolivar Buckner,
commander of the Confederate forces.
The latter’s birthplace, Glen Lily, is
but seven miles from Munfordville.
The estate now consists of about 1,-
000 acres, mostly woodland. The an-
cestral dwelling, built by Gen. Buck-
ner’s father more than 100 years ago,
is a substantial two-story log building,
with porches on three sides and still in
a good state of preservation, indicat-
ing its age more by its style of archi-
tecture than by any ravages of time.
General Buckner, it will be remem-
bered, was a candidate for Vice-Presi-
dent, along with General John M.
Palmer, of Illinois, for President on
the so-called gold Democratic ticket in
1896, when William Jennings Bryan
was the regularly nominated candidate
of the party, being defeated by Major
William McKinley in one of the most
strenuous presidential campaigns ever
held.

Munfordville was the center of two
important battles between the Federal
and Confederate forces in 1861 and
1862, the first being a victory for the
former and the last for the latter
forces. The old forts are well pre-
served and are visited by thousands of
tourists yearly. Here, too, is the Old
Munford Inn, preserved as a historic
shrine of the town and pointed out as
the tavern where General Andrew
Jackson stopped when he was driving
through by stage coach to be inaug-
urated President of the United States,
a century ago.

The windows from our room at the
new Cann Hotel, in Munfordville, face
the new court house, built on the site
of the one which existed in those fate-
ful days of strife and carnage. Strange-
ly enough my inquiring instinct and
conversational contacts led me into the
headquarters of the Hart County Dem-
ocratic Committee, where I gathered
interesting information and where was
to be found a general enthusiasm for
the personality of the President, no
matter how divergent were the indi-
vidual views upon the New Deal and
the interpretation and understanding
thereof.

Proceeding Southward from this city
of historical interest and of pleasant
experience, we crossed over from Horse
Cave to Bear Wallow the four miles
which there separate 31 W from 31E,
that we might come more directly in
touch with the homesite of “Old Hick-
ory” Jackson, some distance out of
Nashville, Tennessee. By this move-
ment we missed two towns, Bowling
Green and Franklin, Kentucky, where
we had in other years made friend-
ships which we now missed.

It might be remarked here that both
Kentucky and Tennessee have Shelby
counties, but only the former has a
Hart county, while one has a Lake
county and the other a Mason county.
Nearly every state has a town or post-
office named Franklin, but there is
only one Pentwater, according to the
latest postoffice directory that I have
consulted.

The sights and scenes along the way
on Tuesday, Dec. 4, from the hills of
Kentucky through Tennessee, via
Nashville, capital city of the latter
state, caused us to conclude that it
might be “hog killing day” there.
Along our route for the entire day we

Richard Jones

saw kettles of boiling water, heated
by blazing fires beneath, surrounded
by men engaged in killing, dipping,
scraping and hanging hogs of various
sizes and descriptions; all indicating
generous feeding of the animals and a
general practice of thrift by the people
along the way. On this day we again
diverted from US 31, taking Tenn 6 at
Columbia we headed Southwest to the
vicinity of Muscle Shoals in Alabama,
a prime objective of our trip and, per-
haps, its most interesting feature.
While we of the North are wont to
think of Kentucky and Tennessee as
South, one does not reach the real
Southern atmosphere until well toward
the lines of Georgia, Alabama or Mis-
sissippi, all of which states border Ten-
nessee on the South. It was in Ala-
bama on Wednesdav, Dec. 5—a bright
and balmy day—that we encountered
this indication of clime and climate, a
young colored man sauntering along
the highway strumming a banjo. It is
a safe bet that not in the whole state
of Michigan, nor in any other North of
the Alabama latitude, would the inci-
dent be duplicated. On the same day
we saw cotton picking going on; a late

harvesting, remindful of — similar
scenes, but with other crops, else-
where. The number of excellent mule

teams were more in evidence and here,
too, the proportion of colored popula-
tion showed a decided increase—some
of it not happily circumstanced. Num-
erous gangs of men, nearly all col-
ored, were at work on the roadways
and while not always garbed in the
familiar black and white striped suits,
their apparel was of a uniformity,
which associated with the ever present
white man with a gun, indicated their
condition of servitude.

It was at the end of this day that
we arrived at Sheffield, one of the “tri-
cities” of the Wilson dam sector. The
others are Florence, North of the Ten-
nessee river—which we crossed to
reach Sheffield—and Tuscumbia, just
South, which is the native town of
Helen Keller. Her birthplace is a mod-
est cottage, set in a yard well filled
with plants and flowers and we won-
dered what part these commonplace
surroundings could have meant to this
wonderful woman, who has become a
world-renowned figure through the
handicaps which she so largely over-
came,

The next day we devoted to the
observation of the TVA—Tennessee
Valley Authority—which has been a
matter of development and discussion
for a period of seventeen years, and
just now seems to be headed toward a
more definite and larger accomplish-
ment. It will be discussed in our re-
marks of next week.

Harry M. Royal.
—_~+~-+>—____
Items From the Cloverland of
Michigan

Sault Ste. Marie, Dec. 17—The mer-
chants are well pleased with the ap-
proach of Christmas. The Christmas
spirit seems in evidence and the Christ-
mas business bids fair to show a large
increase over last year, all of our fac-
tories are running most of them on
full time. The needy will all be taken
care of. The farmers all seem satis-
fied and are joining the city folks in
stocking up with Christmas purchases.
Old man depression seems to be fad-
ing out of the scene and the future
seems more promising, for which we
are all thankful.

Support for the North Bay-Sault
Good Roads Association in its cam-
paign to secure immediate improve-
ment and ultimate hard surfacing of
the highway between North Bay, Ont.,
and the Sault was forthcoming from
the city council at its meeting last
week. The Association is to recom-
mend to the Canadian government that
the highway be put in as goo” condi-
tion as possible for 1935 and successive
seasons; that objectional features such
as loose gravel and dust be eliminated;
and that a higher grade of gravel or

 

December 19, 1934

preferably crushed rock be used on the
road to reduce dust content.

The Christmas season will help. the
merchants, not only in the profits they
receive, but in the pleasant faces they
will see.

The Ishpeming Gold Mining ‘Co.
lessee of the Ropes Gold Mine, North-
west of Ishpeming, changed hands last
week. Leslie R. McClellan and Albert
Peterman, Jr., who acted for the Cal-
umet and Hecla Consolidated Copper
Mining Co., the purchasers, said the
property would be explored with a
view to development, The mine has

een idle for many years.

About eighteen doctors of osteopa-
thy of the Upper Peninsula and North
Lower Michigan will meet in the Sault
Dec. 29 and 30, at which time an Upper
Peninsula Osteopathic Association will
be formed. Arrangements for the meet-
ing are being made by Dr. C. A.
Arand. Important business of the ses-
sion will be the drawing up of organi-
zation articles and election of officers.
Among well known authorities in the
profession who will speak will be Dr.
W. H. Gillmore, of Detroit, President
of the Michigan Osteopathic Associa-
tion. It is also expected Dr. T. G.
Lustig, of Grand Rapids, and Dr. J.
H. Lawyer, of Ironwood, will speak.
The session will be held at the Hotel
Ojibway.

To apologize for the past is losing
precious time that should be devoted
to preparing for the future.

Thomas Creighton, who has been
conducting the grocery at the chanel
at Nebish, expects to close the store
for the winter and spend the winter
visiting relatives in the South. He ex-
pects to return in the spring and re-
open the store for next summer.

As a barber friend of ours put it—
let’s do less groaning and more honing.

The Cloverland grill and garden at
306 Magazine street, has re-opened
under new management by Fred J.
Willett, who was formerly proprietor
of the American Hotel in Sault, Ont.
The new grill and garden will special-
ize in lunches, dinners and short or-
ders. The food will be under the prep-
aration of Mrs. M. E. Hanning. Bev-
erages of all kinds will also be served.
A private dining room for small parties
will also be available. Afternoon teas
will be served Tuesday and Fridays.

A number of workmen are rear-
ranging the floor plan and office room
of the garage of M. Surrell & Son, at
Newberry. The parts department,
which formerly was at the rear of the
room, has been moved to the North
wall and will be fenced in. The office
of the garage manager, Harry Surrell,
will be at the rear of the room and will
overlook the display place at the front.
A unique feature will be the woman’s
lounge and waiting room, where wom-
en customers can make themselves
comfortable.

Flying of mail, freight and passen-
gers from St. Ignace to Mackinac
Island started last week according to
O. W. Lang, of the Arnold Transpor-
tation Co. Pilot Bernard Hammond
was at Mackinac Island last week
measuring a landing strip on the beach,
where the plane temporarily will be
set down. The airport at the Island is
considered hazardous for landing.
After the ice forms solidly in the har-
bor the plane will be set down there.

William G. Tapert.

——————————EEE
Custom is the tyranny of the lower
human faculties over the higher.
Oe
International commerce should take
on new life next year.
———_»- 2.»
Indifferent thinking rarely leads to
different thinking.
———_—_¢2-o__—_
No pleasure is fully enjoyed unless
it is earned.
— +2 >___—_

Life without laughter would be deati:.

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he can possibly. do so.

December 19, 1934

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

3

 

SMALL TOWN MERCHANTS

 

Woman Tells How They Can Meet
Competition

A woman who lives in a small town
in Michigan writes the Tradesman as
follows concerning some things the
small town merchant must do if he is
to remain in trade and make his busi-
ness successful and prosperous:

Being the product of a large city my-
self, and having always lived in one
until I came here, I realize how much
more the merchant of the large city
goes after his trade.

To wait until customers decide that
they actually need something is poor
business and does not tend to bring
in the dollars very fast.

The merchant must create the need
for things that he wants to sell. Then
first of all he must have a clean store
with bright, shiny windows through
which his customers can see. This does
not cost him any money. The manu-
facturers whose goods he carries are
only too anxious and willing to make
a good window display for him; first
one, and then another, until people be-
gin to look for something new from
time to time, and watch for its appear-
ance.

Eighty per cent. of the buyers of this
big country of ours are women. The
other twenty per cent. are the men
who buy for their businesses. Women
are attracted by good looking store
windows, and it is needless to say that
after looking into the windows it is
quite natural that they will want to
know what is inside.

Here again the store-keeper can
make the dollars come to him more
quickly, if he will take an interest in
his business,

If a woman goes into a store (or a
man, too, for that matter) and the
proprietor or one of his trained clerks,
because every man who keeps a store
should train his helpers, approaches
her with a pleasant greeting and the
desire to be of service to her, she is
immediately complimented by his at-
tention, and his store looks attractive
to her at once. If his goods are placed
to attract her interest and his store is
clean, and she can get service right at
home, that same woman would never
think of sending out of town for what
she wants. He will have her trade al-
ways.

I have gone into stores again and
again and asked for something which
they did not happen to have. Perhaps
they never kept it. Not once has one
of our merchants said to me, that he
would try and get it for me, as soon as
he could, if I would be willing to
wait. Who is to blame in such a case,
the buyer or the seller? Is it any won-
der that women (who are the greatest
offenders by sending away from home
for what they think they want or think
they can get cheaper) will patronize
some mail-order houses, when the local
merchant is so very indifferent?

Would the merchant in the large city
let such a thing go unnoticed? Never.

There the clerk is instructed that if
they are out of the article (even if they
never kept it) to take your name and
address and send it to you as soon as
This is the

same, whether you are a stranger to
him or one of the regular customers.

As it saves you the trouble of look-
ing around yourself, you appreciate
the attention and next time you want
anything you go back to that store and
perhaps keep on going and become a
regular customer. That merchant is
bound to please you and is responsible
for the goods that he sells.

The great trouble with the mer-
chant of the small town is that he has
allowed himself to get into a rut. He
just hates to make the effort to pull
himself out, because it is such a hard
pull for a little distance. Consequently,
he gets rustier and rustier and the good
looking catalogue with the attractive
pictures takes the place that he should
have in his community.

People who buy from mail order hous-
es do not realize that they do not
handle the nationally advertised arti-
cles. If they do, they are not exploited
in their catalogues and only occupy
inconspicuous places, while the goods
on which they make the largest profit
have the largest picture space. The
innocent buyer does not know this and
he thinks the article must be very
superior, because it is to well writ-
ten up.

Every merchant in every small town
(even the man who keeps the general
store in the farming community) can
do just as much for his customers as
the mail order house, a hundred or twa
or three hundred miles away. But he
must coax his customers back to him,
after they have once left him, and re-
turn good for evil.

In the large cities all the stores have
schools for their clerks and_ sales-
people. In these schools they learn
just how to sell and what to do to
please their customers, because the
owners of these tremendous places of
business never come in contact with
their customers. The competition is
so great that nothing is left undone
to attract the customers into their
stores.

All kinds of clever advertising is re-
sorted to and the cleverest methods of
selling, Accommodation of all kinds,
such a rest rooms, stationery, wrap-
ping of parcels, mailing stations, etc.,
are given customers free of charge.

The country merchant who wants to
compete with the mail order house
must sit up and take notice or else he
soon will find himself without a busi-
ness of any kind. He must advertise.
Not like the city merchant, but by hav-
ing the most attractive store in his
town. He must get the story of his
business before his customers in some
way.

He must not only welcome people
who come to his store, but he must
help them buy. Oftentimes people do
not know just what they want or if
they cannot get what they have come
for they leave without making any
purchases, while if the merchant or his
clerk would suggest something which
might do quite as well, they would not
only buy it, but other things as well.

I am only a woman, but it is the
women who buy everything for the
home and the family and they should
be highly considered by the merchant
who wants to increase his business and

the business of his town. Women
would never have resorted to mail
order buying if the local merchants
had been awake to their opportunities.
If they do not begin to realize the
danger now, it will soon be too late.

If the women in all the women’s
clubs in the smaller towns of this
country were aware of the conditions
that exist in their towns there would
soon be a change, because when wom-
en go after things they usually get
them.

What I have said seems harsh, but
the merchants can be the very great-
est factors to bring brightness and
cleanliness into the lives of dirty and
unkempt people who come to buy from
them. A few do make the effort, but
you can count them on the fingers of
one hand. The most of them do not
seem to have the ambition to make
any greater effort than their compet-
itors.

 

Lines of Interest to Grand Rapids
Council
tragedy has

Stark visited
homes through the neglect ci law en-
forcement. It takes tragedy to awaken
in the minds of the citizens of a com-

monwealth that politics as they pre-

many

vail tc-day are in dire need 03 a thor-
ough hous cleaning. Selfishness and
greed so thoroughly domina‘e our law
making bodies that the cause of the
common people is ignored.

Some twenty years ago an act known
as the Henry Law was enacted to reg-
ulate and enforce safety measures in
hotels. The Law as it stards 1.0-dav
carries adequate safety measures if it is
enforced but of late years the Law as
it stands on the statute books has be-
come cust covered from disuse. No law
is a law unless it is enforced and if the
political parties fail to kep the teeth
bared in the various enactments it is
time the people themseives took a
stand that cannot be misunderstcod by
the rankest politician.

Suburbanite and city dweller alike
are responsible for the laxity in their
efforts and determination t» see that
their interests are taken seriously by
those they send to the Capitol to rep-
resert them. Had any past of the
Efeniy Law been enforced ther: would
have teen no need for the heavy loss

of life in the Kerns hotel disaster. One
of the specifications of the Law is that
adequate means be provided for an es-
cape from a hotel in case of fire. There
must be installed sufficient fire escapes
to that each lodger may have a means
When regulation fire es-
capes cannot be installed, ropes of suf-

of escape.

ficient size and length shall be provide
to make escape possible from a room.
There are many hotels in Michigan to-
day that are flagrant violators of this
law and nothing is being done about it.

The state has no fire inspector al-
though there are inspectors for every-
Petty poli-
tics and adverse lobbying defeated the
measure of providing an inspector as
requested by the United Commercial

thing else under the sun.

Travelers several years ago. They were
successful in getting the Henry Act
passed but its potency was diminished
by not having some one on the job to
enforce the law.

We believe the Hotel Men’s Associ-
ation would be willing at this time to
cooperate in order to save their own
hides because any hotel that carries a
faint suspicion of danger will be avoid-
ed like a plague.

The recent holocaust should be an
incentive for plenty of action toward
providing safety for those who must
entrust their lives to the vigilance of
others and the guarantee of a fighting
chance through compliance with the
laws as enacted without the embodi-
ment of selfishness and avarice.

Any old cat can be the cat’s whis-
kers, but it takes a tomcat to be a cat’s
paw.

Grand Rapids Council members and
their friends met across the festive
board in the Council chamber Saturday
evening, Dec. 15. If anything in the
world will bring out members, a feed
will do it. Usually the eats are on the
but this time one had to rustle
We have done some
difficult mathematical problems in our
of how the
Auxiliary could serve such a
still unsolved. Mrs. R.
E. Groom with her efficient helpers
started meal
about 7 o'clock to a hundred hungry
customers. There was meat, potatoes,
scalloped corn, cabbage salad, gravy,

house,
up 35c or else—.

time, but the problem
Ladies

meal for 39c is

serving the sumptuous

celery and radishes and a big hunk of
real cherry pie to be washed down with
excellent coffee brewed from Al De
Haan’s famous De! Monte brand. Ev-
eryone meal and
wished for more room to eat more.

enjoyed the only

(Continued on page 17)

19th SUCCESSFUL YEAR

400 Agents Located in Every Part of Michigan

Over $9,500,000

Paid in Claims

Look in your telephone book for
our representative or write to

MUTUAL AvToINs.Co
MOWELL, MICH.
5

WM. E. ROBB, Secretary
CITIZENS’ MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE
INSURANCE COMPANY

HOWELL, MICH.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MOVEMENTS OF MERCHANTS.

Edmore—Louis Murphy succeeds
Arthur Jensen in the confectionery
business.

Middleville—The A. M. Gardner
Estate is succeeded in the grocery busi-
ness by Lee Johnson.

Detroit—The Federal-Scheiwe Coa!
Co., 6400 Mack avenue, has changed its
name to the Rex Coal Co.

Detroit—The Difoo Laboratories,
920 Henry street, has changed its name
to Digestive Fermenta Co.

Galesburg—The J. G. Sandvall Fur
Farms, Inc., has decreased its capita!
stock from $35,000 to $17,500.

Grand Ledge—The Grand Ledge
Furniture Co. has decreased its capital
stock from $40,000 to $10,044.

Detroit—The Acme Cut Stone Co.,
9690 Greeley avenue, has decreased
its capital stock from $150,000 to $45,-
000.

Detroit—The Simms & Morall Lum-
ber Co., 12844 Greenfield avenue, has
changed its name to the Simms Lum-
ber Co.

Grosse Uoint—The Grosse Pointe
Bank has been incorporated with an
authorized capital stock of $40,000, all
paid in.

Detroit—The Standard Motor Truck
Co., 1111 Bellevue avenue, has de-
creased its capital stock from $50,000
to $25,006.

Detroit—Househoid Paper Products,
Inc., 1300 East Woodbridge street, has
increased its capital stock from $60,000
to $100,000.

Detroit—The Boulevard Dairy, Inc.,
dairy products, 2449 East Grand Blvd.,
has changed its name to the Modern
Creamery Co., Inc

Alma—The Peninsular Mineral Co.,
126 West Superior street, has been
capitalized at 50,000 shares at $1 each,
$2,900 being paid in.

Detroit— The H. A. McDonald
Creamery Co., 9700 Oakland avenue,
has increased its capital stock from
$300,000 to $600,000.

Hastings—The New Trio cafe, has
installed new fixtures and refrigera-
tion plant in it place of business, both
being purchased of Boot & Co.

Battle Creek—Jacob Weickgenant
Co., floor covering, draperies, etc., has
changed its name to the Battle Creek
Floor Covering & Drapery Co.

Bay City—The Bay Refining Co.
has been organized for the refining of
crude oil and is capitalized at $10,000,
$2,000 of which has been paid in.

Waldron—The Waldron State Sav-
ings Bank has consolidated with the
Hudson State Savings Bank under the
style of the Waldron State Savings
Bank.

Royal Oak—Reynolds, Inc., 1430
Woodward avenue, motor sales and
service, has been incorporated with a
capital stock of $6,000, $3,500 being
paid in.

Allenville—A. L. Litzner, who owns
and manages a flour mill at McMillan,
has opened a similar plant here. He
will give both plants his personal at-
tention.

Hart—Bernard Frens and Arie Lum-
men have engaged in the grocery bus-
iness. Both men are former residents

MICHIGAN

of Fremont and both are experienced
in the grocery business.

Detroit—The J. E. Stephens Co.,
450 West Fort street, dealer in hotel,
restaurant and barroom equipment, has
been incorporated with a capital stock
of $7,500, $2,500 being paid in.

Kalamazoo—The Central Furniture
Co. has completed its remodeling pro-
gram which opened the third floor of
its building at 226 South Burdick
street and added 2,500 square feet of
floor space.

Hart—C. Van Allsburg & Son, meat
dealers, have installed a complete re-
frigeration outfit in their market and
purchased a slaughter house plant.
Both plants being furnished by Boot
& Co., Grand Rapids.

Detroit—The Associated Industrial
Engineers, Inc., 711 Fox Bldg., has
been incorporated with a capital stock
of 1,000 shares of A stock at $10 each
and 15,000 shares of B at $1 each,
$2,414.80 being paid in.

Detroit—The C-Rite Optical Co., 518
Broadway Central Bldg., manufac-
turer of goods for optical trade, has
been incorporated with a capital stock
of $5,000 common and 21 shares at
$1 a share, $1,000 being paid in.

Lowell—Heber Blair and _ Peter
Speerstra have opened a men’s fur-
nishings goods store in the Smith
building. The business will be under
the management of Blair, Mr. Speer-
stra continuing in his work as auto-
mobile salesman.

Detroit — Angus L. Owre died of
pneumonia in Grace Hospital Sunday.
He was 42 years old and a native of
Minnesota. He had lived here 14 years
and was in the produce business. His
wife, Agnes, and two daughters, Doro-
thy and Joan, survive.

Owosso—-A decree of foreclosure in
the proceedings of the Union Guard-
ian Trust Co. of Detroit against the
now defunct Walker Candy Co., Inc.
was signed by Judge J. H. Collins and
the receiver is authorized by that order
to sell the plant at public auction on
Feb. 26.

Detroit—Carl E. Schmidt, widely
known Detroit leather manufacturer,
died of a heart ailment Wednesday at
his home “Walhalla,” near Oscoda. A
native of Detroit, he would have been
79 years old on Jan. 1. He was head
of the Detroit leather company bear-
ing his name. Among the public offices
he held was that of Police Commis-
sioner during the administration of the
late Mayor Hazen S. Pingree. He is
survived by two daughters, Mrs. Ida S.
Moran and Mrs. Alice M. McRae; a
sister and eight grandchildren.

Monroe — Benjamin Freidenberg,
widely known banker and business man
in Monroe, died Saturday morning at
his home here, 2311 Atkinson avenue.
Born at Monroe June 28, 1857, he was
the son of the late Louis and Caroline
Freidenberg. His father was one of
the early settlers of Monroe and in
business there. Mr. Freidenberg was
long vice president of the Dansard
State Bank of Monroe, president of
the Erie (Mich.) State Bank and presi-
dent of Freidenberg, Heil & Hackett,
a clothing firm of Monroe. He had
lived in Detroit for twenty-five years

TRADESMAN

and commuted daily to Monroe. He
was a member of the Monroe Club,
which occupies his former home there,
the Monroe Yacht Club, and Temple
Beth El.

Muskegon—Robert W. Christie, 69
years old member of a prominent Mus-
kegon family and proprietor of the
Christie hardware for thirty-four years,
died Sunday in Hackley hospital fol-
lowing an emergency operation. Mr.
Christie was taken to the hospital last
Tuesday where he underwent an op-
eration. His condition was considered
favorable though serious until late Sun-
day, when he died. Mr. Christie had
been in business here for fifty years,
or since he was nineteen years old.
In 1900 he established the hardware
which he operated until his death. He
was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs.
Daniel Christie, pioneer Muskegon
residents who came here in 1854. The
elder Mr. Christie established the D.
Christie grocery operated here for half
a century as one of the leading business
concerns of the city. Robert Christie
was born here Sept. 9, 1865 and enter-
ed business as a clerk in 1884. He was
a member of the local Odd Fellows
lodge.

 

Manufacturing Matters

Niles—The Niles Fertilizer Co. has
been organized to manufacture and sell
fertilizer with a capital stock of $10.-
600, $6,000 being paid in.

‘Detroit—The Michigan Sprocket
Chain Co., manufacturer, 7818 West
Jefferson avenue, has decreased its
capital stock from $100,000 to $50,000.

Detroit—Then Henze Manufacturing
Co., 280 Harmon avenue, manufacturer
of mechanical devices, has been incor-
;porated with a capital stock of $10,000,
all paid in.

—_2>+-___
Producers’ Sales Tax Seen Likely to
Pass
While admitting that forecasts on
th typ of taxation due at the coming
session of Congress were, in zeneral,
unreliable, several members of a busi-
ness group in close contact with Wash-
ington felt that a National manufac-
turers’ sales tax has an excellent chance

of passing.

They declared that the only alterna-
tive was broadening the taxation base
to include the lower brackets and that
such a step was regarded as most un-
wise. Both types will be highty un-
popular, it was declared, but of the two
they felt that the manufacturers’ sales
tax would be finally chosen. Intensive
efforts would be made to eliminate the
objectionable features, such as pyr-
amiding, that were mainly responsible
for defeating the proposal the last time
it was offered in Congress.

—_+2>——__
Michigan Shoe Convention Program
Program of speakers for the conven-
tion of Michigan Retail Shoe Dealers
Association, at Grand Rapids, Jan. 21-
22, was outlined this week by Clyde
K. Taylor, president. At the Monday
juncheon, a talk on “Display” is sched-
ued by Fred Cooper, of Grand Rapids
Store and Equipment Co., and another
talk on “Merchandising.” ;
At the Tuesday luncheon, Ernest
Bradshaw of J. L. Hudson Co., is

 

December 19, 1934

scheduled to talk on “Fitting and Sty1-
ing of Style Shoes,” and Nathan Hack,
of Detroit, on “Correct Shoes, Not
Corrective.” At the Tuesday evening
banquet, W. J. Regan, president of the
Michigan Bakers Association and M.
A. Mittleman, national president, are
scheduled, All speakers are tentative.
—_—_>-2
Spring Curtain Orders Placed

Manufacturers of better grade cur-
tains began booking volume orders for
spring delivery this week. Re-orders
for current delivery showed a seasonal
decline. Heavy net weaves predomi-
nated in the spring calls from retailers.
Curtain sets to sell up to $8 were in
volume demand for the new season.
Current purchases were confined to
better price goods which were wanted
for immediate delivery to fill special
orders from consumers. The season
just closing, manufacturers said, has
been the most satisfactory since the
start of the depression. Volume was
heavy and stocks are the cleanest they
have been since 1929,

—»-++—___

Undergarment Orders Still Heavy

Retailers have continued to pour a
heavy volume of undergarment and
negligee orders into the Eastern mar-
ket. These items have moved actively
in Christmas buying and late re-orders
are heavier than usual due to light re-
tail stocks and inability to secure ad-
ditional merchandise during a good
portion of November. Manufacturers
are making shipments in increased vol-
ume and are now finding much less dif-
ficulty in covering their silk needs. The
negligee volume was described as par-
ticularly heavy. Undergarments at
popular and medium ranges up to $5
are doing well.

——_»+-2

Fight Deal on Swedish Matches

Fighting any liberalization of restric-
tions on Swedish match imports. The
American Match Institute, in a report
charged that the United States would
lose heavily in any trade agreement
permitting matches to be brought into
the United States on more favorable
terms. Pointing out that Sweden con-
trols 75 per cent. of the world’s match
business while American producers
have only the home market in which
to sell, the institute charged that 1,000
workers would be thrown out of em-
ployment if Swedish matches were ad-
mitted.

——_++.
Michigan Shoe Dealers in Quest of
Large Feet

Michigan shoe dealers will undertake
to determine the possessor of Amer-
ica’s largest pair of feet in a contest
to be conducted at their annual conven-
tion in Grand Rapids, Jan. 20 to 22.
Among the early entrants is Robert
Wadlow, of Alton, Ill, who at the age
of 17 is eight feet tall and wears a size
thirty-five shoe. A style pageant also
will be presented. Two Detroiters, M.
A. Mittelman, president of the Na-
tional Shoe Retailers Association, and
Nathan Hack, chairman of the associ-
ation’s foot health division, will speak
at the convention.

—_2++___
It’s what you leave undone that un-
does you.

—~+22___
Russia again bares her brutality.

   

Neca rearp tees

“acres are creermeemeranent a

 

eek = as Sak ee ccc = ee © cd @ = ce cc ec

 

PIRES EE EES

 

 

 

December 19, 1934

MICHIGAN

TRADESMAN

 

Essential Features of the Grocery
Staples

Sugar—Jobbers now hold cane gran-
ulated at 4.95 and beet sugar at 4.70.

Tea—No change has taken place in
the first hands tea market during the
past week. A lot of Java Orange Pe-
koes were sold during the week in one
sale. The prices are not forthcoming
and are believed to have been low.
Some fluctuations have occurred in
Ceylons and Indias in primary markets,
mostly downward, but they have so
far had no effect in this country. Con-
sumptive demand for tea about as
usual,

Coffee—The market for future green
Rio and Santos sold in a large way
opened the week dull and not too
strong. Later, while the situation stiil
continued dull, futures gained a few
points. A day or two after that the
market had some further fluctuations
both up and down. On the whole, the
future market is not materially differ-
ent that it was a week ago. Spot Rio
and Santos has been fairly steady dur-
ing the week, though the demand was
quite poor. No material changes in
price occurred. Milds show no change
since the last report. The jobbing mar-
ket for roasted coffee unchanged. Con-
sumptive demand fair to good.

Canned Fruits—California fruits have
held although some easing in
pears here and there has been noted.

firm,

Hawaiian pineapple continues to move
in good volume.

Canned Vegetables—Price changes
are few. From California it is indicated
that solid pack tomatoes are stronger.
The Southern tomato market shows
little change one way or the other, fol-
lowing the narrow decline recently
noted, Peas and corn are also quot-
ably unchanged.

Canned Fish—Canned Fish is steady,
with a somewhat better movement on
spot reported. The long term outlook
for fancy salmon has been improved by
the developments in the Northwest
looking to curtailment of operations.
Maine sardines are scarce and few
packers have any left to sell.

Dried Fruits—The dried fruit market
was occupied last week by the usual
last minute rush for goods, and job-
bers reported a substantial volume of
business done. This is expected to con-
tinue pretty much through this week
also. Several shortages have been ap-
parent here for weeks, and prices on
some fruits have either been withdrawn
or advanced sharply in sympathy with
the clean-up of goods. There is little
change in the major items. As usual,
apricots, prunes and raisins are
eclipsed for the time being by the em-
phasis laid on holiday lines. Never-
theless, sellers here have reported a
good volume of old crop prunes mov-
ing into retail outlets, in view of the
higher replacement costs which will
have to be paid later. Apricots are be-
ing held very firm, because of the
limited amount available, and the ex-
pectation that the usual January de-
mand for apricots will become specially
marked next month. California reports
things holding up well, with first hands
resigned to hold without forcing the
market until distributors are more in

the mood of making new commitments.

Beans and Peas—Dried Beans are
dull and weak throughout the whole
list. There seems to be nothing which
will get them back permanently on
their feet again. Perhaps pea beans are
a shade less weak than the other items.
Dried peas are fairly steady, but quite
dull.

Nuts—Pre-holiday demand for nuts
in the shell continues very good, with
demand centering more on walnuts as
other varieties are either closely clean-
ed up or have advanced too far in
price. Brazils are reported scarce, with
present prices being merely nominal.
California almonds are relatively scarce
also. The demand for shelled nuts also
shows considerable increase, as last
minute holiday buying has been mak-
ing itself felt. First hands report a
good volume of business being done,
with stocks here light and prices hold-
ing well.

Rice—The market is now more ac-
tive than it has been in the past six or
eight weeks, sellers here report. Orders
for delivery after the inventory season
are coming in greater volume. Export
business also is continuing to show
much improvement. Long grains of
top qualities continue very strong, with
the supply scarce.
plies to Japans.

Salt Fish—Owing to the holiday
season the market for mackerel and
other salt fish is quiet, but the under-
tone is steady to firm. Better business
is expected after the first of the year.

The same also ap-

Spices—With the exception of nut-
megs, trading in spices was rather nar-
row over the past week. In view of the
approaching inventory period, it is not
expected that grinders will enter the
market for large quantities until after
the turn of the year. Gingers have re-
mained steady on spot. The January-
March positions have shown some ac-
tivity in the African and Cochin sorts
and quotations are generally higher for
spring deliveries. While some trade
factors regard the outlook in peppers
as highly uncertain, there is little in-
clination on the part of local sellers to
press material for sale. Caraway seed
remains firm at 8 @ 8%c per pound.
Some low bids have been turned down
by some of the large shippers of celery
seed and, while spot prices remain un-
changed, it is generally believed that
the downward trend of the market has
been checked. Some inquiries are noted
for poppy seed, but there is a general
tendency on the part of buyers to mark
time.

Syrup and Mollasses—Sugar syrup
continues firm without change in price.
Demand fair. Compound syrup remains
unchanged after the recent 10 cent ad-
vance Manufacturers gave buyers ten
days to buy at the old prices, but very
few of them have taken advantage of it;
their stocks were too large before. Bet-
ter grades of molasses are fairly active
at unchanged prices.

>.>

It’s one thing to have an opportun-
ity: another to see it.

—___ + e___

Only less spending will save our

Federal credit.
———— r+
Japan persists in riding for a fall.

Review of the Produce Market
Apples—Jonathans, $1.00; No. 1 Mc-
Intosh, $1.75; No. Spys, $1.50 and $2.
Artichokes—80c per doz.
Avocados—$2.75 per case from Calif.
Bananas——5c per Ib.
Brussels’ Sprouts—l6c per qt.
Butter—Creamery, 30c for cartons,
and 29%%c for extra in tubs and 28'%4c
for firsts.
Cabbage—40c per bu. for white, 50c
for red.
Carrot—Calif., 60c per doz. bunches
or $3.40 per crate of 6 doz.
Cauliflower—$1.75 per crate for Calif.
Celery—20 @ 30c per dozen bunches.
Celery Cabbage—60c per dozen.
Cranberries—$5 per 25 Ib. box.
Dried Beans — Michigan Jobbers
pay as follows for hand picked at ship-
ping stations:
©. PH. from farmer_.-________ $2.30
Light Red Kidney from farmer__ 4.25
Dark Red Kidney from farmer__ 5.50
Wight Cranbermy (620022 4.15
Dark Granbersy | $3.15
Eggs—Jobbers pay 17c per Ib. for all
clean receipts. They sell as follows:

Large white, extra fancy__________ 35c
Standard fancy select, cartons_____ 30c
Medignn 2210 29c
Candled, Large pullets__.________ 28c
Checks, {2 ie 25c

Storage eggs are heing offered as
follows:

ROX Aprile 25c
MeN 23c
Checks, 2) 21c

Garlic—15c per Ib.

Grape Fruit—Florida, $3 for all sizes.

Grapes—T okays—$2.50 per box.

Green Beans — Louisiana, $4 per
hamper.

Green Onions—Chalots, 60c per doz.

Green Peas—$4.50 per hamper for
California and Washington.

Green Peppers—30@40c per doz. for
Florida.

Honey Dew Melons—$2.50 per case.

Lemons—The price is as follows:

300 Sunkist $5.75
500) Sankiceu i 6.50
S00 Red Bali 5.00
300 Red) Baliizes) | 5.00
Lettuce — In good demand on the
following basis:
California, 4s and 5s, crate______ $4.25
Meat out-doom) 2) 00s .08

Limes—25c per dozen.
Mushrooms—27@28c per box.
Onions—Home grown, $1 for yel-
low and $1.25 for white.
Oranges—Fancy Sunkist California
Navels are now sold as follows:

ee. $3.00
CO 3.50
We 3.75
70 4.50
Ne 4.50
ee 4.50
CS ee 4.50
ee. 4.50

Red Ball, 50c per box less.
Florida oranges in half box sacks
are sold as follows:

200) ee $1.75
ANG 1.75
250) 1.75
288) Ce 1.75

Parsley—35c per doz. for hot house.

Potatoes—Home grown, 35c per bu.;
{daho, $2.50 per 100 Ib. sack.

Poultry—Wilson & Company pay as
follows:

§
Eléavy Sprites 8 17c
Freavy, Rowlse) 2. oo 13c
Eight Bowls 22203002) 10c
Ducks {2062 ee 13c
Turkeys 222502 Sa 19c
Geese llc

Radishes—Hot house, 35c per doz.
bunches.

Spinach—$1.15 per bushel for Ken-
tucky grown.

Squash — 40c per bu. for Red or
Green Hubbard.

Sweet Potatoes—Virginias, $2.50 per
bbl.

Tomatoes—Hot house, $1,15 for 8
lb. basket.

Turnips—S50c per bu.

Veal Calves — Wilson & Company
pay as follows:
Haney 222) ee 8c
Good, 222 7c

Wax Beans—$5 per hamper for
Florida.

—_2+>___
Death of Mrs. Hodges, of Fife Lake
Mrs. J. S. Hodges, of Fife Lake,
passed away Dec. 11, at 10 pm. Funer-
al services were held at the home Sat-
urday, with interment in the Fife Lake
cemetery. Mrs. Ettie Mills Hodges
was the wife of J. S. Hodges, pioneer
hardware merchant. Mrs. Hodges was
a native of Grand Rapids, coming here
in 1882. She leaves a husband, daugh-
ter, Winifred Mundy, and sister, Mrs.

‘I. F. Hodges, of Traverse City.

 

Personal Letter From the Husband

Your two recent kind letters re-
ceived and words cannot express how
I appreciate them. In all the letters I
received none seem to touch the spot
as yours did. I could not answer be-
fore, as I could neither write or think.
I was almost crazy. I worshiped my
wife. Lived with her fifty-two years
without one single cross words being
spoken either to her or she to me.
Home was heaven to me. Now it is
anything but heaven. I am to be alone
in a large house. I have one child, a
daughter, married and living at Lin-
coln, Mich. My hardware store is
closed on a litigation with the Guar-
dian Group Bank at Dearborn. We
were in on a deal at Detroit. I put up
$10,000. They put up $2,000. When
property began to slip they wanted
their money back. I, like a fool, paid
them $1,050 in cash and was going to
take the deal off their hands. When
the banks all closed I could not raise
the balance. I was connected with
seven banks and got caught in all of
them, besides losing $40,000 in Detroit.
I expect to win this case and open my
store Saturday. I will then start suit
against the Guardian Group for $10,000
damage to my credit.

—_~++>__
Six New Readers of the Tradesman
The following new subscribers have

been received during the past week:
R, Leroy McCartney, Grand Rapids
A. A. Frost, Duluth
M. Goldsmith, Detroit
C. W. Reed, Levering
S. Abraham, Grand Rapids
F. Groenendal, Muskegon.

>. ___
Business leaders are becoming dis-

posed to lead.

—_+- +
No depression ever killed opportun-
ity.

 

 

MUTUAL
INSURANCE

(Fire aad Life)

 

Dynamite Explosion

Several thousand dollars of property
damage and a narrow escape from
death for four citizens resulted from
the careless storage of dynamite on
the outskirts of Covington, Ky., last
month. Chief Frank A. Northcutt and
his men were awakened by the explo-
sion two miles from the headquarters
station.

A construction company building a
road into Covington placed 250 pounds
of dynamite, and enough caps to set
off the charges in a frame shanty on a
traveled highway, prior to using the
explosives for blasting away a hill-
side. A party of four driving on the
highway found the shack in fiflames,
and seeing a truck nearby, tried to
push it away from the fire, not know-
ing of the presence of the dynamite.
The intense heat from the burning
building drove them back, and when
they had withdrawn about a hundred
yards, the building was blown up with
a tremendous concussion.

The truck was demolished by the
blast, and portions of the burning
building thrown hundreds of feet. Win-
dows were broken and plaster cracked
for a distance of about two miles. One
man over ten miles from the scene of
the explosion reported hearing it. An
eye witness said that a can contining
several gallons of kerosene was hurled
fifty feet into the air, the burning liquid
giving the can the appearance of a
comet with a flaming tail.

Chief Northcutt pointed out that the
owners of the dynamite violated sev-
eral state regulations for the storage
of explosives, and in so doing created
a terrible hazard. The frame building
(dynamite, according to Kentucky law,
must be stored in fireproof buildings
of special construction) was only
about 25 feet from the traveled high-
way (state regulations for the amount
of dynamite the building contained, 215
feet; the building had no signs indi-
cating that it contained explosives; the
detonating caps were stored with the
dynamite; the shack was heated by a
stove; the deputy state fire marshal
had not been notified of the presence
of the explosive.

Fortunately, the explosion occurred
at an hour when there was very little
travel on the highway. Another lucky
circumstance was that the night watch-
man, who tended the fire in the shack
had gone home. The four persons who
tried to save the truck would have
undoubtedly been killed if they had not
retreated from the heat just before the
explosion.

The origin of the fire is not known.
It was discovered about fifteen minutes
after the watchman had left, and in
five or ten minutes the dynmite went
off. Luckily, the fire department had
not been called to extinguish the fire.
Chief Northcutt points out that the
firemen, not knowing of the dynamite,
would have pulled the apparatus close
to the shack in order to fight the
fire with small lines. This undoubtedly

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

would have resulted in their deaths
and the ruin of the apparatus.

He also points out that the explo-
sion probably would not have occurred
if the caps had not been stored with
the dynamite. Dynamite will burn
without exploding, but in this instance
the fire set off the caps, which in turn
set off the dynamite. Chief Northcutt
recalled that some years ago he was
very badly hurt in an explosion of
such caps; he still bears the scars from
his injuries at that time.

All enterprises necessitating the use
of dynamite should be carefully
watched for violation of rules that pro-
tect the public from explosions. Fire
chiefs might do well to call on the men
in charge personally, bringing the reg-
ulations to their attention, and insist-
ing on compliance. In the Covington
case, however, the dynamite had been
stored without anyone outside of the
construction firm knowing of its pres-
ence,

—_2+.+____
“Liquid Fire”

One of the most extraordinary fires
ever fought by the San Francisco fire
department occurred last month, as
a result of heavy rains.

Water backed up inte the warehouse
of a trucking company, and reached
several hundred sacks of unslaked lime
stored there. The lime was stacked on
a platform several inches above the
floor, but the amount of water was
more than sufficient to reach it.

Firemen rushing into the building,
unaware of what they were about to
face, were severely burned by the bub-
bling mass, which was several feet
deep on the floor, and shooting blue
flames. The effect was similar to a
flood of molten lava. The men donned
boots protecting them to their waists,
and smeared themselves with grease in
order to remove from danger such lime
that remained unslaked.

Chief Charles J. Brennan then or-
dered the building swept with high
pressure streams, in order to slake the
wet lime that remained. After several
hours work on the fire, twenty-one
firemen had been removed to the hos-
pital, all badly burned. Ten of them
were expected to spend at least two
weeks in the hospital. In some in-
stances, when clothing was removed
from the men’s legs, burned flesh came
with it.

Gas masks were used in fighting the
fire in order to protect the men as
much as possible. As only twelve
masks were available, the men worked
in shifts of that number.

Only the day before, San Francisco
firemen had been called out to a fire
in a nut meat plant The oil in the
nuts increased the intensity of the
blaze, and three alarms were nevessary
to prevent the spread to adjoining
buildings One man, employed by the
nut company, was unable to escape and
died in the building Firemen succeed-
ed in rescuing one employe who man-
aged to reach a fire escape where he
was trapped

——__»-2 > ____

If you do your best, no consequences

need appall you.
—_+-~-2—__—_

Strive now—the grave will give us

rest.

REPORT ON CHAIN STORES

 

Summary of Investigation By Federal
Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission
transmitted to the Senate, Dec 14, its
final report on its six-year chain store
investigation, made pursuant to Sen-
ate Res. 224, 70th Cong., Ist Sess.

In the letter of transrnittal accom-
panying the report, Acting Chairman
Ewin L. Davis advised the Senate that
submission of this report concludes
the work of the Commission in this in-
vestigation, He directed attention to
the fact that the Commission has, since
the beginning of the investigation, sub-
mitted to Congress thirty-three fac-
tual reports on various phases of the
chain store industry, and that these re-
ports have already been printed as
Senate documents.

The report summarizes facts gath-
ered by the Commission during its ex-
haustive enquiry in all parts of the
country, as presented in detail in the
thirty-three interim reports published
from time to time. This factual report
will be followed in a few days by a
statement of the Commission’s con-
clusions and recommendations for leg-
islation based upon the data obtained
during the inquiry.

The Senate resolution under which
the investigation has been conducted
directed the Federal Trade Commis-
sion to undertake an enquiry into the
chain store system of marketing and
distribution as conducted by manufac-
turing, wholesaling, retailing or other
types of chain stores and to ascertain
and report to the Senate as follows:

1. The extent to which consolida-
tions have been effected in violation of
the anti-trust laws, if at all:

2. The extent to which consolida-
tions or combinations of such organi-
zations are susceptible to regulation
under the Federal Trade Commission
Act or the anti-trust laws, if at all,
and

3. What legislation, if any, should
be enacted for the purpose of regu-
lating and controlling chain store dis-
tribution.

In addition, the resolution directed
the Commission to advise the Senate
on (a) the extent to which the chain
store movement has tended to create
a monopoly or the concentration of
control in the distribution of any com-
modity, locally or nationally; (b) evi-
dences indicating the existence of un-

 

December 19, 1934

fair methods of competition, or of
agreements, conspiracies, or combina-
tions in restraint of trade, involving
chain store distribution; (c) advan-
tages or disadvantages of chain store
distribution in comparison with those
of other types, as shown by prices,
costs, profits, and margins, quality of
goods and services rendered, manage-
rial efficiency, low overhead, or other
similar causes; (d) how far the rapid
increase in the chain store system of
distribution is based upon actual sav-
ings in cost of management and opera-
tion, and how far upon quantity prices
available only to chain store distribu-
tors; (e) whether or not such quantity
prices constitute a violation of the
Federal Trade Commission Act or any
other statute, and (f) what legislation,
if any, should be enacted with reference
to such quantity prices.

Summarizing the facts set forth in
its final report, the Commission says
that “it may be stated that the chief
advantage enjoyed by the chain store
is its lower selling price to consumers.
These lower selling prices,” continues
the report, “are largely due to a varie-
ty of factors which may be divided into
two cases: First, those which appear
to be amenable to ordinary governmen-
tal regulation and, second, those which
would be amenable only to extraordi-
nary governmental measures. Among
the former class may be mentioned

1. The usually lower buying prices
of chains as compared with independ-
ent wholesalers or retailers, much of
which is often the result of special dis-
counts and allowances to chains, These
discounts are sometimes based upon
specified quantity purchases or definite
quotas of increases in purchases or to
reimburse the chains for newspaper
advertising expenditures on the man-
ufacturers’ products. In other cases,
however, they are given primarily be-
cause of buying power in which case
they may masquerade as_ brokerage
fees or advertising allowances:

2. The extensive use by the chains
of large proportions of leader and loss
leader merchandise sold at prices which
are below the average cost of doing
business plus the cost of the merchan-
dise and which are sometimes below
the latter;

3. More extensive short and less ex-
tensive over-weighing by chains in
some localities than by independent
stores on commodities sold by weight.

 

 

 

 

 

INSURANCE AT COST
(A Non-profit Organization )

It means a saving to you of

25% to 874%
Below the published board rate

Lecat Reserve Micuican Company
18 years of Sound Operation
M. B. & M.

MICHIGAN BANKERS & MERCHANTS
MUTUAL FIRE INS. COMPANY
FREMONT, MICHIGAN
Inquiries Solicited

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CS Re eR te LEE TERE OLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 19, 1934

Among the second class, those fac-
tors which would be amenable only to
extraordinary measures may be men-
tioned:

a. The less service given to custom-
ers by chain stores as compared with
independents on the average;

b. The indicated lower wages paid
by the chains in some localities at the
time of the inquiry;

c. Elimination by the chains of most
of the wholesale selling expense com-
monly involved in the wholesaler-re-
tailer system of distribution;

d. The wider profit margins on
chain-store purchased and especially
manufactured private-brand merchan-
dise as compared with standard brands,
which advantage may at times contrib-
ute to the ability of the chains to re-
duce prices through loss leaders or oth-
erwise particularly on standard brand
goods, private brands being seldom
used as leaders;

e. Profits from wholesaling opera-
tions in the case of a number of both
the larger and smaller chains which
have engaged in this kind of business,
which profits may likewise contribute
to the lower prices on merchandise
sold through retail stores;

f. In addition, chains in many lines
possess an important advantage
through their ability to use newspaper
advertising where the independent re-
tailer cannot afford to do so. Moreover,
the newspaper advertising of the
chains tends to be much more effec-
tive than that of the independents
owing to the multiple outlets of the
chains in those cases where the chain
has more than one store in the area
which is covered by the newspaper
advertising;

ge. A final and very important advan-
tage of the chain consists in its ability
to average the profit result obtained
from its stores in various localities,
the low prices obtained in one or more
areas being offset by higher prices ob-
tained in one or more other points.
This ability of the chain to average its
prices and profits may contribute ma-
terially to its ability to use leaders and
loss leaders effectively.

One-tenth of Stores are Chains

The report uses United States Cen-
sus Bureau figures to show that in
1929 there were 1,543,158 retail stores
in the United States with total sales of
$49,114,653,269. Chain store organiza-
tions in the country, according to the
same authority, numbered 7,061, oper-
ating 159,638 stores, or about 10 per
cent. of all the retail stores in the
country. Sales of these chains aggre-
gated $10,740,358,208, or about 22 per
cent. of all the retail stores. Local
chains operated 52,465 stores with total
sales of $3,293,890,233; sectional chains,
41,083 stores with sales of $2,191,,250,-
396, and national chains operated 51,-
058 stores with sales of $3,960,086,992.
Other types of chains, not included in
these three general classifications, op-
erated 15,032 stores, with sales of $1,-
295,157,587.

The report contains a tabulation
showing that nearly 20 per cent. of
each dollar spent in retail stores by
the consumer went to chain stores,
with a wide variation in the proportion
of retail sales of chain stores in differ-
ent states of the union, ranging from

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

as low as one dollar in fourteen in
Mississippi, to one dollar in four of
total retail sales in the District of Co-
lumbia.

More than half of the chains report-
ing to the Commission operated from
two to five stores each. This group
operated less than 5 per cent. of all
the chain stores. However, chains with
1,000 stores or more comprise less than
10 per cent. of the total number of
chains, but account for approximately
one-half of the total number of chain
stores and about 40 per cent. of the
total volume of chain store sales. Larg-
est among the groups are the Great
Atlantic & Pacific Tea Vo., the Kroger
Grocery & Bakery Co., and the Safe-
way Stores, Inc., which operated in
1930 nearly 25,000 retail grocery stores.
Their total sales were almost $1,600,-
000,000. During that year, the Great
Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. alone oper-
ated 15,738 stores, with total sales of
$1,065,000,000. The Commission’s re-
port says that the significance of these
figures is heightened by the apparent
tendency of chain stores to increase
at a faster rate than independents. Fig-
ures gathered in the survey indicate
that while the new store opening rate
of the independents is substantially
higher than that for chain stores, the
independent closing rate is nearly as
high as the opening rate, whereas the
chain store rate of closings is only
about one-fourth that of openings.

Further analyzing the figures gath-
ered in its survey, the Commission
says they indicate a tendency for
chains to concentrate their stores, first,
in the most populous communities, and
later to extend their operations to less
populous localities. The report shows
that for a six-year period, approxi-
mately two-thirds of all chain stores
were located in three contiguous and
populous divisions of the New Eng-
land, Middle Atlantic and East North
Central States.

The investigation discloses that as a
means of meeting the competition of
the chain store systems, independent
retailers in certain lines, particularly
groceries, drugs and hardware, have
organized co-operative chains largely
for co-operative buying. The Com-
mission gathered data for 39 such co-
operative grocery chains with a mem-
bership of 43,141 independent grocery
stores, as of the beginning of 1930, and
estimates that there were probably
395 such co-operative grocery chains
in the entire country with an esti-
mated membership of 53,400 stores.
The estimated volume of business of
these co-operative chains in 1929 was
between 600 and 700 million dollars.
The Commission also gathered data
for 24 co-operative drug chains with a
membership of 6,041 independent re-
tail stores in 1929,

Legal Status of Chains

As to the legal status of existing
chain store systems, the report says
that there have been no court deci-
sions on the extent to which chain
stores are engaged in interstate com-
merce and that each chain system must
be separately considered in its relation
4o this or any other legal question in-
volving its amenability to existing law.
However, the report says that on the

principles established by the Supreme.

Court in other cases, “there is good
reason to believe that Federal jurisdic-
tion would be upheld as to many
phases of chain store operation,” but
adds that special litigation would be
necessary to determine the exact scope
of such federal jurisdiction.

Responding to that part of the Sen-
ate resolution which directed the Com-
mission to advise the Senate as to
the extent to which the chain store
movement has tended to create a mon-
opoly or concentration of control in the
distribution of any commodity, the
Commission says that the competition
which the chain stores in the grocery
trade furnish to each other, supple-
mented by that of independent stores,
would seem to negative monopoly by
any individual chain, and that the same
is true as to the larger chains in the
drug group. On this phase of its in-
quiry the Commission says:

It is possible that a monopolis-
tic condition might be established
in a given section of the country
and not for the country as a
whole. However one may view
the economic question of monop-
oly, it is futile to treat the legal
question of monopoly as one that
fig determinable from size or the
proportion of business controlled.
Under the principles announced
by the Supreme Court, a concern
may do all the business in its field
of operation and have no com-
petition without infringing Sec-
tion 2 of the Sherman law which
makes it a penal offense to mon-
opolize, attempt to monopolize
or combine or conspire with oth-
ers to monopolize ‘any part’ of
interstate and foreign commerce.

The broad prohibition of the
Sherman law against monopoly
has been narrowed by interpreta-
tion of the courts to mean that
only actual, as distinguished from
potential monopoly, is unlawful,
and ‘that the mere possession of
monopolistic power in the ab-
sence of overt acts indicating an
illegal use thereof is not a viola-
tion of this statute.

Citing decisions by the Supreme
Court in the International Harvester
Company and the United States Steel
Corporation cases, the Commission
says:

Under the principles of these deci-
sions, if there should develop one gi-
gantic all-inclusive chain store system
for each line of distribution, its status
as an unlawful monopoly could be at-
tacked only to the extent it had vio-
lated the law as a means of attaining
monopoly, and exercised its monopo-
listic power contrary to law. The situ-
ation may call for reconsideration by
Congress of the public policy involved
in the monopoly section of the Sher-
man law * * *.

There seems even less basis for con-
sidering co-operative chain store sys-
tems as monopolies or combinations in
restraint of trade under the Sherman
law.

Reporting on that part of the resolu-
tion directing that the Senate be ad-
vised as to the extent to which chain
store consolidations have been effected
in violation of the anti-trust laws, the
Commission says that “investigations
made by the Commission from time

7

to time have failed to disclose reason
to believe there have been violations

of Section 7 of the Clayton Act by

chain stores of the grocery group.”

As to the drug, confectionery, furni-
ture and variety groups of chain stores,
rhe Commission found that there have
been some consolidations, but advised
that the difficulty with all such cases,
aside from the ever present one of Fed-
eral jurisdiction, is that “there is no
precise method for determining the
amount of competition between stores
located in the same market area,” add-
ing “if the legal status of potential
competition were less vague, a conclu-
sion could more easily be reached,” and
advising that the Commission is giv-
ing further study to these questions in
their bearing upon chain store acqui-
sitions as whether Section 7 of the
Clayton Act has been violated and
whether such violation is beyond
reach of the Commission’s remedial
Arocesses as defined by the Supreme
Court.

Reporting on competitive practices
and trade policies of chain stores, par-
ticulariy as to unfair methods of com-
petition, agreements, conspiracies or
combinations in restraint of trade, the
report says that “it may be said that
as far as agreements, conspiracies, or
combinations in restaraint of trade
among chain stores themselves are con-
cerned, the inquiry has failed to dis-
close any such practices. On the con-
trary, chain companies within the vari-

sus commodity groups actively com-
pete with other chains in the same

However, the Commission said
the investigation had shown a number
of competitive practices and trade pol-
icizs meriting presentation as being

ercup.|

possibly “unfair methods of competi-
tion in commerce.” The report adds
that the records of the Commission
show twenty-seven private complaints
filed alleging unfair practices by chain
stores in the sale of merchandise, of
which 23 were in the category of mis-
branding of goods and false and mis-
leading advertising. Three involved
charges of selling below costs to the
injury of competitors, and one charged
conspiracy to maintain prices, operation
cf a lottery and price discrimination.
Such charges have been investigated
from time to time, the Commission
proceeding in its usual manner for the
prevention of such practices.

In connection with its chain store
report, the Commission will make pub-
lic in a few days its conclusions and
recommendations for legislation, to-
gether with a discussion of legal rem-
edies available under existing federal
statutes. It will also include proposals
for new legislation which have been
considered but which have not been
definitely recommended.

a

Take things as they come
to make them come out right.

 

and try

oe
No human is a failure who retains
goodwill towards men.
Ss
If you fulfil what you owe to your-
self, that’s victory.
2S
It isn’t genuine success if it didn’t
benefit others.

 

Saosin enone Haran raenige Teo

Pome aren

 

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Christmas is coming, and with it the
inevitable renewal by persons with the
best notions in the world of the de-
mand to give up Christmas trees to
save our forests. There is no need to
give up the Christmas tree, and this
should be understood by those who
would deprive the Christmas season
of a ceremony and a decoration that
adds so much to the holiday cheer.

Each year in the United States some
5,000,000 firs, spruces, pines, cedars
and hemlocks receive the decorations
and homage of the Christmas tree.
The total cutting would denude 10,000
acres. The figures sound formidable,
but they are not.

The acreage represents only one-
tenth of one per cent. of the total num-
ber of acres cut annually in the United
States. The trees sold bring more as
Christmas trees than they would if
sold for any other use. Many of them
come from forests where the cutting
out of these small trees encourages the
growth of larger trees to lumber size.
Much land that would otherwise lie
idle and produce no revenue, is being
made to grow Christmas trees and is
bringing in a nice profit. Propertly
cut, and even without any new planting
—depending entirely on natural regen-
eration —land may be kept producing
Christmas trees year after year.

Professional foresters do not object
to the cutting of Christmas trees. Con-
servation does not mean allowing trees
to grow until they die and rot; it means
the wise use of trees and care exercised
that those cut are replaced by new
crops. Those who object to Christmas
tree cutting can properly demand con-
servation but not—as has been sug-
gested—a federal law which would
make the cutting of a Christmas tree
a crime.

There are few symbols of family
happiness, childish joy, which match
the Christmas tree. It is the token of
Christmas peace and good will, and a
youngster’s ecstacy and gratification.
It would take a calamitous danger in-
deed to justify the relinquishment of
the Christmas tree with its pile of gay
packages beneath the boughs, its twin-
kling lights and tinseled ornaments,
and its one bright star at the very
top.

 

INCOME STATISTICS

Income tax statistics for 1933 will
probably be used quite freely in the
coming session of Congress to show
that the New Deal has aggravated
rather than reduced the mal-distribu-
tion of wealth, which it was supposed
to help correct. Forty-six individuals,
instead of the twenty in 1932, report
incomes of $1,000,000 or over. In-
comes under $25,000 were fewer in
number, while those above that level
increased.

To an important degree, these fig-
ures do appear to comprise a major
problem. When too little was going
to wage earners and farmers to support
the huge output of 1929, markets col-
lapsed. Arguments can be made that
profits were put back into industry by
the small high-income group, thus cre-
ating work, but the markets for addi-
tional products apparently did not have

MICHIGAN

sufficient purchasing power to absorb
them.

In present circumstances, of course,
the evidence that profits are on the up-
turn cannot fail to have a stimulating
effect. Capital must be persuaded to
come out of hiding and return to the
task of making the wheels move. For
this reason, legislators will do well not
to use the income statistics for radical
purposes. If they sincerely wish for
business recovery, then they must rec-
ognize the fact that enterprise must
see profits ahead before it will go con-
fidently forward.

At the same time, there remains con-
Siderable scope for government studies
which will determine those price, profit
and purchasing power relationships
which have characterized periods of
real prosperity.

 

PRICE FIXING QUESTION

The lines on which the NRA will be
drawn for another period of emergency
operation are becoming clearer as a
result of current discussions. The
Chamber of Commerce of the United
States and the National Association of
Manufacturers have declared them-
selves in favor of another year of this
set-up with certain modifications.
Other important trade bodies have ex-
pressed similar judgment.

During the week the address by S.
Clay Williams, chairman of the Na-
tional Recovery Board, clarified what
was supposedly the administration
viewpoint. Basic features of the Recov-
ery act relating to wages and hours,
collective bargaining and fair trade
practices will be retained, he explained,
but price-fixing will be eliminated.

The argument he offered upon price-
fixing was one that has been advanced
in these columns several times. If
minimum wages and maximum hours
are fixed, then there is provided the
one sound basis for fair price compe-
tition. One producer cannot beat an-
other’s price simply through slashing
wages and thereby undermining the
entire market.

Experience with price-fixing in many
instances has proved its fallacy to man-
ufacturers who desired it above all else
when the codes were being adopted.
Thus, at a hearing attended by lumber
interests in the week it was indicated
that not more than 15 per cent. of the
production in that field was being sold
on the basis regulated.

 

PROFIT SHARING

Acceptance of the policy that wage
minimums and working hour maxi-
mums are basic factors in competition
may lead in time to a further step for
dealing with market potentialities and
purchasing power. This forward-look-
ing plan would not be new to a num-
ber of manufacturing and distributing
companies, since it involves merely a
profit-sharing arrangement in which
stockholders, employes and manage-
ment would participate.

A widespread fear among business
interests centers upon the limitations
which the government may see fit to
impose upon profits in one way or an-
other. This fear discourages enter-
prise. Profits would be reduced. Under
a suitable profit-sharing plan, which
would be something in fact as well as

TRADESMAN

in name, the opposite reaction should
result. No limit would be placed on
profits, but there would be a sharing
of them with much larger numbers
than now benefit.

Some such development seems much
more preferable than unemployment
insurance and other relief projects that
contemplate carrying those without
jobs at the expense of reduced output.
In production lies the only wealth of a
country, and authorities have empha-
sized that only in greater output can
we hope to absorb the unemployed.

Profit-sharing upon a much wider
and effective scale may hold out hopes
for all parties to the present problem.

 

DRY GOODS CONDITIONS

Carrying along in a satisfactory way
after its spurt of the latest week-end,
holiday trade bids fair to exceed earlier
estimates by a fair margin. Gift and
small wares received most attention,
but apparel lines also were purchased
liberally. If anything, the semi-luxury
demand has gained.

Department store sales for Novem-
ber were reported as 11 per cent.
above the same month last year in the
Federal Reserve Board report. The
largest gain was made in the Atlanta
district, where volume was 24 per cent
higher, while the only decrease was
in the Boston area, where sales ran 1
per cent. under November, 1933.

For the half month the stores here
expect to run from 12 to 14 per cent.
ahead of the corresponding period last
year.

Attractive prices are, no doubt, re-
sponsible in a large way for the pres-
ent satisfactory volume of trade. Re-
tail levels last month showed no
change from those in October on the
average; the Fairchild indext indicat-
ed that they are now seven-tenths of
1 per cent. under the Dec. 1, 1933,
average.

Rush orders are very heavy in the
wholesale merchandise markets during
the week. However, retailers are now
turning to preparations for post-holi-
day sales, for which their budgets are
somewhat higher.

 

TEXTILES SEEN ACTIVE

With prices moving up all along the
jine, an active first quarter was pre-
dicted for the textile industry here yes-
terday by market executives. The vol-
ume may not reach the large total of
the first three months of this year, it
was conceded, but at least it will be
substantial and additional business will
be placed during the remainder. of the
year, with the total passing by 20 to
25 per cent. the 1934 mark.

Price advances on a variety of goods
have imparted a strong tone to the
market combined with the fact that
stocks are not excessive. The % of a
cent advance in gray goods in recent
weeks indicates higher levels for the
first quarter, the advance in rayon yarn
is expected to engender confidence
among users, while the worsted indus-
try will be kept very busy on orders
received in the last month. Fall suit-
ings lines will be ready about March
and production on these styles will
take up the slack caused by the end of
the Spring business, it was said. The
narrowing of the spread between the

December 19, 1934

high filament chalk rayon and the low
filament was approved by the indus-
try as an excellent corrective step.

BASIC INDUSTRY RISES

Except for clarifying views upon
various recovery steps and announce-
ment that a program of co-ordination
is under study, there was little from
Washington during the week of un-
usual significance. The feature of the
week, in fact, was the rise in automo-
bile production and further expansion
in steel operations against the normal
trend. Trade also furnished its fillip
of highly favorable news in the reports
of the best sales in three or four years.

Despite a marked reaction in the
electric power series, the weekly busi-
ness index scored another advance, its
sixth in succession. All components
except power production were higher,
with the increases particularly marked
in cotton cloth output, automobile pro-
duction and stee] mill activity.

During the week it was indicated
that an industrial rehabilitation pro-
gram involving half a billion dollars so
far is promised as a means of tiding
over building operations until the hous-
ing plan can be fully launched. Con-
struction activities are falling behind.

DIVIDED ON SHOE PRICES

The recent strength in hides and the
firmer attitude taken by tanners on
leather quotations led some shoe manu-
facturers to believe that minor price
advances may be necessary on foot-
wear after the turn of the year. Sev-
eral executives disagreed with this
opinion, however, and declared that
there was little possibility of price ad-
vances for some time.

Those favoring the advance said’ that
current shoe quotations were based on
leather’s low point and in some in-
stances were unprofitable. Any ad-
vance in leather would necessitate
higher footwear levels, they held. This
attitude was discounted by other man-
ufacturers, who claimed that compe-
tition, despite the large volume of busi-
ness, was holding prices down and that
consumers cannot afford to pay higher
levels. Output this year will be the
second highest on record, coming
close to the 1929 peak of 361,000,000
pairs,

REORGANIZATION LAW

A great deal of difficulty is being
encountered by those seeking to re-
write Section 77 of the Bankruptcy act,
the new statute passed in 1933 to facili-
tate railroad re-organization.

In fact, doubt is expressed in in-
formed quarters that an acceptable se-
ries of amendments to this section can
be prepared for presentation early next
year, to Congress, as originally planned.
As a result, the Administration is held
likely to reconsider the whole question
in the light of its general railroad poli-
cy, and perhaps to sponsor later an en-
tirely different type of railroad reor-
ganization statute.

In the meanwhile, the program fa-
vored earlier of stimulating railroad
maintenance and new capital expendi-
tures by increasing the number of de-
faults and hastening reorganizations,
to reduce the amount of fixed charges
that have to be paid yearly by the car-
riers, is at a standstill.

 

:
'
t
|

 

 

 

 

 

PAEneEeNENNN

 

 

 

December 19, 1934

OUT AROUND

Things Seen and Heard on a Week
End Trip

I am exceedingly sorry to see the
official announcement that President
Roosevelt proposes to retain the 7A
provision in the new NRA code in
case the unwise provisions are deleted
and it is revised to meet modern re-
quirements. In taking this stand he
places himself in the position of being
the servile tool of the labor unions, the
same as President Wilson did when he
signed the infamous Adamson bill un-
der the coercion of Sam Gompers, who
was the most arrogant and unscrupu-
lous official union labor has ever had
as a ruier, The 7 A is unfair, uncon-
stitutional, unAmerican and utterly de-
testable. It should have no place in a
land supposed to be inhabited by free
men, Unless President Roosevelt re-
verses his position in this matter he
will go down in history as one of the
greatest enemies to industrial freedom
and progress the country has ever seen.

 

It is exceedingly unfortunate
that the unscrupulous schemers
who draw big salaries from the
American federation of labor
have seized this opportunity to
commit our kind-hearted and
well-meaning President to a
course which will give the country
a bad blow from which it can
never recover. The closed shop
is one of the most infamous con-
trivances ever designed by the
cunning hand and venal ambitions
of vicious men. Collective bar-
gaining and the 30 hour week
have never been a success any-
where in the world and never will.
Tying the hands of employers by
the adoption of these three handi-
caps will never lessen the present
depression, but tend to prolong it
indefinitely. As one who wishes
our President well, I regret more
than I can express in language the
wretched course he has taken in
this matter. As the union mem-
bership is less than 5 per cent. of
our total population it looks on
the face of things as though it was
about time to put an end to the
tail wagging the dog.

 

In going back over the presidents
who have ruled the country since I
reached the period of observation I am
free to admit that Grover Cleveland
and Theodore Roosevelt were both my
ideals in many respects. When the
Pullman strike was precipitated by
Debs, Cleveland made short work of
ending one of the most menacing in-
surrections this country ever had to
face. The only thing he didn’t do
which he should have done was to
hang Debs to the nearest telegraph
pole. He was ten times as dangerous
as the public enemies the Roosevelt
administration are now shooting on
sight.

aes

Theodore showed his contempt for
the unions by sending a personal friend
to Colorado to quell the miners’ strike
which occurred there during his admin-

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

istration. His representative happened
to be a colonel in the regular army. As
soon as the colonel arrived on the
scene of the murders committed by
union men under orders from the in-
famous Gompers they sent a committee
to the Presidentiai representative and
asked for the restoration of the habeas
corpus. The reply was short and con-
clusive: “You fellows don’t need the
Ali you require is the
post mortem.” When this reply was
received by the chief of the
assassins, the murderers were cowed

habeas corpus,
union

and the strike was abruptly terminated.

 

I am proud that I voted for Cleve-
land three times. He is the only Dem-
ocratic President I ever supported. My
first vote was given him because I did
not like Blaine. I thought then and
still think he was not a_ thoroughly
honest man. If he had been elected |
think he would have involved us in a
war with England, which would have
been a bad condition for both coun-
tries. Of course, Blaine was of Irish
descent, but his hatred of England was
ene of the things I never could under-
stand. Cleveland came very near pre-
cipitating war with England over the
Venezuela dispute, but England had the
great good sense to back down and the
two nations have both taken care to
keep on a friendly footing ever since
Let us nope they will never permit any-
thing serious to come up between them
again.

Cleveland did two things I never
could understand. One was his free
trade message on wool, which cost him
his election the second time he ran for
President. The other was his approval
of the first Federal tax on oleo. which
passed both houses of Congress. He
did not believe in the bill, but he saw
back of a veto the opposition of mil-
lions of farmers the next time he faced
them at the polls. As near as I can
recall his message which accompanied
his signature, it read as follows:

“T do not believe this measure is
either fair or just, but in this case I
am disposed to bow to the superior
wisdom of both houses of Congress.”

There was very little respect for the
oleo manufacturers in those days, be-
cause they started making oleo under
the guise of dairy butter and made
enormous profits by selling it to the
trade as genuine butter, shipping it out
of their factories in nail kegs and shoe
boxes, the same as the country mer-
chants used in shipping genuine cow
butter to market in those days.

One more side light on Cleveland,
who certainly had the faculty of calling
a spade a spade. He never was on very
good terms with Congress, largely be-
cause he vetoed hundreds—perhaps
thousands would be nearer right—of
private pension claims which the pen-
sion officials had turned down for lack
of merit. A joint committee of the
Senate and House called on Cleveland
at the assembling of Congress and was
ushered into the presence of the Chief
Executive, who was writing out pen-
sion vetoes in long hand, as usual. He

kept them waiting for a long time,
when he looked up from his work.
The chairman then advanced to the
President’s desk and remarked: “We
have called to inform you that Con-
gress is now in session and we are
ready to receive your message.’ Mr.
Cleveland made no reply except to say:
“Damn Congress.” Thereupon the com-
mittee filed out of the room and the
interview was ended.

I certainly appreciate the action of
the Federal Trade Commission in send-
ing me an official copy of its final re
port on chain stores, made at the re-
quest of the United States Senate of
the Seventieth Congress. The report,
which covers the year 1929, shows that
the chain organizations own and con-
duct about 10 per cent. of all the retail
stores of the United States; their sales
aggregate about 22 per cent. of the
total business of all the retail stores.
I publish the report verbatim and trust
every reader of the Tradesman will
take time to give it careful perusal.

The Supreme Court of the United
States has put a crimp in the NRA,
which will probably result in its being
laughed out of existence. An oil pro-
ducer was arrested, indicted and
thrown into jail for an alleged viola-
tion which was not included in the
code when the prosecution was under-
taken. In handing down its decision
the great tribunal—the greatest trib-
unal of the kind in the worla—indulged
in some hilarity at the expense of the
NRA, the first time such a thing has
ever been known in the august pres-
ence of the Supreme Court,

My theory is that the entire New
Deal programme by the Roosevelt ad-
ministration is clearly illegal, because
the Federal constitution provides that
Congress cannot delegate the law
making power to another body. If the
matter ever gets before the Supreme
Court it will probably sponge the en-
tire tissue of foolishness and absurdity
off the books, hold that ali fines paid
by those who have been unjustly pen-
alized be returned to the victims. The
100,000 extra clerks and orficials, most
of whom have been paid five times
more than they ever received before,
should be made to return the sums
received by them to the United States
treasury.

In a recent call on Paul IF. Kemp-
ter, Chief Steward of the Pantlina
Hotel, he showed me some correspond-
ence he has recently had with Frank
T. Bell, Commissioner of Fisheries at
Washington. I requested that he per-
mit me to publish the correspondence
in Out Around, which he finally con-
sented to do. The letters are as fol-
lows:

Grand Rapids, Nov. 30—In reply to
your valued letter of Oct. 25, I surely
wish to compliment you for taking
such means to gather information.

Your very kind invitation to make
the Bureau of Fisheries my headquar-
ters when visiting Washington is also
highly appreciatel.

Since you desire suggestions, I very
gladly offer you one herewith.

9

It is my conviction that the Federal
Government and yourself should do
all in their power to stop the terribly
criminal pollution of our streams and
lakes with sewage and industrial waste.

Perhaps your endeavors in this direc-
tion are rather limited for lack or juris-
dictions, but surely you could make
your powerful influence felt in our
State Legislature, in ways which you
know best.

Most of our rivers here in Michigan
are tributaries to our Great Lakes and
should be, as they were always in the
past the natural spawning grounds for
the Great Lakes fish.

In their present state of pollution
they are entirely unfit and incapable
to function in this natural process and
our puny efforts in maintaining costly
fish hatcheries, praiseworthy as they
are, do not meet this emergency ade-
quately.

As a natural consequence of this
state of affairs, our supply of fish in
the Great Lakes is constantly dimin-
ishing and is greatly in danger.

To convince you of the truth of this
assertion, I would recommend to your
particular study Grand River, which
enters Lake Michigan at Grand Haven,
and Muskegon River, which enters
Lake Michigan at Muskegon. Both of
these rivers have square miles of nat-
ural spawning grounds in their respec-
tive deltas, but their state of pollution
makes them entirely unfit to function
properly in this natural process.

My knowledge of ichtyology is ad-
mittedly very limited, but I think even
the casual observer, if he is a natural-
ist, can reason in this matter correctly.

It is my honest belief that the great-
est cause of our diminishing supply of
fish in the Great Lakes is this pollution
of our rivers, thereby destroying the
natural spawning beds of the Great
Lakes fish.

You can render a service of incal-
culable value to the Nation by exert-
ing your best efforts in this direction
to stop this criminal pollution of our
rivers, which destroys both their beau-
ty and their utility.

In this noble cause I wish you all the
success in the world.

Paul F. Kempter,
Chief Steward Pantlind Hotel.

Washington, Dec. 11—I am very
glad to have your letter of Nov. 20,
which stresses one of the most impor-
tant limitations on the production of
foed and game fish in our waters. The
condition you report in Michigan, un-
fortunately, is all too prevalent in the
United States. Of course, domestic
sewage in moderate quantities may be
helpful rather than harmful to fish life
through its effect of fertilizing the
water, increasing the growth of plants
and small animal organisms. If it is
excessive, so that the oxygen content
of the water is depleted in the process
of its decomposition, it then becomes
a serious menace to fish life. Indus-
trial pollution, on the other hand, is
more likely to be destructive.

Most of the states have anti-pollu-
tion laws, but in many cases they can-
not be enforced without undue hard-
ship on important industries until
knowledge is available regarding ef-

fective means of reclaiming trade
wastes, which reclamation in many

cases yields an actual profit to the
offending industry.

The Federal Government has no
authority over pollution in interior
water except as it affects commerce,
but the last session of Congress author-
ized investigations by the Bureau of
Fisheries along these lines and it is
hoped that appropriations will be pro-
vided in the future to permit an attack
on the problem on a Nation wide scale.
With the growth of public opinion de-
manding pure streams, we can hope
for gradual improvement provided our
technical knowledge is adequate to

(Continued on page 23)

 

 

10

FINANCIAL

Plea for Support of the Official Sealer

Trade journals being the best kind
of outlet for any kind of publicity, the
public can be kept better informed on
the work of the iocal sealer through
them than in any other manner. I feei
a monthly report to the local papers
carrying the previous month’s work
(number of gasoline pumps and scales
sealed, condemned and adjusted) and
any other work done by the sealer
would be very educational to the public
and of great benefit to our sealers or-
ganization.

Schools are also a wonderful place
in which to present our great message.
Let us start our young people of Mich-
igan right on weights and measures.
These young people are interested
any kind of law enforcing officers, their
duties and accomplishments. Then also
clubs, such as Rotary, Kiwanis, farm
and women’s clubs are very good meth-
ods of publicity. We should never pass
up any opportunity of speaking at these
gatherings.

Seals on equipment should: show the
public the weights and measure official
has inspected the same and it is o.k.
They should be of shape and color to
signify authority and large enough to
be easily read. These seals should
arouse the public sentiment sufficiently
to demand this service.

In my opinion, one of the most in-
teresting and helpful efforts in behalf
of publicity was an exhibit I put on. at
our Washtenaw county fair this last
fall. It brought me in direct contact
with people to whom I seldom get a
chance to show what great work the
weights and measures official does to
protect their change. For that is what
he does. Short weight is the same as
short change. After I had explained
weights and measures to about thirty
people standing in front of my booth, a
small boy about twelve years of age
asked me some very interesting and
intelligent questions about my work.
After he had finished I asked him
where he had acquired his knowledge
of weights and measures. He answered,
“Why, Mr. Smith, you talked to our
class and I have weighed a lot of
mama’s packages since and found some
of them short.” That goes back to my
argument on schools.

We have a “Paint up week,” “Clean
up week,” “Fire prevention week” and
numbers of others too numerous to
mention. Why not have weights and
measures week? Teach the housewife
how to read the scale and have her
re-check her packages for weight. Also
to check those gasoline pumps, teach
her to buy food commodities by weight
and not five of this or six of that, but
ask the price and buy by weight.

 

I am going to suggest that our Mich-
igan Association have a number of
pamphlets printed carrying a _ very
complete list of tables of weights and
measures, also a list of fruit and vege-
tables with the weight of each in bush-
els, half bushels, pecks, half pecks,
and, if possible, quarts, and follow up
with hints on how to buy. Ask the price
and buy by weight. How to detect
shortage in scales and gasoline pumps

a NO te

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

This book can be made
mighty interesting and of great value
to the housewife and honest merchant.
We should have a card printed for the
gasoline stations calling attention to
the fact that those pumps must be
primed in the morning and at such
times as are necessary to keep them
in condition to deliver accurately to
the customer. This card should be
placed where the public can read it.
This publicity will take our every
effort, including the help of our good
friend, Mrs. E. G. Jacobs and her pub-
lication, the scale journal, to put this
over. A few minutes time on the Na-
tional Farm and Home hour. This is
sponsored by the National Broad-
casting Co. and is an all agricultural
program and our work is directly un-
der that department. With some good
hard work this can be put over, how-
ever, this must be accomplished

and so on.

_through the united efforts of a group

of states. No one state could do it
alone. Will we get back of this?
Geo. P. Smith,
Sealer for Washtenaw County.
+ -—
Proceedings of the G-:and Rapids
Bankruptcy Court

Dec. 5. On this day the schedules, ref-
erence, and adjudcation in the matter of
Thornton E Patterson, bankrupt No.
5983, were received. The bankrupt 1s the
proprietor of a bakery located in Berrien
Springs, The schedules show total assets
of $1,426.85, (of which $850 is claimed ex-
empt), and total liabilites of $6,384.45,
listing the following creditors:

Villag Treas., Berrien Springs__..$ 16.00
Neil J. Patterson, Berrien Springs 2 611. 42
‘Stefan Powicki, South Bend_-__. od
Wolverine Spice Co; GG. Re 69
Berrien Springs State Bank =... 1; 218. 32
Farmers and Merchants National

Bank, Benton Harbor  __--__-_ 425.00
Est. of George W. Minster,
Betrion SOTINESs 112.00

Allie E. Whetstone, Berrien Springs 700.00
W. E. Brown, Benton Harbor____ 49.00
Central Waxed Paper Co., Chicago 128.16
Goodrich Candy Co., Kalamazoo._ 12.99
Goshen Milk Condensng Co., Goshen 5.00

Kidd, Dater & Price & Co., Benton
Marpor. ee 66.31
Lockway Stouck Paper Co.,
Benton Harbor 2. 8.41
Nappanee Milling Co., Nappanee__ 6.60
Jessie A. Owen, Benton Harbor.. 200.00

Peck Milling & Coal Co., Cass polis 6.20
Peltz Kaufer & Co., South Bend__ 7 26
Pillsbury Flour Mills Co., Chicago 217.53
Simon Brothers, Inc., South Bend 40.83
Cc. R. Sparks & Co., Berrien Springs 40.t0
Samuel Spiro & Co., South Bend 79.95
Steele Wedeles Co., Chicago. ---._ 162.98
Switt & Co., Chicaso
Theisen Clemens Co., St. Josepn
Voigt Milling Co., G. R._.--__--__ 84.13
A. W. Walsh & Co., Kalamazoo
Wolverine Spice Co., G. It

Geo. Wyman & Co., South Bend__ 6.25

In the matter of Baxter Laundries,
Inec., bankrupt No. 5097, final meeting of
creditors was held Oct. 11. The trustee
was represented by Warner, Norcross &
Judd, attorneys. No others were present.
The trustee’s final report and account was
approved and allowed. Bilis of attorneys
were considered and allowed. Order was
made under date of Dec, ¢, fer the pay-
ment of administration expenses, for the
dstribution of funds available to bond-
holders and noteholders respectively, and
for the declaraton and payment of a first
and final dividend to g¢neral and defici-
ency creditors of 5.496 per cent. No ob-
jections to the bankrupt’s discharge. The
meeting adjourned without date and the
files will be returned to the U. S. Pistrict
Court in due course,

Dec. 8. On this day the reference, and
adjudication in the matter of Lorenzo R.
Lull, debtor, No. 5906, in  bank-
ruptcy were received. The schedules have
been ordered filed. Upon receipt of same
the assets and liabilities will be made
known,

Dec. 10. On this day the reference, and
adjudication in the matter of Charles H.
Wilcox, debtor No. 5884, in bankruptcy,
were received. The schedules have been
ordered filed. Upon receipt of same the
assets and liabilities will be made known,

In th matter of Albert Drieborg, bank-
rupt No. 5961. The first meeting of cred-
itors has been calied for Dec. 28.

In the matter of Mulder Emanuel Oker-
lund, bankrupt No. 5966. The first meet-
ing of creditors has been called for Dec-

In the matter of Thornton E, Patter-
son, bankrupt No. 5983. The first meet-
ing of creditors has been called for
Dec. 28.

In the matter of Nicholas T. Schendon,
bankrupt No. 5971, The first meeting of
creditors has been called for Dec. 31.

In the matter of Tom A. Drelis, bank-
rupt No. 5973. The first meeting of cred-
itors has been called for Dec. 31.

In the matter of John W. Noor, bank-
rupt No, 5975. The first meeting of cred-
itors has been called for Dec. 31.

Dec. 13, On this day the reference, and
adjudication in the matter of Willard F.
and Jennie C. Pool, debtors, No. 5875 in
bankruptcy, were received, The sched-
ules have been ordered filed. Upon re-
ceipt of same the assts and liabilities will
be made known.

In the matter of Frederick C. Beardsley,
bankrupt No. 5882, first meeting of cred-
itors was held Dec, 4. The bankrupt be-
ing out of the state, was unable to at-
tend such meeting and was not represent-
ed by attorney. Albert B. Davidson and
Clapperton & Owen, attorneys, appeared
on behalf of creditors. Fred G. Timmer,
of Grand Rapids, was appointed trustee
and his bond fixed a tthe sum of $1,000.
The meeting then adjourned without
date.

In the matter of Onekama Farm Bu-
reau, Inc., bankrupt No. 5383. The final
meeting of creditors has been called for
Dec. 27. The trustee’s final report will
be approved at such meeting. A dividend
to general creditors is very questionable,

In th matter of Otsego Waxed Paper
Co., bankrupt No. 5146. The final meeting
of creditors has been called for Dec, 27.
The trustee’s final report will be approved
at such meeting. There will be a final
dividend for creditors.

In the matter of Fred Webber, bank-
rupt No. 5531, final meeting of creditors
was held under date of Dec. 10. M. N.
Kennedy, trustee, was present and rep-
resented by F. R. Allaben, One creditor
and two account bidders were present.
Trustee’s final report and account was
approved and allowed. Certain attorneys’
bills approved and allowed. Balance of
bills, notes and accounts receivable was
sold to John Webber for the sum of $25,
the bidder having stated that his bid was
made on his own behalf and not in any
way made for or on behalf of the bank-
rupt. Petition filed by the bankrupt that
certain notes collected by the trustee be
determined to be joint property and a
refund made, was considered and denied.
Order was made for payment of balance
of expenses of administration and for the
declaration and payment of a first and
final dividend to creditors of 9.8 per cent.
No objection to discharge. Final meeting
adjourned without date. Files will be re-
turned to Clerk of District Court.

Dec. 13. On this day the reference and
adjudication in the matter of Clark E.
Sherbahn, bankrupt No. 5902, in bank-
ruptey, were received. The schdules have
been ordered filed. Upon receipt of same
the assets and liabilities will be made
known.

 

 

All Issues
CONSUMERS POWER
PREFERRED
BOUGHT SOLD
QUOTED

Your Inquiries Solicited

ROGER VERSEPUT & CO.

Investment Bankers—Brokers
813-816 MICHIGAN TRUST BLDG.
GRAND RAPIDS Phone 8-1217

 

 

 

L. A. Geistert & Co.
INVESTMENT BANKERS &
ROKERS
Markets on all Stocks
and Bonds
All issues of Consumers
Power Preferred
Stocks.
INQUIRIES INVITED
505-11 Grand Rapids Trust Bldg.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.

 

 

 

 

December 19, 1934

Dec, 13. On this day the schedules, ref-
erence, and adjudication in the matter of
David M. Mathieson, individually and as
a partner in Brebner-LaSalle Cafe, bank-
rupt No. 5991, were received. The bank-
rupt is an employment manager and part-
ner in a restaurant, in Muskegon. The
schedules show total assets of $450 (all of
which is claimed exempt), and total lia-
bilities of $4,379.65, listing the following
creditors:

Andrew Borgeson, Muskegon.___¢ 70.09
Ann Kuziak, Muskegon__________ 200.00
Industrial Mortgage Co., Muskegon 60.00
Piper Ice Cream Co., Muskegon__ 181.00

Hathaway Motor Co., Muskegon__ 29.50
General Tire Co., Muskegon______ 24.15
Leo $. Rosen, Rena Deutsch and
Ernest M. Klein, Muskegon____ 3,615.00
Money Corp., Muskegon__________ 200.00
Dec. 17. On this day the schedules, ref-

erence, and adjudication in the matter of
Chester L. Beach, bankrupt No. 5994,
were received. The bankrupt is a coi-
lector of Holland. The schedules show

total assets of $355 of which $350 is claim-
ed exempt), and total liabilities of $69,-
681.14, listing the following creditors:

248.81

City, of Holland.) 2 $
Zeeland State Bank____-_----_
Peoples State Bank, Holland____20, 835, 87
Holland City Depositors Corp.,

 

 

Holland 0 ee 10,749.92
Globe Carving Works, Holland___-_ 14.72
M. Everett Dick, Holland________ 80.00
Dr. W. G. Winter, Holland ._-_ 14.00
Wr. W. C. Kools, Holland________ 5.50
Dr. G. D. Bos, 14.00
John Bosman, 6.75
Pilgrim Home Cemetery, Holland 11.24
Rice & Rice, Gun 102.20
Dr, U. Frank De Vries, Holland__ 15.00
Arthur A. Visscher, Holland__ -~ 1,000.00

Holland City Depositors Corp. = 2,171.11

 

J. W. Beardslee, Jr., New

Brunswick, N. J. —.--- _--- 9,300.50
Felix Moser, Holland) 3. 14.00
Beach Milling Co., Holland______12,600.00
Mary J. Wyers, Holland______-_ 250.00

—_~+++—__
Japan is riding high, wide and—
perilously.

 

 

 

THE
GRAND Rapips NATIONAL
Bank BuILpine

Offers
OFFICE SPACE
At the Lowest Rates

in the

History of the Building
Telephone 9-7171
or
Call at Room No. 722

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 West Michigan’s
oldest and largest bank
solicits your account on
the basis of sound poli-
cies and many helpful
services . .

OLD KENT
BANK

2 Downtown Offices
12 Community Offices

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J. H. PETTER & CO.

GRAND RAPIDS
Phone 9-4417

INVESTMENT BANKERS

MUSKEGON
Phone 2-3496

“

 

    
    
     
     
    
    
 
   
   
     
 

December 19, 1984 - MICHIGAN TRADESMAN il

What. eve very
it

4 A’ SHOE DEALERS” ag represents

a real adventure in thrift - - —-

  

 

 

 

~ RR TT EMR eT eae

bec AUSe ——

“Il \t saves you money — dividends to policy-
holders, of 25 to 30 per cent since organization,
fz| is a record to be proud of.

 

 

 

* 6
we
It saves worry — prompt and careful adjust-
ments.
6 s¢6
It saves costly errors—our insurance auditing
service meets a popular and growing need.
* «6

 

 

MICHIGAN oe SHOE DEALERS

| MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY

Mutual Bullding : . Lansing, Michigan

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12

RETAIL GROCER

Retail Grocers and Meat Dealers Associa-
tion of Michigan,
President—Rudolf Eckert, Flint.
Vice-President—O. A. Sabrowski,
sing.

Lan-

Secretary — Herman Hansen, Grand
Rapids.

Treasurer—O, H, Bailey, Sr., Lansing.

Directors—Holger Jorgenson, Muske-

gon; L. V. Eberhard, Grand Rapids; Paul
Gezon, Grand Rapids; Lee Lillie, Coopers-
ville; Martin Block, Charlevoix.

 

Stage Drivers and Staging on the
Coast

One effective way to advance our
business is to look at what others have
done to solve comparable difficulties.

Few of my readers can think back
to one distinct impulse given to the
prohibition movement. It happened
about forty years ago. Up to then,
railroad employes had been peculiarly
undisciplined; for regardless that they
moved all transportation, including hu-
man beings, they were a roistering lot,
given to dring and other dissipation.

This was one consequence of an in-
flustry which came forward like an
avalanche. Management had to ac-
cept employe-material as it was. Cas-
ualties ran high and were generally
accepted on the Act-of-God principle.
But in 1892 or so, the industry had
shaken down so that management
could pick and choose; and on a cer-
tain day, old-timers among railroad
men were flabbergasted to see an “Or-
der” that henceforth the railroads
would have no place for men who
drank. This went over so astonishing-
ly well that the next order was that
men who did not pay their bills would
be out of jobs without ceremony; and
restrictions on personal behavior fol-
lowed until—astonishingly soon—rail-
road men became splendid models of
character.

Development has been far rapider in
our stage business. Original drivers
were somewhat irresponsible, but man-
agement promptly weeded them out
and now the man in charge of a truck
or public passenger vehicle is chosen
and trained on a plan so selective and
strict as to be on a par with that of the
soldier.

Get in line early, as we did in Seattle,
for preferred seats. If you make any
remark on your desire to the driver,
who stands at the bus door taking
tickets, he will make no response what-
soever. His taciturnity may impress
you as approaching surliness or worse.
But what this means is that he has
learned well the Solomonic lesson that
“He who withholdeth his mouth is
wise.”

When he takes his wheel and starts
through the traffic through the none-
too-roomy streets, you are impressed
with his caution. He obeys all signals
exactly, doing a bit more than the law
demands—never less. He is extremely
courteous toward other drivers. He
stops on signal, dismounts in the right
location, takes ample pains with the
oncoming passenger and stowage of
baggage and sees that all passengers
are not only aboard but seated before
he starts again.

So deliberate is he that one begins
to wonder whether he will not be
“late” on his schedule, but you get over
that soon. You find that not only on

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

teens

a really open road does he speed to the
limit of conversative safety, but that
he manifests great skill threading his
way through traffic. You also find that
he has “chewed, swallowed and in-
wardly digested” the maxim “Take No
Chances,” for his meticulous care in
passing, yielding the roadway when
to yield is proper practice, and all
other matters of care, road-courtesy
and his prime duty to drive safely soon
becomes so apparent that you sit back
in complete relaxation, confident that
you will arrive at destination without
the slightest shakeup or “scare.”

If you have any question to put, this
driver answers promptly, fully, to the
point, pleasantly. His attitude does not
invite loquacity. His job is to handle
his bus loaded with thirty or forty-five
people and their ample baggage; but
his frank politeness often leads women
to enter “conversation” that is not con-
fined to essentials. Here his tact comes
to the surface, for he manages to an-
swer, leaning slightly backward, per-
haps though never taking his eye off
the road ahead. He even laughs re-
sponsively, not to embarrass the lady,
but he relapses into silence on the
slightest excuse,

Now we come to the first “rest stop”
—a neat way to impart a lot of various
information! He draws to the road-
side, announces: “Rest stop here for
five minutes”—or ten, as the case may
be. Then he plunges into his work of
loading, unloading or _ transferring
goods, and when done with that, he
withdraws into a quiet corner by him-
self or mixes with other drivers; but
never intrudes himself on passengers
—though always alert to serve as may
be.

We begin to sense that our driver is
a man of distinct character.

“When “time is up,” it always has
extended beyond stated limits—a mat-
ter of policy, we soon realize—and he
proceeds to reload, never leaving a
passenger; and that is more than any
railroad used to concern itself about.

We have not gone far when he partly
turns to tell the passenger right back
of him—this time an elderly man—
that this is the high point of this di-
vision. It is part of the bus ritual for
the elderly man to pass the word back
—and soon we all get the idea and act
accordingly, which is promotive of
easy cameradery. Later he tells us that
we are now entering the redwood for-
ests, A short stop is made at Agate
Beach; and as he remounts to his seat,
he stoops, picks up a “genuine agate”
and hands it to a little ten-year-old
girl, telling her she may like to keep it,
which she surely does; and with a smile
he resumes his work. By now we are
all at perfect ease and chummy.

Only at Eureka, when we got to the
station extra early to get. preferred
seats, did one youngish driver indi-
cate that “passengers must remain in
the waiting room.” He did not carry
the dictum further when asked whether
the company controlled the Eureka
sidewalks. And, O, yes: A handsome
youth, evidently Italian-American be-
cause his name was the musical Angelo
Mirata, got in a little flippancy. He
came on after an elderly cripple had
occupied the front seat for two days

and, with permission of the former
drivers, had eased his game leg by rest-
ing it on a window sill. Angelo asked
the cripple: “Say mister,;do you want
to put your foot out of the window?
If you do, I'll roll it down for you.”

But the old fellow—who had carried
the leg for half a century—merely
smiled and told Angelo he was quite
comfy, thank you. That closed the in-
cident and everybody was happy again.

Back of such service lie many fac-
tors. These men are selected for phys-
ical soundness; and they are superb
specimens of health. The requirements
are strict and tests rigid. There must
be a sound heart and lungs. Habits
must be extremely: sane and regular.
Men must have sufficient rest between
trips; and the rest must be taken.
Tinally, caution, care, take-no-chances
are impressed and reiterated until the
effects are plainly visible.

It is wonderful to see how these men
drive the mountain roads with their
hairpin turns and blind curves. Of
course, they know every foot of the
way, their section being the same day
in, day out; but they never relax their
vigilance, never run around a blind
corner without using their horns,
whether the white line is bright and
clear or not there at all.

Passengers are thus free to enjoy the
journey carefree. On this trip, I did
not want to know too much of maps,
roads and all that. We were out for
a holiday. Thus the many ferries com-
ing down the coast were a pleasant
novelty and distinct surprise to us. I
think there were four or five of them,
apparently cutting off headlands such
as indent the California coast for many
tens of mils. I am really quite strong
for bus travel. Paul Findlay.

—_~++.____
Upper Michigan Places Hope in
Tourists

Escanaba, Dec. 18 — With
principal industries,
bering, now operating on a scale far
below that of prosperous years, the
upper peninsula is now directing much
of its attention toward capitalizing its
climate, scenery, hunting, fishing and
historic lore to attract a greater vol-
ume of tourist trade.

The decline of mining and lumber-
ing has dotted the Upper Peninsula
with ghost towns. Within compara-
tively few years the lumbering of pres-
ent stands of timber will virtually have
ceased and the industry will have to
wait for a revival until the seedlings
now being planted on the three large
national forest tracts grow into mer-
chantable timber. Similar conditions
prevail in the mining industry. In the
copper country the deep mines are at a
disadvantage with the low-cost proper-
ties in Utah, Montana and foreign
countries. There is still considerable
high-grade iron ore in the Marquette,
Menominee and Gogebic ranges, but
the time is not distant when this region
will be waiting for the utilization of the
low-grade ores, which, fortunately, are
plentiful.

The upper peninsula. however, was
greatly encouraged when officials of
the United States Forest Service, meet-
ing in Escanaba recently, disclosed
plans to make the young forests pay

dividends while the trees are growing.
The service plans improvement of
camping sites and even intimates that
the establishment of resort hotels and
cottages is probable. An extensive pro-
gram of fish and game propagation and
management is also contemplated.

This Northern Peninsula has many
scenic lakes and hopes that it may soon

its two
mining and lum-

 

December 19, 1934

be in a position to offer something: in
addition to its climate and scenery.
Most of the lake frontage is held by
the lumbering companies, which are
hoping to be able to make these prop-
erties reimburse them for the taxes
they have been paying on the thou-
sands of acres of adjacent cut-over
lands. Vast tracts of this denuded
land have reverted to the State for
non-payment of taxes and parts of
these have been converted into game
refuges.

The Upper Peninsula Development
Bureau directs the tourist promotion
activities above the straits, while sim-
ilar regional organizations are active
in th lower peninsula. At a meeting of
these agencies held in Grand Rapids
recently, it was revealed that the 1934
tourist traffic was up to normal and it
was estimated that this business had
been worth fully $300,000,000 to the
State.

The Legislature appropriated $100,-
000 for tourist advertising in 1934.
From expressions | heard at the Grand
Rapids meeting, it is likely that an in-
creased appropriation will be sought
for next year.

What is agitating the resort interests
in Northern Michigan at the present
time is the threat to the highway build-
ing program in two proposed consti-
tutional amendments. One amendment
wouldw reduce the gasoline tax from
3 to 2 cents, while the other would
permanently limit the automobile
weight tax to 35 cents a hundred-
weight. Concrete highways are still
sorely needed in the northern cut-over
resort country.

Expanding Bank Deposits

The end of the year is witnegs-
ing another sharp expansion of
bank deposits. This increase, as
previously throughout the year,
results chiefly from Government
financial operations.

It is estimated that reporting
member kanks increased their de-
mand deposits by almost $100,-
000,000 during the week ended
Dec. 12. Purchases of Govern-
ment bonds, in anticipation of the
exchanges into the new Treasury
offerings, were largely responsi-
be.

For the current week, subscrip-
tion to the new issues will prob-
ably cause a further sharp increase
in Government bond holdings of
banks, with a resulting rise in
Government deposit account. As
the Treasury again reduces its
bank balances, this will expand
individual deposits.

The increase in deposits for the
full year will be well over $3,-
000,000,000 for reporting mem-
ber banks alone.

Recent heavy gold imports also
tend to expand deposits, as the
banks use their funds to buy for-
eign exchange to transform into
the imported yellow metal. The
gold imports also result in higher
reserve balances of member
banks with the Federal Reserve
institutions.

—__-+-2

“So long as there are human beings
to reach for the stars, the world will
move on.”

+. ___

Citizenship is not a matter of geog-
raphy, it is a matter of conversion to
an ideal.

> o--—_

“To have what we want is riches; to

be able to do without is power.”

 

T

December 19, 1934

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

13

 

MEAT DEALER

 

If Santa Claus Supplied Michigan's
Food

John Muir once wrote that the Sierra
bear eats nearly everything on the Cal-
ifornia mountainside except the gran-
ite. And tradition has credited the do-
mestic goat with devouring even im
cans and shirts. Neither animal is far
ahead of human beings in variety of
diet, however, if the scope and enthu-
siasm of the human appetite may be
judged by the average American’s food
consumption in a year.

U. S. Department of Commerce fig-
ures on the per capita disappearance of
nearly two hundred “principal” foods
offer a surprising picture of how our
homes would look on Christmas morn-
ing if Santa Claus should decide to
bring each one of us a full year’s ra-
tions. (Most of the figures supplied by
the Department are five-year averages,
for the period 1923-27; but since it is
pointed out that most food habits do
not change greatly, even in a quarter of
a century, it would seem that, in the
great majority of cases, the averages
given may still b considered valid.)

If Santa should try to put all your
gifts on one dining room table, the
table would be overloaded with more
than eight hundred pounds of food in
general, and also with a lot of things
not listed by weight—fifty four gallons
of milk, for example, and three of ice
cream; eighteen ddzen eggs; ‘three
bushels of Irish potatoes; seven heads
of lettuce, five cantaloupes, and half a
watermelon. But that is for only on
person, For a family, multiply each lot
of food by the number of mouths in
your dining room—and, if there’s any
room left in your house for furniture,
you must have an awful lot of space!

Every twelve months the 5,000,000
residents of Michigan (unless their ap-
petites disagree with the National av-
erage) will consume approximately
460,000 tons of bread and cake, 420,000
tons of fresh fruit, 365,000 tons of
meat. and 275,000,000 gallons of milk,
according to estimates compiled by the
institute of American Meat Packers
from Department of Commerce per
capita figures—not to mention 30,000
tons of coffee or 25,000 tons of onions!
' As Christmas eve approaches, your
house is full of gaily decorated green-

 

ness—not only are there separate trees
for Jane and Junior and the baby,
but one each for papa and mama also,
and one for grandpa, and one for Aunt
Emma if she happens to live with you.

Midnight finally arrives, with a tinkle
of tiny hoofs on the roof, and a grunt-
; And _ sud-

ing noise in the chimney.
striding

denly Santa himself comes
through the room—behind a toy milk-
wagon.

That baby reindeer which gallops so
proudly along with the wagon is no
larger than a pup—but presto! When
Santa suddenly waves his arm like a
farmer sowing grain, there is a quick
blur of white, and in a twinkle each
tree stands surrounded by two hundred
milk bottles, as if old Rip Van Winkle
ihad just arrived with his bowling pins,
all as hoary as himself.

Again the chimney wheezes with a

sudden polar gust. This time a broad
wagon bounces out, in a whirl of snow
—or is it four? Perhaps that little pile
of sacks on the reindeer’s horns has
ripped! Well, anyway, in about a fifth
of a jiffy, each tree is dotted with 180
full-size loaves of bread as if they grew
there!

Down comes a wagon next, It
bounces on the fireplace floor, and out
roll simply hundreds of apples and
oranges and peaches, all as small as
marbles. But by the time they ve
bounced up into the Christmas tree
branches, they’re as big as in your
grocery store.

“Okay, boss!” the reindeer sings out
—which means that thereare sixty-eight
pounds of apples, and twenty pounds
each of bananas and oranges and
grapes, and sixteen of peaches, and so
en: 167 pounds of fresh fruit on each
thee:

But now there’s an awful noise in
the chimney—automobile honks, and
train whistles, and the scream of
brakes, and finally a crash, as a pair
of panting express trains and a flock
drop to the

of snorting toy trucks

floor, still jumping at each other's
throats.

“Hey, Santa,’ yells a reindeer en-
gineer, “these guys won’t give us the
right of way, and we're carrying por-
terhouse steaks!”

“We'll give you nothing, bozo—we
got sausage and lamb chops ourselves!”
challenge the truck drivers in turn.

“Well, you both better knuckle down
to business, then,” advises Santa. “Let’s
have no private wars on Christmas
Eve—especially when the world is de-
pending on you this year for its meat!”
. There is a snort. of sudden industry
from each competitor, therefore, and a
furious whir of wheels; then sudden
calm. And now comes delightful news
for tongues and noses—a frying pan of
bacon is supttering a tempting broad-
cast above the private campfire of each
Christmas tree candle! And in be-
tween the candles, steaks and hams and
roasts and even hamburgers and “red
hots” peep from the bulging branches
baby chicks from
(No wonder the

of each tree like
under Mama’s wing.
branches bulge, for Santa has parked
under each tree’s motherly ruffles some
seventy pounds of pork, about the same
quantify of beef and veal, and five
pounds of lamb.)

Then comes Santa’s fresh vegetable
wagon, with a sign “Capacity 139
Pounds’—though you’d have sworn it
couldn’t hold a tenth of that. First
full, then empty, then instantaneously
overflowing again, it empties itself at
each stop hike a little red school house
at recess—pouring out nearly forty
pounds of sweet potatoes, thirty of
fresh tomatoes, sixteen of cabbage,
twelve of fresh corn, ten of beans and
peas, a little haystack of spinach, and,
while Santa suddenly dons a gas mask,
ten pounds of onions.

Next comes the magic sugar bowl,
with a dainty silver spoon that gives
away hundred pounds as every lift,
vet always leaves the tiny bowl serene-
ly heaped!

Finally arrives the “Miscellaneous”
basket, with everything from the Irish

potatoes and ice cream and eighteen
dozen eggs that refuse to be measured
by weight, to twenty-eight pounds of
canned vegetables, and sixteen of can-
ned or dried fruit, and twenty-four of
corn meal; twenty of chicken, and fif-
teen of fish; seventeen of butter, and
fourteen of lard; fourteen of condensed
or evaporated milk; twelve
of coffee, candy and breakfast
foods; ten pounds of nuts; and miscel-
laneous eatables too numerous to men-
tion.

By this time the original Christmas
trees are almost buried from sight; and
if there was anything in the house be-
sides food, it’s buried too. In fact, as
eaters, Santa’s little demonstration has
left us feeling as ambitious as baby

pounds
each

mice nibling away at a million-bushet
bin of grain. There’s a roomful of
food for every single mouth!

No wonder housewives have to
stretch their dollars, if they must buy
so much! And no wonder it takes a lot
of time to balance meals as well as
budgets, not to mention the cooking
and serving, and all those mountains of
dirty dishes.

If Santa had been an ordinary post-
nian as well as a special delivery ex-
pert concentrating on parcel post, he
might have left us some letters also, to
give us some practical, common-sense
tips on food buying. One of these sug-
gestions would have been to keep our
eyes and ears wide open in choosing
cuts of meat.

“Don’t let your cooking get into a
rut,” he might have said, “from lack of
100king around. There are cuts of meat
to fit every pocketbook; and as long as
the majority of consumers express a
decided preference for the same cuts
and overlook others which, with the
proper care in cooking, would prove
just as nutritious and delicious, there
will be bargains for the housewife who
learns to know and use them.”

Another economy tip might have
been to learn the use of lard in cakes.
Lard produces excellent cakes, if two
small procedures are followed: the
holding out of a fourth of the sugar,
to be beaten into the egg whites; and
the addition of a little milk to the
sugar and fat in the creaming process.

The whole story of the foods that
Santa brought, however, is far more
than a column of statistics and tips. Ii
the housewife, like John Muir’s bear,
could gather her menus from their orig-
inal sources, she would find them beam-
ing with the romance of many contin-
ents and turning new spotlights upon
famous trails of history. For example.
every schoolboy has seen pictures of
Cromwell, and of modern packing
houses; but very few know that it was
England’s once having its hands full
with Cromwell, that gave an enter-
prising Massachusetts farmer the idea
of capturing the British salt pork trade
with the West Indies—which was the
beginning of the American packing n-
dustry.

Every schoolboy has read of the
Whiskey Rebellion, or of the first
American railroads. But not many

know that it has the crushing of the
Whiskey Rebellion that turned the
minds of American farmers to some

other way of marketing their corn
crop than in bottles, and that thus made
possible our modern bulging, corn-fed
hogs, instead of the razorbacks which
in previous generations had run wild
in the woods, eating roots and acorns
if the wolves and Indians didn’t eat
pork first. And to-day it is almost for-
gotten that in the half century pre-
‘ceding the Civil War, while Ohio vai-
ley farmers were waiting for the rail-
road tracks to stretch across the moun-
tains, the cowboys of a century ago
ran a thousand-mile meat delivery sys-
tem—driving whole moun-
tain-climbing hogs and cattle across
the towering Alleghenies to feed the
eastern cities, and then having to walk
back!

Even the story of Columbus begins
in the kitchen. It was largely the lack
of refrigerators in the mediaeval world
that made spices and other supposed
preservatives so precious.

herds of

And spices,
in turn, coaxed the whole history of
the modern world into high gear by
speeding a thousand Columbuses on
ever-widening quests which slowly

changed horizons into harbors—first

dotting the oceans of the globe with
impertinent specks of sail, and finally
claiming even a share of the skies, with
long streamers of imperious smoke.
——_>>~>____
Santa is Coming
Just five o’eclock, December nine!
But dark as night.
The street lamps at the corner shine
With slivered light;
The air is crisp; sky overcasi;
The crystal snow is falling fast
And well it might
For Santa always takes the sleigh
In which he rides from far away
And just to spend one Christmas day
Then out of sight.

Since early childhood Santa seems
Each year to me

More real: albeit like a’ dream’s
Reality:—

His furry coat and smiling face

With eyes that twinkle in their place
Bewitchingly;

When they are sparkling down on you
The shining stars in yonder blue
Could never seem one half as true
As he can be.

 

Come Santa, hurry quickly here
But faster though
Than you have sped for many a year
Through frost and snow;
And with the beams that light your eyes
Direct your reindeer through the skies
That they may go
Around this waiting, watching earth
Now eager for the joyous worth
You ever add to Christmas mirth
Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho!

Charlies A. Heath.

o>

It is not doing the thing we like to
do, but liking the thing we have to do,
that makes life blessed—Goethe.

—— ee

Success in life is not so much a mat-
ter of talent or opportunity as of con-
centration and perseverance.

——__~.>?->___

Make it a rule not only to be prompt
in all your appointments, but a little
ahead of time.

——__~?>-.——_—.

Give to the world the best that you
have, and the best will come back to
you.

A great crime preventer—jobs.

 

 

Oysters and Fish

Fresh Shipments Daily.
Ask your Dealer for Reader Fish.
. They are better.
Lake and Ocean Fish. Wholesale.

G. B. READER. Grand Rapids.

 

>
es
4
f
q

AREAL

Bereaw sie

 

14

HARDWARE

Michigan Retail Hardware Association.
President — Henry A. Schantz, Grand
Rapids.
Secretary—Harold W. Bervig, Lansing.
Treasurer—William Moore, Detroit.

Field Secretary—L. S. Swinehart,
Lansing.

 

Suggestions for the Hardware Dealer
in December

In the month of December, the
Christmas season dominates the hard-
ware dealer’s selling policies. With
most wide-awake dealers, the Christ-
mas selling is already under way; and
from the first of the month till Christ-
mas eve, gift lines should be featured
and pushed.

With most dealers, a policy of care-
ful buying for the Christmas trade has
been followed. The dominant aim now
should be to sell energetically, so that
the seasonable gift lines will, as far
as possible, be disposed of, and the
carry-over be reduced to the minimum.

In successful Christmas selling, per-
sonal salesmanship is an important
factor. Sales are made or lost by the
handling—skilful or unskilful—of your
customers. Yet the Christmas season,
especially the concluding week, is a
period when it is sometime difficult to
be a good salesman. With a rush of
business, the store crowded, holf a
dozen customers impatiently clamor-
ing for attention from a single clerk,
and the nerves of customers frayed
thin, the salesman’s nerves are apt to
get somewhat frayed, too.

But—the success of the entire sell-
ing campaign depends on your ability
to keep your head, to keep cool, to
remain polite and unruffled under the
most vexatious circumstances. Bear
that in mind, keep your temper, and
remember that there is a way to handle
even the most difficult of customers.
As a rule, it is best not to hurry too
much, even when the store is crowded.
Or, at least, not to seem to hurry. The
skilful salesman, I have observed, can
create an impression of unlimited leis-
ure while actually pushing or forcing
the sale.

A difficulty of the Christmas season
is the necessity, in most stores, of en-
gaging extra help for the last few days
or even weeks. Every dealer knows
that it is impossible to convert a raw
recruit into an efficient salesman inside
so short a time. Yet in most cases
extra help must be had.

It will pay, even now, to spend a

little time in preliminary training of

these raw recruits. Even if you don’t
need them till the last week, bring
these extra helpers in for a little time
each day in order to familiarize them
with the stock. Tell them something
about the work, about the goods, about
how to approach customers and how
to make sales, and let them watch the
regular salespeople and even try their
own skill on occasional customers. Try,
also, to so arrange the stock-that:the
new hands will be in charge of the
goods or departments that are easiest
to handle.

‘Now and then one of these extra
helpers will prove a real find. As the
season progresses, and they..get down

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

to real work, keep an eye on them,
watch their work, make suggestions as
opportunity Occurs or occasion re-
quires, and take careful note of any
helper who gives real promise. Some
of these days you may need a new
salesman or saleswoman for your reg-
ular staff.

Window display is a great help in
selling Christmas lines. If you ever
put on good, business-getting displays,
do it now. It is a pretty sound rule
to stage your most spectacular and
Christmassy display early in the sea-
son. If you are using a Santa Claus,
live or stuffed, for decorative purposes,
put him into one of your first and most
elaborate displays.

Some dealers save the best and most
decorative of the Christmas displays
till the last. That is a mistake. The
decorative display should come early in
the season, when it is necessary to get
the Christmas idea across to people.
By December 20, everybody knows
Christmas is near, and the great prob-
lem is to get a selection of gifts within
reach of the individual purse.

If you haven’t staged your big
Christmas dsplay already, do it as
soon as possible. If Santa Claus is
coming to make his headquarters at
your store, bring him in early, and put
him in the window while the season is
still young. The Christmas decorative
accessories should, of course, be used
in the window and throughout the
store interior all through the season;
but as time progresses, the displays,
both in the windows and inside the
store, should more and more repre-
sent suggestions as to appropriate gifts.
In other words, toward the last,
“stocky” displays are in order.

For toward the last the buying is
largely done by people in a hurry to
make their selections and puzzled as to
what to select. And selling—which in-
cludes displaying—consists largely in
making suggestions. The more help-
ful your window and interior displays
are, the more helpful your salespeople
are, in evolving gift suggestions to
harrassed customers, the better your
sales will be.

Show cards, stressing the gift idea—
price cards to answer questions which
would otherwise consume the sales-
man’s and the customer’s time—should
be used liberally at this season. It is
good policy to have a printed or mime-
ographed list of gift suggestions for
distribution to customers; and such
lists can be sent out through the mails
to a selected mailing list. Helpfulness
to the customer is a note to be stressed.

What to do right after the holiday is
the next thing to consider. Even while
you are pushing your Christmas sales,
you should be planning ahead. It is
often a good stunt to make a hurried
survey of the leftover Christmas stock,
and, right after the holiday, to put on
a special clearing sale of lines you
don’t want to carry over. You mayn’t
sell much of this stuff, but you'll sell
more than you would sell if you just
moved it out of sight.

Later, at the beginning of the new
year, comes the annual stock-taking.
Whether to take stock first and hold

 

your inventory sale afterward or
whether to reduce stock by a clearing
sale before taking the inventory is a
matter for the individual dealer to de-
cide. But the decision should be made
well in advance, so that right after
the Christmas holiday you can make
your next move without delay or con-
fusion,

Before starting your stock-taking,
lay your plans carefully. The more
carefully the work is planned in ad-
vance, the easier it will be and the less
disturbance to your regular business.

Victor Lauriston.
2+. ___
Right of Merchant to Protect Store by
Trap Gun

In times like the present of social un-
rest, with the country overrun with
burglars, bandits and robbers, the ques-
tion of the right of a business man to
protect his property by the setting of
a trap, or spring gun, is of interest.
In other words, the planting of a gun
upon premises in such a manner that
it will ‘be exploded by the unlawful
breaking in or entry of the building.

The courts have been called upon to
deal with this question in a long line of
cases extending back more than a cen-
tury, and many of the earlier decisions
have upheld the right of a person to
set a trap Or spring gun to protect val
uable property. However, later cases
have departed from this rule and it is
now quite generally held that the set-
ting of such gun for the protection of
property is not justified; and that if
life is taken thereby the person setting
the gun may be held guilty of murder
or manslaughter, etc.

In the face of this tendency of the
holdings, a business man may well
think twice before resorting to this
method of protecting his premises from
prowlers. The reasoning of the weight
of authority on this question may be
illustrated by a brief review of a re-
cent case of this character.

In this case, the owner of certain
premses had been annoyed upon several
occasions by burglars breaking in and
taking his goods. He set a spring gun
in such a manner that anyone entering
a certain part of the premises would
discharge the gun, by tripping upon a
a wire that was attached to the gun
and extended across the passageway.
After setting the gun, he went away.

That night a man broke into the
premises, tripped on the wire, and the
gun was discharged resulting in his
death. His body was found the next
morning and the property owner was
indicted for murder. Upon the trial of
the case, the property owner was con-
victed of manslaughter and sentenced
to prison. He appealed, and the higher
court in affirming the conviction rea-
soned, in part, as follows:

“The general rule recognized by text-
writers and the courts is that a per-
son is not justified or excused in tak-
ing human life or inflicting bodily
harm upon the person of another by
means of traps, spring guns, or other

instruments of destruction, unless as a.

matter of law he would have been
justified or excused had he been per-
sonally present and taken the life or
inflicted the bodily harm with his own
hands, * * *

 

December 19, 1934

“Tt is * * * clear that the crime or
offense which defendant (property
owner) anticipated would be commit-
ted and to prevent which he set the
gun would not involve his own per-
sonal safety or the safety of any mem-
ber of his family. After setting the
gun he left home and at the time of
the homicide was nearly a mile away,
and no member of his family was at
the premises, * * *

“It follows * * * that one is not jus-
tified in taking human life by means
of death traps to prevent the commis-
sion of such minor crimes at petit lar-
ceny, for what a man is not permitted
to do directly, he may not do indirectly,
Mechanical traps or spring guns are
silent instrumentalities of death. They
deal death and destruction to the inno-
cent as well as the criminal invader
without the slightest warning.

“The taking of human life by such
means is brutally savage and inhuman.
If one is personally present when an-
other attempts unlawfully to carry
away his personal goods, it is his duty
before taking any action to warn the
thief to desist, but no warning can be
given by these secret implements of
destruction. * * * The verdict and sent-
ence are affirmed.”

As noted in the beginning, there are
two lines of cases dealing with the
question of the right of a person to
protect his property by spring guns.
In one line, the earlier, this right has
been upheld under varying circum-
stances, but the case reviewed unques-
tionably reflects the modern tendency
of the courts to deny the right.

In view of this situation, a business
man may well hesitate about protect-
ing his property in this manner. If his
gun results in the death or injury of
an innocent person there will be no
question of his liability therefore. And
even though his gun kills a thief, the
very person it was set for, he may have
difficulty in successfully defending a
charge of murder or manslaughter,
under the rulings of the weight of au-
thority. Leslie Childs.

—_»2.__
Conflict Over Price Fixing

Leaders in several industries do
not agree with S. Clay Williams,
chairman of the National Indus-
trial Recovery Board, that com-
pliance with code labor provisions
is the most simple way of elimin-
ating price cutting and other
forms of unfair competition.

A striking example cited to sup-
port this contention is that of the
service industries. Following the
elimination of the fair practice
provisions from their codes last
summer, a wave of price cutting
set in and still afflicts these indus-
tries. Wages and hour provisions
were still effective, but their en-
forcement was quite ineffective.

It had been understood previ-
ously that the revised NRA would
permit price fixing in some in-
stances, even though it was
banned in most codes. The latter
policy would be more agreeable
to the officials of a majority of
the present codes, it is believed.

—-2o->——————_

The cynic never grows up, but com-
mits intellectual suicide.

 

 

December 19, 1934

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

15

 

DRY GOODS

Michigan Retail Dry Goods Association
President—Jos. C. Grant, Battle Creek,
First Vice-President — D, Mihlethaler,

Harbor Beach.

Second Vice-President—Clare R. Sperry,

Port Huron.
Secretary-Treasurer—Leon

crans, Tecumseh.
Manager—Jason E. Hammond, Lansing,

F, Rosa-

 

Official Action by Federation Board of
Directors

At the directors’ meeting held the
day previous to the rally, fourteen of
the eighteen members of the Federa-
tion officers were present, including
Pres. A. J. Hager. The board meet-
ing continued during the major part
of the afternoon and discussed many
problems of interest to the merchants
of Michigan.

It was voted that the Federation
shall incorporate under the law and
the executive officers were directed to
take the necessary steps for incorpora-
tion as a non-profit organization.

The Committee on Emergency Wel-
fare Relief Purchases stated that they
had had several interviews with the
state welfare relief officers. The sec-
retaries of the various associations were
requested to send to headquarters in-
formation regarding the methods of
county welfare officers with reference
to the buying of supplies from local
retailers.

It was declared that a iV per cent.
margin would be considered generally
satisfactory on sales to emergency wel-
fare relief organizations where orders
were merely handled in retail outlets
with physical movement of merchan-
dise from dealers’ source of supply di-
rect to emergency welfare relief.

Incomplete reports from the chair-
men of the sales tax committee and
the fair trade committee were made.
A committee was made to protect on
freight rate increases, composed of
Messrs. Gaines, Hansen and Allan.
They presented the following resolu-
tions which were unanimously adopted:

Whereas—The Michigan Federation
of Retail Merchants feel that any ad-
vance in freight rates at this time would
not be in keeping with the program of
the President of the United States in
his efforts to promote recovery and
maintain fair and reasonable prices for
merchandise, and

Whereas—An advance in
rates at this time would cause an ad-
vance in the price of all products man-
ufactured in the state and naturally re-
flect an advance in the retail selling
price thereby acting as a detriment to
the recovery program, therefore, be it

Resolved—That the Michigan Fed-
eration of Retail Merchants go on rec-
ord as protesting most vigorously any
advance in freight rates being allowed
to the railroads or any common carriers
entering the state of Michigan.

A later financial report from the Sec-
retary concerning the expenses of the
rally has been made to the various
association secretaries. Another meet-
ing of the officers of the Federation
will be held in the near future.

Our Next Annual Convention

This news latter is probably the last
one that will be issued from the head-
quarters office during the calendar year
of 1934. We take this occasion to ex-

freight

tend holiday greetings to all of our
members and others who receive this
bulletin, wishing for one and all a pros-
perous Holiday trade and increased
business for the ensuing year.

Immediately after Jan. 1 a meeting
of the Board of Directors of the Asso-
ciation will beheld in Lansing, at
which time committees will be appoint-
ed and plans made for the annual con-
vention, which will probably be held
at the Hoel Olds in Lansing during the
third week of March. The time and
place of holding the meeting is subject
to the ratification of the board of di-
rectors, but be making your plans for
attendance at the annual convention
wherever or whenever it is held.

We were surprised to note in the
daily press that our good friend, John
H. Lourim, of Jackson, died recently.
In making this announcement I am re-
minded of his valuable service as direc-
tor and as vice-president. Mr. Lourim
was a public spirited man, served on
the Jackson city council and had been
favorably mentioned for the postmas-
tership of Jackson city. He was highly
regarded by his neighbors and we are
sure he will be sincerely mourned by a
large circle of friends.

Jason E. Hammond,

Mgr. Mich. Retail Dry Goods Ass’n.

+++
Fascism and Communism

The blood purge in Germany last
June and the mass murder in Russia
the other day indicate all too plainly
the essential identity of the two forms
of government. Communist sympa-
thizers in this country have organized
numerous protests “against war and
fascism.” The hypocrisy of these pro-
ceedings was always evident, but never
more so than to-day. All that civilized
men find odious in fascism is found in
equal measure in communism. The
terror which murders the innocent, the
fanaticism which seeks to force all men
into a single mold, the suppressions
and intolerance are common qualities
of both fascism and communism. To
denounce the one and not the other is
to display a gullibility not to be dis-
tinguished from idiocy.—Chicago Trib-
une.

’

——__»-~.—____
Corporations Wound Up
The following Michigan corporations
have recently filed notices of dissolu-
tion with the Secretary of State:
Becker Drug Stores, Inc., Detroit.
P. B. Gast & Sons Co., Grand Rapids
Charlevoix Cooperative Association,
Charlevoix
Woodward Theater Co., Detroit
Connolly’s, Inc., Pontiac.
DeLota Company, Flint.
Grand Rapids Metalcraft Saies Corp.,
Grand Rapids.
Harris Drug Co., Flint
J. H. Malbin & Sons Co., Mt. Clem-
ens.
U.S. Vanadium Corp., Jackson
Breitmeyer’s, Inc., Detroit
Welfare Loan Society of Lansing,
Lansing.
Kaufmann Realty Co., Detroit
Srvel Sales Corp., Detroit

Criticize Voters
The Saginaw Daily News recently
came out with editorials criticizing
local voters for passing a property tax

limitation that is likely to make the
fire protection problem in that city
worse than ever. The newspaper point-
ed out that according to the last Na-
tional Board report the department is
undermanned, equipment is inefficient
and out-of-date, another engine house
is needed, the fire alarm office is in an
unsuitable building, and the headquar-
ters building is unsatisfactory. The tax
reduction measure passed will almost
certainly mean further cuts in the fire
department appropriation.

——o-4+-6—-—
Traffic in Munitions
Despite all of the discouraging as-
pects of the arms problem, it is to deny

the fact of human progress to suppose
that it is not going to change for the
better. The Senate inquiry has not only
stirred the United States, but it has had

repercussions everywhere. It has
brought from the du Ponts a proposal
for government regulation. France,

Great Britain and Germany can help
enormously by telling their people the
truth about the Schneiders, the Vickers
and the Krupps. The arms business
cnnnot continue to be conducted in the
future as it has been in the past if the
spotlight is turned on.—St. Louis Post-
Dispatch.
——_—_» +.
No one wins a price war.

5) <0) SE 0) SD) GD () SED -() ED () ED () <A () D>  () - () D () GD (0 D0)

OWNED STORES in the BOYS and GIRLS of your community

2
YOU CAN CREATE A SPIRIT OF LOYALTY to HOME j

by using the CHEERFUL GOPHER

independent merchant.

Plan. You can hold present trade, get

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FRANK L. DYKEMA, 414 Murray Building, Grand Rapids, Michigan 4

i
i new customers and permanently ally the present generation with the
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GRAND RAPIDS PAPER Box Co.

Manufacturers of SET UP and FOLDING PAPER BOXES

SPECIAL DIE CUTTING AND MOUNTING

 

G RAN D

RA,PIDS, MI

C HI-GAN

 

 

 

of complete protection

The

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A Non-Productive Investment?
Perhaps

BUT A NECESSITY JUST THE SAME

FIRE INSURANCE

Buy it at the lowest possible cost and with confidence

GRAND RAPIDS

Merchants Mutual Fire Insurance Co.
Affiliated with the Michigan Retail Dry Goods Association

Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

 

 

 

 

BODYGARD
SALES

ARE IN THEIR STRIDE

TAKE stock of your needs.
Years of absolute satisfaction to
man, woman and child to the
third and fourth generation, has
given BODYGARD underwear
an appeal that amounts to an op-
tion on the best share of your
local underwear business. As
Advertised in leading Farm Pa-
pers in America.

Men’s Springtex Union Suits

Men’s LAMBSDOWN Unions

Men’s VELLASTIC Unions

BODYGARD Fleeced Shirts &
Drawers

Ladies’ VELLASTIC Unions

C. J. FARLEY & CO.

 

  

We Carry the Following BODYGARD Lines:

All volume leaders with three months brisk selling ahead.

Boys’ & Girls’ VELLASTIC

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Misses’ VELLASTIC Vests &
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Also The Celebrated Utica Knit
50% & 100% Worsted Ribbed
Sports Coats.

Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOTEL
DEPARTMENT

Michigan Hotel Association Con-
fronted With Tax Problem

Los Angesles, Dec. 15—It distressed
me greatly to learn of the tragic de-
struction of Hotel Kerns, at Lansing.
Newspaper reports here are very vague
and consequenlty I cannot cover the
details of the holocaust, but, of course,
the Michigan papers will give them to
my readers in full. Many times during
the Richardson regime was I a guest of
the institution, which was homey and
always abounding with hospitality. It
is regrettable that so little attention
was given to safety when it was under-
going construction, but, of course, any
sort of construction goes in any public
institution until the time for the su-
preme test arrives, and then the critic
enters the area. According to the evi-
dence at hand, David Monroe, assis-
tant manager of the Kerns, was among
the lost. I knew him well. He was
active, faithful and endowed with the
true spirit of hospitality, a virtue pos-
sessed by the entire menage. Presum-
ably the hotel will be rebuilt in mod-
ern form, but of this detail I am, of
course, uninformed.

 

 

The promotion of Arthur A. Frost
from the management of Hotel Vin-
cent, Benton Harbor, to that of Hotel

Duluth, Duluth, meets with my hearty _

approbation. I have known this ex-
ceedingly interesting individual ever
since he entered the Michigan field, as
assistant manager of Hotel Morton,
Grand Rapids, when the late W. C.
Keeley took charge, and have kept in
close touch with him ever since. He
began his hotel career in Iowa at the
age of 19, in 1903, managing several
hotels in that state and going to Chi-
cago and later to Madison, Wisconsin,
where he owned an interest in one of
the leading hotels—the Capitol. He
came to Michigan to become assistant
manager at the Morton in 1923. Later
he went to Hotel Pantlind in a similar
capacity, and in 1927 assumed full con-
trol of the Morton, remaining until
1932, when he was compelled to re-
tire on account of ill health. Two years
since he took over the Benton Harbor
property, which is controlled by the
Schroeder interests. While I am not
familiar with the Duluth Hotel to
which he has been transferred, I un-
derstand it is a strictly modern propo-
sition, in a decidedly prosperous city.
My best wishes go to Mr. Frost and
his charming wife.

 

George Dauchy, former manager of
.Warm Friend Tavern, Holland, has
been chosen as manager of Hotel Vin-
cent, the post formerly occupied by
Arthur A. Frost, at Benton Harbor.
Mr. Dauchy was for some time man-
ager of the Medinah Club, Chicago,
resigning that position last year to
conduct the Italian Village, at the Cen-
tury of Progress Exposition.

 

Charles H. Clements, veteran Detroit
hotel operator, has taken over the
management of the 525 room Hotel
Savarine in that city. Mr. Clements
owned and conducted Hotel Metropole,
Detroit, for a quarter of a century. In
1924 he erected Hotel Palmetto there,
conducting same until 1930, when he
acquired by purchase the well-known
Park Hotel, at Mt. Clemens. Except
for the veteran operator, Charles W.
Norton, of Hotel Norton, he is the
dean of the active hoteliers of the Mo-
tor City, was a charter member of the
Detroit Hotel Association, and several
times president of same. Also founded
the Detroit Hotel and Convention Bu-
reau, presiding over the destinies of
same for some time. It is hardly nec-
essary to state that he is popular with
his public.

 

Ward B. James, Chicago, entertained
the South Shore Hotel Association at

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

Hotels Windermere, of which he is
general manager, last week, with a din-
ner dance.

 

At this time of year it is customary
for mine host H. F. Heldenbrand, of
Hotel Kimbark, Bay City, to send me
an urgent appeal to be his guest on a
trip to Florida. My suggestion would
be that he at once trek to Southern
California and dispense with snow-
shovel activities. I can show him the
way to have a charming vacation.

“All the traffic will bear,” seems to
be the policy of the present dealers in
beverages of every description. It has
proved a depressing failure out here,
and will eventually, anywhere. Be-
cause of illegitimate competition —
which will continue so long as the
present schedule of prices is continued
there is nothing in the game.

 

John A. Anderson, Hotel Harring-
ton, Port Huron, has been named as
the Michigan member of the American
Hotel Association’s special committee
on temperance, which has to do with
regulating the conduct of beverage
traffic by the hotel contingent.

 

Michigan Greeters, Detroit, Charter
29, have nominated Frank R. John-
son, proprietor of Johnson’s Rustic
Tavern, at Houghton lake, to fill the
presidential chair for the coming year.
A live wire and will fit into his job
perfectly. Other nominees are: First
vice president, William Meek, Hotel
Detroiter; second vice president, Vin-
cent Beam, Detroit Statler; secretary-
treasurer, Joe Denawetz, Detroit-Le-
land, and chairman of board of gover-
nors, William Rademaker, Hotel Nor-
ton,

 

In speaking of the almost necessary
advance in hotel rates by operators of
same, the Hotel World-Review says:
“The customer must be given a break,
no matter how badly the hotel needs
the money, otherwise the tourist and
the smaller business man awhee] will
be driven into the welcoming arms of
the home-owner along the highway.
The situation must be faced, and it can
be met only by making the traveler
who already is sold on the idea of
stopping at a regular hotel, feel that
he is being treated fairly. Many a per-
son has been diverted from hotels as a
group to tourist homes through an un-
fortunate experience which would not
have been duplicated once in a thou-
sand times, but which created a preju-
dice against the entire hotel industry.
Hotels are in competition with way-
side lodging houses no matter how
greatly they resent the fact, and must
meet the competition in the only pos-
sible way—by giving the traveler a

999

“run for his money’.

 

The Michigan Hotel Association is
confronted with the problem being agi-
tated by the State Tax Commission of
a tax of 3 per cent. on food supplied to
regular employes, at greatly reduced
prices, and a special meeting of the
organization is to be called in the near
future for the purpose of receiving a
report now being prepared by a spe-
cial committee recently appointed. The
tax body insists on considering such
meals as retail sales and demands that
the hotels pay the sales tax on same.
In these days when taxation is already
heavily burdensome to the hotel indus-
try, every effort must be made by its
organization to have this arbitrary rul-
ing changed. The additional tax is
especially annoying to commercial
houses and summer hotels overated on!
the European plan, but is still more of
a problem for the American plan ho-
tels, of which there are many in the
state.

 

The Milner Hotels, Inc., Detroit,
made an addition of two units to their
already extensive chain. They are the

Centlivre, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and
the Trenton, at Trenton, N. J.

 

N. A. Agree, managing director of
Hotel Detroiter, Detroit, has opened
a new supper club on the lobby floor
of the hotel, to be known as the Rob-
erts club. It will be given over to
varied entertainments and dancing.

 

Formation of a new Greeter Charter,
for Southwestern Michigan, was
launched at a meeting held recently at
Hotel Whitcomb, St. Joseph. About
one hundred hotel folks and their ladies
attended the dinner and business imeet-
ing. W. E. Defenbacher, former man-
ager of the Whitcomb, and also a

 

Store, Office and Restaurant
Equipment
G.R.STORE FIXTURE CO.

7 lonia Ave., N.W. Phone 8-6027

 

 

Hotel and Restaurant Equipment
Glassware, China, Silverware

H. LEONARD & SONS

38-44 Fulton St., W.

 

 

GRAND RAPIDS - MICHIGAN

 

 

Warm Friend Tavern
Holland, Mich.

Is truly a friend to all travelers. All
room and meal rates very reasonable.
Free private parking space.

JAMES HOEKSEMA, Manager

 

 

WESTERN HOTEL

BIG RAPIDS, MICH.
Modern Rates Reasonable

Rooms Now Well
Heated

“BACK ON THE JOB”

Will F. Jenkins

Owner and Operator

 

 

 

MORTON

400 ROOMS EACH
WITH BATH

$1.50 up

Grand Rapids’ Friendly Hotel
Phil Jordan, Manager

 

THE ROWE

GRAND RAPIDS

oe

The Most Popular Hotel
in Western Michigan

300 ROOMS — SHOWERS
SERVIDOR

Direction of American Hotels Corp.
J. Leslie Kincaid, President

 

 

December 19, 1934

former president of the National or-
ganization, was one who addressed the
gathering of Greeterism. Meetings will
be held at several other cities in the
district in the near future.

 

The ogre of the check-out hour in
modern hotels, still bobs up frequently.

 

An Entire City
Block of

Hospitality

 

 

Have You Seen Our New

@ Cocktail lounge — Popular
afternoon and evening rendez-
vous,

@ “Pub,” our famous Tony at
the service bar. Delicious 60c
lunches and $1 dinners.

“Dantlin

GRAND RAPIDS
750 ROOMS $2 UP

 

CODY HOTEL

RATES—$1 up without bath,
$2.00 up with bath.

CAFETERIA IN CONNECTION

 

ALL GOOD ROADS LEAD TO
IONIA AND

THE REED INN

Excellent Dining Room
Rooms $1.50 and up
MRS. GEO. SNOW, Mangaer

Park Place Hotel

Traverse City
Rates Reasonable—Service Superb
Location Admirable

GEO. ANDERSON, Mgr.
ALBERT J. ROKOS, Ass’t Mgr.

New Hotel Elliott
STURGIS, MICH.
50 Baths 50 Running Water
European
D. J. GEROW, Prop.

 

 

 

Occidental Hotel

FIRE PROOF
CENTRALLY LOCATED
Rates $2.00 and up
EDWARD R. SWETT, Mgr.
Muskegon ete Michigan

 

 

 

 

 

; December 19, 1934

MICHIGAN

TRADESMAN

17

 

There isn’t the faintest reason for wor-
rying about it. Make a reduction of 10
per cent. from the bill of the guest who
checks out at 9 a. m. and there will be
as great a rush at the cashier’s window
as there was at the rooming desk the
night before. It has been worked sat-
isfactorily in France for years, and was
in vogue at the Planters Hotel, St.
Louis, for a long time. The guests who
loudly call for rooms with bath on
their arrival at the hotel will feel that
they are earning easy breakfast money
by an early check-out.

 

Here is a good scheme which has
been introduced by a successful cafe-
teria operator in Los Angeles, which
might be worth considering in almost
any locality. The regular hours of serv-
ice are from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. after
which period an extensive banquet pat-
ronage is most successfully handled.
The tables are rearranged and the reg-
ular service department occupies the
same relation to the function that any
kitchen does. However, the guests
serve themselves, thereby very mate-
rially reducing the cost of the feed
proper, the management allows them
all sufficient time at the table to pull
off almost any sort of a program. Asa
rule, at a formal banquet the average
participant gorges himself to the extent
of utterly demoralizing his digestive
tract or eats very sparingly for the
best of reasons, which means that
much expensive food is wasted. At
best a banquet is seldom satisfactory
so far as the food, and its distribution,
are concerned.

 

One of the eccentricities of the Fed-
eral statutes allows a Chinese mer-
chant, living here but remaining a sub-
ject of China, to return to China, mar-
ry and bring his wife over here. A
Chinaman who has become an Amer-
ican citizen by naturalization or birth
is not allowed by our laws to marry a
white person, yet if he should return
to China and marry he would not be
allowed to bring his wife here, though
if children are born of this union they
may be brought here as American citi-
zens. About 15,000 Chinese babies are
born in California each year of whom
less than one-third are girls. This
means that two out of three American
citizen Chinamen cannot legally marry
here or bring in Chinese wives married
elsewhere. No wonder so many of
them become addicted to the “dope”
habit. When the Hawaiian Islands
were taken under the protecting wing
of Uncle Sam, all citizens of the archi-
pelago enjoying the elective franchise
automatically became American citi-
zens. Forty.per cent. of the Island’s
population are Orientals and make
most desirabe citizens as I happen to
know from personal observation. Un-
der our constitution their offspring are
entitled to enjoy every privilege ac-
corded to any citizen. Yet in Califor-
nia most of these privileges are denied
them, and in this state also there are
enactments prohibiting their owning
real estate. Clearly such laws are un-
constitutional, but the Federal supreme
court has “passed the buck” every time
they have been brought in before that
body for review. You will find many
of the loftiest citizens of this great
state who were always strong for the
enforcement of the eighteenth amend-
ment, but undeniably weak in the knees
when it comes to giving the Orientals
their exact legal rights. Perhaps, after
all, the American constitution is a sec-
tional proposition, and that the four-
teenth and fifteenth amendments there-
to are only to be observed in the strict-
ly Eastern and Middle states. It is
certainly tough on the most of us to be
obligated to carry a copy of the bill
of rights around in our pockets as a
prevention of crime, but to allow the
Californian to elect just the number of
degees he will have conferred upon
him. Frank S. Verbeck.

——_—_++>—___

Money does not talk until it gets big.

Lines of Interest to Grand Rapids
Council
(Continued from page 3)
The men usually expect more for their
money, so Gil Ohlman furnished a
nice Charles the Eighth cigar to each
one. When dinner was over the chairs
and tables were cleared away and the
Council meeting called to order while
the ladies made themselves comfort-
able in the parlors and played bridge.

Senior Counselor Ohlman called the
meeting to order and immediatey turn-
ed the gavel over to Past Counselors
who. conducted the business meeting
with their old time skill and dispatch.
Many had not occupied stations for
several years.

The meeting swung along rapidly
until it was time for the report of the
Legislative Committee. Under that
heading many of the members showed
they had a chip on their shoulders and
plenty of constructive ideas to advance
relative to curbing a reoccurance of an-
other hotel tragedy such as occured
last week in Lansing and whica
brought sorrow to Grand Rapids Coun-
cil in the death of Past Counselor A.
Bosman and injury to others of its
membership.

It is quite likely that the state law
making body is going to find plenty
of the United Commercial Travelers in
their hair until such time they pass
measures to safeguard the traveling
public. This state and many others are
full of fire traps and such steps as ne-
cessary should be taken that will pre-
vent a repetition of the holocaust which
stunned the nation and brought sorrow
to many homes. This is not the day
and age of firetraps and every effort
should be brought to bear to make
hotels safe for the travelers.

Safe driving was discussed quite
thoroughly and the Safe Driving Com-
mittee of the council has some very
definite and constructive ideas it in-
tends to work out for promoting safety
on the highways.

Tom Fishleigh in reporting for the
team work committee stated that he is
shaping his committee into an efficient
body so that they will be ready tc co-
operate with the state director when he
is ready to start work on the buying
and selling campaign which will start
in February.

One member was reinstated and sev-
eral more are slated to take the work in
January.

Many members were present who
have not attended for several years and
they expressed their pleasure at the
agressiveness shown by the council and
made a promise to be regular attend-
ants hereafter.

The meeting closed at 10:30. The
next meeting will be held Saturday,
Jan 5.

Sambo: “Say, niggah, can’t you play
honest? Them ain’t de cards I deait
you.”

Frank Holman and wife are moving
from Grand Rapids to Detroit where
he will call on the jobbing trade for
his company. Many expressed their re-
grets when Frank announced his resig-
nation from the office of conductor to
take effect immediately. Counselor
Holman was an efficient officer and the

Council is losing a valuable officer.
The members are grateful to him for
the good work he has done and are
happy to know that he will continue
his membership in 131, even though he
will live in Detroit. The move is a pro-
motion for Frank and he is to be con-
gratulated for his good fortune. Best
wishes go with Frank and his good
wife to their new home and it is hoped
they have a great big prosperous year
in 1935.

Jim Beckman, Grand Past Counselor
and an active member of Marquette
Council, informs us that his council is
doing things and going places this
year. They are making an intensive
drive for new members and are putting
lots of effort on the safe driving cam-
paign. The Councils of the U. P. are
agressive and are doing things worthy
of mention ard should be congratulated
for their progressiveness. Their spirit
of co-operation should be emulated by
the Lower Peninsula Councils, then
Michigan would go places and do
things to some of their old records.

There is usually some comedy mixed
in with tragedy and that was true
when the Hotel Kerns burned. Jimmy
Malloy succeeded in getting clear of
the hotel with a few burns and a wild
desire to get as far from the place as
he could in just as short a time as pos-
sible. In order to do this it was ne-
cessary to have as few clothes as would
pass the censor. The enforced and
hurried exit from the hotel left Jimmy
his pajama pants only and when he hit
the cold outside he just naturally grav-
itated toward a haven where he would
find warmth and safety. Some say he
made the run up Michigan avenue to
the Olds Hotel in nothing flat, others
say he was there before he even. hit the
side walk by the Kerns. With what-
ever speed he made the trip his aspect
was changed not in the least. He was
Bpartan clad or perhaps with a more
truthful comparison he resembled a
Sioux warrior, with naked head and
torso, bare feet and thin pajama pants
flapping in the wind. He needed but
some highly colored feathers in his
hair to complete what might be termed
a 100 per cent. disguise, because no one
would ever dream of seeing Jimmy in
any dress but a neat and trim business
suit. “Although his friends could see
the funny side of his race up the ave-
nue, Jimmy could see the tragic side.
He is at present at his home in Detroit
recuperating from shock and_ super-
ficial burns. His many friends are
happy to know he escaped the fate of
many others.

J. C. Laraway is reported on the in-
jured list. He was driving with another
salesman and the car rolled over caus-
ing slight damages to the car and sev-
eral bruises to the occupants.

The following members of Grand
Rapids Council are reported on the in-
jured list: Henry Cameron of Grand
Haven; W. E. Starkweather, Battle
Creek; I. A. Van Dugteren, Toledo;
J. D. Jones, Venice, Calif.; Jas. Malloy,
Detroit, and J. C. Laraway, €. L.
Acomb, Geo. E. Waugh, Bert L. Van-
der Kelen, Chas. M. Luce, Chas. W.
Kalder and V. C. Schrider, all of Grand
Rapids.

Motorist: “What! The highway
open all the way to Junction Center?”

Highway Patrol: “Yep, had to open

it so’s we could get the detour fixed.”
Notgniklip.

e+e

Premiums Paid on Men’s Robes

The heavy demand for men’s robes
for Christmas selling has caught manu-
facturers unprepared, with the result
that stores are willing to pay premiums
to obtain desirable styles. The so-called
“cocktail” robes, in silk and ilanne:,
selling in the $8 to $12.95 range, have
been particularly active. Silk robes in
the $12.95 to $17.95 brackets are mov-
ing very well, while the staple flannels,
retailing at $4.95 and $5.95 are also
getting a good play. Manufacturers
operated very cautionsly in preparing
for the Christmas season and the de-
mand found them with insufficient
stocks on hand.

a

Perfume and Jewelry Imports Up

Last minute shipments of perfumes,
costume jewelry, gloves and_ toys
swelled the total of holiday imports at
the New York port this week. Demand
for jewelry, gloves and perfume from
abroad is the best since 1929, import
houses reported. Toy shipments are
heavy but the volume is chiefly on ex-
treme low-price goods from Japan.
The other items purchased for holiday
sale comprise merchandise in all price
ranges. Imports of liquor this month
are small because importers are draw-
ing on stocks they have had in storage
for some months.

2-2-9

Costume Jewelry Re-orders Brisk

Re-orders on costume novelty jewel-
ry have continued extremely active. Re-
tailers have urged quick shipments oi
merchandise to round out stocks for
the peak of Christmas trade next week.
The gold influence is still far in the
lead, with rhinestone effects outstand-
ing for evening wear. Some silver
items are in demand. Clips and pins,
bracelets and earrings are the volume
selling items, particularly in the ranges
from $1 to $2.95. Jewelry firms also
report gains in the sales of men’s wear
items and smokers’ accessories.

—_+ +

Business at Peak Since July

The broad upswing in business
under way this fall has carried the
rate of general activity to the
highest levels reached since July,
and indicates that it may soon
approach a new peak.

While the expansion previously
noted has apparently been con-
centrated in those areas benefiting
most from Government expendi-
tures, it now appears that the re-
covery is assuming a_ broader
scale. Improvement in general
business sentiment in most regions
is being reflected in the signifi-
cant increases in such indices as
electric power output, rate of steel
activity and merchandise load-
ings.

——_+-

One Makes and Other Spends

Jenkins: So your son is in college?
How is he making it?

Duffer: He isn’t making it, I’m
making it and he’s spending it.

ee

 

 

18

DRUGS

Michigan Board of Pharmacy
President—Earl Durham, Corunna.
Vice-President—M. N, Henry, Lowell.
Other members of the Board—Norman

Weess, Evart; Frank T. Gillespie, St.
Joseph; Victor C. Piaskowski, Detroit.
Director—E. J. Parr, Lansing.
Examination Sessions — Three sessions
are held each year, one in Detroit, one in
the Upper Peninsula and one at Ferris
Institute, Big Rapids.

 

Michigan State Pharmaceutical
Association.

President—J. E. Mahar, Pontiac.

Ex-President—Duncan Weaver,
ville,

First Vice-President—Ben Peck, Kala-
mazoo,

Second Vice-President—Joseph Maltas,
Sault Ste. Marie.

Treasurer—Henry Hadley, Benton Har-
bor,

Secretary—Clare F. Allan, Wyandotte.

Executive Committee—-M. N. Henry
(chairman), Lowell; Benjamin S. Peck,
Kalamazoo; A. A. Sprague, Ithaca; Leo
J. Lacroix, Detroit; James W. Lyons,
Detroit; Ray Jenson, Grand Rapids; Dun-
can Weaver, Fennville.

Fenn-

 

Concluding Session of the State Phar-
maceutical Association

the

jine up of business is the election of

officers. Just remember that with the

executive committee there are two

President: The next thing on

men to be elected. Vote for two.

Gentlement, while the ballots are be-
ing collected, if you have all voted, we
have with us Dr. Dean, of Compton,
Caifornia, and I will ask him to say
a few words to us.

Dr. Dean: Ladies and gentlemea I
have come here for no other reason
than to see what is going on. 1 am
attending the Rotary convention in De-
troit and we have stuck with
pretty hot weather for us. Ii you want
some real good reading matter you
want to get hold of one of the books
on International Rotary and read it.

been

Speaking of the prices, we have quite a
little trouble in California with the
code; one cut rate concern in Los An-
geles had seventy-nine counts against
them. They called the owner of this

chain to Washington. Thank you,
gentlemen.
President: Thank you, Dr. Dean.

One word more about the ballot, if
there are any nominations from the
floor may we have them at this time.
The Nominating Committee did their
best to cover the field as best they
could. They asked me to sit in with
them. If there are any nominations
from the floor, may we please have
them now.

Mr. Peck: They have me down here
‘for First Vice-President and I have
one more year on the Executive Com-
mittee.

President: The First Vice-President
will not conflict with your duties on
the Executive Committee, so I believe
the Committee will be wise to keep
your name on the ballot. I want to
say a word at this time. To my knowl-
edge we have six members in this room
who are ex-members of the Board. I
see Jim Way, Howard Hurd, Clare Al-
land, Jake Dykema and some others.

Secretary: Will secretaries of the
local association county groups and so
on take time at 12 o’clock to all go in
the dining room for lunch. We expect
each of you to pay for your own lunch,
but we would like to have everyone
Avho is secretary of a local association

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

meet in there and talk over some
things which may be reported this af-
ternoon. If the secretary is not here
flet’s have the representative, one man
from each organization.

President: May we have your at-
tention for just a moment? Mr. Dur-
ham, president of the Board of Pharm-
acy has a word.

Mr. Durham: The Board of Pharm-
acy has been confronted with a prop-
osition and I wish to bring this mes-
sage to you and it is of a very impor-
tant nature. May I have your atten-
tion? The Board of Pharmacy has
been confronted with a proposition that
I think every honest druggist in the
state of Michigan should know about
and the Board has determined to make
a disclosure in general for the state
of Michigan. Prior to this last exam-
ination and also the February exam-
ination—I have been a member of this
Board for four years and I wish to
make plain today that there are some
chiselers among the members and sec-
retaries among the county organiza-
tions who are trying to stain the char-
acters of this Board of Pharmacy and
I personally am not going to expose
any particular one at this time, but I
want it known what is going on and I
think it is just and due to the candi-
dates that it should be brought to your
attention. Gentlemen, it has been
known, and we have evidence, but not
conclusive evidence, from a young man,
or I should say young men who have
informed the State Board that there is
some chiseling going on and saying to
these young men “We will put you
through the Board if you will pay us
$225. We know that we can divide this
money with Mr. Parr and other mem-
bers of the Board.” Now you gen-
tlemen here know that this Board
should not have their characters stained
by such chiselers who think they can
take money from some poor boy when
he may put it in his own pocket. Per-
haps, this should not be brought out
here, but I think we should and the
Board thinks we should and if you boys
can help us to run down some of this
work, it will be greatly appreciated.
These cases we have in mind. will,
perhaps, be brought before the grand
jury. As I say, we will give you the
facts.. 1 won’t mention the names, but
three boys were approached. One was
an orphan. One boy even went to his
minister and said, “If that is the only
way you can get through I would put
the $225 in his hands.” I thought this
being a wide open state meeting this
would be the place to expose it. It is
a new one on me, This boy took the
serial numbers of these bills, he was
clever enough to do that. He took
some money that he put in a safety
box and when the report came out that
these boys didn’t pass, the money was
turned back. We don’t really want to
catch anybody, but if it is good stuff
for the press, put it in.

President: Would you want to
name the county it came out of?

Dr. Durham: I don’t think I should.
We will give these fellows the benefit
of the doubt. I don’t think we have
been misinformed.

President: The best way to handle
this is through your Lansing office. It
has the use of the state police and the
use of eighty-three sheriffs’ offices in
the state of Michigan, so I would ad-
\vise you to go to Mr. Parr or Mr, Dur-

sham personally.

Secretary: I represent the Northern
three counties of the state and if they
come out of those three counties I am
telling you we aren't going to ask the
co-operation of any sheriff to help us
handle it.

Mr. Watters: Gentlemen, it is my
pleasure to have known the members
of the Board of Pharmacy for the past
several years. When I say I know
them, I mean I am very personally
acquainted with them and I know each
and everyone of them to be straight-
forward and upright men of the highest
type and when Mr. Durham got up
here and made the accusations he did,
and I know he had some grounds on
which to make them, I was surprised.
He certainly had some grounds or he
wouldn’t have made them. I think each
and every member of the present Board
of Pharmacy, and that goes for all the
presiding members, have been on the
up and up and I personally have been
requested on several different occasions
to put in a good word for a candidate
and I have passed them up. I wouid-
n't for a minute stoop so low or take
any chance of losing the friendship of
a person by even suggesting such a
thing. I know this much, that I wouid
get a hearing, but whether I would
get kicked out after I made the prop-
osition or not, that is another ques-
tion. As a vote of confidence of the
State Board of Pharmacy that they
have been put on the spot, and jou
don’t know how far this has gone and
how much talk has been going oa of
an underground nature, I would like

Holiday Goods

December 19, 1934

to make a motion that this conven-
tion go on record as exonerating the
Board of Pharmacy from any tcrm of
crookedness and condemning any of
the practices that are not up and up. [
wish that they would go on record and
include in that motion that the State
Association backs up the Board of
Pharmacy in whatever decision they
make and the State Association will
also put these people on the map, just
the same as the Board of Pharmacy.

Motion was seconded and unanim-
ously carried.

President: I want to make a motion
at this time that Dr. Armstrong, of
Concord, be appointed a committee of
one to send a bouquet of flowers to
the Hon. Dexter G. Look from this
convention.

Motion supported and unanimously
carried,

Mr. Staines: I think every individ-
ual druggist should take active inter-
est in running of these
people and I think this should be pub-
lished in the trade papers. It looks to
me like a gambler’s chance. We want
to publish this. We want to inform
our clerks that this isn’t going on.

down any

President: Gentlemen, I would like
to take a moment for history. A year
ago last February in our State Board
examination we called a young man in
who had sent in two fifty dollar checks
to a certain individual, who was go-
ing to get papers for that money and
we learned of it. The first day the
State Board called the young man in
and I had charge of the meeting. We
told him he made a foolish move. I
believe he passed with an average of
81 or 82. If I remember they were ex-
press money orders. We never told
anyone anything about it. I was in my
store about a month ago when a former
(Continued on page 23)

 

 

Grand Rapids

 

Our line now on _ display.
The best we have ever shown.
We invite you to look it over.

Prices Are Right.
a

Hazeltine & Perkins Drug Co.

Michigan

 

 

 

December 19, 1934

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

WHOLESALE DRUG PRICE CURRENT

 

Prices quoted are nominal, based on market the day of issue.

 

Acetic, No, 8, I

Boric, Powd., or Xtal.,
Carbolie, Xtal,
Citric, Ib.
Muriatic, Com’l1., lb.
Nitric, lb.

Ib._-

 
 
   

    

 

 

 

 
 

Oxalic 1b) oS
Suiphuric, lb. -- ee
‘artarie) ib; uo
: ALCOHOL
Denatured, No. 5, gal.____-- 38 @
Nioow, gal 2220 50 @
ALUM-POTASH, USP
lump, io... 04 @
Powd. or Gra.) Ib. 2 oo 0444@
AMMONIA
oncentrated, Ib. -.---.... 06 @
oR ib) ee 05%@
3- FE. ip ee 054%4@
Carbonate, lb. - 2 @
Muriate, Lp., Ib. - i838 @
Muriate, Gra., Ib... - %@
Murtate, Fo, lb... 22 @
ARSENIC
Pound, 2 07 @
BALSAMS
Conaiba lb, 222500 60 @1l
Fir, Cana., @ 2
Fir, Oreg., @i1
Peru, lb. @4
Tolu, Ib. @i1
BARKS
Cassia
Ordinary, 1p. __.____ @
Ordinary, Fo., {b......_ 25 @
Saigon ib. oo @
Saizon, Po., ...__.____ 50 @
40 @
38 @
38 @
@
Seaptres, cut, ib.__..______.. 20 @
Seaptree, Po., bs 35 @
BERRIES
Cubeb, Ib. @
Cubeb, Po., @
Juniper, Ib. 10 @
BLUE VITRIOL
nad 0 @
BORAX
Pd or sta) ib 6 @
BRIMSTONE
fouad 04 @
CAMPHOR
Pound 220 70 @
CANTHARIDES
Russian, Powd, ~------ a @4
Chinese, Powd. ~---_------- @ 2
CHALK
Crayons
White, dozen —-_-_-___ @ 3
Dustless, dozen -~------ @é6
French Powder, Coml., lb... 034%@
Precipitated, 1b. ..-.------- 12 @
Prepared, lb. ..--- a AS 14 @
White, lump, !b.--—--------- 03 @
CAPSICUM
ipogs, 1b) 2 60 @
Powder, Ib, .-- 2-12 = 62 @
CLOVES
Whole Ib) 23. 30 @
Powdered, 1b. _____________-_ 35 @
COCAINE
Oince {0 13 75@15
COPPERAS
Xtal, ib, 2220 __- 03%@
Powdered, Ib. ~~---------—- 4
CREAM TARTAR
Pound 22) ee 25 @
CUTTLEBONE
Pound _.._ 40 @
DEXTRINE
Yellow Corn, Ib..----------- 06%@
White Corn, Ib.------------ 07 @
EXTRACT
Witch Hazel, Yellow Lab.,
gal 2S 110 @1
inceine. Pids th 50 @

18
13
13
25
30
18
35

20

13
10
90

50
00

70
%

40
45

40

10
16

38

15

10
60

Arnica, lb.

Chamomile
German, lb.
Roman, Ib.

Saffron
American,
Spanish,

 

FORMALDEHYDE, BULK
09

Pound 2202 ee es

FULLER’S EARTH .
0

Powder lb)
GELATIN

Pound) {oS 55

Brok., Bro.,

Gro’d, Dark,

Whi. Flake, 1b._--_- a

 

 

GLYCERINE
Pound ieee ee 19
GUM
Aloes, Barbadoes,
so called, lb. gourds_---
Powd., Ib. of 35
Aloes, Socotrine, lb.
Powd., a
Arabic, first, Ibs
Arabic! sec. Ib, 2s
Arabic) sorts, Ib.-_ Le
Arabic, Gran. Ib. 2.2.
Arabic! Prd) ib. 22s 25
Asafoctida, Ib. _... 47
Asafoetida, Po., 75
Guaiae, Ib, 222-2
Guaiac, powd, -__
Kono, jb)
Kino, powd., |b.-—
Myrrh lb. 2200s
Myrrh, Pow., 1b.--
Shellac, Orange, 35
Ground, lb. 35
Shellac, white sbone dr’d) Ib. 45
Tragacanth
No ft bole . 1 50
No. 2, lbs.
Pow., lb.
Pound 22200 a

 

HOPS
%s Loose, Pressed, Ib.-.-.--

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
27 00

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

POunG. pross [22 oie
ee 17 00
% lb. gross 11 00
INDIGO
Madras) Ibo ee 2 00
INSECT POWDER
Pure, ib) ee 31
LEAD ACETATE
Mtal, tbs 2 17
Powd. and Gran. 25
LICORICE
Extracts, sticks, per box.. 1 50
Lozenges, lb, 40
Wafers, (24s) be
LEAVES
Buchu) Ib., short 2.202
Buehu, ib. long.
Buchu, P'd., Ib. .
Sage, bulk, Ib, 25
Sage, loose pressed,
Saee, Ounces 2200 eee
Sage; Pd: and Gra. -.
Senna
Alexandria, Ib. __--..-- 35
Tinnevella, Ib. 25
Powds lb. --2 2. 25
Uva: Ursi, ib. 22202
Uva Ursi, P’d., Ib.
LIME
Chloride, med, dz __.-___
Chioride, large, dz...
LYCOPODIUM
Pound! (oe 45
Carb., %s,
Carb., 738,
Carb., Powd., 15
Oxide, Hea.,
Oxide, light,
MENTHOL
Pound) 26s ae ae 5 25
MERCURY
POUNG oe 1 50

 

65
70

a 60
35

20

10

QSOH9H9

a
©
g

me
oS
Oo

&QH LOQOHECHHHHHHHVHH
tt pt ee
3

8

75

@29
@l11

00
50

s

@ 2 25

41

26
35

QQOOHHD HHO98e8 8989

Q9
-_

 
  

  

   

 

  
 

 

  
  
  
  
   

 

MORPHINE :
Ounces, 2 @12 75
36S ei ee @i4 40
MUSTARD
Bulk, Powd.
Select, 1 45 @ 50
Noo ib 17 @ 2
NAPHTHALINE
Balsa 08%@ 15
Bake 842@ 15
NUTMEG
Pound 2 @ 40
Powdered ib) a @ 50
NUX VOMICA
Pound 22 @ 2%
Powdered) Ibo 15 @ 2
OIL ESSENTIAL
Almond
Bit., true, ozs. @ 60
Bit., art., ozs @_ 30
Sweet, true, @ 2 00
Sweet, art., @ 1 20
Amber, crude, @ 1 40
Amber, rect., 1b... @ 2 00
Anise, 1p. ..___ @ 1 60
Bay, ip @ 4 26
Bergamot, lb. @ 3 20
Wajeput, ib, oes @ 2 00
Caraway §’d, 1b.. @ 4 00
Cassia, USP, Ib @ 2 60
Cedar Leaf, lb.-— @ 2 20
Cedar Leaf, Coml., @ 1 2
Citronella, ib @ 1 40
Cloves, ib: -222 @ 2 26
Groton, bs. 22: @ 4 60
Cubeb): Ib. -----— @ 4 80
Erigeron, Ib, —_ @ 3 35
Isucalytus, Ib, — @ 1 20
Kenic, @ 2 60
Hemlock, Pu., @ 2 20
Hemlock Com., @ 1 2
Juniper Ber., 1b.-.-- @ 3 20
Junip'r W’d, lb @1%75
Lav. Flow., 1b.- @ 5 00
Lav. Gard., 1b.- @ 1 50
Memon lb. 2t252 00. @ 2 40
Mustard, true, ozs.--------- @ 1 25
Mustard: art., ozs, ..-._____ @ 30
Orange, ‘Sw. 1b:22. @ 3 2
Origanum, art., Ib.- @ 1 20
Pennyroyal, lb. ~---. @ 3 20
Peppermint. lb. 2 = @ 6 00
Rose, ar te @ 2 560
mosG, Geran, OzS._________. @ 1 00
Rosemary Flowers, Ib.------ 100 @1 50
Sandalwood
Np ce ee 800 @ 8 60
Wok ib 450 @ 4 75
Sassafras
‘Teue, Ib, __ __190 @ 2 40
Syn., ib. 8 @ 1 40
Spearmint, lb, ._._----.---. 2 50 @ 3 00
Pansy: Hb. ue es 350 @ 4 00
Thyme, Red, lb.--- Std @24
Dhyne, Whi, ib 200 @ 2 60
Wintergreen
Deaf, trae, ib... 5 60 @ 6 00
Birch, lb. @ 4 60
Syn ee @ 1 20
Wormseed, lb. @ 400
Ww ormwood, Fp i ee 550 @ 6 00
OILS HEAVY
G@aster: gal 2 4 @ Tt 60
Cocoanut. Ib) 2 er 22%@ 35
Cod Liver, Norwegian, gal. 1 20 @ 1 50
Cot. Seed, gal. eo | aa) @ E00
Lard, ex., gal 155 @ 1 65
Lard, No. 1, ¢ 125 @1 40
Linseed, raw, gal._- 74 @ 89
binseed, boil), gal... i @ 92
Neatsfoot, extra, gal._.---- 80 @1 00
Olive
Malaga, gal. @ 2 50
Pure, gal. _---_. @ 5 00
Sperm, gal 2. = @ 1 60
Tamer gal _ $ 90
Tar eae 65
Whale gal @ 2 00
OPIUM
Gum, ozs., $1.40, o7._.._____ 1.25
Powder, ozs., $1. 40; OZ. — 1 30
rGan. O28. $1.40; o7--.-2 08 1 30
PARAFFINE
Poung 2. 06%@ 15
PEPPER
Black) erd: Ib a 25 @ 35
Red, grd., lb... 45 @ 55
Whites gerd. Ibi 2a 40 @ 55
PITCH BURGUNDY
Pound — 20 @ 25
PETROLATUM
Amber, Plain, Ib..----_---- 12 @ i117
Amber, Carb., 1} 14 @ 19
Cream Whi., te w@ ZB
Hilky (Winite, ib. - =.= 20 @ 2
Snow White, ib._.-..____- 22 @ 27
PLASTER PARIS DENTAL
Barrels. 2S 5 75
Mesaniib: sora 03%@ 08
POTASSA
Caustic. sts, lb... = -- 55 @ 8&8
Liquor, Ib. @ 40

 

POTASSIUM

Bicarbonate, Ib. ----------- 30
Agetate, ib. _____ Fe 69
Bichromate, lb. 15
Bromide, 1b. 64
Carbonate, lb, 45
Chlorate

Xtal, Ub.

Powd., lb.

Gran.,

 

 

 
    

Todide, 1b.
Permanganate, lb. ~-------- 30
Prussiate
Req Ih 2 80
Yellow. ib, 2 60
QUASSIA CHIPS
POUNG fo ee eee
Fowd., ib. 35
QUININE
5 oz cans, OZS.-.----------
ROSIN
Pound 04
ROOT
Aconite, Powd., 1b.---------
Alkanet, Ib. 35
Alkanet, Powd., Ib..---..-—
Belladonna, Powd., 1b...
blood, Powd., os eee 36
Burdock, Powd., eerie
Calamus, eee Split and
Peeled, lb.
Calamus, Ordinary, tbe.
Calamus, Powd.,
Elecampane, ib 25
Gentian, Powd., Ib.------~-
Ginger, African, Powd., lb. 16
Ginger, Jamaica, Limed, lb. 38
Ginger, Jamaica, Powd., lb. 30
Goldenseal, bowd., 1... 1 75
Hellebore, ‘White, ‘Powd., lb. 20
indian Turnip, Powd., ip
lpecac, Powd., lb 3 00
Micorice, Ib. 2222232 s 30
Licorice, Powd., 15
Mandrake, Powd.,

 

Marshmallow, Cut.,

 

  
  

   
   
 

 

  
 

 

HH 8H OQHESH OOHE OO

8

©

QOL EY SHHHHHEHE HS OHOSESEHHHESEHESH OHOOOSSH

Marshmallow, Powd., 1b..--
Oris, 1b.
Orris, Powd
Orris, Fingers, 1b...
Pink, Powd.,
Poke, Powd.,
Rhubarb, Ib.
Rhubarb, Powd., Ib......—.
Sarsaparilla (Honduras, cut) 1 26
Sarsaparilla, Med., Cut, Ib.
Squills, Powd., lb....._...... 42
Tumeric, Powd., 1b.-.------ 15
Valerian, Powd., 1b..-------
SAL
Epsom, ib, 2 03%@
Glaubers
Bump Ib 22 03 @
Gran ib. 22 03%@
Nitre
Mtal or Powd —o2oss=- 10 @
Gran., lb. 0 @
Rochelle, 1b 17 @
Soda, Ib .-— 0244@
(Anise, Ib) ooo ee 40 @
Canary, Recleaned, 1lb.-..... 10 g
Cardamon, Bleached, 1b...
Caraway, Dutch, Ib.--...... @
Celery Ib) 2 @
Colchicum, Powd., 1b......- @
Coriander, Ib. = 16 @
Fennel, Ib - 80 @
Flax, Whole, Ib. —-.:  04@
Flax, Ground, [b._____ 07%@
Hemp, Recleaned, lb...... 08 @
Lobelia, Powd., lb.....__---- @
Mustard. Black, Ib.) 7 174@
Mustard, White, Ib.- Zee
Poppy, Blue, Ib..--. 20
nae Ibo 1
Ra ID, ooo 10 @
Sa pecitie Powde, ih 58 @
Sunflower, Sa es 11 g
Worm, Levant, TDs coe e
Worm, Levant, Powd. --... @
SOAP
Castile, Conti, White
Bar @
50 @
Ash 03 @
Bicarbonate, 0344@
Caustic, Co’l., oes @
Hyposulphite, lb. 6 @
Phosphate, Ib, ------------- 2 @
@
@
@
044%@
SYRUP
Rock Candy, Gals... 70 @
TAR
26. Pints, degen @
Pints, dozen —.- @
Quarts, dezen= @
TURPENTINE
Gallons

hr

10

1

18

 

 

20

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

These Quotations Are Used as a Base to Show the
Rise and Fall of Foods Quoted on This -
and the Following Page.

The following list of foods and grocer’s sundries is listed upon base prices, not

intended as a guide for the buyer.

Each week we list items advancing and declining

upon the market. By comparing the base price on these items with the base price

the week before, it shows the cash advance or decline in the market.

This permits

the merchant to take advantage of market advances, upon items thus affected, that
he has in stock. By so doing he will save much each year. The Michigan Tradesman
is read over a broad territory, therefore it would be impossible for it to quote prices

to act as a buying guide for everyone.

takes advantage from it.

A careful merchant watches the market and

 

 

 

 

ADVANCED DECLINED
Wilson’s Nut Oleo—Vaoc Argo Corn Starch—tic
Red Kidney Beans—25c Mazola
Kodata Figs—60c Chili Lentils—2c
Argo Gloss Starch—11c Boneless Herring—ic
AMMONIA BREAKFAST FOODS Blackberries
Premio, No. 10--_-_-. 6 00
Little Bo Peep, med._. 1 35 Kellogg’s Brands Quaker No, 2... 1 60
Little Bo Peep, lge.-.. 2 25 Corn Flakes, No. 136— 2 65
Quaker, 32 0z..-.__--- 210 Corn Flakes, No. 124— 2 66 Blue Berries
Pep, No, 224-_-_._. 9 20 Bagle, No. 10__.--. 8 50
Pep No. 250 ~--.-.--.- 1 05
Krumbles, No. 412.... 1 5 Cherries
Bran Flakes, No. 624. 1 9 Hart, No. 10_.-_-____ 5 70
APPLE BUTTER Bran Flakes. No. 650__ 1 Hart, No. 2 in syrup_. 2 95
Rice Krispies, 6 0z.-- 240 Hart Special, 2__--__ 1 25
=. 12-28 oz., Rice Krispies, 10z.--_-- 1 10
eee ee 155 AllBran, 160z.---__- 330 Supreme, No. 2 in
All Bran, 10 — a 2b syrup .....__.. 3 25
All Bran, %0 1

BAKING POWDERS

Royal, 2 0z., doz... 80
Royal, 6 oz., doz._._._ 2 00
Royal, 12 oz., doz._-_- 3 85

Royal, 6 Ibs., doz.____ 20 00

 

100z., 4doz.in case_. 3 35
15 0z., 2doz.in case__ 2 45
250z., 2 doz.in case__ 4 12
5 lb., 1 doz. in case__ 5 90

10 Ib., % doz. in case.. 5 75

BLEACHER CLEANSER

Lizzie, 16 0z., 12s_-___ 2 16
Linco Wash, 32 oz. 128 2 00

BLUING

Am. Ball, 36-1 0z., cart. 1 00
Boy Blue, 18s, per cs. 1 35

BEANS and PEAS

Dry Lima Beans, 25 lb.
White H’d P. Beans__
Split Peas, yell., 60 Ib.
Split Peas, gr’n, 60 Ib.
Scotch Peas, 100 1b.-__

im 9 oo bo
SaRSR

BURNERS

Queen Ann, No.1 __.-
Queen Ann, No. 2 -.--. 1

Ror

BOTTLE CAPS

Single Lacquor, 24 gross
case, per casSe_.__.._ 4 10

10
Whole Wheat Pia, | 245 2 40
Whole Wheat Bjs., 248 2 31
Wheat Krispies, 24a_. 2 40
Post Brands
Grapenut Flakes, 24s-- 2 10
Grape-Nuts, 248 -.-. 3 90
Grape-Nuts, 50s — 1 60
Instant Postum, No. 8 5 46
Instant Postum, No. 10 4 70
Postum Cereal, No. 0- 2 38
Post Toasties, 36s_... 2 65
Post Toasties, 24s... 2 65
Post Brank, PBF 24__ 3 15
Post Bran, PBF 36-- 3 15

 

Amsterdam Brands
Gold Bond Par., No.5% 7 50
Prize, Parlor, No. 6__. 3 00
White Swan Par., No.6 8 50

BROOMS
Quaker, 5 sewed_.-... 7 26
Warehouse -—-.----. 7 75
Winner, 5 sewed_-..-- 5 76

BRUSHES

Scrub
New Deal, dozen--.. 85

Stove
Shaker, dozen ..--....

Shoe
Topcen, dozen

BUTTER COLOR
Hansen’s, 4 oz. bottles ; 40
Hansen's, 2 oz. bottles 1 60

CANDLES
Electric Light, 40 lbs._
Plumber, 40 Ibs.
Paraffine, 6s ~-------- =i
Paraffine, 12s _-.-- .-
Wicking, 2
Tudor, 6s, per box___. 30

12.1
12.8

 

CANNED FRUITS

Apples
Per
Doz.
Imperial, No. 10---.-. 5 00

Sweet Peas, No. 10. 4 75

Apple Sauce

Mart No! 2222 20
Hart No 10. 5 75
Apricots
Forest, No. 10---_- 9 00
Quaker, 1 9 75

No.
Gibralter, No. 10-... 9 25
Gibralter, No, 2%--.. : 40
Superior, No. 2%... 2 80
Supreme, No. 2%... 3 oo

Hart Special, No. 2. 1 35
Cherries—Royal Ann

Supreme, oO. 2%... 8 20
Supreme, No. 2. .---- 25
Gibralter, No; 102. 9 25

Gibralter, No. 2%--.. 2 75

Figs
Beckwith Breakfast,

 

No: 10.2 12 00
Carpenter Preserved,

5 oz. glass ....... 1 35
Supreme Kodota, No. 11 90
Fruit Salad

Supreme, No. 10____.
Quaker, No. 10_

Supreme, No. 2%
Supreme, No. grea 2 60
Supreme, No. 1.-.--- 1 90

Quaker, No. 2%------ 3 16

Goosberries
Michigan, No. 10. --- 5 35

Grape Fruit
Florida Gold, No. 6--
Florida Gold, No, 2...
Quaker, 8 0Z..--_. 30,
Quaker, 24% .._...--_. 14

Grape Fruit Juice
Florida Gold, No. 1. 90

Quaker, No, 1-------. 90
Quaker, No, 5...--.- 4 30
Loganberries
Premio, No. 10 -.-.-- 6 75
Peaches

Forest, solid pack,
No. 402 7 30
Nile, sliced, | No. 10--_ 6 50
Premio, halves, No. 10 6 50
Quaker, sliced or
halves, No. 10__--._ 8 20

Gibralter, No. 2%--.. 2 0
Supreme, sliced No.
ee 2 15
eer halves,
ee 2 25
Quakar sliced or
halves, No. 2%%----- 2 10
Quaker ‘sliced or
halves, No. 2___---. 1 70
Pears
Quaker, No. 10------ 8 59
ae ra Bartlett, No. ee
Quaker, Bartlett, No.
oo ee 1 95
Pineapple Juice
Doles, Diamond Head,
No. 2 1 45
Doles, Honey Dew,
No: 40: ee 6 75
Pineapple, Crushed
Imperial, No. 10_._--- 7 50

Honey Dew, No. 2%. 2 40

Supreme, No. 2__..- 2 Quaker, No. 2%...
Quaker, No. 2... Quaker, No. 2... 1 80
Quaker, No. rT aa 2 8 Quaker, No. 1... 110

Pineapple, Pileed
— Dew,
0
7 ae tid bits,
Honey Dew, ‘No. "246 | 2 45
Honey Dew, No. 2... 2 00
Honey Dew. No. 1._-. 1 10
Ukelele Broken, No. 10 7 90
Ukelele Broken, 2%. 2 25
Ukelele Broken, No. 2 1 85
Quaker, Tid Bits, No.

w

 

10 pie ee 8 25
Quaker, No 102 8 25
Quaker,

Quaker, No. 2...
Quaker,

Plums
Ulikit, No. 10, 30%

syrup 2 6 50
Supreme Egg, No, 2% 2 30
Supreme Egg, No. 2.. 1 70
Primo, No, 2, 40%

syrup

Prepared Prunes
Supreme, No. 2%... 2 35
Supreme, No. 2%,

Malian) 220 2 00

Raspberries, Black
1

Imperial, No. 10_-.._ 7 00
Premio, No. 10.-.-.... 3 50
Hart, 8-ounce  -...... 80

Raspberries, Red
Premio, No. 10..--.--. 8 75
Daggett, No, 2..----_ 2 20

Strawberries
Hunt, Superior, No. 2 2 35

CANNED FISH

Clam Ch’der, 10% 0z._ 1 35
Clam Chowder, No. 2__ 2 75
Clams, Steamed No, 1 2 75
Clams, Minced, No. % 2 40
Finnan Haddie, 10 0z._ 3 30
Clam Bouillon, 7 oz... 2 50
Chicken Haddie, No. 1 2 75
Fish Flakes, small____ 1 25
Cod Fish Cake, 10 oz. 1 55
Cove Oysters, 5 oz._... 1 ae

t

Sard’s, % Oil, k’less__ 3 75
Sardines, 4% Oil, k’less 3 35
Salmon, Red Alaska. 2 20
Salmon, Med. Alaska_ 1 75
Salmon, Pink, Alaska 1 38
Sardines, Im, %, er
Sardines, Cal.
Tuna, 4% Van Camps,

doz.
Tuna, %s, Van Camps,

fos
Tuna, ls, Van Camps,
Tuna,

O06. 1 70
Tuna, % Bonita_..... 1 25

CANNED MEAT
Bacon, med, Beechnut

Bacon, lge., Beechnut
Beef, Ige., ut...

S161

2
3
hn 3
Beef, med., Beechnut_ 1
Beef, No. 1, Corned . 1
Beef, No. 1, Roast -__. 1
% oz., Qua., Sli. 1

Corn Beef Hash, doz.
Bexfsteak & Onions, s. :
Ys 1

%s 2

RBRAIzees

 

Vienna. Saus. No. %.- 90

Baked Beans
Campbells 48s

CANNED VEGETABLES
Hart Brand

Loa ae

 
 

Hunt No. 1, Med.
Hunt No. 1 Med. White 3 15
Hunt No, 1 Small

Green) oe 2 80
Baked Beans
1 Ib. Sace, 36s, cs..___. 1 75

No. 2% Size, doz.__.- 2 rg
No. 10 Sauce___.-.--_.

Lima Beans

 

Red Kidney Beans
No, A0 e 4 75
No.

 

“Cut, No. 2

String Beans
Choice, Whole, No, 2. : 70
Cut,, No 10 22 7 25
ee 1 35
Marcellus Cut, No. 10. 6 00
Quaker Cut No. 2-... 1 20

Wax Beans
Choice, Whole, No. 2.- 4 »
Cut, No. 10
Cut, No. 2 1 36
Marcellus Cut. No. 10_ 5 50
Quaker Cut No. 2--_. 1 20

Beets
Extra Small, No. 2..-. 1 75
Hart Cut, No. 10----.. 4 50
Hart Cut, No. 2-_--.. 95

Hart Diced, No. 2.-.. 90
Quaker Cut No. 2%--. 1 20

Carrots
Diced; No.2 2.0. 95
Diced, No. 10 WW... 4 @
Corn

Golden Ban., No. 2---. 1 50
Golden Ban., No. 10 10 00
Marcellus, No. 2---.-. 1 25
Fancy Crosby, No. 2-. 1 40
Fancy Crosby, No. 10_- 6 75
Whole Grain, 6 Ban-

fam. NO, 2035 1 55
Peas

Little Dot, No. 2_---- 2 25

Sifted E. June, No.10 . 9 50

Sifted B. June, No. 2. 1 90
Marcel., Sw. W No. 2 1 55
Marcel., BE. June, No. 2 1 45
Quaker, E. Ju., No. 10 8 00

Pumpkin

 

Sauerkraut
m=O. 10 25
No. 2% Quaker_____. 1 10
No. 2. Quaker__.._.____ 95
Spinach
Supreme No. eer 1 75
Supreme No. 2__... 2

1 37%
Maryland Chier No. 2110

Succotash
ae ein No. 2. 2 2

Pads rig “igs i 28

  

Tomatoes
Oe
= Bog es ee 1 85

2 oo 40
ake Nos Qh 110

CATSUP
Quaker, 10 0z._._-doz. 1 10
Quaker, 14 0z.__.-doz. 1 4@
Quaker gallon glass,

Gozen (2 25
CHILI SAUCE
Sniders, 80z. __-.-.--_ 1 65
Sniders, 140g. ________ 2 25

OYSTER COCKTAIL
Sniders, 11 0z.---.._.. 2 00

CHEESE
Roquefort
Wisconsin Daisy __
Wisconsin Twin

 

 

es Wists 14
Michigan Daisies ____ 14%
Wisconsin Longhorn ___ 2
Imported Leyden ______

1 Ib. Limberger_________ 18
Imported Swiss -.-_._ 56
Kraft, Pimento Loaf____ 24
Kraft, American Loaf__ 22
Kraft, Brick Loaf______ 22
‘Kraft, Swiss Loaf______ 24

Kraft, Old End, Loaf __ 81
Kraft, Pimento, % Ib._1 70
Kraft, American, % Ib. 1 70
Kraft, Brick, % 1b... 1 70
Kraft, Limbur., % Ib..1 70

December 19, 1934

CHEWING GUM

Adams Dentyne -
Beeman’s Pepsin 65
Beechnut Peppermint___ 65
Doublemint 66
Peppermint, Wrigleys__ 66
Spearmint, Wrigleys—. 65
Jiney, Eri 65

 

Wrigieys P-K_..___..._.. 65
Meaverry) (sooo ee 65
CHOCOLATE

Baker, Prem., 6 lb. % 2 42
Baker, Pre., 6 lb. 3 02. 2 55
German Sweet, 6 lb.4%s 1 85
Little Dot Sweet

Cab: 348. a 2 55

CIGARS

Hemt. Champions _._ 38 >
Webster Plaza _____. wh)

Webster Golden Wed. 76 4
Websterettes -_--..__ 37 50
Citas 38 50
Garcia Grand Babies— 40 00
Bradstreets 38 50

  

Budwiser
isapele. _.. po... oy 60
Cocoanut
Banner, 25 lb, tins__._. 20%
Snowdrift, 20 Ib. tins_ 20%
CLOTHES LINE
Household, 50 ft.-_-_____ 1 75

Cupples Cord -_.-.... 2 90

COFFEE ROASTED
Lee & Cady

VCO} je Le
Boston Breakfast _
Breakiast Cup _.__._ 23%
Competition b,
a Ve

 

   

Netrow —
Quaker, in cartons____ 24%
Quaker, in glass jars_ 29

Coffee Extracts

M. Y © 100. 12
Frank’s 50 pkgs... 4 25
Hummel’s 50, 1 1b._-__ 10%

CONDENSED MILK

Eagle, 2 0z., per case__ 4 60
Cough Drops

Bxs.

Smith Brog. 2.200 1 45

Luden'a, 22 1 45

Vick’s, 40/10c__-______ 2 40

 

COUPON BOOKS
50 Weonomic grade. 2 50
100 Economic grade__ 4 50
300 Economic grade__20 00
1000 Economic grade__37 50
Where 1,000 books are
ordered at a time, special-
ly printed front cover is
furnished without charge.

CRACKERS
Hekman Biscuit Company

Saltine Soda Crackers,

Duk ee a 114
Saltine Soe Crackers,

1 lb. pk
Saltine Soda Crackers,

2 10 pkep. 2.68
Saltine Soda Crackers,

8% of pies.
Butter Crackers, bulk 13
Butter Crackers, 1 Ib. 1.66
Butter Crackers, 2 lb. 3.12
Graham Crackers, bulk 13

 

Graham C’s, 1 Ib._ 1 49
Graham C's, 2 Ib. 21%
Graham C’s, 6% oz._ 93

Junior Oyster C’s, plk. 13
Oyster C’s, shell, 1 Ib. 1 71
Club Crackers _______ 1 76

CREAM OF TARTAR
6 1b, boxes... ss

ORIED FRUITS

 

Apricots
ChGiGe; cue ee is 221%
piandard 2 es 21
Citron
10: tb? boxe see 25

~

 

 

 

~

 

 

December 19, 1934

 

MICHIGAN

TRADESMAN

 

Currants
Packages, 11 oZ._....__.. 13
Dates
Quaker, 12s, pitted_._.__ 1 40
Quaker, 12s, regular__ 1 10
Quaker, 12s, 1% lb._. 2 30
Quaker, 12s, 1 Ib.__-_ 1 45

Fige
24-8 oz. case_. 1 80

Calif.,
Peaches
Byap. Choice ______-_ 14%
aye, Fancy 16%
Peel
Lemon, Torelli,
4 0z:, dom 90

Orange, Torelli,

“ of. doven 90
aa Torelli,
0Z., dozen____---- 90

Raisins
Seeded, bulk ~____--_ 1%
Thompson’s S’dless blk. 7%
— s'dless blk...

8
gene Seeded, 15 oz... 8%

California Prunes

90@100, 25 1b. boxes —@6%
80@ 90, 25 1b. boxes __.@07
70@ 80, 251b. boxes __@07%
60@ 70, 25 lb. boxes _.@08
50@ 60, 25 lb. boxes __.@08%
40@ 50, 25 lb. boxes -_.@09%
30@ 40, 25 lb. boxes __@11
20@ 30, 25 lb. boxes -__@13

iso 24, 25 lb. boxes _-@14

Hominy
Pearl, 100 Ib, sacks___. 3 50

Bulk Goods
Elb.Macaroni, 20 Ib.bx. 1 35
Egg Noodle, 10 1b. box 1 25

Pearl Barley
Chester

Lentlis
Che eee 10

Tapioca
Pearl, 100 lb. sacks__.. 74%
Minute, 8 oz., 3 doz. 4 05
Dromedary Instant ... 3 50

Jiffy Punch
3 doz. Carton__.--_.--- & 25
Assorted flavors.

a oe ie Ce

Quaker, Gallon, % dz.. 2 85
Carnation, Tall, 4 doz. 2 95
Carnation, Baby, 4 dz. 1 45
Oatman’s D’dee, Tall _ 2 95

Oatman’s D’dee, Baby ; 48
Pet, Tall 2 95
Pet, Baby, 4 dozen_-. 1 45
Borden’s, Tal, 4 doz.. 2 95
Borden’s, Baby, 4 doz. 1 45

FRUIT CANS
Ball Mason
F. O. B. Grand Rapids
One pint, 2 1
One quart —-----—-—---- 3 00
Half gallon ~-.—-__ 12 00

Mason Can Tops, gro. 2 55

FRUIT CAN RUBBERS
Quaker Red Lip, 2 gro.

carton, oc 88
GELATINE

Jell-o, 3 doz.-------- 210

Minute, 3 doz._-------- 4 05

Knox’s, 1 dozen---- 2 25

Jelsert, 3 doz._-------- 1 40

HONEY
Lake Shore 1 Ib. doz-. 1 90

JELLY AND PRESERVES
Pure, 30 lb. pails. 2 60
Imitation, 30 Ib. pails_1 =
Pure Pres., 16 0z., dz. 2 0

12 oz. Apple Jelly, dz. 95
13 oz. Mint Jelly, dz. 1 60
7 oz. Cranberry Jelly, dz 90

JELLY GLASSES
% Pint Tall, per doz.__-- 85

JUNKET GOODS

Junket Powder .__. 1 20
Junket Tablets ____._ 1 35
MARGARINE
Wilson & Co.’s Brands
Oleo
Nit oe eo Sealey

Certified Animal Fat
Oleg) oe 13

MATCHES
Diamond, No. 5, 144... 6 25
Searchlight, 144 box__ 6 25
Swan Me 5 65
Diamond, No, @._ 5 00

Safety Matches
Red Top, 5 gross case 4 80
Congress, 5 gro. cs... 5 25
Standard, 5 gro. cs._. 4 00

MUELLER’S eee
Macaroni, 9 0z.________

Spaghetti, Son. 3 10
Elbow Macaroni, 9 oz._ 2 10
Egg Noodles, 6 oz. -___ 2 10

Egg Vermicelli, 6 oz. 2 10
Egg Alphabets, 6 0z.__ 2 10
Cooked Spaghetti, 24c,

  

TM os. 2 20
NUTS
Whole
Almonds. Peerless __.. 15%
Brazil, large 13
Hancy Mixed __._
Filberts, Naples -_--__ 16

Peanuts, vir. Roasted ae
Pecans, 3, star
Pecans, Jumbo __._
Pecans, Mammoth

Walnuts, Cal. ith to 32

 

Loree Peanuts
Fancy, No. tl 12
12-1 a Cellop’ e case_ 1 50

Shelled

Peanuts, Spanish, 125
lb. bags
Filberts

 

Walnut, California ____ 56

MINCE MEAT
None Such, 4 doz..-.__ 6 20
Quaker, 1 doz, case_._._ 95
Yo Ho, Kegs, wet, ib... 16%

OLIVES—Plain
Quaker, 24 34% oz. cs. 1 87
Quaker, 24 7% oz. cs. 3 55
Quaker, 12, 12 oz.--_- 2 40
High Life, 12 22 oz. cs. 3 45
1 gal. glass, each____ 1 55

OLIVES—Stuffed
Quaker, 24 2% oz. cs, 1 87
Quaker, 24 4 oz. cs... 2 75
Quaker, 24 5 oz. cs... 3 55
Quaker, 24 7% oz. cs. 4 55
Quaker, 24 10 oz. cs. 5 95
Quaker, 12 32 oz. cs... 7 88
1 Gallon glass, each__ 2 10

PARIS GREEN

 

1s
og and be. 30

PICKLES

Sweet Small
L and C, 7 oz., doz... 92%
Paw Paw, quarts, doz. 2 80

Dill Picl:les
Gal., 40 to Tin, doz._._ 8 20
32 oz. Glass Thrown_-_ 1 50

PIPES
Cob, 3 doz. in bx. 1 00@1 20

PLAYING CARDS
Blue Ribbon, per doz. : 50
Bicycle, per ‘doz.------ 70
Caravan, per doz._--- 2 25

POP Sone oe
Sure Pop, 25 lb. bags 5
Yellow, 24 1-lb. bags... 2 50

FRESH MEATS

Beef
Top Steers & Heif._._ 14
Good Steers & Heif.__ 12%
Med. Steers & Heif._. 10%
Com. Steers & Heif._. 09

Veal

 

Lamb

 

 

 

 
 

Pork
Boing!) Soc e ee 13
Shoulders: 2 10%
Spareriba 2252 10
Neck Bones (2.2 03
Trimmings — -_-..

PROVISIONS

Barreled Pork
Clear Back ___.24 00@26 00
Short Cut, Clear_._. 24 00

ry Salt Meats
DS Bailes oo 20-25 17

Lard

Pure in tierces__-_-___ 12%
60 1b. tubs ____-' advance

50 lb. tubs ~---- advance %4
20 lb. pails _____: advance %
10 lb. pails _....advance %
5 lb. pails _-_-_-advance 1

3 1b. pails —____ advance 1
Compound, tierces______ 12
Compound, tubs_____-_ 12%

Sausages
Bologna —--_--_-_--—-___ 12

 

Smoked Meats
Hams, Cert., 14-16 lb.__ 19

 

Hams, Cert., S ned

TG-18 Ibe @19
Ham, dried beef

Knuckles | @22
California Hams —~_---. @14
Picnic Boiled Hams_---@18
Boiled Hames ------_- @34
Minced Hams  -_---.--@13
Bacon 4/6 Cert... @27

 

Beef
Boneless, rump _...@24 00

Liver
Beet 2 9

 

RICE
Fancy Blue Rose-.-.-.- 5 00
Fancy Head -.--.-.-. 6 10
RUSKS

Postma Biscul: Co.
18 rolls, per case __
12 rolls, per case ____-. 1
18 cartons, per case _.. 2 35
12 cartons, per case _-. 1

 

SALERATUS
Arm and Hammer 24s_ 1 50

SAL SODA
Granulated, 60 Ibs. cs._ 1 35
Granulated, 18-2% Ib.

packages) 222! 110

COD FISH
Bob White, 1 Ib. pure 25

HERRING

Helland Herring
Mixed, keza .___.__
Milkers, kegs _  &
Boneless Herring 10 |b. 14
Cut Lunch, 8 Ib. nate 1 2

  

 

Mackerel
Tubs, 60 Count, fy. fat 6 00
Pails, 10 lb. Fancy fat 1 50

White Fish

§ ib. patie...
Cut Lunca... i 50
Boned, 10 lb. boxes_..__—‘:16

SHOE BLACKENING

 

2 in 1, Paste, doz.___.. 1 30
E. Z. “Combination, dz. 1 30
Dri-Foot, doz. -_----.. 2 00
Bixbys, doz. Se 1 30
Shinola, doz._--------- 90

STOVE POLISH
Blackne, per doz.__-__
Black Silk Liquid, doz.
Black Silk Paste, doz._
Enameline Paste, doz.
Enameline Liquid, doz.
E. Z. Liquid, per dcz._
Radium, per doz.____--
Rising Sun, per doz.__-
654 Stove Enamel, dz._
Vulcanol, No. 10, doz._
Stovoil, per doz.___----_ 00

 

C19 PED ht bet et tt pk et pe
2
o

SALT
F. 0. B. Grand Rapids

Quaker, Sib 95
Quaker, 36-11% wo 1 20
Quaker, Iodized, 24-2. 1 35
Mea. No. 1, bbis.______ 3 00
Med. No.1, 100 lb. bk.__ 1 00
Farmer Spec., /0 lb... 1 00

Packers Meat, 50 Ib... 65
Crushed Rock for ice,
cream, 100 lb., each 83
Butter _ 280 1b. bbl. 4 00
Block. 50 Ib. 40
Baker sae 280 lb. bbl 3 80
6, 10 Ib., per bale______ 96
20, 3 Ib., per bale_____ 1 02
25 lb, bogs, table: = 45

   

aes
lODIZEDs
yn
a NI

Gog phe COMPAS

  
    
 

  

  
   

Free Run’g, 32, 26 oz.- 2 40
1 2 3t

Five case lots__....-. )

Iodized, 32, 26 oz.--_-. 240

Five case lots___..---- 2 30
Colonial

Fifteen 49 1 00

 

%
Log Cabin Plain, 24, 2s 1 35

BORAX
Twenty Mule Team
24,1 lb. packages -_--. 3 35

48, a0 oz, packages... 4 40
96, } ’, lb. packages___. 4 00

WASHING POWDERS
Bon Ami Pd., 18s, box. 1 90
Bon Ami Cake, 18s._-_ 1 65

Brille. 2 3 85
Big 4 Soap Chips 8/5. 2 40
@hipso, large — 4 05

 
   

Climaline, 4 doz.
Grandma, 100, 5c.
Grandnm, 24 large---. 3 50
Snowboy, 12 large .--. 1 80
Gold Dust, 12 lar --. 1 80
La France Laun 4 dz. 3 65
Lux Flakes, 50 small_._ 4 80
Lux Flakes, 20 large__ ‘ .

 

Old Dutch Clean., 4 dz. 0
Octagon, 96s --_------- 3 90
Rinso, 248 --- --- 4 80
Rinso: 40a) 225 -- -- 2 95
eae Cleanser, 48,

276 o2 3 85
Sani Flush, 1 doz.._.__ 2 25
Sapolio, 3 doz._.------ 3 15
Super Suds, 48 ~----- 3 90
Sunbrite, 50s.__------- 2 10

Wyandot. Cleaner, 248 1 60

SOAP
Am, Family, 100 box : 20
EB @c2 35
Fels Naptha, 100 box__ ‘ 65

 

Palm Olive, 144 box___ 6 20
hava, 50 box... 2 55
Camay, 72 box... $05
P&G Nap Soap, “100@3 10
Sweetheart, 100 box._. 5 70
Grandpa Tar, 50 sm. __ 2 10
Williams Barber Bar, 9s 50
Williams Mug, per doz. 48
Lux Toilet, 50... a

SPICES
Whole Spices
Allspice samaica_ ae

Cassia, Canton
Cassia, 5c pkg., doz.__ @40

  

Ginger, Africa)... @19
Mied. No. 1... @30
Mixed, 10c pkes., doz... @65
“Nutmegs, 70@90 __---_ @50
Vutinegs, 105-110 ___.. @48
"epper, Black... @23
Pure Ground in Bulk
Allspice, Jamaica __.. @18
Cloves, Zanzbar _._._- @28
Yassia, Canton________ @22
Ginger, Corkin ~_--___ @l7
Mustard 2000 @21
Mace Penang _-__-_.. @69
Pepper, Black ______ @23
Nutmegs _____ -~ @25
Pepper, White __ -~ @45
Pepper, Cayenne ____- @26
Paprika, Spanish ___._ @36

  

   

Seasoning
Chili Powder, 1% %2.-. 62
Celery Salt, 1% « oz. 80
Base. 2 6m. 8 80
Onton Sait _______ a 1 33
Garlie 2c 2 oo
Poneity, 334 07... 3 25
Kitchen Bouquet_____ aon
Laurel Leaves _______ 26
Marjoram, 1 oz... _—_ 90
Savory, 1 0z..____ Hee 65
Thyme, f of. ___ = 290
Tumeric, 136 oz..____. 35
STARCH
orn
Kingsford, 24/1 __--__ 2 35
Powd., bags, per 100__ 3 95
Argo, 24, 1 Ib. pkgs__ 1 66
Cream, 24-1) 2 2 20
Gloss
Argo, 24, 1 Ib. pkes.__ 1 66
Argo, 12, 3 Ib. pkgs.__ 2 25
Argo, 8, 5 lb. pkgs.-__ 2 46
Silver Gloss, 48, 1s_... 11%
Elastic, 16 pkgs.____._ 1 38
Tiger, 50 Ibe._____._. 2 83
SYRUP
Corn
Blue Karo, No. 1%4__ 2 65
Blue Karo, No. 5, 1 dz. 3 58

Blue Karo, No. 10__.. 8 40
Red Karo, No. 14%____ 2 85
Red Karo, No. 5, 1 dz. 3 88
Red Karo, No. 10 3 74

Imit. Maple Flavor
Orange, No. 1%, 2 dz. 2 87
Orange, No. 3, 20 cans 4 34

Maple and Cane
Kanuck, per gal.______ 1 25
Kanuck, 5 gal. can____ 5 30
Kanuck, 24/12 Glass_. 4 00
Kanuck, 12/26 Glass 4 15

Grape Juiwe

Welch, 12 quart case__ 3 90
Welch, 12 pint case___ 2 00

COOKING OIL

Mazola
Pints, 2 doz., case... 5 10
Quarts, 1 ‘doz. 47
5 gallons, 2 per case__ 11 15
TABLE SAUCES

Lee & Perrin, large___ 5 75

Lee & Perrin, small___ 3 35
Pepper: - 22 1 60
Royal Mint.) 3 2 40
Tobasco, small______-- 3 75

Sho You, 9 oz., doz.___ 2 00

 

Caner. 2 07. 2 3 30

 
 

21
TEA
Japan
Medium - rn
Choice .-- -22@30
Fancy ._. nS ____-30@36
No. 1 Nibbs_____-__--_. 32
Gunpowder
Choice es 34
Ceylon
Pekoe, medium  ____.___ 63
English Breakfast
Congou, medium  —_____
Congou, choice _____ 35:@36
Congou, fancy __.._. 42@43

 
  

TWINE
Cotton, 3 ply cone______ 40
Cotton, 3 ply balls______ 40
VINEGAR

F. O. B. Grand Rapids
Cider, 40 grain
White Wine, 40 grain 19%
White Wine, 80 grain 24%

WICKING
No. 9, per gross _______ 80
No. 1, per gross See 1 25
No. 2, per gross _______ 1 50
No. 3, per gross _______ 2 30

 

Peerless Rolls, per doz. 90
Rochester, No. 2, doz..
Rochester, No. 8, doz._ 2 00

Rayo, per doz.________ 5
WOODENWARE
Baskets

Bushels, Wide Band,

wood handles_______ 2 00
Market, drop handle. 90
Market, single handle. 95
Market, extra 220 1 60
Splint: latwe re 8 60
Splint, medium 7 50
Splint, smali 2222 6 50

Churns
Barrel, 5 gal., each___. 2 40
Barrel, 10 gal., each___ 2 55
3 to 6 gal., per gal... - 16

Pails
10 qt. Galvanzed ______ 2 60
12 qt. Galvanized _____ 2 85
14 qt. Galvanized _____ 3 10

12 qt. Flaring Gal. Jr._ 6 00

  

10 qt. Tin Dairy_. -____ 4 00
Traps

Mouse, wood, 4 holes____ 60

Mouse, wood, 6 holes___ . 70

Mouse, tin, 5 holes... 65

Rat, wood: 20m. s 1 00

Rat, spring _.. 1 00

Mouse, spring 20
Tubs

Large Galvanized___._ 8 75

Medium Galvanized___ 7 75

Small Galvanized _____ 6 75

Washboards

Banner,

Brass,

Glass,

North ern Queen_

 

Paper Food Dishes
2 tl size, per M____ 2 70
b. size, 2
bi

size,
3 Ib. size,

5 lb. size,

 

WRAPPING PAPER

 

Butchers D F 05%
erate 2) os __ 05

Brat Stripe. 09%

YEAST CAKE

Magic. 3 doz...-.2-:_ 2 70
Sunlight, 2 G0e Ce 2 70
Sunlight, 1% doz. --___ ¥ a5
Yeast Foam, 3 doz..___ 2 70

Yeast Foam, 1% doz._. 1 35

YEAST—COMPRESSED
Fleischmann, per doz._.. 30
Red Star, per doz._----- 24

 

 

22

SHOE MARKET

Michigan Retail Shoe Dealers Association,
President—Clyde Taylor, Detroit.
First Vice-President—M, A. Mittleman,
Detroit.
Vice-President—Arthur
Rapids.
Vice-President—Edward Dittman, Mt.
Pleasant,
Vice-President—K. Masters, Alpena.
Vice-President—Max Harriman, Lan-
sing.
Vice-President—Fred Venting, Saginaw.
Vice-President—Richard Schmidt, Hills-
dale.
Vice-President—Edward Stocker, De-
troit.
Vice- President—B, C.
Rapids.
_Sec’y and Treas.—Joseph Burton, Lan-

Allen, Grand

Olsee, Grand

sing.
Field Sec’y—O. R. Jenkins, Portland.
Yearly dues $1 per person,

 

Who Must Pay for Socialization
Schemes

This world of make-believe is doom-
ed for a rude awakening. We are now
in the midst of a welter of words on
how to solve unemployment by every
means other than that of work, work,
work.

One of the most damnably dangerous
things in the public’s mind today is
Townsend plan. The idiotic idea is that
the aged shall be paid $200 a month—
the total of which must be expended
for goods and services within 30 days,
whereupon the purchasing power of the
token money disappears. Month by
month, the scheme is to finance pure
purchasing power, for it is understood
that people at that age have no earning
capacity.

Why delude the aged? Why feed
them with the dreams of childhood?
—‘“‘once upon a time there was a moun-
tain of gold, etc.’ One of our men
figured it out that it would take $150,-
000,000,000 a year to make the Town-
send plan a Utopian possibility. It is
cruelty to continue the vaporizing of
such plans in the thin air of a day and
age when stark reality faces all of us.
What it has done is to postpone any
orderly method of old-age pensions, for
even if a $5.00 a week plan were pro-
posed it would be ridiculed as inade-
quate because of the liberality of the
Townsend plan. Thousands of aged
people have been led mentally astray,
and the harm becomes more apparent
day by day.

The new Congress will undoubtedly
take up the subject of social legislation.
It is undoubtedly true that there are
thousands of business men who are
definitely in favor of the principle of
unemployment insurance, just as it is
true that there are those who are dis-
tinctly opposed to it. But the middle
group deserve a voice after proper time
and study—so that they can decide the
question whether the compulsory build-
ing up of unemployment reserves is
-sound in a period of depression.

How much can business and the
worker be taxed for social insurance
and how much can be passed on to an
overloaded governmental budget? The
large scale unemployment now prev-
alent does not make this an appropriate
time to inaugurate a system of per-
manent unemployment
Some temporary plan may be necessary
as a supplement to relief work engi-
neering.

insurance.

The President has been making a
very deep study of the subject of relief
for the unemployed and it is believed

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

that he will substitute some sort of
work program for the direct relief
schemes now operative in many parts
of the country. That certainly does not
indicate that the Government has bil-
lions of dollars to pass out to people,
merely because they have reached an
age limit or because they are potentially
“pure consumers.” No, indeed, reality
is stepping into the picture. Work is
to be encouraged; work projects stim-
ulated and the
money”

delusions of “free
will be swept away.

The merchant or manufacturer has
got to ask himself a number of ques-
tions. Is he in favor of a national sys-
tem of unemployment insurance or
does he want independent state sys-
tems, or corporation systems—trade
group systems under state or national
regulated supervision? How much of
a tax can he stand and still continue in
business? Are the contributions to be
made by employers exclusively? The
same question in another form—are the
contributions to be made on equal ratio
by employers and employees? To what
extent is the state or the Federal Gov-
ernment to contribute to old age se-
curity?

With the possibilities of recovery
brighter for the year 1935, this new
problem of old age security and un-
employment insurance dulls the pic-
‘ture, for it is obvious that the incom-
ing Congress is going to be deluged
with letters from the vast horde want-
ing money, with no reserves from
which to take such funds.

If social insurance is to come, and it
seems altogether likely, the thought
must be on how to spread the burden
of a complete social welfare program
over employer, employee and the com-
munity; and at the same time make
possible progress under conditions of
national and international competition.
—Boot and Shoe Recorder.

———_»~+~e___
How Some Readers Regard the An-
niversary Edition

Grand Rapids, Dec. 1—The anniver-
sary number of your Michigan Trades-
man is before me. I haven’t read it all
as yet, but I am going to read it from
cover to cover,

It is a wonderful edition and I want
to congratulate you.

You have a host of friends and they
all love you. W. R. Roach.

 

Grand Rapids, Dec. 7—Thoughtfully
and most appreciatively do I extend
you congratulations on the caliber and
verve of vour fiftyy-first anniversary
edition, which I have read with much
pleasure and profit.

Your contributors were all of caliber
second only to you, Mr. Stowe, and
this one edition is worth more than
your annual subscription price to every
considerate reader.

Your maintaining the high plane that
vou do—at a great price—is one of the
few standards laboriously established,
that the “earthauakes” of the past dec-
ade have not shaken or destroyed.

E.G. Weir.

Grand Rapids, Dec. 6—I am very
much interested in reading the fiftv-
first anniversary edition of the Mich-
igan Tradesman and I want to extend
to you my sincere congratulations and
best wishes. John A. Cleveland.

Grand Rapids. Dec. 6—I have spent
the whole morning going through the
fifty-first anniversary number of the
Tradesman, Barring the Tavern arti-

-cle, it is a most wonderful paper. I

have gone over all the advertisements
and they are a mighty clean lot.

I am so thankful that the good Lord
sees fit in His love to spare you all
these years to make Michigan a better
place to live, and here’s hoping that
you are going to stick around here
until you Out “Around every Michigan
merchant into your subscription list.
They all need it. Mel Trotter.

 

Grand Rapids, Dec. 8—Ii drop you
a line to tell you that the fifty-first an-
nual edition of the Tradesman was a
splendid number, both as to type of
articles used and the many interesting
advertisements.

I also wish to thank you for the
opportunity of being able to send you
a small financial article to be used
therein. J; i. Petter.

Saginaw, Dec, 20—Thanks for your
continued interest in the retail grocer.

I haven’t heard from the National
Retail Grocers Association. Don’t think
I will. In case they reply will mail
you their letter.

There should be some relief as to
quantity discounts to the small mer-
chant. They are being driven out of
business and if things continue you
will see very, very little independent
business in the U.S.A. inside of ten
years.

Thanks very much for your atten-
tion. It is a pleasure to have you run
a really fearless periodical in the state.
The fifty-first anniversary edition is
superb, A. Hi. Kreschmer.

Ludington, Dec. 8—It is with pleas-
ure that I extend to you my heartiest
congratulations for having rounded out
fifty-one years as publisher of the
Michigan Tradesman. I wish you con-
tinued success. Louis E. Courtot.

Grand Rapids, Dec. 10—Thanks so
much for your letter of Dec. 3 enclos-
ing tear sheet of article contributed by
John Lake. All of this helps very
much, I congratulate you on the fifty-
first annual edition. I have been away
so much lately that I haven’t had time
to thoroughly read it, but I shall take
it home and try and make it next Sun-
day’s jobs Hy. Gray.

Muskegon, Dec. 12—Please find $3
check enclosed for another year’s sub-
scription to the Michigan Tradesman.

I wish to congratulate you, Mr.
Stowe, on your fifty-first anniversary
edition. I enjoyed it very much, espe-
cially the poem by Douglas Malloch.
That alone is worth the price of a
year’s subscription. The Out Around
column is always very interesting to
I3¢C;

When you come to Muskegon again,
please don’t fail to come in, even if for
only a few minutes. I certainly appre-
ciate your visits and also the sound
business advice which only comes from
men of your long experience.

John Kolkema.

Atwood, Dec. 2—Each year as the
anniversary number comes to us, we
know it is time for us to send our $3
for another year of advice, admonition
and the countless other valuable fea-
tures which our paper has always con-
tained. We are thankful that you have
passed another milestone in your ca-
reer as editor and manager. The an-
niversary edition reached us last Sat-
urday and we have gone through the
paper and read some of the articles,
but not all, as we have been rather
busy buying new equipment to re-
arrange our store and are also putting
in equipment to handle fresh meats.

We found. as usual, a great many
valuable articles in this year’s num-
ber and figure we can use the paper
to great advantage during the winter
evenings.

We wish to congratulate you on the
lone record of usefulness you have
of being such aid to all who would
listen or read and learn of you or ap-
ply the teachings to their business.

 

December 19, 1934

We have had a great many changes
in the past year and are making the
biggest change now in putting in a
meat market out here in the country.
Our business has shown a nice increase
the past year and November happened
to be the best November in dollar vol-
ume in the history of the store, even
going above 1927 and 1928, when our
grain and feed sales were large and
prices high.

We have rented our warehouses to
an elevator man for a branch of his
business, so we can apply all of our
time to the store proper. ¢

Rather sorry Mr. Stebbins did not
get to our place on his visit up here
the past summer, but hope that if
either of you come next season that
you will stop and see if we are living
up to our caption at the top of this let-

ter: “The Best Country Store in
Northern Michigan.” :
Wish you the season’s_heartiest

greetings and hope that we all may see

and enjoy next year’s anniversary
Tradesman and each weekly issue in
the meantime. John Bos.

Grand Rapids, Dec. 7—I do not feel
that you are the one to thank me for
the small advertisement which we had
in your edition, but I do feel that I,
personally, should thank you for your
interest in Scouting and for the privi-
lege of presenting in your magazine
the article which you permitted me to:
write, which really was a privilege. We
in Scouting appreciate this action on
your part a great deal.

L. V. Mulnix.

Los Angeles, Dec. 12—I have just
finished perusing the fifty-first anni-
versary edition which, to my notion,
is the most interesting of any of its
predecessors that I have seen. In my
abode here, almost everybody “begs
the loan” of the Tradesman each week,
not especially because they are inter-
ested in my offerings, but, as they say,
“because it is different.”

Frank S. Verbeck.

Orlando, Florida, Dec. 15—My copy
of the fifty-first anniversary number of
the Tradesman at hand and I want to
extend hearty congratulations.

It is a masterpiece in every way.
The class of contributors and the var-
ied subjects covered show your genius
in picking your writers and the value
they place in the Tradesman as a me-
dium of conveying their thoughts to
the thinking public; also the value the
best advertisers place in it as a means
of getting their products to the atten-
tion of the best buyers.

The growth of your magazine from
its small beginning in 1883 and _ its
steady improvement through the years,
culminating in this great issue, should
be and must be an inspiration and
great satisfaction to you who have
made it possible.

The untiring work of yourself and
able helpers has been of untold value
to your subscribers in more ways than
one. The poems on the cover, the
Out Around and Rascality columns,
the oleo tax refund—in fact, the fight-
ing of the merchants’ battles through-
out the vears—to say nothing of the
wonderful articles and letters in every
issue, have been worth hundreds of
dollars to your readers.

You have completed fifty-one years
of great service to your readers and
most men would think of retiring, but
not you—you would only be happy in
continuing the great work and may
your health be such that your guiding
hand may be with the Tradesman for
years to come.

Best wishes and the season’s greet-
ings from a reader of your journal for
forty years. Lewis A. Smith.

Cedar Springs, Dec. 15—Accept my
congratulations on your fine issue
marking the fifty-first anniversary of
the Tradesman.

(Continued on page 23)

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

December 19, 1934

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

23

 

OUT AROUND
(Continued from page 9)

show how this may be accomplished.
Frank T. Bell,
Commissioner of Fisheries.

 

It is an old and a universal saying
that the prosperity of the country—ail
the country—depends upon the quan-
tity of the produce raised on the farms.
No other industry so seriously affects
the business of the country as a crop
failure. If the crops are generally good
throughout the country, business feels
its effect in every department of its
industry. But should the crops fail in
certain localities, both the farmer and
the merchant feel the ill effects. The
farmer because he cannot meet his ob-
ligations to the merchant; and the mer-
chant because he will be obliged to
carry the farmer until the farm yields
a paying crop. As their interests are
mutual, their business should be in
harmony. The merchant always buys
his produce from the farmer and never
for one moment things of sending out
of town for his hay, grain or other
rural produce necessities. But for some
reason we have farmers in every
locality who do not follow the prac-
tice of reciprocity, but, on the other
hand, buy a great amount of house-
hold necessities in the large cities. This
is an injustice, not only to the mer-
chant but the farmer himself, as it re-
duces property values of the locai
towns, and, in a very short time, will
affect the farm values. It has ever
been conceded that thriving farms are
in the vicinity of prosperous towns or
cities.

 

In his remarkable talk over the radio
Sunday evening, Arthur Sears Henning
stated that the tendency of the NRA
was to make the rich richer and the
poor poorer; that the great merchants
are fattening on the code and that
many of the small and medium sized
merchants are losing money which
properly belongs to them every day.
It does not require a great newspaper
correspondent to tell us this condition.
We all know it and fully realize that
unless the NRA is shortly abolished
the business interests of the country
wil reach a condition of chaos.

 

A St. Joseph friend writes me as fol-
lows concerning the new line-up at the
New Whitcomb Hotel:

“Leon J. Harris is the general man-
ager of the hotel and will so continue
in the future. Mr. Harris has been
general manager since the hotel was
purchased by the Chicago party last
February and he is connected with the
purchaser.

“Trying Hallett, who was head clerk
and has been connected with the hotel
for about eight years, has been pro-
moted to assistant manager, taking Mr.
Renner’s place. Mr. Hallett is well
known to the traveling public and to
the hotel men of Michigan. He is very
pleasing, efficient and obliging and will
make a most capable assistant man-
ager.”

 

General Hugh Johnson, who gave
birth to the NRA, says the bird is now
as dead as a dodo. He ought to know,

because a soldier is usually able to de-
termine when a thing is non est.

Hancock, Dec, 15—We are in re-
ceipt of your letter and are more than
glad to co-operate with you in advis-
ing how the letter writing contest,
“Why I Like to Shop at Gartner’s”
worked out.

We have been running this contest
for seven weeks and there is no ques-
tion that it is the best advertising our
department store has ever published.

One reason is there is more power in
such advertising, to have the customers
themselves tell other customers how
nice it is to shop at Gartner’s. It is the
most profitable adverising imaginable,
because any time a customer wins five
dollars in merchandise for the winning
letter, she always buys a little more in
order not to make you think she is
greedy. In one instance we sold a
$79.50 coat.

You would be surprised over the
interest it stimulates in a small com-
munity, because each and everybody
knows one another. So far as the news-
paper is concerned they will be more
than glad to publish the winning let-
ter each week, as it makes wonderful
Sunday morning reading. Altogether
we have had about fourteen to sixteen
hundred letters. The contest closes
Christmas morning. We consider this
contest a 100 per cent success.

In case you wish to know more
about this or have any questions to ask
we will be more than glad to give you
the information desired.

Gartner’s,
Norbert L. Kahn.

 

Hudson, Dec. 15—Your letter ad-
dressed to the Waldron State Savings
Bank has been referred to me, and I
was very much pleased to receive a
copy of the article published in_ the
Michigan Tradesman in regard to John
K. Boies.

I enclose a clipping cut from the
Hudson Post-Gazette in regard to the
Waldron State Savings Bank and the
Hudson State Savings Bank. The writ-
er began business with the Exchange
Bank of Boies, Eaton & Co. on Sept.
1, 1892, about one year after John K.
Boies died, but I remember him very
well, and remember the business that
was done at the old corner store. You
will remember that about that time
Oren Howes purchased the old corner
store of the John K. Boies estate and
moved his stock of goods into the
building, I am sure that you will be
interested to know that Oren Howes,
only a few days ago, discontinued his
business here and sold out his stock
and the store is now occupied by the
Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co.

You will remember that the old
Boies Bank was established Jan. 1,
1855, by John K. Boies, Nathan Rude
and Henry N. Boies. Later the name
of the bank was changed to Boies & Co.
About the time that I began with the
Bank, the business was Boies, Eaton
& Co. A short time later this was in-
corporated as Boies State Savings
Bank. Later, in 1920 the name of the
bank was changed to the Hudson
State Savings Bank. No member of
the Boies family was in this vicinity
at that time.

In 1920 the stockholders of the Hud-
son State Savings Bank established
the bank at Waldron, and that bank,
like the Hudson State Savings Bank,
has had a very enviable record. Neither
bank in the years of their existence has
ever suspended payment, has ever been
compelled to compromise with their
creditors, has ever been compelled to
seek assistance from the Government
or otherwise, has never been restricted
in their operations, except a few days
on account of state and Federal proc-
lamations.

When the National Park Bank of
New York consolidated with Chase
National Bank of New York, we were
their oldest customer, having begun
business with the National Park Bank
when it was the Park Bank of New

York, before the civil war and before

the National banking act was passed.

Now these two banks have been con-

solidated under the name of the Hud-

son State Bank with the main office at
Hudson and an office at Waldron.

Byron J. Foster,
Pres. Hudson State Bank.

Chester L. Beach, whose  bank-
ruptcy is played up under the heading
of bankruptcy proceedings in this
week’s paper, shows the greatest dis-
parity between assets and _ liabilities
I have ever seen. His net assets are
$5 and his total liabilities are $69,681.14.
I take my hat off to such an artist.

 

I doff my hat to Dr. Preston Brad-
ley | (@hicaso) for the remarkable
compliment he paid the Tradesman in
his last Sunday sermon. His designa-
tion of the Tradesman as the “greatest
trade journal in the United States”
may be somewhat extravagant, but
rather than have any controversy
with the distinguished divine, I am
disposed to. accept his estimate with-
out protest.

 

At one time the James Butler Gro-
cery Co., New York, operated £350
chain stores, but in the last four years
the company has closed 680 of them,
leaving 670 stores employing 1,800
workers. Attorney L’Heureaux said
that the policy of reducing the num-
ber of stores by the Butler company
was similar to that adopted by the
other chain stores. “The company has
been losing money very heavily in the
last six years,” the attorney of the
company stated, “and the Butler fam-
ily has contributed approximately $1,-
900,000 in that time to save the busi-
ness. The estate feels that it cannot
continue to put money into the busi-
ness at that rate. It is a case of try-
ing to save the organization and to
keep employes now in service.” This
shows how hard the chain systems
have been hit in the past few years.
Probably there are others that are
shaky.

 

Boot & Co. are installing two new
meat equipments this week—one for
Klooster & Co., Atwood, and one for
R. K. Gunther, East Jordan.

 

Gerald K. O’Brien, Deputy Attor-
ney General, writes that the chain
store coproations which appealed to
the Michigan Supreme Court from the
lower court decree sustaining the con-
stitutionality of the Michigan chain
store tax law, have deposited addi-

tional security for the second year
chain store taxes. E. A. Stowe.
—_2--____

How Some Readers Regard the An-
niversary Edition
(Continued from page 22)

The issue is a credit to you certainly.
But not only this particular issue re-
flects your ability, but every issue of
the Tradesman. If my Clipper can
ever be such an important influence in
this community as your magazine is
over the state, I shall feel amply re-
paid and that my life has not been lived
in vain. No periodical that I know of
in Michigan is more relied upon than
yours in the mercantile field.

We appreciated your recent refer-
ence to the Clipper owners after your
visit to our town. I wish you had
stopped in the office. I have been in
your office several times, but you were

always away. My uncle, Dr. Burr Bab-
cock, of Kalkaska, will probably be
with me during the holidays and when
we are in Grand Rapids we shall come
in to see you. Nina E. Babcock.
———_»-->___—__
Concluding Session of the State Phar-
maceutical Association
(Continued from page 18)
State Senator of this state sat up at
my desk and he asked me about it and
a few of the facts. I told
money

I gave him

him the boy had gotten his

back, but we wished we had the op-
portunity to tell the drug students cf
Michigan that these things can’t make
any difference. I am glad this has been
aired this morning. Anyone who has
any question knows it will be given
proper consideration. Now we have
one more speaker. I want to say while
IT am on my feet that I certainly have
enjoyed this convention in Pontiac the
last three days. I will turn the meet-
ing over to Mr. Allan.

Mr. Allan:
morning to have with us Mr Martin
Moll, of

He will put on a comedy skit entitled

We are privileged this
the University of Michigan.
“Casey at the Bat.”

Mr. Moll’s efforts

appreciated and he was given a great

were very much
ovation.)

I think we can now have
the results of the election.

President:

For President
Pank Gipson — 2-2 es 43
J. Ernest Mahar 9-47 = 80
Nick Eleeres 2225-22 2: —
1st Vice President
Bem beck: 22052 sala 89
Marvin Fomlin - 99.5 = 19

Jonna Miller (2903 ooo. 9
2nd Vice President

Glenn Staines 222. 22° 24

Roy F. Smith-) 93 = 8

 

Cash paid for stocks of merchandise
of every description including ma-
chinery, plants and equipment.
Write or wire

M. GOLDSMITH

935 Gratiot Ave. CAdillac 8738
DETROIT, MICHIGAN

 

 

 

 

Complete modern Drug Store fixtures for sale at
a great sacrifice, consisting of plate glass sliding
door wall case, show cases, cash registers, count-
ers, back bar soda fountain and utensils, ete.
ABE DEMBINSKY, Liquidator
171 Ottawa Ave., N. W.

Grand Rapids Michigan

 

 

Phone 89574

John P. Lynch Sales Co.
SPECIAL SALE EXPERTS
Expert Advertising
Expert Merchandising
209-210-211 Murray Bldg.
Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

 

 

 

BUSINESS WANTS

DEPARTMENT

Advertisements inserted under this head
for five cents a word the first insertion
and four cents a word for each subse-
guent 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—PEANUT AND COFFEE
ROASTER—Combination coffee 2rinder
and peanut butter machine; two Stim-
son computing scales; adding machine;
cash register; and other fixtures, Also
small stock of groceries, shoes, and rub-

ber goods. Cheap. Hinkley Store, La
Grange, Indiana. 398

 

 

MICHIGAN

TRADESMAN

 

‘December 19, 1931

 

24
Joe Maltas ~.--------- 87
Treasurer
Pete McFarlane ------ 42
A. B. Clement_------- 12
Henry Hadley -------- 62
Secretary
Clare Allan 222-5 -- 74
8) Drolet. 2 9
Boll Tart 2 40
Executive Committee
Nort Henry ---------- 57
frank Jones —_-_.___-~ 33
James Lyons ---------- 60
Louis Middleton ------ 12
Howard Hurd -------- 32
Guy Phillips ---------- 7
Trustee Prescott Memorial Fund
Charles Stocking ~---- 123

President: You have, gentlemen, for
your new officers according to the re-
turns received:

President—Ernie Mahar

1st Vice President—Ben Peck

2nd Vice President—Joe Maltas

Treasurer—Henry Hadley

Secretary—Clare Allan

Executive Committee—Nort Henry
and James Lyons

Trustee Prescott Memorial Fund—
Charles Stocking.

The newly elected officers were prop-
erly installed in office.

Mr. Mahar: Gentlemen, I want to
thank you for the honor you have con-
ferred upon me. I believe if there is no
further business a motion 1s°in order
for final adjournment, so far as the
convention proper is concerned. You
know we have our rouad table discus-
sion this afternoon, but that will not
be reported. Thank you.

Final adjournment.

—_§_s.2s———_
The Origin of Christmas and Santa
Claus

From the early centuries of Chris-
tianity, the anniversary of the birth of
Christ has been celebrated by a special
church festival. In early England, this
festival was called ‘“Christes Messe,”
meaning “Christ’s Mass,’ whence we
get our word “Christmas.”

At first the date of the celebration
varied in different places, some
churches observing it in December,
others in January, April or May, be-
cause of the absence of historical record
as to the exact date of Christ's birth
January 6th was the usual date ob-
served in the Eastern church, and it
still continues to be in the Armenior
church. The celebration of December
25th spread to most parts of the Chris-
tian world in the fourth and fifth cen-
turies; but differences in the calendar
still cause differences in the time of
celebration.

One of the causes that worked to
establish the new festival on Decembe1
25th was probably the fact that this day
marked the beginning of the great
winter solstice festival of the pagan
Gauls, Germans and Britons. As in
cther instances where pagan festivals
were replaced by Christian, many of
the old pre-Christian customs and sym-
bols were taken over. The Yule log,
holly, mistletoe, and wassail bowl are
all relics of pagan observances.

During the midde ages Christmas be-
came the greatest of popular fetes.
Churches were adorned with rustic dec-
otations and quaint little plays were

given portraying events connected with
the birth of Christ and his early years.

The jovial old Dutch settlers of New
York brought with them across the
ecean the joyous observances of the
fatherland. We. of the New World
owe our Santa Claus to them, for this
jolly old Santa is none other than St.
Nicholas or San Nicolaas—the patron
saint of children—as pronounced in
Dutch. :

Today the observance of Christmas
is well nigh universal throughout the
Christian world. Everywhere it is
above all the children’s holiday. In
Engand and American the little folks
hang up their stockings in a row be-
fore the fireplace and Santa Claus, we
are told, rushing down from the north
in a sled drawn by reindeer, scrambles
down the chimneys and fills them from
the great pack on his back. In some of
the Baltic lands the gifts are supposed
to be brought by the Christ Child
(Kris Kringle) himself. In France the
children place wooden shoes on the
hearth to received the presents which
“Bonhomme Noel” (Father Christmas)
brings. Norwegian children have a lot
of fun hunting their new toys which
have been tucked away in unexpected
places. In Italy presents are drawn
from the “Urn. of Fate’—a custom
which originated in the urn of fate of
the ancient Romans.

Almost every land of Christendom
has its own Christmas carols. In Eng-
land “waits” sing under windows on
Christmas Eve as they have done for
countless Christmases. In Russia the
ancient Kolyada songs once sung to
pagan gods, now dedicated to Chris-
tian saints, are sung about the streets.
The French Noel songs and the famous
German “Kristlieder” are heard wher-
ever there is Christmas music.

The Christmas tree, with its golden
star and lights, and its imitation frost-
trimmed boughs, is as much a part of
the celebration as is the Christmas
carol. Some trace its origin back to
Roman days, but its first appearnce as
a regular institution was along the
Rhine sometime in the 16th century.
At the beginning of the 19th century
the fashion spread all over Germany,
and by 50 years later had conquered all

Christendom. — Compton’s Pictured
Encyclopedia.
———++.—__—
Plea of Retail Grocer Who Is Con-
fused

East Jordan, Dec. 16—I wish to
compliment Mr. Miles A. Drallette on
his article that appeared in your maga-
zine two weeks ago, in regard to the
buying price of the small merchant
compared to the selling price of the
chain.

I also noticed that Mr. Drallette stat-
ed he would like to hear from a man-
ufacturer or jobber who would sell him
cheap enough so that he could sell at
chain prices, and bet that he did not
hear from one.

I noticed that several manufacturers
made rebates on car lots and no matter
who bought at the car price the price
would be allowed, but this would not
apply to the one or two case merchant.
However let us look into the matter a
trifle closer. I compared a few items
in carlots and find that a certain flour
the chain was selling at 67c at that
time, delivering it from Grand Rapids,
or two hundred miles (buying in car
lots, of course) the same week a jobber
had an extra special on this flour, de-
livering it fifty miles and asking 69c

per sack. (Buying same in car lots.)
Now then, I wrote to- the flour com-
pany and asked them where the con-
fusilty came in, he stated that the
flour was cheaper in car lots. They
both bought in car lots, only the chain
delivered it 200 miles further than the
jobber, who delivered it fifty miles. I
asked a jobber what he wanted for
chocolate drops which the chain was
selling for 10c per pound and he stated
10%4c and the same can be bought in
Chicago for 7c after freight is paid.
It would cost about eight cents or
perhaps 734c if we bought in Chicago.
We would be held a communist by the
jobber, but I wonder why the jobber
cannot meet this competition. No one
is asking the jobber to work for noth-
ing. No, but why should a jobber ex-
pect us to work for nothing? Of
course, he says, the chain. I bet two
to one that if we would get busy—the
jobbers and the merchants—and' both
get a shorter margin of profit, and go
out for business, instead of sending it
away we would have a larger turnover
and the chains would be beaten in six
months and willing to co-operate at
reasonable prices on their merchandise.
I think this would tune them down
much more than chasing our customers
over to them by (too high) prices. I
will live to see the day when we will
operate on a 10 per cent. basis and the
wholesaler will get 5 per cent. and will
be able to operate.

This may seem only a dream, but it
is not far off and the wholesaler who
thinks he is putting one over on the
retailer will find himself out of busi-
ness, for the involuntary chain will
come through and line the retailers up
with a 5 per cent margin ad the retail-
er will join up with him, which will
compel other retailers to do likewise,
and the wholesaler will be sitting hold-
ing the bag and wondering why he did
not think of that. .

There is no use of us fellows trying
to do business if we cannot get co-op-
eration and the way for the wholesaler
to do is to get the merchandise the
chain has, and deliver it as cheap as
the chain will, so that the little fellow
can sell the same quality at the same
price as the chain does. Until that time
comes the wholesaler will just get by
and the retailer will if he can. What
we want is the same merchandise as
the chain, the same quality as the chain,
at the same price as the chains.

I cannot understand why a whole-
saler cannot get it. He buys a carload
at a time, unless he is asking for too
much profit on deliveries. There are
plenty of articles the chains are charg-
ing more for than the independent.
Why cannot the wholesaler raise his
price on those articles and lower them
on the ones the chain is using for a
football?

I personally am willing to do more
business for less profit if there is some
way of keeping the customer away
from the chain. Every customer who
goes to the chain may become a steady
customer for them. At present we are
driving them away from us to the
chain and it is mostly high prices that
are doing it. God only knows that the
merchant should not sell all his mer-
chandise at cost while the wholesaler
sits back and gets a long profit, the
same as he always did. Those days
are past. At present it is necessary to
buy from six or seven wholesalers to
be able to operate at all. We would
like to buy all our needs from one or
two, but we cannot, as we perhaps can
get a little better price from one than
we can from the other on various
items; therefore we have to shop
around. Also the wholesaler must call
on three or four customers to get the
amount that he could get from one if
he would furnish. What we need is
same goods, same price and same qual-
ity for the money as they would get
from the chain. A short time ago the
wholesaler came through with a Tall
Boy soup which the chain is selling at
10c and the wholesaler asks 10c from

us—a fine kettle of soup. A customer
comes in and says I can buy that same
size can at the chain for 10c and she
goes there next time she wants it. I
wonder -if anyone can blame the cus-
tomer? I personally would buy from
one or two wholesalers, but none of
them want to handle what the chain
carries and if they do they want more
than if we bought it from the chain.
I cannot get that through my head.
There may be some articles that the
wholesaler cannot buy as cheap as the
chain, but it would not be everything.
The chain is now selling peanut but-
ter for 23c for a 2 lb. jar. We must
pay 28c for a 2 lb. jar. Why is it that
we cannot have our wholesaler get into
the game and get a better price?

He should be businesslike and just
because he has been buying his peanut
butter from the same manufacturer for
30 years does not mean that he should
accept any price the manufacturer
wants for it. I would say to Mr. Jones,
“We have always been friends, Mr.
Jones, and always will stay friends, but
we cannot pay that price, as we must
meet competition. No matter how
good a friend a fellow is, if he hasn’t
got the price and quality he is not sell-
ing to me if there is any other way of
getting it, and there mostly always is.
If a fellow wants too much he is not
a friend, but an enemy who wants to
put you out of business as quickly as he
can by sending your customers away
from you. So let us wake up. I want
to stay independent, but if the boys
do not wake up pretty soon, others as
well as myself will line up with some
wholesaler who is running a chain of
independents and who is willing to co-
operate at a lower margin, so that we
can meet competition.

I personally believe that if some
good wholesaler were to go through
Michigan with the right price he could
get more business than he could take
care of. I believe there will be shortly
and he is the baby that is going to get
ahead, and get the business. We want
a wholesaler who is for the Independ-
ent every minute, who is not afraid to
demand his rights to buy as the chains
buy, and is not afraid to leave a man-
ufacturer, no matter how long he has
bought from him, unless he can get
the price so that the retailer can meet
competition. This article may sound
as if the wholesaler is to blame for our
prcies. Perhaps he is not on some,
but he most certainly is on others.
This I know personally. Buy the same
as the chain and deliver the same as
the chain and sell the same as the
chain and we will all be back to pros-
perity in six months time. It will not
take longer, we will get our customers
back and can buy volume again instead
of a case or dozen of this or that. Get
us the merchandise, so we can meet
this class of competition. I do hope
this will wake up someone to get
some action and business for himself.

R. K. Gunther.
— ++ -__
Japanese Seek 1935 Toy Orders

Reports that Japan is prepared to
supplant Germany completely next
year in the sale of toys in this market
were current in the import market this
week. Representatives for Japanese
manufacturing houses have already
visited the wholesale market with sam-
ples of 1935 Christmas lines. In prac-
tically all instances, it was said, the
new toys are of better quality than
those shipped for sale this season. In
addition, the selection of goods offered
by the Japanese has been widened con-
siderably by the inclusion of a number
of German type mechanical toys and
games. Several local importers will
leave for Japan next month to inspect
the enlarged toy lines,

oo _—____
Building should soon begin to rise.

 

 

 

 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

BUREAU OF FISHERIES
UNIVERSITY MUSEUMS BUILDING

Ann Arbor, Dec. 13—TI have received
your request of December 10 with reference
to the operation of deep trapnets in the
Michigan waters of the Great Lakes. For
your information | am inclosing some liter-
ature on the subject. You may also secure
an article on the deep trapnet by writing
to Fred Westerman, Fish Division, Depart-
ment of Conservation, Lansing, Michigan,
who will be glad to send you his article that
appeared in the Michigan Department of
Conservation Monthly Bulletin, Vol. 2, No.
11, November, 1932. The article that ap-
pears in the October, 1934, issue of The
Fisherman (copy inclosed) was taken large-
ly from Mr. Westerman’s article.

Our investigation of the deep trapnet was
carried on in co-operation with the Conser-
vation Department of Michigan. It was com-
pleted on October 20, 1932. We found that
the deep trapnets threatened the whitefish
population of the Great Lakes because they
tended to increase the annual production
beyond the safety point and because they
were Set on previously protected summer
feeding grounds of the whitefish. We found
that the whitefish were definitely concen-
trated during the summer months between
the depths of eighty and 110 feet. Fishing
these grounds in the summer time with deep
trapnets would be more or less comparable
to fishing on the spawning reefs in the fall
during the spawning period. You can, there-
fore, readily see that such fishing must ulti-
mately prove disastrous. In fact, disaster
has already overtaken the whitefish industry
in Lake Huron. Statistics on Lake Huron
show that the whitefish has been seriously
depleted in that lake, depletion being very
evident and marked in 1933 and 1934. In
this connection [| would like to quote from
an unpublished report submitted to the Con-
servation Department on April 13, 1933:

“Deep trapnets were first introduced in
the state of Michigan on Lake Huron in
1928 and most of the deep trapnets are
fished on this lake at the present time. In
view of these facts it may be interesting to
review briefly the effects of fishing of deep
trapnets on the commercial yield of white-
fish. Whitefish is the principal species taken
in deep trapnets. The greatest whitefish
catch on record for Lake Huron, Michigan

waters, is for the year 1880 when 2,700,000

pounds were taken; the next highest annual
catch occurred in 1916 when 1,996,317
pounds were taken. But in 1929, after the
deep trapnet was introduced, Michigan fish-
ermen on Lake Huron produced 2,178,534
pounds of whitefish in 1930 some 3,379,-
776 pounds, in 1931 some 4,491,458
pounds, and in 1932 some 4,292,617
pound, a total of some 14,342,385 pounds
during the last four years. To emphasize
the magnitude of this catch it may be point-
ed out that the yield of these four years
approximately equalled that of the twelve
years from 1917 to 1928 inclusive, when
14,560,851 pounds of whitefish were taken.
The average annual catch for the period
1913-1928 was 1,226,087 pounds and for
the period 1929-1932 some 3,585,596
pounds. In other words since the introduc-
tion of the deep trapnet the average annual
yield of whitefish on Lake Huron increased
2.9 times. The 1931 catch was 1.7 times
the record yield of 1880 and 3.7 times the
average annual yield of the period 191 3-
1928, while corresponding figures for the
1932 catch was 1.6 and 3.5 respectively.
Every year, from 1929 on, was a record
breaking year and the catch increased pro-
gressively each year until 1932 by jumps
of more than 1,000,000 pounds, which
amount is only slightly less than the average
annual catch of the years preceding 1929,
the first year after the deep trapnets were
introduced on Lake Huron. Such unprec-
edented, phenomenal increases in four con-
secutive years can not be due solely to fluc-
tuations in natural abundance. Besides, rec-
ords show that at present some 600 deep
trapnets have been introduced on Lake
Huron alone and that trapnets increased in
number in the state of Michigan, Lake
Huron, from 1,362 in 1928 to 2,497 in
1931, an increase of 83 per cent. Most of
this increase is, no doubt, accounted for by
the deep trapnets. During the same period
poundnets decreased in number from 871 to
612 a decrease of 30 per cent. Whitefish
gillnets did not vary significantly in quantity
these years.”

Statistics for 1933 show that 3,284,901
pounds of whitefish were taken on Lake
Huron, most of these in deep trapnets. The
outstanding fact in this connection is that
approximately 1,548,706 of this total catch

were produced in District No. 5, the Harbor
Beach district. Previous to 1933 this dis-
trict produced relatively small amounts of
whitefish. The enormous catch in 1933 in
the Harbor Beach area was due entirely to
the fact that virtually all the deep trapnet-
ters of Lake Huron concentrated their white-
fish fishing at Harbor Beach. Whitefish ports
North of Harbor Beach had been heavily
fished by deep trapnets, with the result that
the fishermen did not find it profitable to
continue deep trapnet operations at their
home port. In 1934 the Harbor Beach area
gave out and some of the fishermen migrat-
ed to Michigan ports on lower Lake Michi-
gan. You may have read about the furor
created at Frankfort, Ludington, Grand Ha-
ven and ports South when the deep trapnet-
ters transferred their operations from Lake
Huron to Lake Michigan. We found that,
as a rule, whitefish grounds were depleted
after having been fished rather intensely by
deep trapnets for a period of two or three
years. The Harbor Beach grounds were
depleted in two years because of the heavy
concentration of deep trapnets there in
1933.

On the basis of our investigation on Lake
Huron and Lake Michigan, the Conserva-
tion Department at Lansing submitted a bill
to the legislature restricting the fishing of
deep trapnets and all nets of similar design
to waters 80 feet in depth and less and pro-
viding for a minimum size of mesh in the
lifting pot of 414 inches. The first provi-
sion, however, did not pass the regular ses-
sion but it did pass the special session of
this past summer. These regulations were
recommended for Lake Huron conditions
entirely. Greater restrictions are necessary
for the waters of the other lakes.

I am glad to note the interest that you
are taking in securing proper restriction of
deep trapnet operations. The commercial
fishery is a very valuable asset to the state
of Michigan and the whitefish is one of the
most valuable species taken by the indus-
try.

If further information is desired, | shall
be pleased to give it to you.

JOHN VAN OOSTEN,
In Charge Great Lakes Fishery

Investigations.

 

 

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