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q Thirty-Third Year GRAND RAPIDS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 1916 Number 1712
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s Do you wish the world were happy? ; #
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x Just to scatter seeds of kindness ; 2
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t For the pleasures of the many ; +
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“‘A Smile Follows the Spoon When It’s Piper’s”’
Made for a Discriminating Public by a Discriminating
House for Discriminating Dealers.
If you wish to secure the agency of the BEST ICE
CREAM it is possible to produce, write at once to
Piper Ice Cream Co.
Kalamazoo, I___
The country seems almost puzzled
by its prosperity. Record figures in
everything are being chalked up by
Government bureaus and commercial]
agencies on the credit side of the
ledger; yet well-known authorities
keep telling each other and the public
not to rejoice prematurely. There js
a feeling like that which induced Polye-
rates to throw his solitaire into the
Aegean, that “things are too good
to last.” In imitation of this old-
world Trust-magnate, corporations
are throwing vast sums into their
sinking funds, and swell depreciation
accounts beyond all precedent. Polyc-
rates was terror-stricken when _ his
chef found the solitaire in next day's
filet-de-sole. So business men tremble
when they see that quarterly earn-
William Mendelsohn
Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michi-
gan. He is at present assigned to
Western and Northern Indiana ter-
ritory and undertakes to see his trade
three times a year.
Mr. Mendelsohn was married June
26, 1907, to Miss Bessie Friend of
Chicago. They have two children,
daughters 41%4 and 7% years of age,
respectively, and reside in the mater-
nal home at 5529 Michigan avenue.
Mr. Mendelsohn has only one hobby
outside of his business and that is
fishing. He jis probably the only
traveling salesman in the United
States who carries a stereopticon ma-
chine along with him. His outfit is
a very complete one and two or
three evenings each week he hangs
out a sheet twenty feet square ‘and
gives the people of the town he hap-
pens to be in the benefit of a out-
door picture show, including current
events as well as illustrations showing
how Kitchen Klenzer is made and
used.
Mr. Mendelsohn is very much in
love with his job and is also enamour-
ings refuse to diminish by libation-
pouring. Their sword of Damocles
is peace in Europe. It is to be hoped
that when that sword does fall it
will be harmlessly, on a cushion of
reserves, depreciation accounts, and
sinking funds, with general financial
conservatism.
_———_-o-—- oo
It is estimated by Treasury officials
that a war with Mexico would cost
$10,000,000 a month. This can be little
better than a guess, but on that guess
the Department figures that the funds
can come out of income, saving the
necessity of a bond issue. The coun-
try is not so much interested in the
question of the cost of the Mexican
war as in that of having the United
States ready to meet any enemy. !t
is quite conceivable that the main-
tenance of a good army and a good
navy would cost in time of peace, in
excess of what has been expended
heretofore, an amount far above the
cost of subjugating the bandits of
Mexico, establishing order and setting
up a stable government by Mexicans,
and it would be worth the price.
July 12, 1916
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
America’s Biggest
Fall Merchandise
Display Is On
It's ready—the great Fall Merchandise exhibit
looked forward to by more than two hundred thousand
merchants as the signal to prepare for their Fall, Holiday
and Winter profit-getting. Right here in Chicago, on
our sample floors, you can see NOW the merchandise of
the world. Nowhere else in America is it possible to see
so many major lines of goods conveniently displayed in
one place. Not until you have inspected these goods
Can you get an adequate idea of what the markets of
everywhere have to offer you this year. You are invited.
And it will be to your interest to come just as soon as
you can conveniently do so.
essnepeetuneuneaeeemeee
aay
BUTLER BROTHERS
Exclusive Wholesalers of General Merchandise
NEW YORK CHICAGO ST. LOUIS MINNEAPOLIS DALLAS
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
SFM eas
See
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Movements of Merchants.
Marquette—Conrad Wellman, gro-
cer, has filed a voluntary petition in
bankruptcy.
Dowagiac—Merwin & Bonnell suc-
ceed Bonnell & Hartner in the gro-
cery business.
Hersey—Earl Proctor is closing
out his stock of general merchandise
at public sale.
New Boston—The Peoples State
Bank has been organized with a cap-
ital stock of $20,000.
Battle Creek—A. I. Marble has
opened a cigar and tobacco store at
49 East Main street.
Munising—Miss Ella F. Grogan has
closed out her millinery stock and
will retire from business.
Middleton—E. H. Moss _ has
stock to B. QO.
who will continue the business.
Shelby—Alfred R. Heald is re-
modeling and enlarging his bakery.
sold
his drug Reynolds,
He has also installed a new oven with
a capacity of 200 loaves daily.
Vermontville—Mrs. W. H. Chaffee
has sold her interest in the ‘bakery
to her son, E. H. Cole, who will con-
tinue the
name.
Charlotte—William Welch has sold
his grocery stock to George W. Mc-
Elmurry, who will continue the busi-
business under his own
ness at the same location on Prairie
street.
Perry—James Locke, of Lansing,
has purchased an interest in the Dun-
ning Hart hardware stock and will
devote his entire attention to the
business.
Mt. Pleasant—J. M. Lutzenheiser
and William formed
a copartnership and engaged in the
produce, butter, egg and
business.
Battle Creek—John K. Godfrey has
formed a copartnership with Price
Mayo under the style of the John K.
Godfrey Jewelry Co. and engaged in
business.
Saginaw—The Michigan Packing
Co. has. decreased its capital stock
from $30,000 to $25,000; also changed
its name to the Saginaw Valley Can-
ning Co.
Petoskey—John M. Shields, receiv-
or of the Petoskey Hardware Co., has
sent the creditors dividend checks
representing the full face value of
their claims.
Menominee—The Z. & H. Market
Co. has dissolved partnership and the
business has been taken over by Val
Hoffman, who will continue it under
his own name,
Detroit—The Dearborn Hardware
Co. has engaged in business with an
authorized capital stock of $15,000,
all of which has been subscribed and
paid in in cash.
Ferguson have
poultry
Midland—The Fahrner Elevator
Co. has been incorporated with an
authorized capital stock of $30,000,
all of which has been subscribed and
paid in in cash.
Saginaw—Fire damaged the Stephen
*. Zacharias store building, meat and
grocery stock to the extent of about
$9,000, July 7. The loss is partially
covered by insurance.
Alpena—Martinson & Stafford and
Nowak & Martinson have consolidat-
ed their clothing stocks and will con-
tinue the business under the name of
Martinson & Stafford.
Jackson—Maher Bros. have taken
over the T. C. Smoke stock of pianos,
piano players and sheet music and
consolidated it with their own stock
at 120 East Main street.
Lansing—The Gately Co., with
headquarters in Saginaw, has opened
the 118th store in its chain, at 208
South Washington avenue, under the
management of W. C. Horn.
Jackson—J. H. Lourim & Co.,
dealers in dry goods, are building a
two-story addition to their building
on West Main street, which will pro-
vide an additional floor space on two
floors of 120 x 40 feet.
Detroit—The Dubary Blouse Shop
has been incorporated to sell ladies’
ready-to-wear apparel at retail with
an authorized capital stock of $2,000,
all of which has been subscribed and
$1,200 paid in in cash,
Marquette—John Jones has remov-
ed his stock of general merchandise
from Diorite to the corner of Mich-
igan and High streets and will con-
tinue the business, adding a line of
groceries to the stock.
Ludington — Elmer Chesebrough
has sold his interest in the meat stock
of Chesebrough & Fredburg, to Frank
Krause and the business will be con-
tinued at the same location under the
style of Fredburg & Krause.
Detroit—Jack Burnham’s shop has
been incorporated to retail men’s
wear and other merchandise with an
authorized capital stock of $2,500, of
which amount $1,500 has been sub-
scribed and $1,000 paid in in cash.
Portand—Marshall & Wright, lum-
ber dealers in Jonia and John B.
Mathews have formed a coparnership
and taken over the real estate and
lumber business of Charles A. Estep
and will continue it under the man-
agement of Mr. Mathews.
Detroit—The Henry A. Wright
Co, has engaged in business to manu-
facture, buy, sell and deal in machin-
ery, railroad and mill supplies with
an authorized capital stock of $1,000,
of which amount $500 has been sub-
scribed and $250 paid in in cash.
Gladwin—Merton H. Wright, en-
gaged in the general store business,
formerly known as Wright & Burton,
has merged the business into a stock
company under the style of the
Wright-Carson Co., with an author-
ized capital stock of $25,000, of which
amount $12,500 has been subscribed
and paid in in cash.
Detroit—A. C. Klett, formerly of 65
Monroe avenue, has moved a few
doors west of his former location and
has added to his stock of men’s fur-
nishings a men’s shoe department.
Mr. Klett previously sold furnishings
exclusively. The store was remodeled
before Klett occupied it and it is now
one of the most modern and well
equipped of the Monroe avenue stores.
Detroit—L. Nathanson is having the
building at 615 Hiastings street remod-
eled and is preparing to open a large,
modern retail shoe store July 15. A\I-
though Nathanson has occupied the
store for some time, the remodeled
building bears little resemblance to
the former structure. The interior is
being refitted, new shelves and fix-
tures being installed and the store
will be one of the most modern of
the stores exclusive of the downtown
section.
Detroit—The Howard Shoe Co.,
Gratiot avenue, has been dissolved and
the Schroeder Shoe Co. has purchased
the stock and will occupy the store.
It is understood that Boston shoe
manufacturers will act as receivers in
order to protect their accounts. With
the purchase of the Howard stock, the
Howard Shoe Co. adds one more to
its string of stores. It now conducts
three stores. One of these is on
Randolph street and the other two are
located on Gratiot avenue.
Detroit—Wilmer FF. Btuler, for
many years identified with the shoe
jobbing business in this city, has re-
signed his position with the Michigan
Shoe Co. and will become an execu-
tive of the Ainsworth Shoe Co., an-
other jobbing concern. Before be-
coming connected with the Michigan
Shoe Co., Mr. Butler was manager of
the Queen Quality Shoe Co., and prior
to this was associated with L. N. Val-
pey, one of Detroit’s oldest shoe con-
cerns,
Detroit—Robert Doolittle, buyer
for the shoe house of R. H. Fyfe &
Co.. is off on an Eastern trip. He
will visit all the Eastern shoe centers
and will also attend the annual out-
ing of the New York Shoe Travelers’
organization, which will be held in
New York. Doolittle is buyer for the
five floors of his company’s store and
although he will find time to visit
with the travelers and Eastern man-
agers and retailers, he will devote
most of his time to business. He ex-
pects to return to Detroit about July
21.
Detroit—The Up-To-Date Shoe Re-
pair Co., on John R. street, owned and
operated .by Neil Blakely and John
Blakely, has sold its stock and ma-
chinery equ'pment to The Griswold
Repair Co. This gives the latter com-
pany a much larger plant than its
former location on Griswold and
State streets. The Up-To-Date is
now about the largest and most com-
pletely equipped institution of its
kind in Detroit. Neil Blakely has
entered the commission business, and
July 12, 1916
John Blakely will sell real estate.
Both have been identified with the
shoe business for several years
Detroit.
in
Manufacturing Matters,
Flint—The Flint Varnish & Color
Works has increased its capital stock
from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000,
Plymouth—The Plymouth Motor
Castings Co. has increased its capital-
ization from $10,000 to $75,000,
Detroit—The F. L. Jacobs Co,,
electric welder and manufacturer of
auto parts, has increased its capital
stock from $100,000 to $300,000.
Saginaw—The real estate, stock
and bills receivable of the Michigan
Glass Co., going through bankruptcy,
will be sold at auction July 1s.
Holland—The Home Furnace (o,
is erecting a one-story factory, 260x
100 at a probable cost of $17,000,
which it will occupy about Sept. 1.
Detroit—The Fostoria Creamery
Co. has been organized with an au-
thorized capitalization of $4,800, all
of which has been subscribed, $320
paid in in cash and $4,480 paid in in
property.
Detroit—The Detroit Bag Co. has
been incorporated with an authorized
capital stock of $2,000, of which
amount $1,000 has been subscribed,
$450 paid in in cash and $550 paid in
in property.
Detroit—The Vincent Clear-Room
Steering Wheel Co. has been incor-
porated with an authorized capital
stock of $80,000, all of which amount
has been subscribed, $10,480 paid in
in cash and $69,520 paid in in property.
Three Rivers—The Corlett Stone
Lumber Co. has merged the business
into a stock company under the same
style with an authorized capital stock
of $100,000, of which amount $50,000,
has been subscribed and paid in in
property.
Detroit—The Alfred J. Ruby, Inc.,
has been organized to manufacture
ladies’ and men’s shoes, import and
export, with an authogized capital
stock of $30,000, of which amount
$15,000 has been subscribed and paid
in in cash.
Benton Harbor—The Curland-Kel-
lerman Co. has been incorporated to
manufacture candy machinery and
other machinery with an authorized
capital stock of $12,000, all of which
has been subscribed and $6,000 paid
in in cash.
Detroit—The Wilson-Holland Man-
ufacturing Co. has engaged in husi-
ness to manufacturet buy, sell and
deal in automobile equipment, trucks
and metal parts with an authorized
capital stock of $25,000, of which
amount $2,600 has been subscriled
and paid in in property.
Scottville—The Roach canning fac-
tory, with a force of 275 workers, 15
running Sundays and holidays and
every day between in the effort to
take care of the peas which are con-
ing in from all directions. During
the five days Wednesday to Sunday,
inclusive, an average of 150 loads per
day arrived at the factory. The pack
for those five days was as follows:
Wednesday, 2,692 cases: Thursday,
4,164; Friday, 3,316; Saturday, 4,079.
and Sunday, 1,844.
July 12, 1916
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
Review of the Grand Rapids Produce
Market.
Apples—Western stock, $2.75 per
box; new, $1.25 per 24 bu. box,
Asparagus—$1 per doz. bunches for
home grown.
Bananas—Medium, $1.50; Jumbo,
$1.75; Extra Jumbo, $2; Extreme Ex-
tra Jumbo, $2.25 up.
Beans—Prices range around $5 for
pea and $4.25 for red kidney, unpicked.
Beets—25c per doz. bunches.
Beet Greens—v5c per bu.
Butter—The market is steady and
unchanged. Creamery grades are
held at 27c in tubs and 28c in prints.
Local dealers pay 23c for No. 1 in
jars and 20c for packing stock.
Cabbage—$2.75 per 100 Ib. crate
from Virginia; $2 per 60 lb. crate for
Louisville; home grown, $2.50 per 75
Ib. crate and $1.25 per bu.
Cantaloups — California command
$4 for 54s and $4.50 for 45s; Arizona
are about 25c higher; Pink Meat 12
to crate, $1.25.
Carrots—20c per doz. bunches for
home grown.
Celery—Home__ grown, 5c. per
bunch,
Cherries—$1.25@1.50 per 16 at.
crate for sour; $1.50@2 for sweet.
Cocoanuts—5.50 per sack contain-
ing 100.
Cucumbers—60c per dozen for fancy
hot house; 75c for extra fancy.
Currants—$1.25’ per 16 qt. crate for
ted, white or black. Black are very
scarce and hard to obtain.
Eggs—The market is %c stronger
then a week ago, due to falling off in
receipts and heavy consumptive de-
mand. Local dealers pay 22c cases
included.
Egg Plant—$1.75 per dozen.
Fresh Pork—13c for hogs up to 200
Ibs.; larger hogs 12c.
Gooseberries—$1.25 per 16 qt. crate.
Grape Fruit—Florida and Cuba
stock is steady at $6 per box.
Green Corn—30c per doz.
Green Onions—Silver Skins (black
seeds), 20c per doz. bunches; Ever-
green, 18c per dozen bunches.
Green Peas—Telephone, $1.75 per
bu. :
Honey—19c per lb. for white clover
and 16c for dark.
Lemons—California, $5.75 per box
for choice and $6 for fancy; Messians,
$4.75 per box.
Lettuce—65c per bu. for leaf; 80c
per bu. for head.
Maple Sugar—17c per Ib. for pure.
Maple Syrup—$1.40 per gal. for
pure.
Mushrooms—40@50c per Ib.
Nuts—Almonds, 18c per Ib.; filberts,
15c per Ib.; pecans, 15c per lb.; wal-
nuts, 16c for Grenoble, 16!4c for Cali-
fornia; 15c for Naples.
Onions—Texas Bermudas, $2.25 for
yellow; Louisville, $2.75 per 70 Ib.
sack,
Oranges—Valencias, $44.25.
Peppers—Southern grown command
$2.50 per 6 basket crate.
Pineapple—Floridas command the
following prices: 42s, $2.25; 36s, $2.75;
30s, $3.25; 24s, $3.75.
Pop Corn—$1.75 per bu. for ear,
4%c per lb. for shelled.
Potatoes—Old stock,
Virginia cobblers, $3.50 per bbl.
Poultry—Mixed fowls now com-
mand about 14c; broilers, 22@23c; tur-
keys, 19c; ducks, 1%c; geese, 11c.
Dressed fowls average 3c above these
quotations.
Radishes—15c_ for
round.
Raspberries—$2 per 16 qt. crate for
black and $2.25 for red.
Rhubarb—85c per bu.
Spinach—75c per bu.
Strawberries—Home grown range
from $1.50@1.60 per 16 qt. crate. Re-
ceipts have dropped off to small pro-
portions.
Tomatoes—$2.75 for 6 basket crate,
Florida stock; home grown hot house,
$1 per 8 lb. basket.
Turnips—25c per doz. bunches.
Veal—Jobbers pay 13@14c for No.
1 and 10@12c for No. 2.
Water Melons—$3 per bbl. of 8
to 10.
Wax Beans—$2 per bu.
Whortleberries—$2@2.25 per 16 qt.
crate.
75c per bu.;
long; 12c for
—_— >.
The Grocery Market.
Sugar—The market is steady and
unchanged, with more indications of
an advance than a decline. It is fig-
ured that the country has about run
out of supplies of granulated and must
renew contracting with refiners at the
7.65c basis quoted by all interests. The
weather continues all that could be
asked for a good consumption in the
manufacture of soft drinks and ice
cream, which eat heavily into sugar.
More export business is being looked
for, the business with Greece being
suggestive in this regard. The British
Commission may hold off in its pur-
chases, but judging by the United
Kingdom consumption replenishment
from that direction is bound to be
again a factor.
Tea—The market is a waiting affair,
with no large sales reported in the
trade. The distributers are display-
ing little interest, buying only to eke
out supplies. Prices are fairly steady,
there being no incentive to press of-
ferings and thus break prices, There
are no further cables from the East
of importance, the American buyers,
at last accounts, holding off in Shang-
hai because of the high prices asked
for greens.
Coffee—Actual Rio and Santos
grades are unchanged from a week
ago. The demand is very light. Prices
are certainly no more than steady.
Mild coffees are dull and heavy, buy-
ers taking only for immediate wants.
Java and Mocha grades are unchane-
ed.
Canned Fruits—Apples are very
dull and heavy. California canned
goods show no change for the week
and only moderate demand. Small
Eastern staple canned goods show
no change and light demand. The
pack of white Eastern
nothing on
cherries is
almost account of bad
weather. The pack of pitted sour
cherries has been cut down very de-
cidedly from the same cause. Ha-
waiian pineapple continues very firm,
but the offerings have not increased.
Canned Vegetables—Tomatoes have
become stronger during the week,
due to an increased demand from var-
ious sources, including requisition by
the Government. Actual sales for
army purposes have been made from
centers of supply near the border and
the actual selling on the local market
has been of comparatively small vol-
ume. Nevertheless the market is now
firm at 95c, whereas eatlier in the
month as low as 90c was paid. There
is a good demand for peas, but offer-
ings are now more restricted. Corn
is working up and the situation and
the outlook are firm. No official
statement as to the probable delivery
of Maine corn, but information points
to 50 to 60 per cent.
Canned Fish—The salmon situa-
tion bids fair to become decidedly in-
teresting as the season progresses.
The Columbia River pack has thus
far turned out to be exceptionally
disappointing, not to say discourag-
ing. Fancy Chinooks are running
very light and the pack to date is
considerably less than half of what
it was last year at this time. The
season has but six weeks more to run
and packers declare that by no com-
bination of circumstances, short of the
miraculous, would it be possible to
equal last year’s production. The fact
must also be borne in mind that it is
the early season’s run that produces
the best fish, and that from now on
the quality becomes less satisfactory.
As to pink salmon the local market
situation continues to be a matter of
considerable interest. Because of the
shortage of both red and Columbia
River increased demands are to be
made upon the pink variety and the
majority of holders will not sell be-
low 95c a dozen. Imported sardines
are in the same condition they have
been in for several months, scarce
and very high. Domestic sardines
are unchanged and in light demand.
Dried Fruits—Notwithstanding the
advance as compared with last year
of the opening prices for seedless
raisins announced by the Association
there has been no desire shown on
the part of holders to cancel their
contracts, which had been made _ sever-
al weeks previously subject to opening
prices, which, when announced, were
134c above those of the previous year.
5
On the contrary, there is indication
that many of these buyers would like
to have their allotments increased, if
that were possible under present cir-
cmstances. The Association points
to the fact that their prices are with-
in reason because independents have
named prices %c higher than the
Association's prices. From the
supply standpoint as it now ap-
pears it is almost impossible
to escape the conclusion that higher
prices for prunes are inevitable.
Wholly apart from the determination
of the growers to adhere to a mini-
mum of 6c the estimated production
will not leave a surplus of an amount
sufficient to control the situation.
The average opinion places the crop
of California prunes at 135 million
pounds, of which, as near as it can
be figured, the
consumption will be
pounds.
estimated domestic
100 million
This would leave only 35
million pounds to supply the exports,
which last year amounted to 50 mil-
lion pounds. Peaches continue firm,
but with a small demand. Apricots
are quiet and unchanged. Currants
are very high on account of scarcity.
Rice—Stocks are moderate and as-
sortments poor, but the trade is still
under the influence of price cutting
in some quarters. The export move-
ment is slow, although more business
with Greece is expected soon. In the
South the same story of quiet, steady
markets is heard, The new crop is
making good progress.
Cheese—The market is steady with
a decline of 4@"c indicated. Receipts
are heavier than last year and the
make appears to be large. The ex-
port demand is small. The quality
of the present receipts is very fine.
Provisions—Smoked meats, bellies
and bacon are firm at unchanged
prices, with a good consumptive de-
mand. The prices are from 1@1%c
above last year. Pure lard is un-
changed and is selling fairly. Com-
pound lard declined %c during the
week, but recovered it again and the
outlook is steady. Dried beef shows
an advance of 1c per pound. Barrel-
ed pork is unchanged and quiet. Can-
ned meats are up about 10 per cent.
Salt Fish—Shore mackerel are
above normal, as is the case with all
mackerel. Norway mackerel are
pretty well cleaned up and what there
are left are being offered at very high
prices. Cod, hake and haddock are
unchanged and seasonably dull.
The California Walnut Grocers’ As-
sociation is reported to be preparing
an extensive advertising campaign on
Diamond Brand walnuts, one of the
features of which is a tube containing
two walnuts to be sent to more than
100,000 retailers in the United States.
When the retailer opens the tube the
first thing he will see is a card stating:
“Eat These Walnuts.” The retailer is
then expected to endeavor to learn
who sent him the nuts and read the
circular in which the two nuts will
be wrapped. The jobbers are to be
asked to send a list of fifty names of
their best retailer customers.
* John Lipnitz has engaged in the
hardware business at Moran. The
Michigan Hardware Co. furnished the
stock,
DETROIT DETONATIONS.
Cogent Criticisms From Michigan’s
Metropolis.
Detroit, July 10—Following out our
threats of the past weeks we are again
perpetrating Detonations on the pa-
tient readers of the Tradesman. We
trust this apology will prevent our
being precipitately enrolled in a cer-
tain club made famous during the ad-
ministration of one Theodore Roose-
velt. We are glad to announce, also,
that since our last letter to the
Tradesman the city of Detroit has in-
creased its population by several thou-
sand, just as any live up-to-date city
should do.
Howard B. Jickling, Secretary of
Cadillac Council and representative of
tne Geo. H. Worthington Co., of
Cleveland, left last week to attend a
convention of the traveling salesmen
of the house.
George J.
Hunter, formerly con-
nected with a local jobbing house, but
for the past twelve years engaged in
the retail rug business, has decided to
take a fling at politics and has an-
nounced his candidacy for alderman
of the eight ward on the Republican
ticket. Mr. Hunter has been a very
successiul business man and if elected
will carry out his business principles
in the administration of the people’s
least, that is the declara-
s, and those who are ac-
him know he will carry
imposed on him. He
ith the New England
Co., with stores at 860
n River avenue.
M. general merchant of
Sterling, was a Detroit business vis-
ompanied
~~
ald
eo
4
=
a
0
Oo
a
st week.
hi ‘rife on the trip.
\ new factory is being built by the
Bour-Davis Co. on Fort street, West,
and will be completed about August 1.
A two-story addition will be added
to the original str
~
about a year ago has again, made
}
entrance into t
bringing with hir
he 600 mark shortly. Unques-
' United Commercial
greatest traveling
in the world.
user has secured office
W. Wood, 302 Buhl
will market in this territory
called the Lina-a-
time. a device for holding note hooks.
Mr. Houser’s preliminary efforts with
line have been very success-
the
lis, dry goods and fur-
merchant at 1705 Char-
ng a building erected at
f Charlevoix and St. Jean
Mr. Caplis will add new
nes and increase the present stock
when he moves into the new store.
The undersea merchantman which
arrived in this country put one over
it crossed under the ocean.
ar Levy, manager ‘of the Grand
Rapids office for A. Krolik & Co.. was
n Detroit last week on a business
Hugo J. Stahl. son of F. J. Stahl.
1574-6 Gratiot avenue, has
m
ome
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
opened a dry goods and furnishing
goods store at 762 Mack avenue. Mr.
Stahl carries a gereral line of furnish-
ing goods for men and women and
plans on increasing the stocks with
the opening of the fall season. He
is well acquainted in the neighbor-
hood where he has engaged in busi-
ness.
The World’s Salesmanship Congress
opened in Detroit this week and
among the gathering were some of the
brightest and brainiest salesmen in
the world. President Wilson attended
the Congress on Monday and uttered
a campaign speech.
Prosperity has evidently landed on
Chene street for an indefinite stay
H. D. Dorman, 1382 Chene, and Frank
Resman, 926 Chene, have purchased
new high powered automobiles. Both
merchants are in the general dry
goods business.
A decided impetus has been given
Detroit Council since the elevation of
Elmer C. Brevitz to the office of Sen-
ior Counselor. Many new names hav
been secured to the application blank
and at the meeting to be held nex
aturday several ididates have sig-
their intentions of being on
vand for initiation into the order. Few
cities outside of New York can boast
of such a large population of traveling
salesmen as Detroit and with the
proper methods there is no reason
why the largest U. C .T. membership
should not be enrolled here. With
the present energy displayed by both
councils in this city, the dream may
prove a reality.
The Monroe Toggery Shop has been
opened on Monroe avenue by A. Kahn
o
s
+
t
a
i
& Co. The new store is under the
management of Milton Aronheim.
Marcus Marks, well known Michigan
representative for the Phoenix Ho-
siery Co., of Milwaukee, is associated
F ne new firm. Mr. Kahn is a
sident of Manistee.
It is unkind, to say the least, that
country is unprepared for war.
The call for volunteers came only
a month ago and in less than another
month most of them will be equipped
with uniforms.
John F. Gerschow, for nearly forty
years associated with Newcomb, En-
dicott & Co.. has resigned to take up
work connected with the Masonic
order. Mr. Gerschow began his career
with Newcomb. Endicott & Co. as a
cash boy and by dint of hard work
and faithful application to his duties
i nan of the organ-
ization, establishing a reputation as
one of the most successful and com-
etent credit men in the city. On
s
his duties
handsome writing outfit and a
forth the es
e was and is held by hi
res,
tary McAdoo says that in or-
cement relations between the
i States and South America we
must make a study of the Spanish
language. We already have several
iali2Qu
Americans who have become pro-
ficient as matadors.
The salesrooms of the Strasburg-
Miller Co., at 972 Woodward avenue,
will be opened to the public this week.
The company will market the new
Liberty automobile in this territory.
The first car shown in Detroit was on
display at one of the leading hotels
last week. :
PC. Palmer, A. L. Brevitz, William
Canfield and A. McMillan, department
managers for Burnham, Stoepel & Co.,
are in New York on business for the
firm.
The Burial Fund Association, an
aguxiiiary of Cadillac Council, has
made rapid strides in increasing mem-
bership during the past few months,
according to the report of A. W.
Wood, custodian of the fund. The
benefits derived from the organiza-
tion are so beneficial and at such a
low cost to the members that the
entire Council should become affiliat-
ed with the Association.
W. H. Tibbits, Michigan manager
for Libby, McNeil & Libby, with
headquarters in Detroit. made his ini-
tial trip to Grand Rapids last week
and, according to reports wafted down
this way, about the only thing he
didn’t lose were his initials. A valu-
able watch and several checks were
taken from his room in the hotel.
Mr. Tibbits recovered a portion of the
booty, but is greatly miffed at the
laxity of the hotel management in
guarding the rooms against pernicious
and dishonest invaders.
Those Grand Rapids thieves showed
great sagacity in selecting a Detroiter
for their victim. They knew where
the currency comes from.
H. L. Proper, special representative
for Burnham, Stoepel & Co., with
headquarters in Grand Rapids, is
spending a few days in Detroit.
Plans have been practically com-
pleted for the construction of a mod-
ern six-story and basement storage
building at ss-94 Adelaide street by
the Cadillac Storage Co.
McHugh & Co., florists at 118 Mich-
igan avenue, will move into new quar-
ters at the corner of Grand River and
Cass avenues about August 1.
T. J. Stapleton, who was killed in
Grand Rapids last week, was well
known and very popular not only in
Detroit but in many parts of the coun-
try. He was formerly connected with
Murphy Chair Co. in the capacity of
sales manager. He held this position
tor twelve years, resigning to act as
Manufacturers’ agent. The news of
his sudden tragic death came as a
shock to his hosts of friends in this
City, At this writing many of the
details are lacking.
A. L. Goldstein, clothing merchant
of Flint, was in Detroit on a business
visit this week,
We are pleased to announce we are
now moved and settled, that is, every
thing is settled except the bills.
Our intentions were all right when
we announced the pounding out a
July 12, 1916
page for this week, but we were sit-
ting in the shade at the time.
James M. Goldstein.
——_—__ 2-22. ___
The Failures of the Parcel Post.
Farmers and consumers alike are
discovering that the parcel post plan
is not the cure-all for the high cost
of living that it has been argued to be.
While the logic seemed to prove con-
clusively that eliminating the wicked
middleman would save just that much
of the public burden, it has now dawn-
ed on some of the farmer’s highbrow
friends that because it might be work-
able to the benefit of an occasional
product or of an occasional consumer,
it bears little relation to the great
problem of positive and efficient dis-
tribution of a whole output or the
dependable feeding of a great com-
munity.
Theodore Macklin, Instructor in
Agricultural Economics in the Kansas
State Agricultural College and all-
round expert in the marketing of food
products, has seen the light and now
declares that only a few farm products
can be profitably shipped by parcel
post, while these make up a relatively
small proportion of the city man’s
expenditure for food.
“The main advantage to the city
consumer of direct marketing,’ he
says, “is that the products which he
receives are apt to be fresher than
when obtained from the city retailer,
There is also in some instances a
small saving in the prices paid. Or-
dinarily, however, the farmer expects
a price as high, if not higher, than the
retailer's price to the consumer.
“Only those farm products which
have a high value per unit of bulk,
such as butter, eggs and bacon, can
be profitably shipped by parcel post.
Products of this character make up a
relatively small part of the city man’s
annual food budget. If he should make
a considerable saving on the few prod-
ucts which he could obtain by parcel
post from the country, his total ex-
penditures for food would not be
greatly diminished.
“Much of the parcel post business
has been between city people and their
relatives or friends on the farm. Since
a relatively small part of the city
man’s family food requirements can
in any event be obtained from the
farm by means of parcel post, it is
doubtful if the total expenditures for
food can be materially reduced by
this method of food purchase.”
Simplicity Demountable Wheel Co.
SIMPLICITY DEMOUNTABLE WHEEL
THE NEWEST WAY
(For Ford, Chevrolet and other light cars)
A Blow Out, Puncture or
two minutes, :
We furnish an extra wheel, mou
moving six nuts and lock washer,
Can You Beat It?
INDISPENSIBLE
For delivery cars
Where time is valuable
Price $15 F. O. B.
425 Bond Ave.
Broken Wheel and you are on your way again in
HOW?
We re-fit the four wheels now on your car.
nted on either side or rear of car, then by re-
slipping on th ing the
lock washers and nuts, eras oe — e extra wheel, replacing
Ask your dealer or jobber
Bell Phone 4070.
For pleasure cars
Where comfort is desired
Grand Rapids
SORES HRN:
July 12, 1916
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
7
BANKRUPTCY MATTERS.
Proceedings in the Western District
of Michigan.
Grand Rapids, June 22—John E. Rodg-
ers, of Muskegon, has filed a_ voluntary
petition in bankruptcy. Adjudication
has been made and the matter referred
to Referee Corwin. The first meeting of
creditors has not yet been called. The
schedules of the bankrupt reveal liabili-
ties of $1,573.30; the assets Over and
above those claimed by the bankrupt to
be exempt are $696.15.
., The following is a list of the cred-
itors of the bankrupt:
Unsecured Claims.
Adolph Arnst, Muskegon .........
American Electric Supply Co.,
Chicago ae jais ate
J. Fred Boyd, Muskegon ........ 1.75
3elding Manufacturing Co., Chicago 20.28
Capital Electric Supply Co., Lansing 70.78
Consolidated Electric Lamp Co.,
$ 22.85
Danvers, Mass. 20/0/1500. -- 100.00
Consolidated Lamp & Glass Co.,
Coraopolis, Pa 9.7
Consumers Power Co., Muskegon 23.40
C. J. Litscher Electric Co.,
Grand Rapids (./.....7....... 408.28
Gas Fixture & Brass Co., Cleveland 36.75
{llinois Electric Co., Chicago .... 61.00
Independent Electric Co., Muskegon 37.55
Joulious Andrea & Sons, Milwaukee 66.43
A. T. Knowlson Co., Detroit ..... - 67.46
Kowlbel & Bennet Auto Co., Mus-
kegon 7.69
Muskegon Auto Co., Muskegon 2, 28111
Metropolitan Electric Supply Co.,
@hicago Foe a 75.13
Magoon & Kimball, Muskegon .. 46.70
Marion Insulated Wire & Rubber
Co., Marion, Ind) ..)..))0 0... 98.24
Muskegon Chronicle, Muskegon .. 32.58
Muskegon Daily Times, Muskegon 25.00
Otto Reiman Electric Supplies,
Chicago 0)
R. Williamson & Co., Chicago .... 25.55
Smith Chandelier Co., Detroit 127.73
Usona Mfg. Co., Detroit .......... 24.2
W. W. Andrews Printing Co.,
Muskeron) (020 8.40
The Alter Light Co., Chicago .... 46.35
astern Flexible Conduit Co.,
Brooklyn 2.0... ‘
June 27—Henry and Jacob A. Ditmar,
co-partners doing business as i
Brothers Bakery, Grand Rapids, filed a
voluntary petition in bankruptcy, ad-
judication has been made and the matter
referred to Referee Corwin. The first
meeting of creditors has been called for
July 18, at which time creditors may ap-
pear, prove their claims, elect a trustee
and transact such other and further
business as may come before the meet-
ing. The schedule of the bankrupts re-
veal liabilities of $1,756.13, and the assets
reveal over and abuve those claimed to
be exempt by the bankrupts $1,227.
The following is a list of the creditors
of the bankrupts:
Secured Claims.
H. H. Jordan, Grand Rapids -.» $250.00
Reid Machinery Co., York, Pa. .. 120.00
Roberts Portable Oven Co., Chicago 40.00
Unsecured Claims.
Rademaker Dooge Co., Grand
Rapids 2.02 $ 77.00
Worden Grocer Co., Grand Rapids 22.00
Campbell, Boston 15.75
New Century Flour Co., Detroit 400.00
Evans Printing Co., Grand Rapids 23.00
Hekman Biscuit Co., Grand Rapids 16.00
Veltman Biscuit Co.. Grand Rapids 9.50
Barclay, H. E., Grand Rapids .... 24.77
Becker Auto Co., Grand Rapids .. 75.00
Wolverine Spice Co., Grand Rapids 150.00
Allegan Milling Co., Allegan .... 70.00
Washburn-Crosby Co., Grand Rapids 41.00
G. R. Gas Co., Grand Rapids - 20.00
Red Star Yeast Co., Milwaukee .. 75.00
M. Datema, Grand Rapids ....... 30.00
G. C. Baer & Co., Detroit ........ 15.00
Berkey & Gay, Grand Rapids 30.00
Ackerman Electric Co., Grana
Rapids coc... le, 12.06
Consumers Power Co., Grand Rapids 3.00
Citizens Telephone Co., Grand Rapids 7.50
Swift & Co., Chicago ............. 30.00
C. M. Stehouwer, Grand Rapids .. 3.10
Guaranty Vulcanizing Co., Grand
Rapids coe 5.75
Jacob Vanden Berg, Grand Rapids 2.50
Kent Storage Co., Grand Rapids .. 21.00
C. W. Mills Paper Co., Grand
Ramids ee ie -. 21.00
G. R. Press, Grand Rapids ....... 0
4.0
H. Van Eemenaam & Bros., Zeeland 9.00
W. F. McLaughlin & Co., Chicago 4.00
W. E. Mutton, Grand Rapids 20.00
A. J Joyce, Grand Rapids ........ 20.00
Blysma Printing Co., Grand Rapids 3.50
Union Waxed Parchment Paper Co.,
J oe
Hamburg, Ni to...
F. Cumpert, Brooklyn, N. Y. ..... 6.
John Kroeze, Grand Rapids - 1,203.00
June 29—Sieger Broeksema and Stew-
art Wells, individually and co-partners
as Broeksema & Wells, Grand Rapids,
filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy.
Adjudication has been made and the mat-
ter referred to Referee Corwin. The
first_meeting of creditors has been called
for July 17, at which time creditors may
appear, prove their claims, elect a trus-
tee and transact such other and further
business as may come before the meet-
ing The schedules of the bankrupts re-
veal liabilities of $3,489.27. The assets
over and above those claimed as exempt
by the bankrupts are $137.50. The fol-
lowing is a list of the creditors of the
bankrupts:
Preferred Labor Claims .......... $128.65
G. R. Gas Light Co., Grand Rapids $ 14.76
Mullin & Co., Chicago .......... 235.51
Henry C. Biddle, Philadelphia .. 84.00
Western Reserve Woolen Co.,
Cleveland 98.07
A. H. Rice Company, Pittsfield .. 42.02
Window Decorative Works,
Cleveland) .:........ eee. 10.03
Saltzer & Wolf, Cincinnati 8.06
Hampton Toy Co., Westfield, Mass. 11.63
Anderson & Donnelly, Boston 87.7>
John B. Ellson & Sons, Phila-
delphig iss... 261.90
Perry Muller & Co., Chicago ...... 151.78
Wright & Graham, N. Y. ........ 92.81
Paul Steketee & Sons, City ..... 32.46
Rudolph Freedenburg Co., Detroit 368.54
Henry Allen & Sons, Detroit «= 49.19
Mitchell Publishing Co., N. Y. .... 12.9
Ferris Woolen Co., Chicago ...... 32.03
Waterhouse Resher Co., N. Y. .. 394.69
Monatuck Silk Co., Chicago ...... 33.02
American Fashion Co., N. Y. .... 5.00
Belding Bros. Co., Chicago ...... 13.85
Boulter, McMillen & Co., N. Y. 163.90
Warren & Blanchard, Boston - 49.97
Goldsmith Bros., New York City 186.47
J. T. Herrop & Son, Philadelphia 265.23
Ira Barnett & Co., Chicago ...... 20.64
G. R. Assn. of Commerce ........ 22.93
D. D. Cody, Grand Rapids ....... 50.00
Elenald Pub) Co., City ............
2.3:
The Helios, Central High School 3.50
July 7—Mike John, sometimes called
Mike Azzar, Grand Rapids, filed a vorn-
tary petition in bankruptey. Adjudica-
tion has been made and the matter re-
ferred to Referee Corwin. The first
meeting of creditors has not yet been
called. The schedules of the bankrupt
reveal liabilities of $648; assets $39.91, all
claimed as exempt. The following is a
list of the creditors:
Essa Murrad, Grand Haven ...... $175.00
Grand Haven Baking Co., Grand
BIAVGN 0.05). to... 20.00
Silkman Cigar Co., Grand Haven 18.80
Joe Nagem, Grand Haven ........ 6.00
Hume Grocery Co., Muskegon 76.00
Walker Candy Co., Muskegon 48.00
T. Schillaci & Co., Muskegon 16.00
Butler Bros., Chicazo ............ 81.00
Maliek & Azkoul, Grand Rapids .. 46.00
Nat. Grocer Co., Grand Rapids 96.00
Joe David, Grand Rapids ........ 26.00
Dave Moses, Grand Rapids ...... 40.00
July 5—In the case of the Casnovia
Dehydrating Co., the first meeting of
creditors was held, when the following
proceedings were taken: Claims were
allowed by the referee and the receiver's
report was made and approved. Walter
H. Brooks, Grand Rapids, was _ elected
trustee, his bond being fixed at $4,000.
The meeting was adjourned to July 16,
for examination of the officers of the
bankrupt.
July 5—In the case of Denis McGrath,
first meeting of creditors was held, wnen
the following proceeaings were taken:
Claims were allowed by the referee ana
the receiver’s report was made and ap-
proved. C. H. Lillie was elected trustee,
his bond being fixed at $2,000. S3ank-
rupt sworn and examined and meeting
adjourned.
In the case of Harry D. Hull, final
meeting of creditors was held, when the
following proceedings were taken: Final
report of trustee was allowed, and it was
found that there were no assets in the
estate, and no dividend for general cred-
itors was declared.
July 7—In the case of Edward F.
Luhmann, first meeting of creditors was
held, when the following proceedings
were taken: No claims were proved.
Order made determining pbankrupt’s ex-
emptions as claimed. Order made tHat
no trustee be appointed. Meeting ad-
journed without day.
ee
Quotations on Local Stocks and Bonds.
Public Utilities.
Bid Asked
Am. Light & Trae. €o., Com. 379 381
Am. Light & Trac. Co., Pid. 11014 113%
4
Am. Publie Utilities, Com. 4 45%
Am. Public Utilities, Pfd. 744%, 76%
Citizens Telephone 6% 71%
Comwth Pr Ry. & Lt., Com. 64 66
Comw'th Pr. Ry. & Lt, Pfd. 84 86
Comw’th 6% 5 year bond 101% 103
Michigan Railway Notes 100% 101%
Michigan Sugar 111 114
Pacific Gas & Elec., Com. S7 60
Tennessee Ry. Lt. & Pr. Com. 11 13
Tennessee Ry. Lt. & Pr.. Pfd. 51 4
United Light & Rys., Com. 52 54
United Light & Rys., 1st Pfd. 75 1
United Light 1st and Ref. 5%
bonds 88% 90%
Industrial and Bank Stocks.
Commercial Savings Bank 225
Dennis Canadian Co. 75 85
Fourth National Bank 225 235
Furniture City Brewing Co. 40 50
Grant Motor i
Globe Knitting Works, Com. 145 150
Globe Knitting Works, Pfd. 98 100
G. R. Brewing Co. 80 90
G. R. National City Bank 155 §=162
G. R. Savings Bank 255
Holland St. Louis Sugar 16 7
Holland St. Louis Sugar, Pfd. 8% 10
Hupp Motor 8 9
Kent State Bank 250
Old National Bank 199 205
Peoples Savings Bank 300
United Motors 71 74
July 12, 1916.
Barney Langeler has worked in
this institution continuously for
over forty-five years.
Barney says—
You’ve tried the rest
Now try the best
Worden’s Hand Made ©
WoRDEN
GRAND RAPIDS— KALAMAZOO
5c Cigar
(GROCER COMPANY
THE PROMPT SHIPPERS
ag
other paper.)
D a
(Unlike any
DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTERESTS
OF BUSINESS MEN.
Published Weekly by
TRADESMAN COMPANY,
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Subscription Price.
One dollar per year, if paid strictly in
advance.
Two dollars per year,
advance.
Five dollars for six years, payable in
advance,
Canadian subscriptions, $2.04 per year,
payable invariably in advance.
Sample copies 5 cents each.
Extra copies of current issues, 5 cents;
issues a month or more old, 10 cents;
issues a year or more old, 25 cents.
if not paid in
Entered at the Grand Rapids Postoffice
as Second Class Matter.
E. A. STOWE, Editor.
July 12, 1916.
RECORD OF THE HALF YEAR.
The gradual improvenient in weather
conditions during the past month
caused an expectation of a consider-
able improvement in spring and win-
ter wheat. The Government’s report
as of July 1, therefore, issued last
Friday, was not surprising with its
estimate that winter wheat had bet-
tered its condition 2% per cent. dur-
ing the month.
A billion-bushel wheat crop is not
possible this year, but there will be
plenty of wheat for home consump-
tion and a good surplus for export.
The carry-over is around 150,000,000
bushels so that should the final wheat
crop be 750,000,000 bushels, there
would be a total supply of 900,000,000
bushels, or 260,000,000 bushels less
than last year.
The outlook for the wheat at pres-
ent is much better than several
months ago, The winter wheat crop
is made and is being harvested. What
is needed now is dry weather for
threshing. In parts of the Far West,
where a failure was expected two
months ago, there are yields of ten
to twelve bushels per acre. Farmers
will sell a moderate quantity of wheat
after harvest, but they are apparently
in no rush to do so at present, and
buyers are not disposed to make sales
for export in advance, after their ex-
perience of last year.
Corn is backward and has been all
season. It is possible that there may
be sufficient hot forcing weather in
the next sixty days, with intermjttent
showers, to bring the crop up to
normal, but it will have to be an ideal
season to overcome the present handi-
cap created by temperature below the
normal.
Prospects for oats are good, but it
is doubtful whether final returns of
the Government will indicate a crop
equal to the record of 1915, which was
1,540,000,000 bushels. The acreage is
about the same as last year, but per-
fect conditions will be necessary to
bring about a duplicate of last year’s
immense yield.
In all, the harvest of the West
promises to be good. The supply of
feed-stuffs is ample, the hay crop be-
ing large, and there is no fear enter-
tained as to any scarcity, except pos-
sibly in Southern Colorado and
Northern New Mexico, where there
-complaining of drought.
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
are large cattle ranches, and in South-
western Texas. These sections are
With such
crop conditions, what is the outlook
for general commerce and industry?
Business for the first six months of
1916 was unprecedented in volume.
The crest of expansion was reached
in bank clearings, manufacturing and
general distribution of merchandise
of all kinds. To duplicate the past
six months in the closing period of
this year would establish a phenom-
enal record.
While there has been inflation jn
some lines, others have remained nor-
mal and indications are that they
will remain so. Labor and business
conditions are such that there can be
little further expansion from the pres-
ent level unless these basic factors
are materially changed. The steel
mills have their capacity booked ahead
for this year, and in some lines well
into 1917. Prices secured are high,
but the immense volume of business
has enabled manufacturers to make
good profits, despite the increased cost
of raw material and wages.
Jobbers of dry goods and similar
commodities have never sold as many
goods as they did in the past six
months, neither have they ever had as
many orders in’ hand for forward
shipment. Increases in sales for the
first half of the year were 15 per cent.,
and advance sales are 15 to 25 per
cent., larger than in any other year.
The distribution of orders has been
widespread, as agricultural conditions
in practically all sections have been
good and consumption of merchandise
has enlarged. The best illustration of
conditions is reflected by the im-
mense business done by the automo-
bile concerns which have sold more
cars than ever before in all sections
of the West. This would not have
been possible had it not been for the
healthy trade conditions and confi-
dence in the future.
All prosperity “bulges” have an
ending, and this one is sure to have.
There have been many indications
that the present activity has reached
its apex and industrial leaders every-
where are questioning whether it can
mount higher. They point out that
the manufacturing capacity of the
country has been enormously swelled,
and that it is not reasonable to ex-
pect consumption to keep up at the
present rate indefinitely. Should the
necessary adjustments be made at the
proper time, however, well considered
opinion is that any surplus Output
will be absorbed and the setback
prove temporary. But even those who
look for a recession from the present
scale of business admit that a great
deal depends on the duration of the
European war and the final settle-
ment of the Mexican situation.
Michigan was never in better shape
to meet a decline in business, when
and if it comes, There is more money
in the banks than ever before; there
is a larger consumption of merchan-
dise and building materials and, it
may be added, a better informed pub-
lic than in any previous time in the
country’s history.
ee
A good liar is always considered
bad.
BRITISH RESOURCES.
One is constantly surprised at the
resources of the entente powers, par-
ticularly those of Great Britain, and
of the seemingly wide margin between
the present status and anything that
would look like a breakdown. In the
military line this is illustrated by the
failure to call on Japan for assistance
other than that which was afforded in
the destruction of the German hold in
Asia. Japan has plenty of troops and
plenty of ships, and for some time
past there have been plenty of muni-
tions, but the Allies are not calling
up any of its forces although in the
main they have been defeated in the
field thus far. Their resources are
well exemplified by the great scale
on which gold is sent to this country,
the amount thus far shipped to us
being in round numbers $550,000,000
net. After all this the supply of gold
in England is sufficient for every im-
portant need, the Bank of England
having $360,000,000 on hand. Nor has
the borrowing done in the United
States exhausted the credit of the en-
tente powers by any means. The
latest thing, which apparently no-
body has thought of until recently,
is a source of great potency, that is
the sale of municipal bonds, ---___
Flakes From the Food City.
gattle Creek, July 10—The grocery
firms of Godsmark, Durand & Co. and
J. F. Halladay & Sons have both pur-
chased new delivery trucks. Looks
like the boys were selling a few
goods.
L. J. Cronk, formerly city salesman
for the Battle Creek Candy Works,
has engaged in the candy business for
himself under the name of the Cronk
Candy Co. We wish him tremendous
success in his new line and if his ef-
forts are as successful in that as they
are as Junior Counselor of No. 253, we
know he will have.
The highways and byways traveled
by the commercial travelers of Battle
Creek have been well nigh deserted
the past week on account of the an-
nual vacation of salesmen from July
3 and July 11. The gladsome smile
and the right hand of good fellowship
that the boys all carry along as a
part of their respective wares is, in-
deed, missed by those of us who are
compelled to work. However, we
are glad the boys can enjoy a good
time resting (?) and freeing their
minds from the cares of business for
a week at least.
Will Master, Past Senior Counselor
of No. 253, whose feet have been
wearing out the sidewalks, locally,
for the past few years, has been given
a ford to run about in. Bill says he
found all the tokes he springs on his
walks around town and we wonder
where his supply will come from now.
We further hope Henry will not wear
out that jovial manner of Bills.
The city of Battle Creek has been
holding municipal entertainments for
its citizens for some weeks past.
Those things make us all elad we
live here and have the “ Battle Creek
Idea.” Otto L Cook.
e+.
My Auto, ’Tis of Thee.
My auto, ’tis of thee,
Short cut to poverty,
Of thee I chant.
I blew a pile of dough,
On you two years ago;
And now you refuse to go,
Or won’t, or can’t.
Through town and countryside,
You were my joy and pride,
A happy day.
I loved thy gaudy hue,
The nice white tires so new,
But now you're down and through,
In every way.
To thee, old rattlebox,
Came many bumps and knocks,
For thee I grieve,
Badly thy top is torn,
Frayed are thy seats and worn,
A whooping cough affects thy horn,
I do believe.
Thy perfume swells the breeze,
While good folks choke and sneeze,
AS we pass by.
I paid for thee a price,
Would buy a mansion twice,
Now all are yelling “ice,”
I wonder why. ‘
Thy motor has the grip,
Thy spark-plug has the pip,
And woe is thine.
I, too, have suffered chills,
Ague and kindred ills,
Endeavoring to pay my bills,
Since thou wert mine.
Gone is my bank roll now,
No more would choke a cow,
As once before.
Yet if I had the mon’,
So help me, John, amen,
I’d buy a car again,
And speed some more.
11,
HORSE SHOE TIRES
WRAPPED TREAD
Guaranteed 5,000 Miles. Made in all Styles and Sizes.
Every Tire goes out with a Full Guarantee—and fulfills it
NATIONAL SPECIAL RED TUBES are built to give uninterrupted
service for years, and to be absolutely proof against slow leaks, deteriora-
tion and decay.
WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTORS:
BROWN & SEHLER CO. Grand Rapids, Michigan
Write for Territorial Reservation
Nokarbo
Motor Oil
It is the one oil that can be used successfully on all
automobiles operated by gasoline or electricity. It will not
char or carbonize.
It is the best oil for the high grade car, and the best
oil for the cheapest car. Write for prices and particulars.
The Great Western Oil Co.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Some Pertinent Facts
Regarding the Universal
Valveless Four Cycle Motor Co.
It offers an Extraordinary Article for which there is an
Extraordinary Demand at Extraordinary Profits.
The Clark-Anderson Valveless Four Cycle Engine is
the Simplest Motor ever designed, Hence it is the Most
Reliable, the Cheapest to Produce, Cheapest to Maintain,
Most Adaptable, Has Most Points of Advantage.
The company has no bonds, preferred stock or other
interest-bearing liabilities. All stock is common, fully paid
and non-assessable.
It has no promotion stock to give away to secure names
for advertising purposes.
Its organization, plans, licenses, charter, by-laws and
statements are always open to investigation by real pros-
pective buyers of its stock.
What more can you ask in a prospective investment?
If you can think of more, name it. All questions will be
fully and truthfully answered.
It is speculative. So was every other successful con-
cern when it was new.
But do you know of any real money or worth-while
profits that have been made from anything that was not
speculative?
A few Dollars and a Little Nerve have made more
money and founded more fortunes than all the Saving in
the history of the world.
Universal Valveless Four Cycle Motor Co.
416-417 Ashton Building Citizens 7645 Grand Rapids, Michigan
uy)
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MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
Eight Prescriptions Written By a
Successful Banker.
I make this flat statement, that
every man may become rich. There
isn't any question about it—with the
possible exception of the few cases
where the lightning of adversity may
strike. I am not so sure that all men
desire to become rich—or that wealth
should be the supreme desideratum—
but it can be acquired by all men who
have the will to do.
There may be other considerations,
—there may be sick wife to care for,
or a family of boys and girls to edu-
cate, and it may be that health and
education are always to be preferred
to riches. But even this is somewhat
theoretical—the sick wife is not so
common, there are a whole lot more
of husbands who are ailing in their
upper stories, and the idea of educat-
ing your boys in Harvard while you
work your knuckles off drubbing
around, is a kind of education that
looks mighty futile to me. The truth
is that most of you have the oppor-
tunity to prosper and if you don’t,
it is because of a faulty headpiece.
And so I offer at this moment—
Prescription Number One
Dollar and Get It.
I could dwell for three hours on this
formula alone. Dubtless I would be
alone before its completion. Yet it
has in it the everlasting element of
truth, Especially would I emphasize
the first half of the formula
Earn a
earn a
dollar. There are so many. short
sighted folk who have their vision
focused upon the last half of this re-
cipe, thinking only on getting, just
as many of your patients grudgingly
swallow the first dose of remedial
salts, and think they should be in-
Stanter strong enough to lick every
man in the block. Only rot gut
whisky will do this. The eternal law
of compensation rules—we. never get
paid for more than we do.
He who is merely a charger is on
the toboggan leading straight down
to the Hades of Non-Success, but he
who knows, serves, he who serves.
wins, and, winning, has command of
all good things.
But, I think you ought to get, as
well as earn. There is nothing sa
worthless as a ledger full of outlawed
accounts. There is no tale so sad as
the biography of a dead-beat. One
such recital is bad enough—when
they get to coming in gross lots they
make the soul sick. A bad account is
worse than nothing, it is a deterrent.
It makes the debtor go to the other
fellow. If he pays you, he respects
you and will come back. Don’t get
scared about going after your money.
If there is any choice between the
propositions of apparent good will
and no money, and, on the other hand,
a good lively hatred and full pay, just
take the money every time. Now, the
second prescription follows:
Prescription Number Two—Get a
Dollar and Save a Quarter.
A good many different ways have
been tried by the sons of men to get
rich, Men have tried to do it by
working themselves to death. They
have tried it by working other men to
death. They have tried it by sleight
of hand—have set their faith on mir-
acles, and the penitentiaries are filled
with people who have tried to beat
the game with their wits, but the Su-
preme Physician started man out with
just one prescription and this—that
along with energy and ability in pro-
duction must be mixed economy and
frugality in preservation. You can’t
pump water into the creek as fast
as it will run out. You can’t meas-
ure wealth at the intake—it is only a
matter of comparison.
But when you save, you are stepping
steadily forward and sure, and you
have real, lasting unalloyed pleasure
in progress. Every man can save if
he will only bend to the task.
No men better than your-
selves that only good wholesome food
is necessary for the human frame.
Hot birds and cold bottles are not es-
sentials in the scheme of nutrition.
A good soup-bone will brine more
sustenance to the family than a por-
terhouse.
No men know better than you, that
fancy and frivolous clothing strictly
Parisian in style, is a delusion and a
snare—better a sober gray flannel or
an outlawed plaid to clothe our girls
to the chin, than a crepe de chine
gown running out of material at the
armpits. You know that joy rides
are not productive of longevity, that
plain gasoline at 20 cents per gallon
is not improved by an admixture of
$4.00 whisky,—and in short, you know
that if there is anyone course of study
your clients need it is in the art of
sane and simple living. If there is
any real peril ahead of the American
Nation, it is that in the struggle with
the world, the great economic strug-
gle in commerce and trade iust ahead
of us, we shall be horribly handicap-
ped as a Nation by our extravagance,
—these nations that are attending the
hard school of necessity will whip us
on any field of competitive endeavor.
So I say that we should save. We
must save, Sit down with the wife
and talk it over. If you have an ex-
travagant wife, may God pity you. If
as I suspect, the extravagance is most-
ly located in the male side of the
house, then get busy with your own
salvation. Don’t go down the walk
to old age, the scoff of everyone be-
know
July 12, isi¢
ee
GRAND RAPIDS NATIONAL CITY BANK
CITY TRUST & SAVINGS BANK
ASSOCIATED
CAMPAU SQUARE
The convenient banks for out of town people. Located at the very center of the city. Handy
to the street cars—the interurbans—the hotels—the shopping district.
On account of our location—our large transit facilities—our safe deposit vaults and our
complete service covering the entire field of banking, our institutions must be the ultimate choice
of out of town bankers and individuals.
Combined Capital and Surplus... see $ 1,778,700.00
Combined Total Deposits...............0. cece eceeee 8,577,800.00
Combined Total Resources ...........0.cceeec cece cece 11,503,300.00
GRAND RAPIDS NATIONAL CITY BANK
CITY TRUST & SAVINGS BANK
ASSOCIATED
ES
The Larger Estates
Never Take Chances
Very wealthy men almost alwavs appoint
strong Trust Companies for executors.
Men of smaller means are doing it more
and more. They are learning that Trust Com-
panies are compensated for these services by
fees fixed by law—that the small estates pay
in direct proportion to their size.
They are realizing that their estates must
have the same high form of protection that
the larger ones enjoy.
We are serving more of the smaller estates
every day. Our officers will be glad to con-
fer with you. '
Ask for booklet on the “Descent and Dis-
tribution of Property” and a blank form of
Will.
FFRAND Rapins Rust [OMPANY
MANAGED BY MEN YOU KNOW
Safety Deposit and Storage Facilities at 50c per month and up
Ottawa at Fountain Both Phones 4391
|
Seeeeenenesenanernete:
nee sit
:
:
UR etatec tesa eine ats eesaes stan
July 12, 1916
cause you can’t pay your debts,—get
your chin up and so walk that when
you shuffle off, the male mourners
in the procession to the cemetery
won't be anxiously wondering about
your life insurance. I now come to
Prescription No. 3.
Prescription Number Three—Make
Your Dollar Earn a Nickel.
I have here a text of a sermon, in-
deed, of many sermons, I say, make
your dollar earn a nickel. Observe,
I say earn. You can’t get something
for nothing and it’s an exasperation
to try. And your dollar can only
earn a nickel, don’t try to make it
earn a dollar. When you try to get
rich quick the most likely result will
be that you will get poor fast.
I say that you can’t get something
for nothing. Please don’t take of-
fense. I hear you all saying, “Why
certainly, we know this.” Well, you
exhibits of common humanity don’t
show the marks of this knowledge to
any great extent, I’ll bet I could lay
a sure thing proposition before you
to-day whereby you can make $500
on an investment of $50, and every
mother’s son of you would stand at
attention, drinking in the words. You
are simply human, and humanly sim-
ple. I could fill main street from
curb to curb with humanity to-mor-
row morning by offering to sell 50
cent pieces at a reduced rate. And
I know of more than one doctor
whose private box will disclose
enough elegantly engraved stock cer-
tificates to paper the side of the court
house, and all so dead that not the
trump of Gabriel will rouse them to
activity. Of course, no banker has
such stuff!
I tell you that America’s great
philosopher, Emerson, tells Divine
truth in his essay on compensation,
when he says that you pay for every-
thing you get in this world, pay for
it in cash, in worry, in self-respect,
in favors, in something—you can’t
and I beg you, don’t try to get some-
thing handed you on a silver platter
without money and without price.
Only salvation is dealt out at this
figure,—not protection, accretion, nor
medication.
And I say that your dollar should
earn a nickel. If you try to make it
earn a dime, you are forcing the heart
action. If you speed it up to make
it earn a quarter you are racing your
engine to the danger point. Go slow.
Don’t try to get rich quick. Remem-
ber, you are on the earth for many
years,—you will be off it, or in it, for
many millions of years,—you should
not force time. Make a little prog-
ress day by day. Don’t try to make
it fast. The roadside in life’s course
is strewn with the wrecks of the
vehicles that have been overspeeded
in the race for wealth. The ignis
fatuus of all business is the desire
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
to gain riches quick, it has rarely
worked, it usually leads the victim
to destruction.
Notwithstanding all this, I still be-
lieve it necessary to make invest-
ments. There are few men, doctors
Or any other kind, who make enough
from their daily earnings to ensure
a competency in age, The most of
us find it necessary to be creating a
reserve fund for age in precisely the
Same way that sound and solvent life
insurance does, and it is evident that
such fund should be a dividend earn-
er,—even a little return will help
wonderfully. The snow ball process
is a good one, and illustrates what
accretion and time will do. And now
the question arises,—how?
Prescription Number Four—Don'
Speculate on the Board of Trade.
Don’t do it. It’s silly to think that
you who are about as wise in these
market place affairs as a rabbit, should
have any more show in the steel trap
game than the traditional rabbit has.
Don’t even go into the game to make
money. It is a dirty business. The
most miserable, unrespectable crea-
ture I know of is the fellow who is
hanging like a ghoul upon the stock
or grain markets, forgetting his pro-
fession,—his family,—his honor in a
Mister Hyde personality, trying to
beat a disreputable game in which he
should have no participation. Don’t
speculate on the board, nor anywhere.
I would certainly eschew poker or
the turf. You need no mental ex-
hilaration to rest you from your la-
bors,—what you men need is the seda-
tive influence of a fireside. And now,
before I go further I offer merely as
a precautionary measure—
Prescription Number Five—Don’t
Spread Yourselves Thin By Invest-
ing Little Dabs in This, That
and the Other Proposition,
Just to Be a Good Fellow.
This advice is more timely than
the other. I think there is no par-
ticular danger of contemplation to
you men of high character along the
line of number four—you are not like-
ly to be attracted by bucket shop
,transactions,—but you are sure to
be attacked by the benign bacillus of
friendly interest in steering you next
to a good thing. My observation is
that we all have our little investments
of a couple of hundred put in with a
friend on a good thing,—most of us
can say to ourselves that even at the
best these many investments repre-
sent a scattering of our power,—or
each dab too small to give us much
influence or to jutify any extensive
attention on our part, at the worst
only that much junk. My idea is that
if you make ten miscellaneous in-
vestments, the dividends on the good
ones can never, by any possibility,
offset the losses of the principal with
the unfortunate deals.
Veit Manufacturing Co.
Manufacturer of
Bank, Library, Office and Public Building Furniture
Cabinet Work, High Grade Trim, Store Furniture
Bronze Work,
Marble & Tile
Grand Rapids, Michigan
a ES
13
To Judge
Preferred Stocks
of Public Utility Companies cor-
rectly, five safeguards should be
carefully considered. These safe-
guards are
The Earnings
The Property
The Territory Served
The Management
The Equity
Write for Circular No. R-82,which
explains how these safeguards ap-
ply to the preferred stock of the
Consumers Power Co (Michigan.)
Hodenpyl, Hardy & Co.
Incorporated
Securities for Investment
14 Wall St., New York
First National Bank Building, Chicago
THE BANK WHERE,sYOU FEEL AT HOME
Gah SmRaBaRT
WE WILL APPRECIATE YOUR ACCOUNT
TRY US!
Kent State Bank
Main Office Fountain St.
Facing Monroe
Grand Rapids, Mich.
- $500,000
- $500,000
Resources Over
8 Million Dollars
345 Per Cent
Paid on Certificates
Capital - - -
Surplus and Profits
Largest State and Savings Bank
in Western Michigan
\eseencienstcnnteetpeestanagesmmcnsenanetertes ee
GRAND RAPIDS MICH.
177 MONROE AVE.
Complete
Banking Service
Travelers’ Cheques
Letters of Credit
Foreign Drafts
Safety Deposit Vaults
Savings Department
Commercial Department
Our 3% Per Cent
Savings Certificates are a
desirable investment
THE PREFERRED LIFE INSURANCE CO.
Of America offers
OLD LINE INSURANCE AT LOWEST NET COST
What are you worth to your family? Let us protect you for that sum.
THE PREFERRED LIFE INSURANCE CO. of America,
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Fourth National Bank
United States Depositary
WM. H. ANDERSON, President
L. Z. CAUKIN, Cashier
Savings Deposits
Commercial Deposits
3
Per Cent Interest Paid on
Savings Deposits
Compounded Semi-Annually
I
3%
Per Cent Interest Paid on
Certificates of Deposit
Left One Year
Capital Stock and Surplus
$580,000
JOHN W. BLODGETT, Vice President
J. C. BISHOP, Assistant Cashier
SRM SE TR SRE
Se ey arenas
PACES
TET
=
14
Be prepared, when your friend
blows in, to tell him his proposition
looks mighty fine and you are eternal-
ly grateful, but that you are digging
with might and main to raise funds
to buy a piece of property and can’t
possibly go into the good thing. Be
hard up!
What a blessing poverty may be!
Two or three times in my life I have
kept out of things, not because I had
sense enough to keep out, but because
I was too poor to get in and later
developments have shown ‘the pros-
pective investment would have lost
me more money than Newell Dwight
Hillis dropped in British Columbia
timber.
But now I must add something
positive to my treatment. It will not
do to merely pump your systems with
anti-toxins. You want something
positive to make you well,—perhaps
food,—at least a tonic, so I give you—
Prescription Number. Six—A_ Little
Interest Is Very Helpful, Espe-
cially When It Comes Your
Way.
The world offers its plaudits to the
men who have invented things,—de-
vices in manufacture,—transporta-
tion, agriculture, industry, war—hbut
let me tell you that the fellow who
invented interest was no slouch. But
mind,—be sure to have it come your
way. It’s like a mule—pulls mighti-
ly, but its kick is something awful.
Old Polonius said, “Neither a borrow-
er nor a lender be, for loan oft loseth
itself and friend.” The old man was
right. Don’t loan money to your
friends. Don’t borrow in the same
way. Let borrowing and lending be
done on a business basis by business
men. But there are several lines of
procedure which you may and should
follow and I give you these sugges-
tions hygenically,—not medicinally,
in—
Prescription Number Seven—The
American Bank Is the American
Citizen’s Most Loyal, Effective,
and Unselfish Friend,—Grap-
ple It to Thy Soul!
A bank account is an indispensable
adjunct in the success of any man.
It is the one institution that prospers
by the conferring of an infinite num-
ber of good services, I don’t know
of any agency in this world that does
so much at so little cost,—nor so
gladly.
These fellows are so keen for your
deposit ‘that they foolishly pay you
interest upon it. It is the one store-
house of the world where the land-
lord pays the tenant rent. They fur-
nish fine safes to keep your money
in and lithographed checks for you
to get your money out. They not
only welcome you in, but they fur-
nish you a certificate of character
and the public so regard a man with
a standing account with a strong
solvent bank. All this is for your
asking, plus wit, wisdom and well-
wishing when you come in. And in
the name of sense, when you have had
all these things, don’t draw checks
with the reckless abandon of an avia-
tor, nor indulge in that peculiar style
of mathematics requiring a book-keep-
er to stand on his head to figure and
where your balances are mostly lurid
in their crimson glare.
yourself to
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
Then, I beg you, start a savings
account. One bank account. isn’t
enough—you want one that shows
all deposits and no checks, and draws
interest while you sleep. Figure your
stint. It may be $10 a week, or may-
be only 10 cents,—whatever you set
do—then do,—sure.
Even the squirrels stow away fooa
for winter days to come,—why should
not you? The savings balance will
draw interest and the interest is not
to be despised,—it will figure with the
years more than you now think,—
but after all, the main idea is to get
to saving. When you have $5 extra
and you finally vote to bank it at
interest, rather than to joy ride you
may perchance be saving a $10 fine
for speeding,—and there are stranger
things than that you may be keeping
your temper or your morals sweeter
at the same time.
The savings bank does not claim
to be a religious institution, but its
calming influence may save your soul.
The savings bank habit has its grip,—
I hope .it will catch—and hold my
boys and my girls—and your children
and yourselves, unto to the end.
When you have calmed yourself
into a condition of financial self-con-
trol by a checking account not abused
and a savings account not depleted,
you will be in shape to begin think-
ing about investments and there are
many goods ones. Loans are good—
they should not be to relations, and
they should be backed by collateral
and character. Lands are good, but
it should be good land. Town or
city lots are all right if they are on
the inside,—never in the hopeful be-
yond. Your land should be fine,—
better a choice forty than an indif-
ferent quarter. You don’t want any
land out in the homestead belt
where crops are dubious, and land can
be had for a song, you will get no
rent. Where drouth cuts short men’s
hopes the man who rents your land
will fish rather than farm, hunt rath-
er than harrow.
Bonds are all right,—stocks are
good things not to buy. Mortgages
are fine, and 6 per cent. is a fine rate,
it is more, in the course of twenty
years, than the payer of it will make.
And now I come to the last
Prescription Number Eight—Keep
Books.
If you don’t know how to keep
your books, for the Lord’s sake go to
some business college and have them
teach you how.
I don’t mean by this that you are
to rest your satisfaction in keeping
a record of calls and knowing how
much John Smith owes you,—my
thought is that if this is the end of
your book-keeping, you have no Sys-
Cities Service Common
We feel an investigation of this
stock is well worth while
Write or call us up for
particulars
Allen G. Thurman & Co.
136 Michigan Trust Bldg.
GRAND RAPIDS
July 19, 1916
AGRICULTURAL LIME
BUILDING LIME
Write for Prices
A. B. Knowlson Co.
203-207 Powers’ Theatre Bldg., Grand Rapids, Mich.
LOGAN & BRYAN
STOCKS, BONDS AND GRAIN
Grand Rapids Office, 305 Godfrey Building
Citizens 5235 Bell Main 235
MEMBERS
New York Stock Exchange
Boston Stock Exchange
Chicago Stock Exchange
New York Cotton Exchange
New York Coffee Exchange
New York Produce Exchange
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Chicago Board of Trade
Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce
Winnipeg Grain Exchange
Kansas City Board of Trade
Private wires coast to coast
Correspondence solicited
“csr,
FLASHLIGHTS
The superiority of
EVEREADY Flashlights is
proved by the remarkable
popularity which they
have won.
About 80% of all the
flashlights sold in this
country are Eveready’s.
Last year over 18,000,000
EVEREADY Flashlights,
Tungsten Batteries and
Mazda Lamps were sold.
This year sales are still
better.
All EVEREADY’S are
fully guaranteed. It's a
great line for you to han-
die. Let us tell you more
about it.
C. J. LITSCHER ELECTRIC COMPANY
Wholesale Distributors
41-43 S. Market St. Grand Rapids, Michigan
Conservative Investments
Combining Safety with Income
Write for our list of offerings
ZEEE PE
Howe SNOW CORRIGAN & BERTLES
MICHIGAN TRUST BLDG
INVESTMENT BANKERS
SAS
SSS
GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN
on the proper drawing up of a Will
and careful choice of executor de-
pend the comfort,
of the widow and children. No greater
mistake can be made than putting off the
performance of this duty until age or sick-
ness interferes with the Satisfactory draw-
ing up of the document.
Send for Blank Form of Will and Booklet on
the Descent and Distribution of Property
THE MICHIGAN TRUST Co.
OF GRAND RAPIDS
Audits made of books of municipalities,
firms and corporations
welfare and happiness
meee
presences ements
1916
meee
wasereegicnsne:
July 12, 1916
tem at all. The question is—how
much do you owe? What was your
expense last year? What your in-
come? And more than all else, what
are you worth? Are you going for-
ward or slipping behind? Are you
fooling yourself, or are you looking
naked truth in the face?
Strike a balance. Figure out your
assets, on a very conservative basis—
they always shrink. List your debts
to the fullest extent—they always re-
tain the fullness of youth and grow
a little for extras. Find out what
you are worth now.
What if your showing is poor?
Your wife and kiddies will love you
none the less,—they are not supposea
to have any sense about these things.
Your banker will prefer to look upon
a poor statement with truth sticking
out all over it, to a padded one that
lies like epitaphs on tombstones.
Suppose your assets figure $1,000
and your liabilities $999.90, what of
it? The real joy is not in position
but in progress,—all things earthly
are comparative and if, a year from
now you can show that you have made
a little progress like the fighters
about Verdun,—even a few yards of
the enemy’s entrenchments gained,—
you can be as happy as a crown prince
—as hopeful of to-morrow as a high
school graduate.
And as the years go by, these gains
should be continuous in the direction
of improvement, so that while you
are living and life is slipping along,
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
you may, before you know it, reach
a surety in your financial position.
I wish to you all this,—for your-
selves, content,—for your Wives, ease,
for your children, pride and that over
the recital of your life’s work may
be set in large letters of gold the
single caption, “Success.”
E. R. Gurney.
—_>+-___
The One Who Pays Your Bills.
Written for the Tradesman.
In the last analysis it is the custo-
mer who makes or breaks the dealer.
This may sound like an extreme
statement, but think it over and ask
yourself if it isn’t so.
The success of every retail business
depends upon the number of its cus-
tomers, and their faith, confidence
and friendliness towards the house
soliciting their trade.
The best advertising medium in the
world—the one essential medium that
must supplement all others, and with-
out which all the rest put together
are worse than futile—is good will.
The biggest and most vital prob-
lem the merchant has to face; the
underlying problem, whose satisfac-
tory solution automatically resolves
a score of related problems, is the
problem of promoting good will
among the people of his community.
Any man who can year by year in-
crease his stock of good will; who can
so conduct his business as to win
the faith, confidence and_ heartfelt
esteem of the people who live in his
community, and trade with him, is
a good merchandiser.
Just pause and ponder these state-
ments:
The bills are paid by the customer.
Advertising aims at the customer.
Salesmanship is practiced on the
customer.
Service is developed for the custo-
mer.
All selling plans contemplate the
customer.
Your interests as a dealer center
in the customer.
Your profits come from the cus-
tomer.
What class of people is constantly
increasing, in every sizeable commun-
ity throughout the land, but is never
anywhere too large to suit the mer-
chant? Customers,
Who are the guests you desire most
to welcome into your place of busi-
ness? Customers.
Who are the folks you want to
please by the practice of every legiti-
mate merchandising art you possess?
Customers.
Who are the people you see in
visions by day and dream of at night,
when the store is dim and still? Cus-
tomers.
In view of the tremendous impor-
tance of the customer in the whoie
business of retailing, it is pertinent
to ask if he gets enough considera-
tion. My personal opinion as to the
right answer to this enquiry is this:
In exceptional cases he may, but in
Michigan Delegation to the Supreme Council, U. C. T., Held at Columbus, Two Weeks
15
the vast majority of cases, he does
not.
If proof be demanded, I call atten-
tion to the large amount of so-called
“transient” trade, to the everlasting
shifting of customers from one deal-
er to another, and to the
universal
well-nigh
merchants
of uncertainty concerning their cli-
entele.
feeling among
Is the average customer as capri-
cious and changeable and unreliable
as he is often painted? Back of all
this shopping unrest that we see, and
dread, and try to overcomé, isn’t
there a tangible reason that we can
get at—and treat?
In the past merchandising used to
be looked at, by dealers, too exclusive-
ly from the dealers’ standpoint. The
new spirit that has come over modern
business may be described as a shift-
ing of the point of view from the
dealer (who is an agent or servant)
to the consumer (who is person to
be served).
jut this so-called new snirit hasn't
become universal and dominant as
yet. Many dealers haven’t caught a
vision of it. It hasn’t been consistent-
ly tried out. It is really in process
of development.
sut it will win out in the end, for
it is the right conception of business,
Frank Fenwick.
a
If our father were English and our
mother German, would we hate our-
self?
Ago
eS
MERCANTILE PROBLEMS
Which Confront the Present Genera-
tion of Merchants.*
The Civil War period is, without a
doubt, the starting point of the prob-
lems of modern merchandising. Upon
the close of the Civil War the United
States entered upon a period of very
rapid development. With the return
of the troops to peaceful industry, a
tremendous growth in our commerce
and industry took place: From a
debtor Nation struggling under a Na-
tional debt of $3,000,000,000 in 1865
we have advanced to the position of
a creditor Nation to which our most
powerful contemporaries — France,
Germany and Italy—turn to-day for
financial support.
Sixty years ago we were dependent
upon Europe for financial develop-
ment. Since the opening of the pres-
ent century we have assumed a most
important place in the development
of European industry and commerce
American capital has been very in-
strumental in the development of the
British merchant marine. The White
Star Line, a great Pritish steamship
line, is owned and operated by Ameri-
cans. Before the war American insur-
ance companies held policies in Russia
alone amounting to more than $100,-
000,000. Only mention need be made
of the extensive investments of the
Standard Oil and _ International
Harvester companies abroad. Ameri-
can investments in Mexico, Cuba and
San Domingo amount to more than
$1,000,000,000. In 1860 we sold abroad
$353,000,000 worth of goods. During
the past few years we have been sell-
ing eight times that amount. At the
present time we are selling more than
that a month.
The importance that the United
States is assuming as a manufactur-
ing Nation is another feature of our
development since the Civil War. The
great increase in our exports just in-
dicated has been larger in manufac-
tured articles than in other products.
In 1893 we exported $677,000,000 in
food products. By 1913 this had in-
creased to $946,000,000—an increase of
less than 40 per cent. However, our
exports of manufactured products in-
creased from about $177,000,000 in
1893 to more than $1,500,000,000 in
1913—an increase of 747 per cent.
This is a very good sign. Markets
created for manufactured goods are
far more permanent than markets for
raw materials. As is well illustrated
by the present great struggle, a peo-
ple will continue to consume long
after they have stopped producing.
Although the factories of Europe are
shut down and raw materials are lit-
tle in demand, still we are exportinz
more manufactured articles to this
region than we ever did before.
The development of our internal
commerce—trade between citizens—is
even more phenomenal. According
to Irving Fisher, who has made a
very extensive study of our internal
commerce, $387,000,000,000, one hun-
dred times the amount of our exports,
worth of goods were bought and sold
within the boundaries of the United
States during the year 1909. During
~ Address by Archie M. Peisch, of the
University of South Dakota, before Retail
Merchants’ Congress.
the past eight or nine months the
bank clearing of New York City
alone have averaged $7,000,000,000 a
month.
Hand in hand with this enormous
growth in trade and industry great
changes in business practices and
methods have come about. Some
branches of industry, of which retail
selling is one, stand to-day practically
revolutionized.
Before the Civil War household in-
dustry supplied a large portion of the
necessities of life. In many parts of
the country families supplied their
entire subsistence from their own
farms, with the exception, perhaps, of
Sugar, salt, soda and some of the
more staple articles of trade. In the
fields food for the household was
grown and gathered. The household
furniture was hewed and whittled out
by hand from timber gathered in the
Archie M. Peisch
nearby forest. In the home cloth was
spun for clothing, supplies preserved
for the winter and hides tanned for
shoes and mittens. The greater part
of our broad area with all its enor-
mous wealth and resources still re-
mained unexplored and untouched.
Families could migrate into this vir-
gin wilderness and live in comfort
completely cut off from the rest of the
world. Modern wants and _ social
cravings were still unknown.
In those days of economic and so-
cial independence the task of the re-
tail storekeeper was exceedingly sim-
ple. In the first place he only needed
to stock his store with the most staple
articles of trade—goods which never
went out of date and for which the
demand was constant and certain.
His merchandising activity was con-
fined to the most common needs of
life—needs which never changed ex-
cept to increase as the population of
his community increased. He did not
have to bother about the whims of
fashion. His goods were always in
style and he never found himself at
the end of the season with a lot of
dead merchandise on his hands be-
cause he had over-stocked, misjudged
his trade or had neglected to push
certain lines properly. Then on top
of all this was the very important ad-
vantage of a rising market. For many
years previous to the Civil War prices
were steadily increasing. Since his
goods never went out of style, the
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
merchant could simply keep them
from year to year and profit by the
increase in market value.
Under such conditions the life of
the retail merchant was very easy.
Those were the balmy days of retail
selling. All merchants did not amass
enormous fortunes in those days, but
the worries and care of the modern
store keeper were unknown. Cus-
tomers did not demand the little serv-
ices and courtesies that mean so much
to-day. In fact, service was unheard
of as a basis of competition. Price
was all that the retailer had to con-
cern himself with. For the most part
he was simply a distributor of goods.
An ordinary amount of intelligence
and self control enough to be able to
sit on the store stool and wait pa-
tiently for the next customer or vic-
tim constituted all the equipment nec-
essary to become a successful retail
store keeper.
After the Civil War the entrance
of the United States upon a period o¢
great commercial and industrial ex-
pansion introduced great changes in
the field of retail selling. In the first
place a decline in prices set in. In
the face of falling market values the
retailer had to turn his stocks regu-
larly to avoid loss from “left overs.”
The old lax methods of store keeping
had to be replaced by careful and in-
telligent methods of merchandising.
With the rise of capitalistic produc-
tion after the Civil War household
industry broke down. Ready-made
goods could now be purchased more
cheaply than they could be manu-
factured in the home by the old slow
process of hand industry. Families
began to devote their time and energy
to the production of marketable ma-
terials rather than the ordinary sup-
plies and necessities of life. The re-
tail merchant in order to meet the
requirements of his trade found it
necessary to stock his shelves with
food products and manufactured
goods which his customers had previ-
ously supplied themselves. With the
rise of the city, the child of capitalis-
tic production, this tendency toward
larger and more diversified stocks re-
ceived force. Because of the increas-
ed opportunities that the field of re-
tail selling présented as a result of all
this, more men began to enter. the
activity and the number of stores rap-
idly increased. This marked the real
beginning of retail competition as we
see it going on about us to-day.
The enormous railroad development
which took place after the Civil War
had a very marked effect on retail
store keeping. The railroad made
neighbors of people whom distance
had formerly made all social and com-
mercial intercourse impossible. Com-
munities began to acquire the tastes
and social habits of other communi-
ties situated in far distant parts of
the country. The farmer of the
Western prairies learned to live, eat
and dress as did the city dweller of
the East. The local store keeper soon
found himself facing a consumer pub-
lic whose needs and desires had not
only grown in volume but also in
variety. As a result he had to stock
his store with goods gathered from
practically every section of the coun-
try. There was no way to escape
July 12, 1916
these diversified tastes and demands,
for the railroad made it possible for
the customer to go to distant Cities
and there purchase goods which his
local dealer had failed to furnish, To-
day, the postal system, supplemented
by the parcels post, brings the trading
possibilities of our great cities to the
door of every home in the United
States visited by Uncle Sam’s postal
carriers. This introduces that great
factor in modern merchansing, the
mail order house, of which I should
like to say more later.
Quickened and more adequate
means of transportation also made
possible and encouraged the special-
ization of industry which we see car-
ried out to such a high degree abou:
us to-day. With adequate shippine
facilities at its disposal a locality
could devote its entire energy and
resources to that industry for which
it was best adapted and depend on
the outside world for food and supplies.
The specialization of industry has
concentrated and intensified compe-
tition among manufacturers. This
concentrated and intensified competi-
tion has brought about the introduc-
tion of many new conpetitive factors.
chief of which is styles. Many manu-
facturers who specialize have turned
to styles as a weapon to outdo a rival.
These producers, whose number js
rapidly growing, are continually com-
ing forth with new designs and models
to tempt the public and bid for its
trade. The problem of the modern
retailer is, then, not only one of get-
ting reliable goods. It is also one of
getting goods that are in style.
Changing styles make more frequent
turn-oOvers imperative. To-day mer-
chandising success depends upon rap-
id trading. Stock must be kept mov-
ing. When its movement becomes
sluggish, it must be disposed of at
any cost. Small profits are better
than dead stocks. The lines which
move quickly should be located and
pushed. The lines which lag should
be eliminated or held down to the
lowest possible limit on the shelves.
Money is made on turn-overs and los?
on left-overs.
The basis of competition in retail
store keeping has changed from price
to quality. This change is largely
due to the general appreciation of the
great fact that the consumer public
- is better served in the case of goods
where quality competition prevails.
With this change has come a rapid
development of trade marked or
identified goods, Manufacturers in
emphasizing quality in their products
wish to connect their names with qual-
ity in the minds of 'the buying public.
This is most conveniently done
through the use of trade marks.
Good will or the friendliness of the
public toward a firm must be directed
toward some identified product or
service. The trade mark in the case
of merchandise is the most adequate
means of fixing the good will of the
public toward a particular article of
merchandise. When trading was face
to face the identification of merchan-
dise was not necessary. The cus-
tomer always knew whose product he
bought and by returning to the same
place was sure again of trading with
the same individual and of buying the
July 12, 1916
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
17
MONEY IN SPRAYING
Increase the yield and value of your crops by SPRAYING NOW.
The season has been wet and changeable, makin
suffered. You can help them wonderfully in both yield and quality by
PAY. Never .were prices so promising or the demand for well grown
present. This is the farmer’s opportunity i
time when you know it will pay you.
SPRAYING NOW It will preserve the foliage. It will destroy insects and diseases.
. . It will increase quality and yields. It will stimulate a weak crop.
Will do the following: It will turn a possible loss into a profit.
The Moral of the Situation then is SPRAY NOW, DON’T PUT IT OFF
Thi I For scale and other sucking insects—Lime sulphur Solution.
IS IS For worms, caterpillars, beetles and all chewing insects—Arsenate of lead, paste or dry
and Paris green.
What t 0 Use For Scab, rot, blight, mildew or other fungus—Bordeaux mixture and Lime sulphur Solution.
Our Booklet tells how to mix and apply. Send for it.
g more spraying necessary NOW. Your crops have
spraying at this time. IT WILL
farm crops so great as at the
We are Manufacturers and Distributors of SPRAYING COMPOUNDS. We carry a large stock.
We can make prompt shipment upon receipt of orders. To make it convenient for you to order use the
following Order Blank by designating the quantity and kind of Spray you want and sign and mail to us, and
your order will have our immediate attention.
THE MICHIGAN TRUST CO.
Receivers for Carpenter-Udell Chemical Co.
Gentlemen:—Please accept our order for Spray Material for immediate shipment as follows:
ARSENATE OF LEAD
ARSENATE OF LEAD
Powder Paste ‘
Quantity Barrels Drums Drums Drums _ Kits Cans Cans Quantity 600 Ib. 300 Ib. 100 Ib. 50 Ib. 25 Ib. 10 Ib. 5 Ib. 1 Ib.
/ 300 Ib. 100 Ib. 50 lb. 25 Ib. 10 lb. 5 Ib. 1 lb. Barrels Barrels Kegs Kegs Kits Cans Cans Bottles
2,000 Ibs. 3,000 Ibs. : :
and over 1 A and over _ 1 84 84 9 94 10% 12 .
1,000 to 1,000 to
2,000 Ibs. 17 Mie 192 194 204 2834 2394 fee hcl OK OH, _10% 12% 14yY
q 500 to. ee ea ee ca 500 to
1,000 Ibs. 1714 734 «1834. 1934 = 2034_~—Ss PES 1,000 Ibs. _ oa % 4 ww id 11 12% 14%
250 to cs ee ee 250 to :
500 lbs. 17 18 19 20 21 2214 2334 _ 500 Ibs. 8% 9 9% 9% 104 114% #184 «14%
ee ee 100 to
250 lbs. 194 18% 19% 20, geet _ 250 Ibs. S42 84 4% 16 104 14 i 15
Less than ae Less than ;
100 lbs. 18 18% 19% 20% 21% 23 25 100 Ibs. _ - e T4 04 A Ys
Number of i ce Cee Number of
each size each size
wanted wanted
PARIS GREEN LIME SULPHUR SOLUTION
He - re Ae y Quantity Barrels % Barrels 10 Gal. Cans 5 Gal. Cans 1 Gal Cans
eae oe n Kite sb ee u ie Dee ca ees Wh hee. Per Gal. Per Gal. Per Gal. Per Gat Per dan
1,000 lbs a 10 barrels
and over 33 34 35 36 37 See LL LULL _20 30
PONCE i Sey 2
500 to ace os : .
1,000 Ibs. 35 36 37 38 39 sill endaha = 3 22 a.
ee a ee o oe 3 to
ab he 37 38 39 40 41 5 barrels 12 fs Lh UL le
jas oe ae Less than
1H 66 y ‘ a 1 ‘oe le Ulf le
Less than co Number of
100 Ibs. 40 41 42 2. ow abbas
Number of SULPHUR, FLOUR
each size LIME, HYDRATE $1.75 per 100 Ibs.
wanted 50c per 100 Ibs, .
RDEAUX MIXTURE NICOTINE, BLACK LEAF 40%
B si ve Is 10 Gal. Cc 5 Gal. C 1 Gal c Quantity 10 Pound Cans 2 Pound Cans 4% Pound Cans
‘ itv ie "els 2 yarrels zal, ans 9 Gal. Cans wal, ans
a Herb (Per Far ig vor is Per Ib. cd $10.75 $2.50 ie
Any 10 il bs Ss owe TERMS: 30 days. One per cent. off for cash in ten days,
Prices quoted F. O. B. Grand Rapids. Pe
Oe R. R. ee
COE eee ee Station Oc
Address orders to . PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE PRICES ARE SPECIAL
The Michi
THE HOUSE OF SERVICE AND QUALITY
gan Trust Co., Receivers for Carpenter-Udell Chemical Co.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.
18
same article over. As soon as a man-
ufacturer through the excellence of
his product gained a reputation out-
side his locality, in order to make that
reputation permanent he had to mark
his merchandise.
The public is better served in the
case of trade marked goods. Identi-
fied goods are of known stable quali-
ty. The customer can buy quickly,
conveniently and confidently by name.
The manufacturer of trade marked
goods guarantees that the standards
of quality shall be the best possible
for the price and he impliedly agrees
with every consumer of his products
that the trade mark shall be used sole-
ly for the consumer’s protection.
When the quality has once been estab-
lished, the manufacturer must main-
tain it. If the goods are not satis-
factory at any time, the consumer can
avoid future dissatisfaction by simply
avoiding the brand, which he would
be unable to do in the case of goods
that were not identified by some spe-
cial mark. The consumer is thus
enabled to force the producer to ful-
fill the responsibility he assumes with
respect to the quality of an article
and can annihilate any producer who
cannot and will not meet his obliga-
tions.
As competition tends toward better
quality, prices tend toward certain
well defined levels. A bill has been
submitted to the present Congress
which will be definitely considered in
a couple of weeks, known as the
Stevens bill, which will legalize agree-
ments between producers and distrib-
utors to maintain definite fixed prices
with respect to identified merchandise.
This is simply a plain recognition of
one of the most fundamental tenden-
cies in merchandising—quality compe-
tition. Price maintenance is a ques-
tion of great economic and social im-
portance and has been in England,
France, Germany, Belgium and Den-
mark.
The case for price maintenance has
been very forcibly stated by Judge
Ellis, of the Washington Supreme
Court, in the case of Fisher Flourine
Mills vs. Swenson. Let me read a
paragraph from his opinion: “The
true competition is between rival ar-
ticles, a competition in excellence,
which can never be maintained if,
through the perfidy of the retailer
who cuts prices for his own ulterior
purposes, the manufacturer is forced
to compete in prices with goods of
his own production, while the retailer
recoups his losses on the cut price
by the sale of other articles, at, or
above, their reasonable price. It is
fallacy to assume that the price cut-
ter pockets the loss. The public
makes it up on other purchases. The
manufacturer alone is injured, except
as the public is also injured through
the manufacturer’s inability, in the
face of cut prices, to maintain the ex-
cellence of his product.”
Justice Holmes said: “I cannot be-
lieve that in the long run the public
will profit by this Court permitting
knaves to cut reasonable prices for
some ulterior purpose of their own
and thus impair, if not destroy, the
production and sale of articles which
it is assumed to be desirable that the
public should be able to get.”
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
Under modern conditions of pro-
duction it is practically impossible for
a manufacturer to set and maintain
high standards of quality unless he is
assured of a fixed market return. It
is to the public interest that the pro-
ducers of trade marked or identified
merchandise should be permitted to
enforce fixed prices. That is the one
great means of bringing about proper
emphasis upon the important factor
quality. When a manufacturer trade
marks his product, he becomes re-
sponsible, both to the distributor and
the customer, for the quality of that
product. He also assumes an obliga-
tion to the customer for satisfactory
conditions of sale (ease of purchase,
accessibility, etc.) If one dealer cuts
the price of a standardized article, his
competing neighbors will have to do
the same or lose the trade on the
article. The result will be a price war
in which none will make any profit
and the sale of the article will be dis-
continued by all. The market of the
producer will be destroyed and the
public will be inconvenienced in that
it will be no longer able to secure the
article.
To-day, service has become a most
important factor in retail store keep-
ing. The modern public wants some-
thing more than goods and price. It
also wants free deliveries, courtesy,
prompt attention, personal interest,
intelligent salesmanship and all the
other services which go to make a
store something more than an auto-
matic distributor of goods.
There are merchants still active in
business who can remember when free
deliveries in retail selling were ab-
solutely unknown. To-day, free de-
liveries have become so important that
in many lines they have become an
absolute condition of sale. Practical-
ly all the larger stores of New York
cover territory around the city within
a radius of forty or fifty miles. De-
liveries cost money, but in spite of
this the average dealer has to deliver
his goods or go out of business. One
large department store of New York
City delivers over an area of almost
three thousand square miles at an an-
nual cost of more than $1,000,000.
A few stores have given up deliver-
ing goods and have still kept the good
will of their customers. Ordinarily,
however, they emphasize some other
store service and sometimes price to
offset their failure to deliver. Harry
Whittelsey, who owns a chain of stores
in Kansas with annual sales amounting
to $250,000, does not deliver. Duke
Bowers, the great chain store man of
the South, refuses to deliver orders
which do not total $5. However, fail-
ure to provide free delivery in the
great majority of cases limits a
store’s trading possibilities. It is a
fact that most people want their goods
delivered and are willing to pay for
it. In general customers are not will-
ing to carry their purchases home un-
der their arms and it is up to the
modern store to either deliver or see
its trade slip away to other stores.
When one firm offers to deliver goods
free of charge, consumers expect it
of others. The retailer must dupli-
cate the facilities of his competitor
if he wishes to retain the good will of
his trade.
July 12, 1916
The successful retail store of to-day
must be equipped with sales people
who are able to serve customers
courteously and intelligently. Cus-
tomers are the life of a retail store.
In fact, the store keeper is the em-
ploye of the public and is regarded by
it according to what he does, as is
the case in all conditions of employ-
ment. Here is the statement which
Mr. Hawkins, Superintendent of the
Jordon Marsh Company, in Boston,
makes to the clerks in the store’s
salesmanship school, which points out fession, a knowledge of merchandise
this relation between the store and the and scientific salesmanship.
public in a very direct and forceful ness,
manner:
“The boss in this store is the cus-
tomer. It’s for the customers that
you and I are working. It’s the cus-
tomer that you and I are here to
please. It’s the customer who pays
your wages ‘and mine. If it were not
for the customer, you and I would be
looking for a job, and we might not
get as good a one as we have here.
Now, if you are sitting behind your
counter doing nothing, and see me
coming, don’t jump; but if you see the
customer, the boss, coming, jump!”
Knowledge of the goods is a tre-
mendous factor in retail selling. The
story is told of one of the most suc-
cessful salesman in Germany who,
asked the reason for his success, re-
plied, “I defy any man to ask me any
question about my goods which I can-
not answer.” A clerk to be a real in-
strument in a store’s success must
thoroughly know the goods he is to
sell—where they are, what they are,
and what they are worth.
The policy of Marshall Field &
Company with respect to its clerks
in the great Chicago retail store which
employs 9,000 people is interesting
and instructive, All salespeople em-
ployed each day are sent to a study
where by means of charts and lec-
tures, they are taught what sort of
check they are to issue under al} sorts
of circumstances. One room js se}
apart for salesmanship conferences.
the objects of which are to teach right
thinking toward the work as a pro-
Prompt-
courtesy, intelligent attention
and regard for customers’ interests
are points carefully covered in these
conferences. In order to provide
clerks with a more intimate knowl-
edge of the goods they sell, educa-
tional motion pictures have been
made, showing every detail of textile
manufacturing from the gathering of
the cotton in the fields, through all
the processes of spinning and weaving
to packing and shipping. In short.
every opportunity is taken advantage
of to keep the employes as individuals.
intelligent, loyal and satisfied.
Location is a factor which has as-
sumed tremendous importance in the
success of a modern retail store.
Favorable sites mean business and no
dealer can afford to neglect to care-
fully consider the location of his
store. Between a point about half
way down Winter street, in Boston,
and the busy corner of Washington
street—only a moment’s walk—land
values increase $200 a square foot, due
to the factor of location. ae a
Satisfactory
= BosTON e
CS. RoasTED an eee
ae In i, 2, and 3-lb.
= tin cans only,
Dien ee
Neve; sold in bulk.
SUMO |
Straight Goods |
Distributed at Wholesale by
JUDSON GROCER CO.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
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i
July 12, 1916
chair added to the furnishings of a
Store located on this corner uses
space worth over $1,000. The ad-
vantage of locating where life is thick,
of course rests upon the fact that larg-
er crowds are tapped and the possi-
bility of getting more people into the
store is greater, Therefore, dealers
who locate in expensive sites pit
against the high cost of location their
ability to intensify sales. However,
when an expensive location does not
mean large trade, disaster follows.
According to investigation it has been
shown that a retailer goes to the wall
every other day because his location
does not attract trade. The United
Cigar Stores Company makes exten-
sive investigations in the selection of
sites for its stores, so anxious is it
to connect itself up with thousands
of men. Childs, the chain restaurant
agi of the East, does the same thing.
Both Childs and the United Cigar
Stores people considered the crowded
corner of Washington and Winter
streets, but decided against it. AlI-
though thousands of people passed
this corner every day, they were for
the most part shoppers and, there-
fore, not liable to be hungry for a
smoke or a meal. In the fall of 1912
a manufacturer of billiard tables leas-
ed this busy corner in spite of the
protests of his friends that the rent
would swamp him. Within a week,
according to investigation, he had
taken more orders than his factory
could handle conveniently and after
two weeks he was forced to cancel
his lease because he could not fill the
orders fast enough. Within a few
blocks of this corner which sold bil-
liard tables faster than they could be
supplied by the manufacturer, a de-
partment store has been unsuccess-
ful because it is out of touch with the
great body of Boston’s shoppers.
Merchandising to-day is very large-
ly a problem of education. A large
amount of the goods on the shelves
of the modern retail store are goods
which the public does not actually
need for the bare purposes of living.
The demand for these goods is regu-
lated by the desire of people to live
well and not merely to live. To dis-
pose of these goods the dealer must
educate his customer into wanting
them. In creating new wants and en-
couraging people to spend more for
the sake of his private advantage,
the merchant at the same time renders
a real service to society.
Many people have spent a great
amount of time and energy during
the past few years advocating the
simple life. Yet the size and nature
of a people’s wants indicate much
more quickly than anything else the
degree of civilization it has achieved.
It is the people of many wants who
make the world progress. The dif-
ference between the simple peasant of
Southern Italy and the wealthy Amer-
ican farmer is one of wants. What
seems downright misery and hardship
to the American does not oppress the
Italian because he has never learned
to want anything better. Our im-
migration problem centers about the
fact that the wants of most of our
immigrants are few in number and a
very simple activity satisfies them all
—that because they desire little, they
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
are willing to work for wages which
our citizens cannot live upon and still
maintain our higher standard of liv-
ing.
Free spending prevails most in
countries which have attained a high
degree of education and culture. It
is quite true that over-spending is a
fore-runner of bad times. However,
it is quite equally true that if saving
were carried to the extreme of thrift
there would be a halting of com-
mercial life and a drying up of busi-
ness activity that is essential to our
economic and _ social development.
3etween the two extremes of undue
misery and undue extravagance lies
the great field that calls for active
development.
There is no greater incentive to
progress than the desire to spend.
The business man renders society a
real service in bringing about that
kind of a spending that gets a people
somewhere. Recently the Interna-
tional Harvester Company conducted
a very interesting campaign of adver-
tising in the State of Arkansas. This
company at the present time, accord-
ing to court evidence, controls from
75 to 80 per cent. of the entire busi-
ness in which it is engaged. Its mar-
keting problem, then, is not so much
one of getting trade from its com-
petitors—for it already has the lion’s
share of this trade—but in developing
and increasing the potential demand
of its present customers. This would
mean that their customers would have
to be encouraged to raise bigger and
better crops which would make more
farm machinery necessary.
In order to bring this about in Ar-
kansas this is what the Harvester
Company did: It sent a group of
lecturers into the State to tell the
people how to beautify their homes,
why they should educate their chil-
dren, how social centers could be
formed, how country lawns should be
kept, etc. It sought to create in the
country life of Arkansas those same
social cravings and desires which
mark the culture and intelligence of
the great metropolitan city. The
Harvester Company knew that if it
could increase the desires of the Ar-
kansas farmers to spend more on their
homes and families, they would farm
more efficiently in order to increase
their crop yield and income. This
would make necessary the purchase
of more farm machinery and when
it got to this point the company well
knew that it would get the bulk of the
orders.
In regard to expenditure it is well
to remember that all the factors of
our economic and commercial life
need not necessarily be something di-
rectly practical and productive. A
society does not live and progress by
bread and butter alone. The automo-
bile is an excellent illustration in
point. There are many who still be-
lieve that the automobile is a menace
to our economic and financial security
because such enormous sums are
spent for them by those who can
least afford such luxuries. The fact
is, they are no longer luxuries, but
have become actual necessities and a
distinct and inherent factor in modern
life. Many a fellow has been stimu-
lated to greater activity to be able to
buy an automobile and provide him-
self and family with this excellent op-
portunity for recreation and sociabil-
ity. The automobile, after little more
than ten years of development, has
taken a place along side of the tele-
graph and telephone as a factor in our
social and economic development.
The movies upon first consideration
are clearly unproductive. Yet motion
pictures as a creative and educational
factor have become a mighty force in
modern society.
The most effective means of devel-
oping the public’s wants—tempting
customers with new and better arti-
cles of convenience and comfort—
is advertising. Before the Civil War
advertising was practically unknown.
To-day it is one of the greatest forces
in selling. Last year $35,000,000 was
invested in ninety periodicals alone
for advertising. William Wrigley, Jr.,
according to sworn testimony given
in court a short time ago, has spent
$10,000,000 in advertising Spearmint
Gum alone since 1911. It is estimated
by a competent authority that a total
&
4
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ay/
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foo
All Wholesale
Druggists
:
at those should take
whom insomnia keeps awake
For Sale by Ae wae ry.
19
of $800,000,000 was expended on ad-
vertising in the United States last
year. Although all advertising does
not mean business, good advertising
does. William Wrigley, Jr., spent a
half million dollars advertising Spear-
mint before he put a single stick on
the market. The enormous volume
which his business has assumed since
then amply justifies that original out-
lay. Advertising has made some men
magnates of wealth and power. Oth-
ers it has ruined. All depends upon
the policy and the firm behind it.
The public as well as the dealer is
especially concerned in the develop-
ment of advertising. Linked with the
history of advertising is the history
of improved merchandise. When the
advertising of food products was .un-
known, adulteration ran riot. Then
the house wife was not to be blamed
for baking her own bread and putting
up her own preserves. Advertising
came and along with it pure food prod-
ucts. Aggressive and vigorous adver-
tising is the best proof that a manu-
facturer believes in his products, for
BrewincCo. ;
20
his advertisement is his boast and
promise to the public which he has
to make good. Advertising has also
been a great factor in reducing the
cost of buying and selling. Good ad-
markets.
This means lower manufacturing and
vertising means increased
selling costs.
Larger and more diversified stocks,
changing styles, advertising, delivery
service, window displays, competent
fixtures, ex-
pensive location—all these have great-
ly added to the cost of running a re-
tail store. With a cutting of profits
all along the distribution
from the manufacturer on down, as a
sales clerks, attractive
chain of
result of competition, not only does
the modern retailer face dwindling
profits, but also a steady gain in sell-
ing expenses upon selling prices that
constantly threatens to narrow profits
down to nothing.
im-
mediately after the Civil War, during
Although costs began to rise
the past twenty-five vears the rise has
been especially rapid. There are re-
tailers still active in the management
of their stores who can recall having
done business at an average of 8 and
10 per cent. which was normal twenty-
hive years ago.
Help was cheap. De-
livery service was unimportant. Ad-
vertising was still unknown. Pur-
chases could be wrapped in news-
papers. Customers did not expect to
immediately upon stepping
Costs under such
not help
small. About fifteen years ago gro-
cers thought that 10 to 12 per cent.
was a reasonable cost of doing busi-
To-day 15 to 20
considered a fair average.
be served
up to the counter.
conditions could but be
ness. per cent 1s
The same situation is occurring in
Take the
Although practically all of
all other fields of activity.
railroads.
them have been able to show record
breaking gross earnings, their profits,
due to the increase of operating ex-
pense, have on the whole been very
small. Whereas in 1900 the railroads
paid out 39 per cent. of every dollar
received from the public, to-day they
One-sixth of all our
at the first of the
hands of
pay 45 per cent.
mileage
the
miles of
railroad
year was in receivers.
Fewer railroad were con-
structed in 1915 than have ever been
constructed since 1847 with the excep-
the Civil War. The total
debt of those insolvent companies ex-
$2,300,000,000—an
most twice the
tion of
ceeded amount al-
our total in-
Na-
size of
terest and non-interest bearing
tional debt.
In the field of manufacturing and
distributing, due to the advent of
changing styles, advertising, larger
stocks and
the costs of doing business have gone
by leaps and bounds. All
expensive sales service,
forward
along the entire chain of distribution
costs have risen very rapidly. For
this nowhere in the world
should a spirit of hearty co-operation
prevail to a higher degree than be-
tween the manufacturer, the jobber
the retailer. Common interest
demands common consideration of
these rising costs. The business wel-
fare of any one of the three is not
possible if the other two are not pros-
pering. No business adjustment or
change in policy adopted by one will
reason
and
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
be successful if it does not consult
the good of all.
America has just entered upon an
era of business and industrial activi-
ty in which the great watchword is
“efficiency.” he period of extensive
exploitation of our natural wealth has
passed. From now on all our re-
sources must be carefully conserved,
capital more intelligently invested and
labor more effectively employed. Sci-
entific management, motion studies
and the like are being introduced into
our great industrial establishments,
with the idea of eliminating or reduc-
ing the wastes of production. As
Paul HH. Nystrom has put it, the
“hero of this period is the one who
can make two blades of grass grow
where only one grew before: and the
essence of good salesmanship is to
make two sales where only one was
The modern retail
store may be likened unto a through
limited train running on close sched-
ule. Time lost division
points must be made up on the next
division. So it is with retail selling
Losses suffered in one place
must be made up elsewhere if the bus:-
made before.”
between
to-day.
ness is to show results. Every leak-
age must be avoided or offset.
Rising costs which cannot be elim-
inated must be offset by rapid turn-
overs. Not only must goods be sold
out quickly to avoid dead stock, but
also to keep ahead of rising costs.
Rising costs in the face of standardiz-
ed prices mean smail profit margins.
Therefore, the merchant must sell out
his stock a number of times at small
profit to make the one long profit he
This makes it nec-
essary for the store keeper to purchase
made years ago.
several times a year in small quanti-
ties instead of once or twice a year
in large quantities. as was the custom
past. Retail selling drives
at a terrific speed to-day, depending
for its life and success upon rapid
turnovers at profits so small that the
slightest increase in
in years
expense may
mean financial ruin.
The modern retailer must know his
costs accurately in order to keep his
business on a firm foundation. It js
only through such knowledge that he
will be able to eliminate unnecessary
Only by grouping the var-
sts—purchase price,
freight charges, clerk hire, insurance,
advertising, rent overhead ex-
pense—can the dealer get volume of
sales and profits pulling together. The
expenses.
stores cos
ious
and
figuring of these detailed costs should
be as much a part of the merchant’s
daily routine as sweeping the floor
and handing the goods across the
counter. Getting such accurate de-
tailed information means something
more than policy. It means a grip on
the business which cannot be secured
in any other way. Accurate knowl-
edge of store costs is to a retail store
what a compass is toa ship. It is the
only means of telling where the busi-
ness is going.
The successful retailer of to-day
cannot guess. He must know. Ac-
cording to a leading business maga-
zine, thirty retailers go to the wall
every day because they guess. A mer-
chant can no longer blindly fix his
prices at a certain amount simply be-
cause his competitor down the street
is selling his goods for that. His
prices must be fixed on the basis of
his own business and not on the basis
of the other fellow’s. If that brings
his- prices above his competitors, he
should go after the cause and not the
effect. So important has careful cost
keeping in the retail business become
that a large number of the whole-
salers of the country are trying to
co-operate with their customers in the
maintenance of accurate accounting
records. A certain large National
manufacturer sends a cost accountant
to each one of his customers every
year. This movement should increase
in size and force with the coming
years; for, if jobbers and manufac-
turers are to wisely fix the retail price
of their goods, they can best justify
their prices by thorough information
of the cost of.retailing their goods.
A retail cost system should be ac-
curate and complete. From the time
the goods are taken in at the back
door to the time they are handed out
across the counter to the customer,
accurate information should be com-
piled regarding every item of expense
incurred. A cost system which is ac-
curate only in spots is almost worse
than none at all, for it is only through
accurate knowledge of the whole that
individual inefficiencies can be located
and remedied. Accounting records
are the business. To be
worth while they must be thorough
and correct.
news of
Modern means of communication
and transportation have made possi-
ble the selling of goods by mail. Great
institutions have been built up and
July 12, 191:
developed in response to this Oppor-
tunity. In many sections of the Unit-
ed States the business of the cata
logue houses has assumed tremendou-
proportions, to the serious injury o0/
many local dealers. The total busi-
ness of Sears, Roebuck & Co. has al-
most doubled since 1911, increasing
from $64,000,000 in that year to $106.
000,000 for last year. At one time
this catalogue house sent fourteen
cars of catalogues into the city of
Sioux City, Iowa, to be distributed
in that locality. I could go on citing
similar figures to establish the fac:
that the mail order business is a large
one, but that would be entirely unnec-
essary evidence, for we all know that
the business is large without any addi-
tional figures or data.
All sorts of schemes have been sug-
gested and promoted by local dealers
to overcome mail order competition.
In the West where I live and where
I believe the mail order situation is
the most serious, I very frequently
meet dealers who believe that their
mere presence in a community gives
them a prior and undisputed right over
the trade of that community. They
insist that they pay taxes in the
community and help towards keep-
ing up the local institutions, schools,
etc., and that the home trade there-
fore belongs to them. I am going to
read some clippings from papers pub-
lished in the West which well illus-
trate the spirit of the trade-at-home
propaganda.
Auburn
gives you another chance at it: but
“A dollar spent in New
B& Bice King
Refrigerators and
Refrigerator Counters
For the Grocer and Marketman
Absolutely the finest produced. Sold on easy monthly
payments. Send for free catalog No. 38.
Beauty,
Durability,
Economy,
Efficiency,
Safety and
Satisfaction.
None Better at
Any Price
210 Cavin Street
Ligonier Refrigerator Co.
Ligonier, Indiana
iv Aelahnmetoncer tian vasyal dice
July 12, 1916
if it is spent out of town, it’s Good-
bye, Mary.”
“Down with the parcels post. No
more diabolical device was ever per-
fected by the big cities for stripping
the small towns and country districts
of all their surplus cash.”
“The European war will, in a way
too often overlooked, contribute vast-
ly to the prosperity of the Pacific
Coast. Americans annually have been
spending more than $200,000,000 in
foreign travel. No sane man can for
a moment doubt that practically every
dollar of this is lost to home circula-
tion, Now it will be spent in travel
to the Pacific Coast. California will
get the largest share of it. This
money will spell prosperity for every
one of the State’s industries. But
we must remember the duty we owe
ourState. We can profit by this in-
crease in wealth only if we keep clear-
ly in mind the precept that it must
be spent for things produced at home.
Let us see to it that the dollars thus
given us do not find their way out of
the State.”
“Colorado has a $200,000,000 crop
yield this year and this $200,000,000 is
going to be spent among the mer-
chants, the tradesmen, the manufac-
turers and the workingmen of our
State. The above is the only plat-
form in this campaign in behalf of a
prosperous State. Last year we sent
some $20,000,000 to Eastern mail or-
der houses alone. Half of the value
of our crops went outside the State
to Eastern manufacturers and mer-
chants whose only interest in Colora-
da is to get all the money possible
out of its people. It is to keep this
money in the State and make it work
and keep on working for our own
people that this campaign has been
organized.
“Do you know, Mr. Citizen and
Mrs. Housewife, just what it means
to produce a $200,000,000 harvest in
Colorado and keep the money at
home? It means prosperity for your
grocer, your butcher and your dry
goods merchant. It means banks ful!
of money with which business can be
conducted. It means passenger trains
full of people, instead of empty
coaches. It means that the laboring
men will have jobs and steady salaries
and happy homes, well-fed children
and smiling wives.
“Every man, woman, and child in
Colorado has a part to perform in
this great work. Buy your shoes,
hats, clothing and underwear from
local merchants. Ask them to give
you Colorado-made products when-
ever possible. Spend your money for
Colorado-made agricultural imple-
ments, wagons, carriages and automo-
biles. Keep the $200,000,000 at home!
Be selfish—in the sense that you are
part of the State—for once in your
life! Don’t let the East feed on the
grain while we eat the husks. Don’t
let the best of that $200,000,000 crop
get away from Colorado.”
In regard to such trade-at-home
propaganda, President Wilson has
said that “Business exists for the com-
munity and not the community for the
business.” However, I do not be-
lieve that such propaganda is to be
criticized because it appeals to senti-
ment rather than the pocket book, for
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
there is no more powerful force in the
world to-day than sentiment. But
it is to be criticized because it is most
commonly advanced by dealers who
go on the assumption that people
trade away from home in response
to foolish whims and notions and not
in response to a real merchandising
appeal on the part of the catalogue
house.
The great secret of mail order suc-
a more effective salesman than the
ordinary retailer, because it gives far
more useful information to the pur-
chasing public about the merchandise
it is destined to represent. Each ar-
ticle is illustrated and described in a
manner which secures interests and
creates a real desire to buy. In my
country home, back in Wisconsin, I
can well remember that the mail or-
der catalogues used to occupy a place
21
thumb those pages over and over, en-
grossed with the excellent illustra-
tions and vivid descriptions. Each il-
lustration commanded our attention
and each description made us want
the article. It is such salesmanship
that means success in retail selling.
During the past year I have come
into intimate contact with about two
hundred retail merchants operating
in small towns throughout the West
cess is good advertising. The mail on the reading table where the Bible and I have persistently noticed this
order catalogue, the silent drummer ought to be. Evening after evening interesting coincidence.
of the mail order house, is very often members of the family used to sit and chant who advertised
PERE SBESR BEB RBEESB EERE RBEEBE ESSERE ES
me! Why the Road “Went Broke”
The Pere Marquette Railroad is, I believe, after two years’ study of the situa-
tion, not in bankruptcy for the reasons commonly accepted by those who have
not given serious thought to the matter, but for the very plain and simple reason
that it has not been able to earn enough during its existence to pay its way
because of—
First, Light traffic density, and Second, Low rates.
Light traffic density—While the Road serves considerable territory which
is well settled, and in those portions of the State the density of traffic is fairly
heavy, half of its mileage is in branch and sidelines, most of which run through
sections but sparsely settled. "One half brings in three-fourths of the passenger
revenue, for example, while the other earns but one-fourth.
The Pere Marquette is not a trunk line with an abundance of heavy
traffic and long hauls. _It is rather an originating and distributing line for other
roads which handle the through business. For this reason it is
impossible for it to make the same showing as trunk line roads
operating in this territory.
Low rates—The freight rates in the section in which Mich-
igan is located, are the lowest of any in the United States, the
average being but six mills per ton mile. In other words, the
Pere Marquette carries a ton of freight on the average
one mile for six-tenths of a cent, or three miles for less
than the value of a two-cent postage stamp.
Before the system was organized, the lines which were put
together to form it were earning an average of nine mills per ton
mile, but the decline of the lumber industry, which furnished about one-third the
traffic at fairly good rates, forced the Road to look somewhere else for business,
and now it is handling a third of its tonnage in coal, which carries a low rate.
The average rate in Michigan, already low because based on the through rate from
Chicago to New York, was reduced 33$% through this purely economic change.
Passenger rates were also lowered through legislative action in 1907 by the
same percentage.
While the earning power of the railroad was being cut one-third,
operating costs were going up, taxes, materials and supplies, wages, in
fact everything the Road used or had to have jumped in price. The “high
cost of living’’ hit the Pere Marquette as well as everyone else.
To me, it is no wonder that the Road “went broke.” It would have been a
miracle if it had not. Like any other businesy when “‘it costs more than it comes to,”’
there is bound to be trouble.
Freight rates have been advanced somewhat (about 5%), and interstate pas-
senger fares increased to 2} cents per mile. These are steps in the right direc-
tion and have helped the situation. The next step should be to increase pass-
enger rates within the state to 2} cents to conform to the interstate rate.
What the Pere Marquette needs is business to support its mileage
and fair rates for handling it. Then it will pay its way and stay out of
bankruptcy, and be in a position to give more and better service to the
people of Michigan.
Operating Receiver.
Talk No. 6
nee. el
SERRE EREBSEEEBESRRESEBSESEERE ESE E REE EERE EE
i Le el
22
through the use of storepapers, news-
paper advertising, store letters, bulle-
tines, etc., was at the same time hav-
ing little or no trouble with mail or-
der competition; whereas the reverse
was true of the man who was ignor-
ing advertising in his store policy.
In this connection, | like to
read an interesting statement made
by Harmon Rosenfeld, advertising
manager of Sears, Roebuck Co., re-
cently to members of the American
Advertisers Club at a convention:
should
“We have a bureau whose duty it is
to read, each week, the country news-
papers from all the country.
There is not a paper of any conse-
quence in our trade territory that our
not This bureau
looks over these papers, and whenever
we find a town where the merchants
are not advertising, we immediately
flood the territory with our literature.
It always brings results far in excess
of the same efforts put forth in ter-
ritory where the local merchants use
their newspapers.”
over
bureau does get.
There is no reason why the adver-
tising policy of a local merchant can-
not be ‘fully as effective as that of
the most powerful mail order house.
There is no reason why he cannot be
constantly remindine the public of
what his store has to offer in the
way of goods and service. There is
no reason why he cannot frame as
strong an appeal to the buying public
in the form of a store paper or news-
paper advertisement as the mail order
catalogue.
The catalogue houses are not mak-
ing millions simply because the local
dealers fail to advertise—which they
can do far more effectively than can
the mail order house—but because
local dealers are failing to make use
of those selling forces which are at
their disposal and which are forever
beyond the reach of the catalogue
house. There are certain things which
the local dealer can do which
the mail order house can never do.
Personality is a great big factor in
business. The local dealer possesses
tremendous advantage in his ability
to meet his customers on common
human ground, to waken in them re-
sponsive interest and friendly feeling.
A mail order house may be free from
local taxation, local church and char-
ity dues, Yet, because of that free-
dom it is as bloodless as a mummy.
As Joseph H. Finn says, “The three
big requirements in selling are intelli-
gence, initiative and courtesy. And
the greatest of these is courtesy.”
There is no opportunity to treat cus-
tomers courteously like that of per-
sonal relationship and contact. The
mail order house can write courteous
and interesting letters, but it can
never meet its customers face to face.
Its courtesy and interest can never
take on the warmth possible to the
local dealer. If in every local store
as much appreciation, as full credit,
were given the clerk who radiates
sunshine, who has unfailing patience
and who shows intelligent interest,
as to the one who overcomes severe
technical difficulties, I am mighty sure
that business would make greater
headway against the mal order house.
Indifference and offensive manners on
the part of clerks have lost sales and
made an indifferent public which has
poured millions of dollars into the
vaults of the mail order houses.
I wish I were able to say more in
regard to this very vital factor—per-
sonality of selling force—but E. St.
Elmo Lewis when he tells you that
the most important side of the counter
to study the retail business from is
the customer’s side, will emphasize
again and again and in a far more ef-
fective manner this
fact in retail selling.
very important
It has already been pointed out that
location is a very important factor ina
retail store’s success and that good
locations cost a great deal of money.
It is quite true that the mail order
house does not have to bother about
expensive locations, but for that ad-
vantage it pays a tremendous price
in being unable to immediately deliver
goods to customers when purchased.
It cannot tempt trade with attractive
window displays. Customers are un-
able to examine goods before they
purchase them and are, therefore,
forced to trade after an unsight and
unseen fashion.
The capacity of the mail order
house in regard to service falls des-
perately short of the capacity of the
local storekeeper, All dealings with
the catalogue house must ke on a
strictly cash basis. The local dealer,
through his intimate connections with
his customer, is able to thoroughly
inform himself regarding their char-
acter and capacity and extend to them
this very important service and con-
venience, credit. Of the eight and one
half billions of circulating currency
in this country more than seven mil-
lions is in the form of credit instru-
ments. The mail order house, in be-
ing unable to extend this important
convenience, is standing in the way
of one of the most fundamental ten-
dencies in trade. The mail order
house cannot deliver. It cannot take
orders by phone. It cannot meet and
study the people in their daily life.
Advertising and service are the op-
portunities of the local dealer to ef-
fectively meet mail order competi-
tion. No mail order price can make
headway against downright merit in
advertising, men and service.
Careful buying, delivery, service, ad-
vertising, salesmanship, store account-
ing and mail order competition—these
are some of the new problems in mer-
chandising. To some retailers these
problems have meant disaster. To
others they have presented great op-
portunities. Marshall Field took ad-
vantage of these new factors in re-
tail selling and in less than thirty
years made himself one of the world’s
greatest captains of industry. When
he died in 1906 at the age of 71, he
left behind him one of the greatest
business plants the world has ever
seen. The great retail store on State
and Washington, in Chicago, employs
9,000 people—great and _ conclusive
proof that retail selling presents un-
limited opportunities to rise to a po-
sition of power and influence in the
field of commerce and industry.
There is no profession in the United
States to which the welfare of the
people is more closely linked than
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
July 12, 1915
the profession of retail selling. 1
come back continually and emphasize
this mutual interest that exists be-
tween the retail store and the public.
Effective merchandising pays the con-
sumer even more than it does the
Many
Lines
storekeeper. Advertising pays the
consumer. Trade marks and price In
maintenance pay the consumer. The
dominant note in all these new tenden-
cies in storekeeping is “public wel-
fare.”
One
Bill
Buying i this principle
gives you variety without
over stocking.
There is no profession in the United
States more thoroughly democratic
than the profession of retail selling.
In no line of business activity has
competition been narrowed down to
brains and ability to a greater degree
than in retail selling. In these days
of service it is the bigness of the
man and not the capital that counts.
The great stores of John Wanamaker,
Marshall Field & Co., Siegel & Cooper
did not happen. They grew. Retail
selling, like all business activity, is
a fight and because it is fighting that
wins, it is so worth while.
It gives you
many profits on the same in-
vestment in place of a few. It
saves you money on freight.
Our monthly catalogue—
America’s Price Maker in gen-
eral merchandise—is dedicated
to this kind of buying.
Butler Brothers
Exclusive Wholesalers of
General Merchandise
139-141 Monroe St
Both Phones
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.
New York Chicago
St. Louis Minneapolis
Dallas
OFFICE OUTFITTERS
LOOSE LEAF SPECIALISTS
Tus Jischi
237-239 Pearl St. (aear the bridge) Graad/Rapids, Mich.
Lowney's Chocolates
in fancy packages
For Summer Trade
A fresh, complete line in stock all the time
National Candy Company, Inc.
Putnam Factory ea ser areiGAn
Western Michigan Distributors
Klingman Furniture
and sing “Home, Sweet Home” with
accelerated enthusiasm
Klingman’s
The Largest Furniture Store in America
Entrance Opposite Morton House
Corner Ionia Ave. and Fountain St., | Grand Rapids, Michigan
UNO OOOO
————————_—
DVNWAAWWN
tech tibiae
3
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5
'
July 12, 1916
Some Simple Rules for Personal Ef-
ficiency,
Very early in the callow period of
my experience as a retail salesman i
became conscious of two disagreeable
impressions. One was that the con-
versation among clerks within my
hearing was almost wholly trivial and
often inane. The other, that there
was a sad poverty of ideas on the
part of both clerk and customer in
the running talk between them, usual-
ly incident to shopping,
In regard to the first, being by na-
ture a little backward, I was a listener
rather than a participant, which may
have had*something to do with the
weariness of it. I found myself won-
dering to what extent the nature of
the occupation was responsible, and
if at the age of 35 my thoughts would
have no wider range than that to
which Morton’s seemed to be confin-
ed., In age Morton was the oldest
clerk in our department. “Kidding,”
to use his own term, was apparently
his chief pleasure in life. Ordinarily
he was more coarse than witty.
Reflection upon the matter lead to
a resolution. This did not take com-
plete form all at once, but I was in-
spired to make the start. The sys-
tem which grew out of itis one that I
have followed for many years, and am
still following. As department man-
ager, and later junior member of the
house, I have pressed it repeatedly
upon young fellows coming under my
charge. More than one successful
man of to-day is ready to testify that
it has played a large part in his ad-
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
vancement, both in our store and else-
where.
The system is a very easy one, in
all except the stick-to-it-part. Going
back to my early experience, I de-
cided that each day I would add some-
thing to my stock of information, if
nothing more than the meaning of a
word about which I might be uncer-
tain. I recall that start was made
with the name on a fancy paper label
attached to a bolt of goods. It took
me several weeks to run down the
facts regarding that particular weave
and the mill that had produced it.
The effort served to fix these facts
permanently in my mind, and _ inci-
dentally it had yielded me some gen-
eral information about textiles, a sub-
ject on which I was ignorant. I
found a pleasure in the possession of
this knowledge . which prompted
further effort,
While, naturally, most of the sug-
gestions came from objects about me
in the store, they were not confined to
such _ sphere. Important current
events and civic questions discussed
in the newspapers also inspired me.
I soon found that any kind of infor-
mation had a practical value.
“Say, what were you handing to
that woman—what do you know
about how ginghams are made?” ask-
ed Morton, jeeringly, one day after
overhearing my talk to a customer.
He repeated my language in distort-
ed form to the other clerks, and for
a week or more I was the butt of his
ridicule.
Nevertheless, customers in increas-
ing numbers gave me the preference,
because I got away somewhat from
stereotyped counter talk. In a short
time I ceased to be a joke to Morton,
except as a memory, as I was trans-
ferred to another department, in a
more important capacity.
Account of my further advance-
ment, beyond stating the fact that it
was steady, is not pertinent to this
article. What I am trying to do here
is to emphasize the practical value of
continued self-improvement. In a
number of instances I have seen a
boy who was compelled to quit school
while in the grammar grade and go
to work, as was the case with me, out-
strip the college graduate. The one
realized the need of more knowledge,
while the other seemed to feel that he
had sufficient equipment.
But I would warm against leaning
backwards. In other words, because
a little time regularly spent in self-
improvement is a good thing, it does
not follow that all spare time devoted
to the same object is a better thiny.
Everybody, especially the young,
should have recreation and_ social
pleasures.
The primary object of all knowl-
edge is to strengthen character and
develop judgment. In doing this it
gives poise and the sense of propor-
tion. Self-improvement should not be
attempted with too great enthusiasm
and assurance. It is not to be taken
by storm. Better to walk and keep
at it than to run and faint.
No fragment of knowledge is to
be despised. That which appears so
23
insignificant may become large and
luminous when it touches some other
bit of data. A little knowledge is a
dangerous thing when it is acquired
for the sake of disputation or show.
True knowledge is modest and is seen
at its best in the unconscious charm
of a cultured mind.
Harking back to my system of let-
ting no day go by without learning
something of permanent value, I have
found it a constant pleasure. While
I always have a number of interesting
things on my “waiting list” that I
want to enquire into, I am content
with adding to my stock of informa-
tion a little at a time. From the first
I have been a social being. I have
always loved a little nonsense. Mak-
ing notes in writing and preserving
them for reference has been a great
aid to me.
It is my observation that the man
who is narrow, or stubborn, or vacil-
lating, or soured, is the one who has
failed to store his mind with funda-
mental data and to expand his facul-
ties with proper exercise. He lacks
perspective. On the other hand, the
best aid to efficiency and success in
the business world is rational, sys-
tematic self-improvement—C. C. John-
son in Dry Goods.
Very Classy.
Mrs. Wayupp—Was there a society
wedding last night?
Mrs. Blase—I should say so. The
highest salaried man in town married
the highest-alimonied woman.
—_+++____
What people don’t know about re-
ligion causes the fool arguments.
ASK YOUR JOBBER FOR
Hart Brand Canned Food
HIGHEST QUALITY
Our products are packed at five plants in Michigan, in the finest fruit and vegetable belts
in the Union, grown on lands close to the various plants; packed fresh from the fields
and orchards, under highest sanitary conditions.
Quality Guaranteed
Beans, Spinach, Beets.
The HART BRANDS are Trade Winners and Trade Makers
Vegetables:—Peas, Corn, Succotash, Stringless Beans, Pork and Beans, Pumpkin, Red Kidney
Fruits:—Cherries, Strawberries, Red Raspberries, Black Raspberries, Plums, Pears, Peaches.
Flavor, Texture, Color Superior.
W. R. ROACH & CO., HART, MICH.
Factories at
HART, KENT CITY, LEXINGTON, EDMORE, SCOTTVILLE.
24 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
Business is booming more than ever
July 12, 1916
/ ifs y 3 \ >
U7 Ea s a4
508 OR Cen
BS O6 Ge
ne Gm see!
GE BE BEE}
TOLLE
The above busy industries
. Ce oe
ramerares OEE ae BEE yk
———— =|" GROCERY .
make busy stores below
SC
Fr
7 3 DRY GOODS NOTIONS
t= 7) Fe
eracaniraae 1 $
28 OWE SE EERRREREE
Now is the time for merchants to make more money
Factories are busier than ever, many working over-time.
Labor is in greater demand at higher wages.
People are spending money more freely than ever before.
Billions of dollars are passing over the merchants’ coun-
ters.
This year you should make more money than ever before.
You cannot make all you should unless you have up-to-date
methods.
A man should never do a thing which a machine can do
for him.
You should have our complete 1916 model register that prints
the amount of each transaction on receipt or sales-slip.
It forces a correct record of all transactions between clerks and
customers.
If you are using an old register, it will pay you to exchange it
for a complete 1916 model.
Considering the material, workmanship, and the work it does, it
is the lowest priced piece of machinery sold in the world.
You should order yours now, for early delivery.
Write us, and our agent will help you select a register suitable
for your business.
(Signed)
President
ENE ENENN
2 sours
July 12, 1916 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 25
Don’t forget, NOW is the time to make
em calli
This is the machine
that will help you do it
The harvest is ripe. Will you reap it with an old-time sickle or an
up-to-date self-binder? Our complete 1916 models are as far ahead
of our old registers as the self-binder is ahead of the old sickle.
1. The complete 1916 National Cash Register takes care of all cash sales, assuring you of a
complete, unchangeable record of the sale.
2. It takes care of all charge sales, assuring you that proper record will be made of the charge.
3. When customers pay on account a record is made. This stops disputes later.
4. When you pay out money it forces a record as a safeguard against having to pay the
bill again.
5. Goods sent C. 0. D. or on approval are accounted for, and the danger of their being lost
sight of is removed.
Our complete 1916 models pay for themselves as they go—out of
the money they save.
, They are making money for thousands of merchants.
What is good for others is good for you.
Write us today for more information.
The National Cash Register Company, Dayton Ohio, U. S. A.
Offices in all the principal cities of the world
MICHIGAN TRADESMAN
July 12,
i
~
1916
Make Us Your Shipments
When you have Fresh Quality Eggs, Dairy Butter
Or packing stock. Always in the market. Quick
returns. Get our quotations.
Kent Storage Co. Grand Rapids, Mich
Butter Orders Wanted
for fancy pasteurized print butter—
quality always uniform.
RIPON PRODUCE COMPANY
Ripon, Wis
Michigan Poultry, Butter and Egg Asso-
clation.
President—J. W. Lyons, Jackson.
oe President—Patrick Hurley, De-
troit
Secretary and Treasurer—D. A. Bent-
ley, Saginaw.
Executive Committee—F. A. Johnson,
Detroit; H. L. Williams, Howell; C. J.
Chandler, Detroit.
Those New Egg Rules.
The New York Butter and Egg Ex-
change is to be congratulated on the
latest efforts it has made to safeguard
call trading in eggs, conducted under
its auspices. It is no doubt impossible
to devise a set of rules and regulations
governing open trading on any ex-
change which will prove in practice
an absolute protection against all
forms of trickery which an ingenious
brain might conjure up. But this im-
possibility does not lessen the ad-
visability of an exchange, one ob-
ject of which is to furnish trading
facilities for its members, taking what
steps it can to proteci its membership
from any injustice or any misleading
evidence of market values which
might creep in were call trading sub-
ject to no regulation whatsoever. The
difficulty lies in building up a sys-
tem of rules strict enough and fairly
enough enforced to command the con-
fidence of buyers, and at the same
time not so cumbersome or so diffi-
cult to meet that the effect is to stop
rather than promote call trading. Just
what effect the egg rules of the new
Exchange will have on call trading
remains to be seen. They will prob-
ably tend to induce greater conserva-
tism in offerings of eggs under the
call until the workings of the system
are better understood by sellers. But
if the inspection and sampling ma-
chinery to be provided fulfills the
hopes of its originators the new rules
should tend to promote more confi-
dent bidding by buyers. And certain-
ly under the new rules the New York
Butter and Ege Exchange will be in
a better position to prove its desire
to keep its board sales above suspi-
cion, should the necessity ever arise,
than would be the case were it to
make no effort toward the evolution
of a more efficient and still practical
system of regulation.—N. Y. Produce
Review.
—_~+--2>—_ —
Newspaper in an Egg.
Mrs. Sarah C. Williams of Quincy,
Mass., is wondering how a piece of
newspaper got inside a hard-boiled
egg. When she broke open an egg
there was found inside a strip of news-
paper about half an inch long and an
eighth of an inch wide with the words
“To be known” and “go to” quite
legible, although upside down.
Eggs have broken into print fre-
quently but scientists remember no
previous case of print getting into
eggs. Mrs. Williams is equally puz-
zled by the meaning of the words, and
is curious to find out what is “to be
known” and what the final word of
the “go to” phrase can be. ;
Believing that there has been in
the past entirely too much decayed
fruit and vegetables sold on the docks
and in the stores in a wholesale why,
the Bureau of Foods and Drugs of
the New York Department of Health
has issued an order which requires
that the goods received on the docks,
containing even small percentages
of produce unfit for food must be re-
conditioned and put in edible shape
before being offered for sale. This,
it looks to the receivers, will practi-
cally put a stop to the “as is” selling
which has been a feature, and to many
seemingly a necessity, in the fruit
and vegetable trade for some time.
Director Brown of the department
recently said that his ruling as it ap-
plied to eggs would hold responsible
the dealer that supplied the retail
trade, whether he be jobber, whole-
saler, or commission man. He also
indicated that the department intend-
ed to use reasonable judgment and
good sense in enforcing the new reg-
ulation, but that he wanted a stop
put to the sale of what he claims have
been enormous quantities of fruit and
vegetables unfit for food.
The Chicago Butter and Egg
Board’s decision to take the handling
of sales of futures in butter and eggs
appears to be a forward step. A com-
mittee has been appointed to recom-
mend proper procedure and this com-
mittee has been actively at work for
several weeks, taking the ideas of
the various members of the board into
consideration in forming the plans.
Within the near future, then—unless
the unexpected happens—the Chicago
3utter and Ege Board will be oper-
ating the system of buying and sell-
ing future contracts. The matter has
been under discussion for some time
and the recent move, can indicate
only one thing—and that thing is
progress.
—_—__—
Eggs, butter and milk doubtless
are more generally used than any
other three articles of food. On the
daily bill of fare, they are ever pres-
ent, and in the majority of dishes are
one or all ingredients. Used as ex-
tensively as they are, it is but natural
that the consumer should want them
as fresh and untainted as possible
and that the handler—in line with his
views of giving service—should strive
to furnish just that.
—— ~-22.__
Tipping a waiter does not make him
lose his balance.
Dandelion Vegetable Butter Color
A perfectly Pure Vegetable Butter
Color and one that complies with the
pure food laws of every State and of
the United States.
Manufactured by Wells & Richardson Co.
Burlington, Vt.
Watson-Higgins
Milling Co.
Merchant Millers
Grand Rapids, Michigan
SPEED—SAFETY—COMFORT
S a 1 ___
No More Old Ladies.
From the time a woman is married
her years are filled with cares and re-
sponsibilities until, finally, the children 1s
grow up, ave home, and, hus- perfectly splendid credential of respect-
band having developed the poise and
back seat of a touring car, where she is
not the least trouble in the world and
always, under all circumstances, a
marry, le
ability. Two generations ago wonien of
29
her age were senile and sat in the
chimney corner where they would be
out of the way.
went out of and she
just as naturally uprooted.
But the chimney corner
architecture was
There are
there
Not while grandmother
fewer old ladies’ homes than
promised to he.
can wear her granddaughters’ shoes and
hats and sashes and beads is she going
to an old ladies’ home.
>
>
19
elegram 5e¢ . | 76
Tiger, OG eee 00
Tiger, 25¢ cans. 40
Uncle Daniel, be. 60
Uncle Daniel, 1 OZ... 5 28
Plug
Am. Navy, 16 OZ... 8 99
Apple. 10 1b. butt 37
Drummond Nat. L eat, 2
and 5 Ib.
Drummond Nat. Leaf
per doz. : ,
Batic Ax 39
Bracer, 6 and 12 Ib. o
Big Four, 6 and 16 lh. 32
Boot Jack, 2 Ib. §
Root Jack, a doz. .. 96
Bullion, 16 oz.
Climax Golden _ Twine 49
Climax, 143% oz. ...... 44
Climax, 7 oz. ee AT
Climax, 5e ting | 6 00
Pay’s Work, 7 & 14 Ib. 35
Creme de Menthe, Ib. aD
Derby, 5 Ib. boxes wens ae
2 ends, £1b 66
Four Roses, 10¢ 90
Gilt Edges: 2 1h 0° 5
Gold Rope, 6 and 12 Ib. 58
Gold Rope. 4 and & Ib. 58
G. O. P., 12 and 924 Ib. 40
Granger Twist, § m. .. 46
G. T. W., 10 and 21 Ib. 26
Horse Shoe, 6 and 12 Ib. 43
Honey Dip Twist, 5
and 10 45
Jolly Tar, 5 and 8 lb, 40
J. T., 5% and 11 Ib. 40)
Kentucky Navy, 12 Ib. 32
Keystone Twist, 6 Ib. 45
Kismet, 6 Ib 7). 48
Maple Dip, 16 oz. ..... 32
Merry Widow. 12 Ib. 32
Nobby Spun Roll 6 & 3 58
Parrot, 12 Ib 32
Patterson’s Nat Leaf 98
Peachey, 6, 12 & 24 Ib. 43
Picnic Twist, 5 Ib. 5
Piper Heidsieck, 4