Michigan Artisan; 1907-04-25

Notes:

Issue of a furniture trade magazine published in Grand Rapids, Mich. It was published twice monthly, beginning in 1880. and ~---------------, GRAND RAPIDS l).~RY Twenty-seventh Year-No. 20 APRIL 25, 1907 Semi-Monthly THE MONARCH PUSH BUTTON CHAIR EVERY PATTERN OF OUR WELL KNOWN L I N E OF MORRIS CHAIRS WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH THIS PUSH BUTTON ATTACHMENT. The Monarch is Perfection, Comfort and Utility. Ramsey ~Alton Mfg. Co. PORTLAND, MICH. Note the simple yet abso-ltltely rigid construction. Fully guaranteed and pro-tected by U. S. Letters Patent Nos. 653,452 and 648,715. Will Exhibit on the Ground Floor of the Ashton Building (Formerly Pythian Temple), Grand Rapids, in July, 1907. MICHIGAN HEARSE 8 CARRIAGE CO., MANUfACTURERS Of fiNE Grand Rapids, Mich•• - U. S•• A,=':'" DO YOU KNOW some of the finest Funeral Carll, Ambulance. and Under-taken' Wagon .. are made in Grand Rapids~ DO YOU KNOW the Micbip,n Heane & Carriage Co. have in their employ ", the.bell-.sl:illed mm:hanics the Wl)r1d produces ~ DO YOU KNOW we spare 110pains nor moneyin theteledion oftbe malerials thai 80 into the con§:ruction of our vehicle&to make tbem leaders aDd !he ~ thai can be produced? DO YOU KNOW the underlaket5 of ChicaKO alone have taken _meen of our vehiclel ,in the pad few moDthl ~ If you are looking for good work combined with Ityle and the right price, write UI today and we will eend half tODe illulltratiooa. ~- -- 1 A Splendid New Line ~~I of Tables We have designed and now show in our new Catalogue a Splendid New Line of Dining Room Tables---the best in the country---no exclusive table house has better medium-priced tables. We have put in new and improved rabIe-making machinery. We have new and exclusive de-signs-- some really popular patterns that sell equal to the best. Our pedestal tables are all equip-ped with the new Seng patent K. D. de-vice, the very latest popular improve-ment. This makes all tops interchange-able, so that any top can be put on any pedestal, to suit any customer, and a very few tables will give you a very large number of different designs. All our five-leg tables, shown in our regular line, are equipped with the famous INVINCIBLE K. D. device, which makes it unnecessary to fasten the legs by screwing bridging to the blocks, so that any retail dealer can set them up in a jiffy with no trouble whatever. Besides our regular line of tables, the beautiful mission patterns in our popular dining room suites may be had separately. We offer you 65 separate and dis-tinct designs, many of them in three different finishes. We challenge comparison with .any medium-priced line of tables in this country. We do not make the cheapest. We do not make the high-est in price. We do make just the line of tables YOU can sell most readily. Won't you let us SHOW you? Northern Furniture Company Sheboygan, Wisconsin I 2 SHELBYVILLE DESK CO. MANUFACTURERS OF OFFICE DESKS Mahogany. and ImitationQyarlered Oak. Plain Oak in Three Grades. SPECIAL FEATURES A SQUARE DEAL Write for lattIt Catalogue. SHELBYVILLE, IND. OUR OAK AND MAHOGANY -Dining Extension Tables Are BeSt Made, 8dt: Finished Values. All Made from Thoroughly Seasoned Stock. No. 497 Dining Table TOPt 48x48. Made in Qyartered Oak. Weathered Finish. Nickle Casters. LENTZ TABLE cO. NASHVILLE. MICH. No. 497 Dining Table. Nail's, the Polish that is making Evansville Famous NaJJ's Red SIa, P0Ji9h dril!S inQantly aJld never softens or gUIllS. No ~bJe or offensive odor. Never settles or evaporates A trial order always makes a perrn3neot cus-tomer. Brings QUi the finisb aad aives new life to furniture. This polish is free fram. acid. Can be used by any child. Guar3.llteed to give satisfaction. Sold in I, 2, 5 and 10 gallon aUIll and in barlf'~. also put lip in 2, 3 and 6 oz bottles retailingfor,lOc. lSe and 25c. al\Qwinll:a h"beralprolit to the retailer. Write for prices and ftate quantity wanted. A petfed PolUh and Cleaner for Furniture, Office and Bar Fixtures Pi_N, OI'8'_S, Bicycles, Iron Bed .. Carriages.nd Automobiles. • 'Yc rdC! r,ou to the Crescent FU~lure ~ .. The EvanaviUe De.k Co.,· The Eli D. Miller Foklilla Bed Co;. and the City National BllDk of Evansville. AMERICAN PHARMACAL CO., '0' UPP'. ".~. EvallSville, Ind. Cline's Caster Cup I Thousands in Use I Furniture Dealers need have no more fear. With the use of Cline's Caster Cup one tabJe may be- placed on top of another without injury. Made in two sizes in the follow· ing finishes: Oak, Mahogany and Rosewood. Special pre-pared felt bottom, preventing sweat marks, scratchiug, etc. Price: 2)4 In. per 100. $3.50; 3" In. perlOO. $4.50 We also manufacturethe most reliable Card Holder on the market. Write fol' our new 40 paa-e Catalogue. L. Cline Mfg.Co.••'3.WabaobAve .. Chicago ~ ~df "~'" ' r C i"f:ANTD '-!LJi '" l' PUBLIC LIBRARY 2 7th Year-No, 20, GRAND RAPIDS. MICH,. APRIL 25. 1907, $1.00 per Year. SALARIED SALESMEN BEST. Dry Goods Clerks Must Have More Tact and Ability Than Those in the Furniture Trade. "Those furniture merchants who think they have all the trouble in securing competent salesmen and that their sales-men must be better posted and more intelli'gent than those in other lines of trade, would change their minds if they \'v"ere to get into the dry goods business." said }Iorris Friedman, of M. Friedman & Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., in an inter-view recently. "Of course, there aTC departments in our store where a person with the necessary natural traits may easily hecOl11C a successful salesman. but to get all-around .knmvlcdge of the dry goods business is much more difficult alld requires much more time thall to become well posted in the furniture trade. The truth of that statement is evident enough when you consider the fact that a furniture salesman has to knmv about only a few different articles, while there are hundreds of different articles, with more different styles, makes and qualities in the dry gooc!5 line. "The straigbt salary or commission question is a serious problem. It is difficult to determine which is best. I am inclined to favor the salary plall, though a combination may be advantageous in some cases·. The c.ommi,,-;;,lon plan may tend to increase sales, bllt it has disadvantages. 'VVhen you place salesmen 011 commission they arc quite apt to give the the gTeater part of their attention to the most saleable goods -those that are in great demand and almost sell themselves -'while they neglect the thillgS that need pushing-those that we wish to move promptly. Then they are liable to neglect the stock and fail to do their sbare in keeping it in order and good condition. Many of them watch the door and in that way get a hold of the best customers and thus cause ill-feel-ing and lack of harmony in the force. They soon learn to pick out those who Jre likely to buy largely and th.ey arc apt to neglect, slight or even snub, the small buyers. "The dry goods salesmen must be well posted. There i" no line of trade 'where lack of knowledge, lack of ability to answer questions, etc., counts so much agaillst the house as in the dry goods b"l1sincss. The clerk who becomes confused or shows lack of familiarity with the sh)ck or store frequent-ly spoils a sale and creates distrust in the customer. "Dry goods salesmen not only have to handle ru;:lny more diffe::ent articles than the furniture men, but they bave to meet and deal ''lith many more buyers. It is therefore nec-essary that they should have a much wider knowledge of hu-man nature-they must have more tact and ability. "\!>.l e prefer experienced salesmen, of course, but 'we can-not always find them. When we cannot get them we have to teach novices, 'which requires time C111d experience ct1ld is usually an expensive proposition." Pittsburgs' Enormous Freight Traffic. Great illcrease in the number of cars handled is ShOWllby a cO:llparative report just issued by the Pennsylvania Rail-road con:pauy Oil freight interchange in the Pittsburg yards in 1905 and 1906. The increase in 1906 over 1905 is 'an average of 11,08i cars a month, or 364 a day, equivalent to a gain of 6.3 per cent. The total number of cars handled in the Pittsburg interchange in 1905 was 2,111,376. Tn 1906 the total was 2244216, the increase was due to the improved facilities of the Pitcairn yard and the Brilliant cut-off. "It should he horne in mind," the report says, 'Ithat these figures do not in any way represent the total freight cars going out of Pittsburg as they include only cars which pass thrcmgh the Pittsburg yards, ''lhile they do not include such freight as originates in the Pittsburg district and leaves Pittsbtlt'g without beng transferred from one to another yard. San Francisco Insurance Suits. Under the law of California suits to enforce the payment on an insurance policy must be filed within a year after the lire. The time for filing such suits for losses sustained in the great San Francisco disaster of a year ago, expired, in most cases, on April 18, On that day over 200 hundred suits were started against companies that have neglected or refused to settle. \-\lith tbose filed on the last day, the total of such case.S now pend-ing -in the California courts is over 1900. THE CORRECT Stains and fillers. THE MOST SATISFACTORY first toaters and Varnishes MANU~Ar:TURCD ONLY BY CHICAGO WOOD FINISHING CO. Z59·63 ELSTONAVE.'" Z-16 SLOAN ST. CH I CACO. 4 ~l'1.19.rIG7jN $ MANAGEMENT OF SALESMEN. Some Interesting Ideas Expressed by Leading Furniture Dealers of Rochester, N. Y. Rochester, April 20.-Few cities can boast of such splen-did furniture stores as are in this third largest city of the Empire State, located in the fertile and wealthy valley of the Genesee. These are busy days with the dealers, but for the Michigan Artisan they cheerfully considered the ques-tions regarding the qualifications and management of sales-men and readily gave their views. None talked more inter-estingly and more to the po'int than H. B. Graves, who con-ducts the largest establishment of its kind in the city, and whose success covers many years. He is regarded as the leader among furniture men in this section of the state. HA man must have experience and knowledge of what he is going to sell," said Mr. Graves. "And the saying that a salesman is born, not made, comes pretty nearly being abso· lutely true. The great essential in a salesman, to my mind, is judgment. He must to a certain extent lead his custom· er and assist in the selection of the article the latter has come to buy, since so few people know much about furniture. For instance, a woman may come to buy a sideboard and she may be satisfied with the appearance of one selling at $25, but who may be well able to afford one at $75, while the cheaper one may be out of harmony with the furniture and decora-tions of her home. A good salesman would learn quickly what the customer really needed. He would effect a sale for $75 instead of $25, and would have the satisfaction of knowing he had sold an article appropriate to the customer's home instead of an inappropriate one, which would not give satisfaction. "The tact and judgment which is essential to the sales-man makes him know when to stop. A good salesman will assist a customer to concentrate his or her attention, while one with less tact will in reality tend to confuse the custom-er. The ability of knowing when to show a customer no more and quickly close the sale is valuable. "A graduate of a normal school came to me a few years ago and asked for a position, and liking his manner and ap-pearance r told him that if he could get a substitute for the school he had engaged to teach I would give him work. When he came r put him out in the shipping room; and they called him 'Professor.' In three months I was able to call him in on the floor as a salesman, and in a comparatively short time r made him one of our buyers. He is now in California, where he holds an important position. He was a natural salesman and a splendid buyer. >lWe have our staff well organized. There is a scrap book .for new suggestions and orders for the salesmen. We have meetings occasionally for the discussion of business and methods and the interchange of'ideas. They help. Occa-sionally, too, we have meetings at which some expert ad-dresses the men, on upholstery, for instance. HEnlivening business in dull times? We_ can stimulate trade to a degree by marking down and cleaning out lines we do not wish to carry any longer. But the advantage is questionable. ~larked down goods create suspicion in many. It is questionable whether it is wise to interfere with the seasons." "We require that our salesmen be keen, clean, gentleman-ly and thoroughly understand their business," said C. F. Schrninke, of G. & C. Schminke, a firm which caters to the best class in the furniture and upholstery trade. "\Ve want him to have absolute confidence in us and have him so conduct himself that we have absolute confidence in him. Right in fine with that we demand that he inspire confidence in our customers. "We pay well and make few Or no. changes. We like best the men who start out to learn the bu~iness with us, and find that every year they become more valuable to us. "We have no idlers. Each man when he comes in of a morning has his room to put in order and there is no time of thE; day in which we expect him to regard himself as an or-nament. "Courtesy we insist upon. We demand of our men that they treat all who enter our store pleasantly and in all ways be obliging and cheerful, whether they khow the person they are talking with has any intention of buying or not. We like to think that our visitors leave us feeling that they have been nicely treated; they are likely to remember it. "There are many ways by which to judge a good sales-man. Appearance counts. So does diligence. By watch-ing your men as they handle different sorts of people, one can judge well. vVhen people, after dealing with a man for a while, come back and ask for him again, we know that -they must have been well treated and that confidence in the man must have been instilled into them. "I think I have suggested our policy in selecting men and in training them. In addition, I will remark that we will lIot have a man who attempts to force an article upon a customer or who will not be honest m every statement he makes to a customer." The firm of Bickford Brothers does business with the best people in Rochester, and A. E. Bickford has ideas about sales· men. "I suppose every firm considers that men trained in its establishment ~re better for it than outsiders," he said, Why Not Order? Say a dozen or more Montgomery Iron DISPlay Couch Trucks sent you on approval; If DOt satisfactory they can be returned at no expense to you whatever, while the price asked is but a 1rifIe, com~ pared to Ihe convenience they alford and the economy they represent in lhl!l saving of floor space. Thirly.lwo couches mountl!lCl on the Monlgpmery Iron Display Couch Trucks occupy the same Ooot spaceas twelve dis-playedin the usual manner. Write for 'Catalogue giving 'uB descrip-tion and pri<:ein the different finishes, to-gether with illustrations demomb'aring the use of the Giant Short RailBed.Fastener for Iron Beds. Manufacturedby H. J. MONTGOMERY PATENTEE Silver Creek, New York, U. S. A. Dermis Wire aDd Iron Co., Canadian Manu-factureD. 1...oDdon,· Ont. Oibut there is a limit to that. There is no reason why a man from a strange city cannot come here and make good. It all depends upon t.he man himself, "We like a man to be gentlemanly, polite, neat and oblig-ing. Vie would not think of putting a green salesman at work. Ii' a young man pleased us, we would keep him busy under another with experience till he understood the business fairly well and had learned our methods. Customers ask many questions and, if they arc not answered correctly, and sensibly, lack of confidence results. Above all other things we put courtcsy. That we insist upon. HI have seen many· salesmen make big sales and yet thought they wcre poor workers. We will not have a man hurry through a customer who comes to buy a small and inexpensive article, so that he may attend to another visitor from whom a large _order is sure. r have seen men make a big showing, but noticed that their customers on calling again seldom, if ever, asked for them. "Another thing we are very careful about is that no word against a rival concern is uttered in this store and no criticism ~r;..I9!fHIG7J-N , of any article of theirs is made in the hearing of a customer. We always speak in the most friendly way of our rivals and, apart from all else, it pays. "A lady came into this store yesterday after screens and it appeared as thougb we could not exactly suit her. As she was leaving', she thought a moment and asked a question apparently out of meTe curiosity, regarding' one she had been shown. The salesman hurried back to see it, and returue,'l with the information. She bought that screen, partly, I vlil1 confess, because of the courtesy shown her. As Mr. Bickford was talking one of his salesmen came up and said: "That table sUlts wel1; 1.h. Scbminke saw it and told the lady it was exactly what she needed for her room.' "There," said Mr. Bickford, "that illustrates what I said about a good word for yOllr competitor and a good word fr0n, one. T sold that table myselfj for the lady asked my advice. Mr. Schminke not only has the ple<lsure of having said a good word for a rival, but he has added to the pleasure of a lady in an article which is now hers, and he has pleased us. "It is better to do business that way. It is better to have your men always candid and truthful with your cust,)mers. Treat YOllrmen well·so that they will have reason to be loyal, and you need never fear for the result." 11,'1. L. Garson of Garson & Wood, said that when he need-ed a good salesman he advertised in the newspapers, lookeu over the candidates "\vho called and if he liked their appe<lr. ance, asked for their references and investigated. "1,llledo nOl use any inexperienced men," he said. "Once in a while i! is possible to advance a man from the back room, but only occasionally. Simmer everything down and the best man is the salesman who sells the most and continues to sell the most. That tells the story every time. "It is essential that a salesman in these days shou1d 'knnw a great deal about what he is selling. He must be able to answer all questions of customers. He must plea~e If he pleases and sells, his sales will tell just how much he pleases. You must have discipline. The rules of the house must be preserved. But it is the sales which count. "For any young man who may wish to become a sales-man, I "lIould say: 'Begin at the bottom of the ladder.' But not many of them are willing to do that." The Best "Assistant Salesman." One of the most effective "assistant salesmen" in the fur-niture trade is the invention of Daniel VV'. Tower of the Grand Rapids C:vlicil.) Brass Company. It is called the "N o~ Kum-Loose" knoh or drawer pull and is furnished to man-ufacturers on request at nominal cost, so that any dealer can enjoy its advantages by simply asking for it when giving his orders. The merits of the invention are now quite generally known. As the llame indicates, the knobs are fastened in such a way that it is impossible for them to become loose, a feature that must be highly appreciated by all who have used furniture equipped with old style knobs, and that fact gives the salesman a "talking point" that is always effective. Thus, the "No-Kum-Loose knob assists materially in selling the furniture on which it is used. .7IR!T' I oS' A.I'J c S$t#' 5 The New "PE.RFE.CT" FOLDING CHAIR Comfortable Simple Durable Neat The Acme of Perfection In the line of Folding Chairs. PERFECT COMPACTNESS when folded. \V.RlTE for PR(CES The Peabody School Furniture Co. North Manoheater.. Indiana UNION FURNITURE CO. ROCKFORD, ILL. China Closets Buffets Bookcases We lead in Style, Confuudion and Finish. See our Catalogue. Our line on permanent exhibi-tion 7th Floor, New Manufact_ urers' Building, Grand Rapids. WE manufacture the larg· est line of FOLDING CHAIRS -in the United States, suitable for Sunday Schools, Halls, Stellwers and all Public Resorts. We also ma.nufacture Brass Trimmed Iron Beds, Spring Beds, Cots and Cribs in a larKe variety. . Send fOT Catalocue and PrlCC!1 to Kauffman Mfg. CO. AS"LAND, 0"10 The New Banquet Table Top as wen as OFFICE. DINING and DIRECTORS' TABLES are DU!' apedally. STOW & DAVIS FURNITURE CO.. ~:h.I.~' ""'" Wri~ (or CatalGaue. Get samp!eI of BANQUET TABLE TOP. 6 .~Mlf ..HlG7}N2 MOON DESK CO. MUSKEGON, MICH. OFFICE DESKS SEE OUR NEW TYPEWRITER CABINET. Miniature Beds and Cribs. The h~.'it 2ilvertis.ing :t fIrm can do is to Jl<lVe striking win-dow displays, and we know of nothing which attracts more attention than a window of -miniature beds and cribs. They are strictly in your line and make people look to your store for beds aed bedding. The beauty of these little cribs and the amount of pleasure ~t child can derive from one makes them remarkably salable. YOll conld not make a more strik-ing and attractive window t:;splay. Stores that have put these in have had the benefit of the advertising and besides have sold as high as 400 beds in a season. The posts are of 1i-inch steel tube. and the connections arc guanlllteed not The rods are y,j:-inch to break. The spring is a fine weave, weB made, and a perfect imitation of the larger ones. Indeed, the bed is strong enough to hold a child of four. The finish is the best white enamel, two coats, and the legs have casters. l\tattresses are furnished with excelsior or hair, in beau-tiful art tickings and little down pillows in the SHne covering. Length, 30 inches; width, 18 inches; height, 25 inches. :No more attractive toy can he imagined than this new line of doll's beds ami cribs. In every particular they are perfect reproductions of real beds and fini5hed with equal ore. They are made of TInc steel tubing and rods (all of proper propor-tions) put together 'with malleable iron castings, making them smooth and unbreakable. They have woven wire spring bnttonis and are finished in 0e5t white enameL The mountings arc real bra::s vases a11(l caps polished and lacquered, and the legs have tiny casters. The mattresses are filled with hair and covered with art tick-mg. They arc tufted and side stitched. The pillows are filled with satin down and covered with art ticking to match the mattress. The cribs are like the beds with the addition that they have sides which fold down. The finish .is the higllest grade of porcelain enamel, baked on and beautiful tints of green, pink, blue and cream are fur-nished. Many of our readers, we are sure, will be glad to have this line called to their attention. They are made by The Hard 11anufacturing Company, of Buffalo, New York. t'v.1I"IC'. HIGANfl 7IR!T' I.s 7I.L'l t ? $;. COFFINS AND CASKETS. Many People Make Their Own Selections Before They Need Such Furniture. "Do people ever pick out their own coffins? \\.'hy cer-tainly," said an undertaker, talking to the Xcw York Sun, "There have always been people who have kept coffins on hand for themselves, ready for use when required. Dou't you know you read in the papers now and then of some old citizen \vho has just died, off somewhere in some country town, who had had his coffin in hls house for lorty years: Vve were once called upon ourselves to bury a man who had had his own cofnn ready, for I guess, a longer time than that. 'This was a man who at the time of his death had come to have large means aud to be widely known. \\.;hel1 he was young and living in the country there was cut dO\Vll on his home place a hickory tree that he thought vV'ould provide good material for a coffin, and out of some of the planks sawed from this trcc he had fashione.d for hirn.self a c.offin which he stored away in the. garret of the old house. "He had no thought of dying then, but he liked that hiek-ory tree and he wanted to buried in a coffin made from it. "\;Vell, in due time the old gentleman did die, an old man thC11,a11d dying, he indicated his desire to be buried in the old hickory coffin. T0,Jesent Inen up into the country and got it down out of the garret of the old house and brought it here, hut when we had got it here it ,vouldn't do at all, it was far too small. "He was a young man and slender when he had the coJfll1 made, but nOw with the lapse of many years, and ",,"ith his vigorous employment through many of those ycars in great outdoor enterprises, he had comc to be a man of large frame and body alHI thc old cofiin simply wouldn't do. But hi, survivors desired that his wishcs should be respeeted, and thcn we took the old collin apart and used it as a lining lor the burial caskel in \vhich he was buried. And so he '''''as buried in the old hickory coHin after alL "\Ve once had in storage a coffill of hasket construction that \-vas sent to us by a gentleman who brought it from a country in which the burial customs arc different from Ol1r:-,. :dany of the burial caskets s\1ch as we use are of very solid constructioll; some indeed are of metal, as of aluminum, and some ;:Ire metal lined; all calculated to preserve the body [or a long time. But not all of us have the same views about burial, and it was the desire of the owner of the basketwork coffin that when he died he should, as soon as might be, go back to mother earth. "People do nowadays sometimes make their own selection of the sort of casket they would prefer to be buried in; young people sometimes; though most of those making such selec-tion are old. "In old days when everybocly was huried in a coffin there was no such choice; however much they might differ in the materials used in their construction ;l11d ill the quality of their workmanship and finish, all coffins were alike in shape, and a mahogany coffin, for instance, was still simply a ma-hogany coffin. ""No ..\.' three-fourths or more of all the people dying, in the large communities at least, arc buried in caskets, w-hich are very different i.n design and appearance from the old-time coffin, and which are produced in very great \'ariety as to their actual styles, as to the materials used in them .. as to modifications of shape and as to their co~t. "It is a very common thing, if not indeed the prevailing practice, for the survivors 01 the deceased to make a selection of the casket in which the dead shall be buried. Such a se-lection is often made from the illustrated catalogues of the casket manufacturers, or it may be made from among actual caskets displayed in his establishment by the undertaker; or it may be that the undertaker will takc. those n:aking such selection to the warerooms of the casket manufacturer. There caskets may be seen in great variety, but presenting to the eye all appearance different indeed from that which would be presented by an array of an equal number of the old-time coffins, for many of these caskets are of Jine and costly and beautiful materials, as they may also be elaborate in 'v\'ork-mallship, while they are all removed as far as it is possible to make them from the old time coffin in form. ".:\{odcrn burial caskets are now made in such variety as to the woods and other materials used in their construction that it is quite possible, if that should be desired, to sel.eet one that shall harmonize with the lIttings and furnishings 01 the room in which it is placed. The arrangement of the flowers may add to the beauty of their effect. "Funeral flowers have often been photographed, thus tD preserve a remembrance of them. Tt'is now not unheard of to photograph the room containing the casket with the flow~ ers surrounding it. Vihil", the casket may be costly the flowers may be equally so; a blanket of violets, for instance, making a coverlet over the Casket aud reaching on either side to the floor, costil1g,·it may be, $1,000 or more." Richmond Chair CO. RICHMOND, INDIANA Double Cane Line SEE OUR NEW PATTERNS CATALOGUES TO THE TRADE 7 8 HOW FEATHERS ARE MANIPULATED. Cleaned. Sterilized. Deodorized and Sorted by Machinery- The Mixer's Trade. Feather mixing is one of the hardest trades to learn, but when mastered is also one of the best paying methods of earning a jiving. The worker who intends to make this trade his life work must start when he is young, for it takes on an average thirteen years for a man to work up from pil-low filler to feather mixer. Feathers that have been plucked from hens, ducks, turkeys and geese are the only kind of feathers that are used, says the Chicago Tribune. One kind of feathers at a time is placed in the drum, to be beaten and to be sterilized by hot air process. The drum is a large machine, not unlike the washing machines used in laundries. In the center of each machine is an axle with eight beaters fall down into the center of the machine. The cold air blow-ing from the fan deodorizes them, and they leave the machine in a steady stream, flying all over the room, The worker finds himself in what looks like a miniature storm, for the feathers fly around the room as high as the ceiling. An onlooker might well wonder where the sorting comes in of the maze of feathers. It 1S here that the wonderful P:lft of the machine lies, for the air pressure is 50 arranged that the heaviest feathers, which are also the cheapest, will fall precisely into a bin about five feet away from the machine. The next heaviest will fall into a bin fifteen feet away from the machine, and the rest of the seven different grades of feathers will fall accurate-ly in bins that have been provided for them. The down, which is the most expensive, flies around in th'e air the longest but when it comes down it falls into a bin that is placed over seventy-five feet away from the blower. Thus the seven dif- AN ATTRAOTIVE FAMILY ROOM. attached. The beaters make over 200 revolutions per minute bcating the dust Ollt of the feathers and cleaning thcm thor-oughly. A thin screen on the front and back of the machine lets the dust out. This part of the work is the most unhealthy, for the win-dows of the dust room are not allowed to be opened and the dust that comes from the feathers is inhaled by the worker. Many of the drum men contract consumption in a year or more doing this work, and are compelled to give up and seek other empJoyment. The work is not so unhealthy as it was in former years, for the men are now altowed to leave the room while the machine is in operation. After the feathers have been beaten and sterilized in the drum they are placed in the blowing machine to be sorted and to be deodorized by the cold blast. As in the drum the kind of feathers are put in the blower separately. The blow-er is the most simple and yet the most powerful machine that is used in th.e feather business. The machine is built with a large funnel shaped mouth on top, and always placed at one end of a large room" The feathers arc placed in the funnel, through which they fel'cnt g-rades of feathers have been sorted, each kind in a bin and ".Nithout having been touched since leaving the blower. The drum and blower man, after putting in five years at this kilHl of work and also learning the different grades of feathcrs, takes another step. upward in the business and be-comes an assistant to the mixer. His work consists of weighing feathers and learning the different combinations that are used in stuffing pillows. In a few years he probably will know how to mix some of the cOlilbinations, but usually it takes five years of experience before an assistant ean become a mixer. The combination used in the cheapest pillows is hen and turkey feathers. Duck and turkey combination is used in a little better grade of pillows, and the best combination of all is duck and goose feathers. The most expensive filling is made of downy feathers from geese. These combinations have different prices and the mixer must know these prices, and,. when he can, experiment with the various kinds of feathers to try and get a cheaper combination that will last as long as the dearer kind. 9 WEATHERED FINISH. H.& \lV. SPECIAL! ALL OAK. 40 inches long. Seat 18 inches wide. Back 22 inches high. 4 7-foot galvanized chains. 4 galvanized ceiling hooks. Put together with 4 bolts. Shipped K. D. Weight 30 lbs. No tronble to put np. Prompt shipment. 40 in. Swing, Frame 1 inch Stock, 50 in. Swing, Frame 1)4 in. Stock. 66 in. Swing, Frame 1J4 in. Stock. WRITE FOR PRICES. The Harden=Winders rlfg. Co" 1232 E. Long St., Columbus, 0, Electro Newspaper Cut with order for 6 or more· five Complete Lines of Refrigerators at RIG"T PRICES Opalite Lined Enameled Lined Charcoal Filled and Zinc Lined Zinc Lined with Removable Ice Tank Gah'anized Iron Lined Stationary Ice Tank Send fo.- new CATALOGUE and let us name you price Challenge Refrigerator Co. GRAND HAVEN, MICH., U. S. A. 10 FURNITURE AT AUCTION So Popular That Dealers Find Difficulty in Securing Stock. New York Sun.-This is the season when women carrying thick cataloguesRnd showing eager, hopeful looks on their faces are plentiful in the subways, the elevated trains and the trolley cars about 10 a. m. V\I'omen of small means, women of large means are equally represented among them. Alike they are bound for an auction sale. The main difference be-tween them is that the rich are attracted perhaps by the al-luring word "antiques," the others by a job lot of kitchen crockery or brussels carpets 'Ias good as new." \Vhatever their reason, women representing many social circles now rub elbows at the auction sales. The old fashioned woman of good social position, if she went to an auction at all, wore her oldest clothes and her thickest veil and bid by proxy. The up to date woman dons her gladdest clothes and her most becoming complexion veil and does her own bid-ding. Similarly, once upon a time householders hedged at ad-mitting that an admired picture or bit of bric-a-brac or side-offers such a market for auction goods as New York does, and for the reason that such goods are getting to be almost scarce. "To illustrate: This firm alone employs five men who do nothing but travel over the country from Maine to California on the lookout for second hand furniture which they can ship to New York; for uliless an auction house holds frequent sales in the spring and fall it might just as well go out of business. Housekeepers expect these sales and watch out for them. They expect old fashioned furniture and new fash-ioncd stuff, too, and were it not for the men we keep on the road we .vauld fall down badly on the old fashioned article. "Look at that sofa," pointing to a six feet long colonial mahogany example in underclothes, the outer cO',rering hav-ing been torn away. "Look at those chairs," indicating some rush bottoms half a century or so old. "The sofa was found in a barn at Bethlehem, Pa., and bought it for $5. The owner called it rubbish and was glad to get rid of it at that price. The chairs were got from a woman in Connecticut who, when asked if she had any old furniture to sell, led the way to her attic. "Yes, it pays to pay the freight to get them. We must do MADE BY WOODARD FURNITURE 00., OWOSSO, MICH. board or chair came from an auction room. The descendants of these householders announce the purchase at auction of a desirable bit of furniture or ornament with something like pride. "Guess how much it cost me?" responded a New York woman, who is also included among the Newport colony, to an admiring comment on a carved marble statuette. "Fifty dollars," hazarded the vistor, scenting a bargain. "Seven-fifty," announced the owner in great glee. "Five at auction and two-fifty to have the base repaired. Originally it sold probably for $100 or more." In this city there are dozens of apartments-high class apartments at that-the furnishings of which were bought piece by piece at auction and there are many houses in which the best of the furnishings were got in the same way. What is more, the occupants of these apartments and houses are given to boasting of the fact that as an evidence of th~ir skill at get-tin'g the most for the least money. A od the reason morc apart-ments and houses are not furnished with auction goods is that there are not enough auction goods to go round; that is, not enough of the almost new, high grade variety. "There is no city in the world," a deal~r explained, "which it in fact. The supply of high grade second hand furniture is not now equal to the demand for it in this city. In this place alone we sell at this time of year 1,800 lots a week, and a lot means from one to twenty or more pieces. "Where does most of this come from? From Greater Kew York, and the reason we get it is that New York folks are more restless than any other in the world and that New York has a bigger floating population than any other place. Into the sale next week. will go a lot of splendidly made furniture, not showy, but remarkably substantial and good style which was brought to this country from Austria by a man who expected to spend the rest of his life in America. "He and his family set up housekeeping in a fine apart-ment uptown and he· went into business here.. In less than two years he was taken ill, hiS: physician ordered a trip to the old country to restore his health and his furniture was put in, storage for six months, as he thought. It stayed in stor-age nearly six yeaTS, for the man never got well enough to come back, and when he died not long ago word was sent to have the furniture sold at auction. "It's ca!'\es like that and others in which men lose their job and decide to get out of New York that send a lot of furni- ~r;.I9rIG7J-N ture to the auction houses, and also the frequent change from a house to an apartmei1t bcc2.11seof the servant question and for other reasonS. But that is not nearly so frequent now as it was half a dozen years ago, for the reason, I guess, that most of the houses then abandoned were turned into business concerns or were torn down and replaced by oflice buildings. This, of course cuts down our supply of second-hand goods. "Today we have to depend for our suppLy of good, modern furniture on the fickleness and restlessness of the New York people. It is not generally known tbnt many of the richer families have their houses refitted about Ol1ce in two years. "A new style of carving or of \\'ood appears, a new design in the shape of chairs, tables, sofas, cabincts, etc., a revival of one or another period and the mistress sends for ber decor-ator, goes with him over the ncw fashions and then decides to change from Louis XV. to Empire or from Empire to something else; from white and gold settiTigs to settings of natural mahogany or inlaid walnut or polished oak, or any- 11 stiff S0111, I'll wager, and it will fetch at auction perhaps one-half of what it could be now bought for new simply be-cause rose\vood isn't now in the height of style. "As a g'eneral thing, most women who come to an auction expecting to spend $10 leave $20 behind them when they start for home, but for all that there are very few who can be coaxed into bidding on anything modern 'when it gets beyond the bargain point o( view. '·\Vith antiques it is different. No only do Ne"v York \vomcn no\\' come in crowds to every sale of antiques that's going but they plunge more recklessly in their bids than do the nH~l1." No Great Cancellation of Car Orders. A canvass of the railway equipment companies in Chicago shows that the railroads have not cancelled any great number of their orders for new cars and locomotives. It is csti- MADE BY WOODARD FURNITURE CO., OWOSSO, MICH. thing undcr the sun that happens to he in vogue and is dif-ferent frorn what she has. "It goes without saying that manufacturers see to it tbat something differcnt is produced every ycolr. \,rell, once her decision is made, she asks hovv much the decorator will allow on the, discarded furniture, and the decorator scnds for a dealer in auction goods and gets an estimate of \vhat they will bring at auction. ;;Oh, dear, no; the O\"-l1cr of the furniture has nothing to do ..v.ii::h this end of the transaction; she docsn't know and (Iocsn't care what becomes of the goods when they leave her house, whether they land in Harlem or The Bronx or Brooklyn or over in Staten Island. "A beautiful bedroom set of birdseye nnple to be auc-tioned off tomorrow and which has hardly a scratch on it was sent off because the owner got tired of it and wanted a suite of natural chestnut, which, of course-, is ncwcr, and a parlor suite of rosevv'ood we have down stairs was turned out of a Fifth avenue house to make room for one of inlaid dull finished mahogany. Originally the rosewood suite cost a mated that the aggregate of business placed during the past scyeral months win amount to about $60,000,000. A consid-erable part of this equipment has been delivered to the pur-chasers, but nearly all of the companies still have orders enough on hand to fun them full handed for some time. The one great drawback is that of delay in receiving iron and steel. Tn mallY cases the car builders are from 30 to 90 days behind ill the receipt of these essential materials. Apart from this, however, the equipment companies have no reason for worry at the outlook. A Monarch in the Field. The Ramsey-Alton 11amtfaduring- Company of Portland, lVfich.. have placed on the market a new push button Morris chair, that affords the user comfort and ease in operation. The conslruction, which is rigid, yet simple, is protected by letters patent. Every pattcrn of the company will be pro-vided with their push button attachment. Manager Ramsey win exhibit the line in Grand Rapids in the Ashton building in July. 12 Ca()inet Makers In these days of close competition, need the best possible equipment, and this they can have in . . . . BARNES' Hand and Foot POWER Machinery Send for our New Catalogue. w. F. CD. JOHN BARNES CO. Our New nand iIIndFoot Power Circular Saw No.4 The strongest, most powerful. and in every way the best machine of it. kind ever made, for ripping, cross-clltting, bcdng and grooving. 654 Ruby Street. Rochford. Ill. THE GREATEST LINE of the GREATEST MANUFACTURERS --- OF ------- CHAMBER FURNITURE Every Dealer Wants It Because E.verybody Buys It. SLIGH FURNITURE COMPANY, Grand Rapids, Mich~ Manufacturers of BEDROOM FURNITURE EXCLUSIVELY, New SpriOgLine readv- We operate the largeatfactol"Yin tbe world producing chamber furniture. 13 CHAS. A. FISHER & CO., 1319 Michigan Ave., Chicago. WRITE FOR BOOKLET AND PROPOSITION Warehau.e ..: ST. LOUIS, MO. KANSAS CITY. Me. PEORIA, ILL. LINCOLN, ILL. MINNEAPOLIS. MINN. CHICAGO, ILL. Educating the Public. =Vlerchants of Laingsburg, Mich., are educating the pub-lic in a '''lay that might be adopted, with beneficial results, by those of other to\'..,11S, They have joined in" the publication and distribution of a card containing a small advertisement of each, information about the religious, commercial and finan-cial institution:; of the town, and the following ten reasons why the people of the community should trade at home: Because: You examine your purchase and are assured of satisfaction before investing your money. Because:-Your home merchant is always ready and will-ing to make right any error or any defective article purchased of him. Because: \Vhen you are sick or for any reason it is neces-sary for you to ask for credit, you can go to the local mer-chant. Could you ask it of a mail order house? Because: If a merchant is "\villing to extend you exedit you should give him the benefit of your cash trade. Because: Your home merchant pays local taxes and ex-erts every effort to build and better your market, thus in-creasing both the value of city and country property. Because: The mail order merchant does not lighten your tax or in any way help the value of your property. Because: The mail order merchant does nothing for the benefit of markets or real estate values. Because: "If yom town is good enough to live in it is good enough to spend your money in."-Governor Folk, of Missouri, Because: The best citizens in your community patronize home industry. Why not be one of the best citi zens? Because: If you will give your home merchants an oppor-tunity to compcte, by bringing your order to him in the quan-tities you buyout of town, he will demonstrate that, quality considered, he will save yOlt money. Concrete in Canada. Reports from Toronto indicate that the Canadians are fully up with the people on this side of the line in the use of concrete as building material. Over there as here, insurance rates and the high price of building materials have been im-portant factors in favor of fireproof building materials. To-day concrete floors and roofs are put on at praetically the cost of wood. The new offices of the Canada Fottrldry Com-pany and the structure for heavy loads recently ercl:Le,'l ror Stauntons, Limited, both in Toronto, are splendid spe':~l1nerJs of fireproof expanded metal construction. The column::, beams, floors and roofs are all concrete, moulded with tem-porary wooden forms, the slab work throughout each being reinforced by three-inch mesh IO-gauge expanded metal, placed near the under side in its right position to take up the tensile strains. In this way a very thin floor plate is all that is required. Reinforced concrete stairs are also a feature of this type of construction, being a combination of the meth-ods employed in panel and beam work. The stairs and ele-vator openings are perfectly cut off by fire proof walls built like the partitions. They are light but of great rigidity. Steel studs of a small section' are secured to the concrete at floor and ceiling, being placed one foot apart, and to these is wired expanded metal lath; mortar gauged with Portland cement is then plastered on both sides, the entire framework of metal being- embedded_ The complete partition is only two inches thick, but being virtually, when set, a stone of that thickness with a backbone of steel, it is exceedingly strong, and absolutely fire proof. The same expedient is resorted to in old buildings of a non-fire proof nature, the wood ceilings being furred down \'lith steel strips. 1v1etallath and plaster form a ceiling that effectually protects the inflammable wood work. In boiler rooms and other places where the fire hazard is extreme, a great reduction in insurance rates is now made for this im-provement. STAR CASTER CUP CO. NORTH UNION STREET, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. (PATENT APPLIHD FOR) We have adopted celluloid as a base for our Caster Cups, making the best cup 0'" the market. Celluloid is a great impro~ment over bases made of other material. When It Is necessary to move a piece supported by cups with celluloid bases it can be done with ease. as the hases are per-fectly smooth. Celluloid does not sweat. and by the use of these cups tables are never marred. These cups are finished in Golden Oak and White Maple. finished light. If you wit[ try a sample order of these goods you will desire to handle them in quanlitie8. PRICES:S~?e2~ !nches __ ·$5.60 per hundred. Slze 2% Inches 4.50 per hundred. f. o. b. Grand Rapids. TRY A SAMPLE ORlJER. 14 ~MIpHIG7fN NOW THE UNDERWRITERS. An Ohio Grand Jury Gets After an AHeged Insurance Trust. The grand jury at Elyria, Ohio, has indicted members of the Lorain County Cnderwriters' Association for violating what is' known as the Valentine anti-trust law of that state. It is alleged that the as!:iociatioll constitutes a conspiracy to fixed and maintained are exorbitant. In Ohio, as in Michigan and nearly all other states, fire insurance rates are fixed by a board of inspectors composed of experts whose work is used as the basis for rates by all of the "board" companies. TnlVlichigan the Fire Insurance Inspection Bureau is a corporation which makes surveys, maps, etc., fixes rates wbich are used by the "board" com-panies that pay for the service. Of the 125 companies doing business in the state, it is said that over 100 subscribe for, pay for and use the rates and information furnished by the When asked to express an OplnlOn on the probable result of the action taken by the~Ohio grand jury, he declined on ac-count of lack of knowledge as to the workings of the accused association, but explained the operations of the Michigan In-spection Bureau as follows: "There is nothing of a trust nature in its workings. \TI,le must have some basis to go upon and rates must be made by experts. The rates are changed from time to time accord-ing to conditions and while as a rule the rating made by the bureau is found to be equitable, we have in a number of in-stances on personal inspection found certain rates too high. These have been modified even at the risk of being accused of rate cutting. "The business 'would soon be in bad shape if there was not some standard of values to go by and -this standard we secure in this service. The fact that the rates announced can be taken or left as the individual companies see fit and the MADE BY CENTURY FURNITURE CO.•GRAND RAPIDS, :MICH. bureau, which has headquarters in Detroit and branch offices in Grand Rapids, Jackson, Kalamazoo and Negaunee and agents in many other cities and towns. The Michigan bureau was established nearly twenty years ago by W. E. lIolt, who was then located at Negaunee, Upper Peninsula. At first its operations were confined to :"h. Holt's district, but were soon extended over the Upper Penin-sula and in a few years spread over the entire state. The founder, who is now state agent for the Niagara CompallY. with headquarters at Big Rapids, denies that the organiza-tion is a trust or has any feature of a trust and declares that it is beneficial to both policy holders and the companies. fact that deviation is shown from time to time is evidence there is nothing of the trust nature in our methods of work-ing. "We had a field club in the state composed of state agents and managers which was a splendid organization. We met at intervals for discussion of business matters, but fearing our motives might be misconstrued and that we might be deemed violators of the anti-trust law we disbanded a year ago. The insurance men of this state at least respect the Jaws ill all their bearings and they are not now and never have been in any of their workings contrary to the law in letter or spirit." ESTABLiSHED 1858 BERRY BROTHERS' Rubbing and Polishing Varnishes THIS IS THE CAN AND LABEL CANADIAN FACTOFlY,WALKERVILU: ONTARIO CHICAGO, CINCINNATI, ST. LOUIS, SAN FflANCI.8CO. MUST BE USED IN FURNITURE WORK TO BE APPRECIATED THEY SETTLE THE VARNISH QUESTION WHEREVER TRIED WRITE FOR INFORMATION, FINISHED WOOD SAMPLES. AND LITERATURE. BERRY BROTHERS. LIMITED VARNISH MANUFACTURERS DETROIT NEW YORK, BOSTON, PHILADELPHIA, i1ALTIMORE:. ESTABL.ISHED 1880 PUeL.15HI!!:D BY MICHIGAN ARTISAN CO. ON THE 10TH AND 25TH OF EACH MONTH OFF1CI!-2-20 L.YON ST., GRAND RAPIDS. MICH. ENTERED AS IIIATTER OF THE SECOND CLASS That the mail -order houses threaten the existence of thc single line retailer is plainly evident, but it is not apparent that the means employed to meet their competition 'will effect thc purpose desired. The mail order magnate, \vith orders to place amounting to millions, and ready cash to pay for the same, will ever command the consideration of manu-facturershavinl{ goods to sell, notwithstanding the protests of the little dealers with a fev'I' thousands to distribute, after long time settlements. The little dealers are sturdy fighters for their rights, but the David who is capable of putting the Goliath of the furniture trade out of business has not made his appearance. Their interests can be strengthened by co-operation when their campaign for trade shall be properly directed. *1* *1* *i* *1* Because of the activity of the mail order and premium houses and the surreptitious sales made by the comrr.ission agents, the regular single line retailer has much to contend with. In his fight for the continuance of his business ex-istence he realizes the value of the substantial backing af-forded by those manufacturers who confine their sales to the re,gular trade. Upon this support he must depend for sUccess and he should regard it a$ a duty to himself to make the bur, dens of such manufacturers as light as possible. The de Oller who refrains from making unreasonable complaints and set-tles his accounts promptly ever has the substantial support of the manufacturers. *1* *1* *1* *1* The selling at retail by the commission houses could be stopped hy the retail associations of the several states and the nation. The business is gro-wing in volume and in a number of instances represents the larger part of the sales made by individuals, firms or corporations engaged in dis-posing of furniture and kindred goods. Considerable stocks are carried, catalogues distrihuted broadcast and sales made to whoever w.ill buy. The retailers' associations have over-looked this fC(ltme of the business in their anxiety to grapple with the well entrenched mail order houses. *1* *1* *!* *1* It doesn't pay the head of a house to hamper his buyers. There are many capable men in the furniture trade so over-shadowed alld held under suspicion that it is impossible fnr them to "make good." Given a fair field and a chance to ex-ercise the judgment gained by long experience in their occu-pation they would win sue-cess for their employers and them-selves as ,veil. A buyer's ability cannot be correctly meas-ured by the unfair methods employed by many merchants. Success is beyond their reach because they do not deserve it. *1* *1* *!* *i* Within the past six months hvo furniture factories have been established in the state of J\.fichigan by mail order houses which take the output of several in the state of Illinois, while quite a large number have taken shelter under the wings of the great mail order houses in the eastern states. It is evident that the mail order merchants do lIot purpose retir-ing from business when the regular single line merchants shal1 15 have induced the manufacturers of furniture and kindred goods to confine their sales to legitimate retailers. *1* *1* *1* *1* The Ci11LlJnati Vvr oodworker states that Grand Rapids is the ce11ter of the mail order business. This statement is ullwarranted. \\lhilc it was of some import;!llce a few years ago, the business at present is insignificant. It has been proven that selling a single line of goods by mail is unprofit-able and this fact led to its discontinuance in Grand Rapids. The mail order house that handles everything needed in the home or office is generally successful. *i* *!* *1* *1* :'v1r.Holt in his comments on the Michigan Fire Insurance Inspection Bureau, as given on another page, declares that the rates fixed by the bureau are not eompulsory--..,-tllat the companies may use them or leave them. He might have added that the same rule applies to the insured-that the man who wishes to insure a building or a stock of goods may also pay the rate fixed by tbe bmeau or let it alone. *1* *1* *1* *1* A numher of retailers in Chicago are a{'lvertl5ing the sa\o::; of samples from the Grand Rapids exposition, arid nO com-plaint is heard from the organizations. Th.ere seems to be a difference between tile sale of samples in Grand Rapids and Chicago. Apparently such sales in Grand Rapids are an in-jury to the retailers; in Chicago they are not. *1* *1* *1* *1* "Grand Rapids Furniture" is advertised extensively by many installment houses in New York city, that do not handle the Grand Rapids plOduct. The advertisers eVldently do not agree with Shakespeare. There is something in a name, in their estimation, especially when it is applied to furniture manufactured in Grand Rapids. *j* *1* *1* *1* 1Vlacey of New York is advertising "Adirondack Silver Birch Furniture for summer homes. It is the product of a great north woods factory," the output of which 1hcey says he controls. Macey has been numbered among the dead for many years, but his name "goes marching on." *1* *1* *1* *1" So long as the "depression" is confined to Wall street, the lotteries and the bucket shops, there will be no cause for worry over business conditions. *!* *1* *!* *\* Success is never won by the merchants who attempt to create trade for themselves by destroying tbat of their com-petitors. *1* *1* *1* *1* Window displays are like any other kind of advertising-they must be continued in order to show their worth. "Her Simplicity Reflections." Just ,·".here Secretary Cornell met the very attractive young woman whom he has introduced to the trade in con-nection with his latest booklet is not stated, but if she is a product of Jamestc)\"m, that city bas reason 'to rejoice in her possession. Jamestown is noted for the beauty of its \vomcn ;;tnd the intelligence of its men. Whethh this results from the blending of the sturdy Scandinavian and the highly tensioned American, the writer is not informed;' but the so-journ~ r in Jamestown is ever impressed with the bewitching beauty of the gentle sex and the manliness of the men. Sec-retary Cornell declares that the young woman is "perfectly simple and simply perfcct," and, strange to relate, these quali-ties have been introduced in the Jamestown Lounge Com-pany's specialty, the Simplicity davenport bed. Secretary Cornell witt furnish further information regarding the ar-ticle mentioned and the young beauty that adorns the book-let as well. 16 & Johnson CO. MANUFACTURERS Are you handling Fibre Rush? If not you are missing profit-able and easy sales. Fibre Rush and MaJacca Furniture sellsquick-ly to discriminating trade because of its Lightness, Durability, Artistic effects and its beautiful Color. the FIBRE RUSH GREEN-a soft, natural green that is restful and pleasing to the eye and harmon-izes so well in any place. Stock carried and delivered from any of the following warehouses: The Ford No. 37727> FIBRE RUSH CINCINNATI ATLANTA BOSTON Nothing Like It---"IDEAL" A GOOD LINE TO TIE TO. -60 STYLES-A Reclining Folding Cart I", I SIX DOLLARS I Fully uphol~ered in Moroccolene. Cataletg. Go.caru. Carriagee, F oldina: Carte. Detroit Folding Cart CO. DETROIT, MICH. CHICAGO NEW YORK C. f. SCHMOE,Shelbyville, Ind. No. 160 Plain Oak Front. Heighl 76 Inches. 'as. 4Zx26 inches. Poplar top. Two large drawers in base. o Large cup-board space wit h sliding shelf. 4 spice cans. Plde rack. 50-lb. slidi(lg Iloor bin and 1 bread board, Canopy, '2 cupboard spaces. 2 drawers. 2 tilting sugar bins, 1 large china closet. Finish, Golden oak, gloss or WEll:!'. Brass trim-mings. No. 161 satin Walnut. Same as above. Finish, Natural wood, dull rubbed. GEESE Do Not Grow BETTER FEATHERS and DOWN THAN THESE PILLOWS ARE FILLED WITH. --··-----WRITE THE------- SCHULTZ 8 HIRSCH COMPANY 260.262 S. DESPLAINES ST., CHICAGO, 10' tho 190 1IIlustl"atedCatalogue and Price List. That will tdl yOll all about it. We would like to have you say that you saw this in === the Michigan Artisan. 27 Something DIFfERENT in lCouches No. 155 WOVEN WIRE COUCH $4.00 Net We have made for some time, Couches and Davenports with woven wire tops. Our latest essay in this line is DiffERENT. Made and shipped K. D. Easily set up. 4 trial order will .convince. SMIT" &. DAVIS MfG. CO.,St. Louis. EXCEPTIONAL FACTORY OPPORTUNITY Do you WiHhto find an opening for a CHAIR FACTORY or would you like to remove to some more favorable )ocatioll r 11so, it would repay you to at OlLcerequfOst information about a fille loo:ationin the great timber section of Southeast Missouri along the •Liberal inducements are offered to secure a bona fide proposition em-ploying not less than forty men. Gnarl rli"'tributillg facilities for finished product. Correspondence is invited regarding this and other ~xceUent opportunities for furniture, mattress_ iron bed and other factories along our lInes. Send for industrial descripti1MmaUer a,boutthe Rock b;land- Frisco. M. SCHULTER, Industrial Commissioner, Roek Island-Frisco Lines, 1144 Frisco Bldg., ST. LOUIS! MISSOURI. MANUFACTURERS OF HARDWOOD ~~~~i~~ SPECIALTIES : ~t"YFJ'E"~QUAR. OAK VEN EERS MAHOGANY VENEERS HOFFMAN BROTHERS COMPANY 804 W. Main St" FORT WAYNE, INDIANA J 18 SIGNS IN THE SOUTH. No Indication of Depression in Any Line of Trade or In-dustry. There seems to be no marked inclination toward retrench-ment in productive activity in the South, according to the :\iJanufacturers' Record of Baltimore, nor in undertakings nat-urally manifesting the increase of wealth in that section. Few, if any, cities there show any relaxation in building operations which have for months been a marked feature of southern de-velopment. During the past month, for instance, permits representing $393.,189, of which $376,964 were for new struc-tures, were granted for llew buildings and improvement at Birmingham, Ala., and similar undertakings represented $1,- 179,717 at vVashington, D. c.; $363,857 at Louisville, Ky.; $247,835 at Dallas, Tex.; $215,844 at NashviJJc, Tenn.; $331,311 at Memphis, Tenn.; $98,160 at Chattanooga, Tenn., and $74,- 175 at Knoxville, Tenn. Another sign of these times, when there is so much talk of a. limitation of railroad energies, is the fact that a car works in the South which has just about completed a con-tract for 850 cars for the New Orleans & Northwestern rail-way, has been given orders for 1,800 cars, including 500 dump-cars for coal and ore for the Illinois Central railroad and 500 flat cars for the Gulf & Ship Island railroad. An order of 100 box cars for the Texas Central railroad, one for 200 stock cars for the St. Louis, BrO\-vnsville & Mexican railway and one for 5,000 tons of stecl rails for the Norfolk & Western railway are among other reported provisions for the future. Equally hopeful are plans for new railroads in the South. Among these, as indicated by charter movements, are the Sa-vannah & Southwestern railroad, to build about 250 miles from Savannah, Ga., to Apalachicola, Fla., and the Gulf; the Kentucky Highlands railroad to build aline about thirty miles long from Frankfort to Versailles and Lexington, Ky.; a lOO-mile extension of the Velasco, Brazos & Northern rail-way from Anchor to Hempstead, Tex., with a 20-mile branch to Houston; the Panhandle Short Line railroad to build 270 miles from Hereford to Stanton, Tex.; the Kansas City, Ok-lahoma & Guif railway to build 110 miles from the northern boundary of Texas to Athens in that state, and ultimately to Galveston; the Brandon & Laurel railway to build 65 miles from Brandon to Laurel, IVliss.; the New Iberia, St. Martins & Northern railroad to build 35 miles from New Iberia to Port Barre, La.; the Macon, Americus & Albany electric railway to operate a line 100 miles long connecting the three Georgia cities named, an electric railway looking to connect Washing-ton, D. c., with Frederick, Md., and Gettysburg, Pa., and two extensions of railroads in \;Vest Virginia. The growth of financial institutions in the South shows . no abatement. During the past four weeks 171 new banks Murphy Chair Co. MANUFACTURERS DETROIT, MICH. A COMPLE.TE LINE. or trust companies have been organized there. This is an average of more than 40 each week, and it shows that the re-markable development of all lines of industry in the South is compelling provision for banking facilities at many interior points, some of which have never before enjoyed them. A large number of these banks are institutions of small capi-tal, which fact demonstrates that people becoming used to avail themselves of banking accommodations and to appre-ciate the convenience and security of the financial institutions. • The Importance of Correct Grading. "Retailers do not realize so fully as the manufacturers the importance of grading a line of goods-especially case work," remarked an experienced salesman. '-"\Vhen there is a break in a line of chamber suites, for instance, its strength is destroyed for a season, or until a new line, properly grad-ed as to prices and quality, shall be brought Ollt. In other lines of goods, chairs, for instance, the effect is not the same. There are always designs in a line of chairs thatwitl sell; the entire line is rarely a failure." It Pays Him. "I figure that advertising pays me $20,000 a year," re-marked -"Stingy Cuss." "vVhat are you talking about? You do not spend a cent in the course of a year for advertising," returned Oldliberal-ity. "No, but the department stores spend stacks of money in advertising my goods," concluded Stingy Cuss." Pioneer Mfg. Co... Rood furniturc Baby Garriaucll Go-Gartll I'IJII line shown on second floor, 13 19 MicLi128D Ave.. CLi-callO. in January. KOOK WOOD and a general lin~ of. ff\N6Y Tf\BLES Write for Cuts and Prices PALMER Manufacturing Co. 115 to 135 Palmer Ave. DETROIT, MICH. Full line shown on second floor, 1319 Michipll Ave., Chicago. in Janua:ry. . J DETROIT FACTORIES. All Busy on Current Orders and Preparing for the Summer Expositions. Detroit, April 23.-1vfore than one thousand building per-mits ,verc issued in Detroit from January 1 to April 15, which means nearly 5,000 for the year, if the present building boom keeps up. That is the best answer to the question, "How is the retail furniture business in Detroit?'" To furt1ish so many new houses, in addition to supplying the regular trade, will call for a large amount of furniture. Detroit is certainly coming to the front. It now claims to be the tenth in popu-lation among the great cities of the United States. The Detroit Folding Cart Company is doing a fine business in supplying the babies (through the dealers) with go-carts and baby carriages. Their "Ideal'" folding and reclining go-cart is an ideal in fact a<; \wH as in mllne. The American Go-Cart Company of this city has gone out of bllsil1ess. The Detroit Folding Cart Company has taken over their list of custon~ers and purchased everything in the line of materials that they could 1.1Se,but will not make any of the American Go-Cart Company's pat-terns, as they have their own distinctive linc. Their No. 154, sho-wn herewith, is certainly a beauty, but there are many more in the line cqually as fine. E\'ery merchant who o::arries baby carriages should have their catalogue. The l\lichigan Upholstering Company will move into their new factory on Lafayette avenue, between Seventh and Eighth streets, in rviay. This is a fine buildillg, 75 x 130 feet, four stories high. It i.s their own building and will enable them to more than dou-ble their output. J. C. \iVidman & Company report trade as very brisk, and all indications are that it will continue so throughollt the year. They will add to their fall line a large number of new pattcrns in standing and hanging hat racks. buffets and china closets, very plain, but neat in design, constructed in the best manner and highly polished, in golden quarter-sawed oak. They will make their usual display at the ex-positions in New York and Chicago in July. The \Volverine Manufacturing Company are mail-ing the finest cata.logue they have ever isslled. It shows a wonderful variety of tables, pedestals and fancy furniture. The Dctroit Cabinet Company is another of the busy concerns. They will make their usual fine exhibit in Grand Rapids in July. The Pioneer l..Ianufacturing Company will add a ntltllber of new patterns in reed chairs and rockers to their display in Chicago in July. Trade is excellent in all lines with this company. The Palmer l\1anufacturillg Company have just finished a very large dry shed for lumber and a new kiln. They are having an excellent trade and \vill make the [Illest display in Chicago in July they have ever attempted at any exhibi-tion. The Posselius Brothers Furniture rVlanufacturing Com-pany are filled up with orders for dining extension tables. Unless there should be a great slump during th~ last half of the year (and there is nothing that points to such a thing) the year 1907 will be a record breaker for them. The Murphy Chair Company are preparing their 1907 cat-alogue. Each year this cOITpany makes an effort to outdo its previous catalogue, so that now :Y!ttrphy catalogues are considered souvenirs among the furniture merchants. 7IR-T I.s ..7:IZ\I ? 'itTfe 19 Japanese Contracts are not Sacred. Curious ,vays the Japanese merchant has of doing busi-ness. A special agent of the United States government who is now in Japan gives some illustrations. The buyer, he says, makes no payment until the arrival of the goods. If in the meantime the market has dropped the Japanese will often go to the American and intimate that he is not pre-pared to stand all the loss and that the American should di-vide the loss with him, though to do so might wipe out the profit on the transaction. As a merchant explained, the Japullese sees nothing wrong in evading the letter of the contract, because when they make a CCl11tractthey don't-at least in their minds-absolutely • No, 154 Made by the D~troit Folding Cart Co. agree to do a certain thing or to make a certain payment, but simply to undertake to try to do it. If there appear certain ohstaclcs in the way of their doillg so, they do not consider themselves bound to proceed with it. Car Famine Slight ly Relieved. Lake navigation having opened at Chicago, the railroads have heen relieved of large amount of grain and package freight and arc able to provide a greater number of cars for other kinds of traffic. 1d11chembarrassment still prevails in the \Vest owing to the shortage. Crating Very Expensive. "Very fe""vdealers realize the cost of the lumber used in crating furniture," remarked E. H. Foote, treasurer of the Grand Rapids Chair Company, "but it averages two and oue-half times more than it cost ten years ago. Beside it is very scarce." 20 LEGS AND FEET OF THE CHAIR. • To the· Expert They Indicate the Period to Which the Fur-niture Belongs. To collectors of old furniture the feet and legs of chairs are full of information, says the New York Sun. Nearly every great maker or period was distinguished by some pecul-iarity in the feet and legs of chairs, which is almost always present, and by which the probable age and maker of a piece of furniture may easily be determined. The very old chairs which date back to the last half of the seventeenth century, with their carved legs and backs, are seldom met with in salesrooms. Such chairs, made of oak or walnut, with leather or cane seats, became common in England about 1660,when Charles II, ascended the throne. When two years later he married Catherine, a Portugese princess, further lux-uries were introduced into England. Among them were cane seated chairs from Holland, with carved turned legs, made in what was known as Flemish or Spanish style. This was quickly adopted by the English, who combined the var-ious details, to suit themselves. A chair of about this per-iod is shown, made of walnut with turned legs and carved feet, the latter in what is called Spanish style. This kind of foot is grooved and turns out, and while it is found on bined with a certain solidity as may be seen in the chair. It wilt be seen that, though this chair is of a later period than the first, the splat is still of about the same form. The fact that most furniture is undated is unfortunate and allows great latitude in guessing at the period in which it was made. Such a chair as this may be called Queen Anne, Dutch, Spoon back or Chippendale, according to the fancy of the owner, the fact being that it was probably made during the first forty years of the eighteenth century. Styles did uot change with a rush; there was no sharp de-marcation between one period and another. Each maker took what he found and then improved or altered it till he had formed a style which was popular and became to a cer-tain extent his. One of the chairs with the ball and claw feet shows a further development of the cabriole leg. The splat shows elementary decoration, being pierced in slats, and the top shows a mOTe gTaceful line, with the ears or continuations of the top which became a marked feature of the great Chippen-dale's chairs. Probably this chair was made prior to his time or it may have been made by a country cabinet maker, either in this country or England, working from Chippen-dale's pattern books, for its proportions 'are bad and the seat is far too narrow for that class of similar chairs which are known by the name of Chippendale, Compare it, for in- I J\lt 100 IX l\ ""\, ,::= I· I ~~~ . lM _-r.<.-.,#~::~-..~~ /' "- Y - - '";;:;:=-,---"- Ir ..... I' ~~~ - -,.---.:::c ,'- -,"?,,'\;'''''''. IT ~ lJ U ""II ~ ~ ~ ij N ~ -H, I( ~r ~ lJ' ! . I 4 .Duteh Fbot. E«ll-and-Paur. Ettl.t·and-Cla S <lnis Ta eor Le . so, ton Le $ de Foo1:. much furniture of this period and later, it is always unmis-takable from its shape and grooving.' This chair also shows the original form of- the back which became popular during the eighteenth century, when the splat (the center panel of the back,) became a feature of the chair, with 'its ornamental carving or other adornment. The chair with the Dutch feet is some years later than the first one. The wood is mahogany and the legs are of the style known as cabriole, though this word originally meant furniture having a stuffed back and had nothing to do with the leg. The Dutch foot is found on all pieces of furniture, but chiefly on chairs and tables. Such legs and feet are on a pretty little table which may be found in General Washing-ton's bedroom at Mount Vernon, and it is generally com- Henry Schmit &. Co. nopklnl ad Harriet SU. Cincinnati. O. UPHOLSTEREO FURNITURE "'. LODGE AND PULPIT. PARLOR LIBRARY. NOTEL AND CLUB 1l00M L stance with the other chair with the ball and claw feet, with its splendid carved knees and with the graceful splat with its intricate ornament. See how much less clumsy this chair is. The heavy cross-bars have been discarded, the splat has been brought down to the frame of the seat instead. of having a bar crossing to the sides of the back. In both cases the wood used is ma-hogany, and about the carving on the knees can be detected the marks of the carving tool, characteristic of the old pieces. Although Chippendale is k!1own chiefly as a maker of ma-hogany furniture, it was a branch of the business in which he was not particularly interested, and in his "Director" the wood is mentioned by him but once as follows: "Six de-signs of chairs for Halls, Passages or Summer-hJuses. They may be made either of mahoga:ny or any other wood and painted and commonly wooden seats." Chippendale liked to work for the "nobility and gentry," and did not care much abollt the solid middle class, who were after all his best patrons, since the nobility 'could not always be relied upon for payment. As a carver for his most bril~ liant and elaborate work he found mahogany too hard a wood. So he chose a close set pine and in this he worked his fanciful designs, gilding or painting them to suit his own taste or that of his customers. Hepplcwhite' and his widow, who succeeded him, worked out a style which, though pleasing and graceful, was by no means as solid and substantial as that of Chippendale. Be-sides the shield shaped back which is so nearly universal in SPRATT'S CHAIRS ARE THE JOy OF THE CHILDREN. Our new CHILD'S··MISSION ROCKER was a winner from the start. Write far Catalogll.e and prices. OUT Line is large and pricea are right. We make CHAIRS fo' GROWN-UPS as well as CHILDREN. GEORGE SPRATT & CO. Sheboygan, Wis. Say you saw this ad ill the Michigan Arti- OUR FAMOUS SPECIALTIES The New 20th Century Box Spring (WITH FlE:MOVABLE COVER) Double Deck Bed Springs, Folding Bed Springs Woyen Wire Mattresses Cots, Couches and Stuffed Mallresses A great variety of styles and construction to ~elect from. Let us know your wants. Will be pleased to furnish catalogues on application. The Luce Furniture Co. INVITES ATTENTiON TO ITS LARGE UNE OF Bed Room and Dining Room Furniture. GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Salesroom at Factory Only. 22 .!"~ t;.I9,HIG?}N -MAKING -GOOD "Making good" is a hobby with us-••making good LEATHER FURNITURE for one thing••••the best. "Reliance" Natural Grain Leather is the handsomest and moSt dependable brand of M. B. Furniture Leather manu/adured. but we ask no more for "Reliance" Leather work than many charge for inferior grades. If something cheaper i. wanted. buy our "Oakdale" No. I Natural Grain stock-we are quoting this at .pecial low figure.. The "Oakdale" quality is lully equal to the average market best. Some manufacturers of Leather Furniture use Grain Leather lor the wearing surface and "Split" or "Deep Buff" for band •. back. and trimmings. We condemn thi. practice ·-we use no "Split" Leather •.. no "Deep Buff..... nothing but Natural Grain stock. BIG CATALOG SENT TO DEALERS UPON APPUCATION. JAMESTOWN LOUNGE COMPANY JAMESTOWN. NEW YORK The Woman Who Kicks. Ever meet the woman who kicks? Undoubtedly, if you have been engaged in the business of selling goods for the household. Madame with the strong limb and the trained toe thinks the only proper way to close the door of music cabinet .. a buffet, sideboard or a refriger-ator is to plant a "good swift kick" in its center. A manufacturer of refrigerators relates ~ome of his exper-iences in dealing with fair users of his boxes, one of which will serve for the purpose of this item. Prefacing his state-ment with the remark that he had noticed in many stores salestr.en who kicked the doors of goods they were showi.ng to customers he proceeded as follows: "A lady living in my home town bought a very good refrigerator of our make from a dealer and a few months later caned our office on the phone and complained that the locks and hinges were out of order. Taking some lock springs and screws I visited the Morton House AmeriClln .....•Plan Rates $2.50 and Up Hotel Pantlind European ......Plan Rates $1.00 and Up GRAND RAPIDS. MICH. The Noon Dinner Served at the Pantlind for 50e is the fiNEST IN THE WORLD J. BOYD PANTLIND. Prop· lady's home and found the box in a very b<ij:l condition. The finish on the doors was ruined; the locks would not close it'ml the hinges we.re w'obbly and insecure. Calling for a screw driver I quickly repaired the damages and when the lady came in to inspect the case I closed the doors gently with my hand. Opening a door, I requested the lady to close it. Raising a foot, she administered a hard kick and the door closed with a slam. Opening the door, I asked the lady to kick it again. The agile foot again performed that duty. Repeatedly I opened the door ~nd requested the lady to 'kick it again. It is only a refrigerator.' The lady kicked and kicked as often <l.S the door was opened, and finally be-coming tired of the exercise, she asked, 'Don't you close it that way?' 'Oh, no,' I replied. 'I close it gently by hanel. My wife trains her servants to use their hands instead. of their feet when closing doors. ){ow, once more, kick it again.', "'I won't do it,' peevishly remarked the lady as she disap-peared, The cause of the defects in the refrigerator had been located. RetaiHng in an Exposition Building, Quite a sensation was caused in Chica~o recently by the local furntiure dealers' association. An agent was employed to ascertain whether goods were sold at retail in the exposi-tion buildings. Several "offenders" were located and posi-tive proof of their indulgence in the retail business obtained, Singularly it appears that none of the occupants of· the Man-ufacturers Exhibition building were among those spotted, and the local association has given the manageinent of that enterprise their approval. What course the association shall take in regard to the offenders remains to be seen. The employment of spotters is unusual in the business of retailing furniture, Perhaps the conditions of the 'trade in Chicago justify the service rendered. CALIFORNIA TRIP FIFTY YEARS AGO. Atchison Stage Line Boasted of Making It in Thirty-five Days. ! I I I "Atchison to California in 35 days; fare only $200 in gold." was the heading of au old handbill, yellm'i with age, ..v..hich a traveler laid upon the counter in a railway ticket office the other clay, says the Kallsas City Journal. It was an adver-tisement of a line of stage coaches that ran from ,'\tchisOll, Karl., to San Francisco, during the gold excitement of years ago. "People seldom stop to think '''''hat their ancestors had to put up \vith fifty years ago," the man said. He was compar-ing the old time table \vitb a modern railroad time table, which told of the luxuries one could have by traveling on that road. No dust, no jarring and all other disagreeable feat-ures eliminated. The old time table '.vas !t douhle sheet of paper, tom and yellow with age. It "vas issued by the Atchison & Califor-nit stage CO;IClJ line ill 1857. The inducements it held forth were in strange COlltC\st "'lith tho~e of the modern railroad advertisen~ent. The stage coach line advertised tbat it had recently refurnished the entire "road" with absolntcly new wagonettes, and it told what kind of coaches they were, how the springs were made and of what strength they were. It even said that the coaches were painted in "the best rnanner possible." The horses that drC'\v the coaches were described, too, as the hest. ~\1l induc(']nent that was held out on the tilLe table to prospective passengers was a stop-over privilege. '·Passen-gers who had paid their entire fare from Atchison or other points to t!Jeir destination," the paper said, "may register witb our agents. A stopover privilege is tbell given for any pbce on the road." Thc time of the stOPOl'C/' was unlimited. Tl,c time table provided that a passellger might resume the journey wheneyer there was an cmpty seat ill tbe stage coach. ;'Vv' c make quickcr time to California than allY other stag-e coach line and at a eheaper rate," the pamphlet stated. Tt went on to say that fot $200 a person could ride. all the way from Atchison, Kan., to the gold fiehls of California. "The distance is 1,8U miles," was stated on the time table. "The longest distance ever attempted by a stage coach line. Atchison to California in 35 days." A hoast was made that there '..vere twelve telegraph sta-tions on the road to California al1d that eating placcs had been established along the road where good meals could be had at the nominal price ,of $3. Every passenger was allmved twen-ty- five pounds of b'aggage, consisting of ''''earing apparel and other necessary baggage. All over that amount must be paid for at a rate of SO cents a pound. It was advertised that the risk On the return trip was very great on account of the al1l0n\1t of gold dust and nuggets be-ing brought back from California. The company employed only the bravest men fully armed, all the time. But it de-clined to cany gold dust unless paid for at the rate of $3 a pOllnd. The cornpany refused to be held responsible for the loss of gold dust by robbers, Indians or other means. The pamphlet also advertised a fast freight line between A tchison and Denver, Colo., iOntwenty days. That Pennsylvania Cobbler's Discovery. Tbat "immensely vahwb1c" discovery of all Altoona, Pa., cobbler whereby coal can be made to perform several times its usual function as a fuel is no longer a deep, d:nk secret, says the New York Commercial. The inventor made the mistake of disclosing his disC'.overy too widely before he had taken precautions to settle its early profits upon himself. And now all Altoona is mixing ashes with its coal and is obtain-ing the desired results-so a newspaper correspondent re-lates. It is very simple. so simple that all that was needed was a hint that it could be accomplished and then anybody could do it. Here is the preparation: "Common salt one pound oxalic acid two ounces, water one gallon. Mix and then moisten a mixture containing one part coal and three ;<'.rts ashes." A better fuel than coal is obtained, it is as-serted. The cbetnical process is of little interest as adding to the advantage of the householder. There is the secret. '\llybody can use it 8nd if it "makes good," the anthracite bills of next 'winter will be a third of what they were previous- THEllHOMES OF OLD VIRGINIA always suggested a certain charm for refined atmos-phere and open welcome. The hall with its tall clock and dig-nified highboy---the Dining Room with its Sheraton Furniture and old silver---the Bedroom with its four posted Beds, were all expressive of· si~ple ideals and homely comfort. We have reproduced a great many of these fine old pieces, where the original models have been adhered to in absolute faithfulness. Grand Rapids Furniture Co. eIncorporated) 34 and 36 West 32d Street Between Broadway and Fifth Avenue An -exceUerrt model for a seIDlible. altr&dive, elfective advertisement. 11is Pkiu, brief and expressive and COIlveys lde1l8 thai wiU stick in the mind~ of the readen. It is coPied from the New Yo[k Sun. ly. After good and sufficient proof of the genuineness of the prescription a public fund should be raised for J oh11 Ell-more, the Altoona cobbler, everybody being asked to contrib-ute except the anthracite coal mine owners and. the coal-car-rymg railroads. Milwaukee Plan to Stimulate Trade. Milwaukee merchants, including the 1110st promit:Jent fur-niture dealers, have an organization which grants a rebate of one-third on round trip railroad fares to out-of-town patrons ,...h.o buy goods to the amount of $25 within a week of the purchase of the ra.ilroad ticket. It is not necessary to spend all of the $25 in one store. It may be distributed among the members of the organization. 23 EVANSVILLE DESK CO. MANUFACTURERS OF THE Best Value of Desks On the Market Today. It will pay you to send us an order. WRITE FOR NEW CATALOCUE. No.257. Price $18.50. . Has 4l:l loch Top,S Legs and is Highly Polished. It's One of the "SUPERIOR" T"E BOCKSTEGE FURNITURE co. I:VANSVILU: IND. ftar~es War~ro~es are Good Wardrobes GOOD Style Construction Finish PRICES RIGHT Write fr;y Catalogue Karges Furniture Company, EVANSVILLE, IND. Kitchen Cabinets, Cupboards and K. D. Wardrobes. That Please. Send for our 1907 Catalogue Now Ready. The Bosse Furniture CO. EVANSVILLE. IND. The "ELI" fOLDING BEDS ~~~frl~'~Nm No Stock complete without the Eli Beds in Mantel and Upright. EL 0 M &. C Evan.ville. Indi.na , . ILLER O. Write for cuts aud prices Globe Sideboards ,..------- ARE THE ----,---.., BEST ON THE GLOBE FOR THE MONEY Get Our Catalogue. Mentionthe MICHIGAN ARTISAN when writing. Globe Fumiture Company EVANSVILLE, INDIANA 26 Gents' Chiffoniers We sell the best one in the market. Make them in several patterns and our prices are the lowest. Send for Cuts and Deacription. THEY ARE MONEY MAKERS. Chas. Bennett Furniture Co. CHARLOTTE, MICH. To Simplify Freight Classification. It is exp,ected that before the end of Mayall freight traffic associations will have named committees to act in conjunc-tion with a committee appointed. by the Central Freight As~ sodation in the work of undertaking to formulate a uniform classification that all the associations will be willing b adopt. This movement is in response to notice from the Interstate Commerce Commission that if they did not accomplish some-thing looking to the adoption of a uniform classification the commission would do it for them. The initiative was taken recently by the Central Freight Association. \A/hen uniformity in this regard is est<>btished it will be easier for the uniform bill of lading committee to complete its enormous task. They Promise to be Good. The retailers of Chicago babquetted and talked a few nights ago. Quite a number of commission men and manu-facturers were guests of the association. All made speeches and promised to be good. George Clingman referred to the fact that the sale of goods by reta-il in the exposition build-ings of Grand Rapids had been discontinued. Another Upholstering Factory. The Crisv.rell-Kepler Company, composed of James Cris-well alld Fred Kepler, and capitalized at $10,000, are to estab-lish a factory for the manufacture of high grade upholstered mahogany furniture at the corner of Korth Front and West Leonard streets, Grand Rapids, 1Jich. Mr. Criswell has rep-resented the Dexter Chair Company in this section for some time. lh. Kepler will have charge of the upholstering de-partment. This will make eight upholstering institutions in Grand Rapids, where there were none ten years ago. Now those who make upholstery a prominent feature of their factories are the Retting Furniture Company, Mueller & Slack, Grand Rapids Upholstering Company, the C. S. Paine Company, the Century Furniture Company, Sweet- & Biggs and the Michigan Chair Company, and there are several others wbo do more or less upholstering. New Building for Kragens. The Kragens store to be erected in San Francisco will be completed by I\'ovember 1. The new building 'will be six stories high with a mezzanine floor and basement, located all Market street at the corner of Stevenson street, The entire building will be used for samples. It will be 100 x 170 feet. There will be four elevators and a chute, and a welt on the pre'mises, tanks on the roof and up-to-date fire fighting ap-paratus. A vault in the basement will be thirty feet long. The sho'\v windows wilt be of unusual depth and the plate glass is to run down to within three inches of the sidewalk. Besides furniture, carpets, draperies, household goods, stoves and many other lines will be carried. Selling Samples Unprofitable. In connection with the closing out of his Milwaukee store and the discontinuance of the purchase and sale of Made by Richmond Chair Co., Richmond, Ind samples, Phil Klingman, a veteran of the furniture trade, re-marked: "There is little if any profit to be derived from dealing in samples. The furniture manufacturer could not afford to sell the choice pieces in his line separately and there are many 'hoo-doos' in every collection of 'furniture. Take chairs for the purpose of an illustration, Many lines contain hundreds of patterns, no two of which are alike. ,"Vho among the consumers would buy one dining chair? And what dealer could afford to warehouse a lot of goods, concerning the selling qualities of 50 per cent of which he had serious doubts? The wise dealer will not take such a risk." f I Club House Furniture Must Be Seasonable. Two sets of furniture bave become almost a necessity with New York clubs, says a writer in the Kew York Sun. tn the old days the same hlrniture serveJ winter and summer. \Vhen the weather began to be warm and the windows to be opened ill April or carly I\Iay the stuffed chairs and sofas of the drawing room were covered \"ith striped calico or chintz, and they remained thus l.vith their dusters 011 until October. Men left behind in town by their wives and families felt them-selves at home ,<vith the chintz covercd furniture of the <Jub-house because their Own darkened drawing rooms presented exactly the same aspect. In those days carpets coverillg the clubroom floors clear to the l,vashboards \vere tucked dO\vn, and they came up only twice a year at most to be shaken, and in order that the floor,; might be thoroughly scrubbed. After the spring house-cleaning the carpets were tucked down again, and they staye.d down rill summtr. The dr;rwing rooms with their heavy carpets and their stuffed furniure looked prety hot in July aul August. but such was the ;ljlprovcd arrangetncnt, and it went. Some years ago a fe\·\, clubs adopted the pbn of providing special summer furniture and the practice bas spread. For the heavy winter furniture light cool wid<er chai,s and sohs are substituted. Rugs laid all hardwood floors long ago took the place of the old fashioned carpets for \vinter, and whell the ,vicker furniture comes ill, the rugs come up and go out of the house. The result is a delightfully cool effect. Some club houses have space for the storage of their will-tel' furniture in SU111n:ertime and their summer fLlrniture in \vinter time, hut others hire: space in ~torage warehouses. As to the rugs, they are oftcn SCnt to a cleaner, who cleans and stores them io1' the sumn~er. ,"Vhat happens in the drawing rooms of the clubhouse hap-pens also in the lodgings. If there are heavy articles of furniture in the roon:s they are replaced by wicker, and the carpets .are sent to the c1e;lllcr's for the Slimmer, while a cheap Japanese rug at the bedside and another beside th{~<.,vashstand make the lodging'S comfortable. In some cases slatted doors are hung at the opcning of spri11g in order to keep the bed-rooms cool. :"lo1'e and more clubs have roof gardens. These are de-pressing places all \V-inter long, and evcl~ lip to the middle of 1hy. By that time their potted \'"ine~,have been well started, and men begin to dille on the roof on hot nights alld to sit there and consume cooling drinks until the closing hour arrives. Xovv and then a lodger obtains the privilege of swinging a hammock 011the roof and there he sleeps on hot nights. Difficult to Prevent. "It is a very difficult matter to prevellt the sale of furni-ture in an open-all-the-year exposition by retail," remarked the manager of an exposition building. "So many people find employme,nt in the structure and the -interests represent-ed afe so diversified that it is almost im'possible to prevent an abuse of the privileges granted to leaseholders and their em-ployes. The agent of a line of chairs may have a friend who is selling lllusic cabil1cts or buffets. The former wants a piece or two as a special f<tvor. A lady relative is to marry and lle \vants a cahinet for a gift. The accommodating rep-resentative of the c,-,hinet maker selL> rI music cabinet at the wholesale price. And so it goes. Hundreds of such transactiollS arc inevitable. There is no way to prevent such deals, try as earncstly as wc may." Another Big Department Store for Brooklyn. Ralph Leining'er, J. A. Kohner rind George D. Beattys have organized a cOl'poration to be kno\vll as Darlington & Co., to establish a first class, up-to-date department start': in 27 Brooklyn, K. Y. The capital stock is $1,000,000, and the pro-moters propose to have one oi the finest stores in the coun-try. Another Railroad for "Grand Rapids of the East." Application has been made by the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittsburg of the l\~ew York Central system for a franchise to enter Jamestown, N. Y., by huilding a spur from Falconer. 1£ granted it 'will bring the Lake Shore into clos-e, competition ,,,,ith the Pennsylvania and the Erie. Muskegon Valley Furniture Co. Moskellon Mid.. Odd Dressers Chiffoniers Wardrobes Ladies Toilets Dressing Tables Mahogany Inlaid Goods Ladies Desks Music Cabinets Line on sale in New ..vanufae-tU1' 61'8' Bttild· ing, GRAND RAPIDS. The Sargent Mfg. Co. MUSKEGON, MICH. Bachelors' Cabinets Ladies' Desks Extra Large Chiffoniers _______ Also Manufacturers and E.xportell of ------- ROLLING CHAIRS Chairs adapted to all kinds of invalidism, both for house and street use. OVER FORTY DE.SIGNSTO SELECT FROM 28 ~MI9HIG7}-N "The Larkin Idea." Here is a sample of the kind of adverti:,;ing that has built up an enormous business for the Larkin Company. It cer-tainly contains a good argumen.:t, but retail furniture dealers can easily meet it by showing their patrons that they buy di-rect from the 'manufacturers, and thus eliminate two of tbe <imiddlemen" mentioned: Do you know that you are paying an unnecessarj!y large price for a great many things of household use? 1'105tman-ufactured goods are sold to the consumer at from two to four times the cost of production. This is because the goods pas!'> through many hands; from the facto~y to the sales agent; from the sales agent to the wholesaler; from the wholesaler to the retailer; from the retailer to the consumer. Each "middleman" adds his expenses, his losses, his profits, and, request will bring you their premium list, which contains de-scriptions of over 1,200 premiums, and 150 products. Ask for premium Jist 1\'0. 36, and address your postal to the Larkin Co., Buffalo, N. Y. Lounge Taxed as W001. A bitter tariff battle over an upholstered lounge was de-c. ided recently by the board of general appraisers in Chicago, adversely to the claims of the importers, James S. Kirk & Co. \Vhen the lounge reached Chicago the collector of customs declared the article is a "manufacture of wool." Duty was ac-cordingly exacted at the rate of 4.4 cents a pound and 55 per cent ad valorem. The lounge was held at the custom house until the importers came fonvard and paid the duty; afterward they filed an appeal with the lower customs tribunal. Kirk MADE BY CENTURY FURNITURE CO.; GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. all, in the end, is piled up in the retail price, and must be paid hy-YOU. There is a way to stop this, a way by which you can pass the middleman by, and get things absolutely at their cost. Every few weeks certain articles of daily use in your home call for an outlay of say twenty dollars. Would you not wel-some sotne idea whereby you could purchase these same ar-ticles for ten dollars? There is such an idea. It is the Larkin idea, the short cut from factory to family; a modern business triurp.ph that has proved a blessing to millions. How tremendous the responSe of th~ people has be~n to the Larkin idea is shown in the single fact that the model es-tablishment has grown from a factory of ],600 square feet in 1875, to an enormous plant of over fifty acres in 1906. To visit Buffalo without seeing the Larkin factories is to miss one of the most interesting industrial sights of the world. One of the best features of the Larkn idea, a thing that has brought happiness to many a home, is the premium ar-rangement. This is so attractively carried out that we would strongly advise' you to become familiar with it, A post-card & Co., alleged that the lounge should be taxed only 35 per cent, the rate applicable to "household furniture comJ;wsed of wood." General Appraiser Lunt, who wrote the decision over-ruling the contention, thinks that the importers failed to sub-stantiate their claim. He says: "The only evidence the importers sublritted is a written description of the lounge accompanied bJr two photographs, but there is nothing in their memorandum to show the rela-tive values of the materials involved in the manufacture of the merchandise, nor is there anything in the record otherwlse to controvert the collector's classification; In the absence of competent evidence, the decision of the collector is presumed to be correct. The protest is overruled." The furniture makers of ancient Rome held Julius Caesar in grateful remembrance on account of an order for 60,000 couches for use by the populace in witnessing the festivities following the return of. the ruler from one of his campaigns of conquest. They were not davenports, adjustable, sanitary nor of the ..S..implicity" pattern. ~MlfpIG7;!-N , 29 C O,T S We make every known style guaranteeing extra good material and workmanship. These cots will cost you no more and yet are standards of excellence. If you use cots it will pay you to drop us a postal today for catalogue. HARD MFG. CO., Buffalo, N. Y. Heppelwhitc's chairs, the foot he used, known as the spade foot, is almost as indicative of him and his period. He, too, loved the nobility as patrons, and he had a fav-orite desig'u of three feathers, the Prince of \\rales crest, which he introduced at all times and seasons, and on all pieces of furniture. One form if it is shown in connection with the spade foot chair. \Vhile this chair docs not show his familiar shield shaped back, it exhibits the structural weaknes's \'dlich is present in nearly all of his chairs and which causes one to find 50 many of them now broken and mended. Instead of bringing the back down to the seat, he had a fancy of ending it above the frame and attaching it by two short curved pieces, which often broke llUder the strain of be-ing leaned 011, The legs, too, were oftcwtmduly slender, and in order to counteract this defect he im-'ented the spade foot, which gives an appearance of strength, which the chair docs not have. \Vhile Chippendale relied for most of his ornamentation on his carving, Hepplewhite, Shearer and Sheraton used inlaid work of brass or ..v.oods quite as much as carving, if not more. When carving was used it was often in lower relief than in Chippendale's work, and a popular design was called husk pattern, like the husk of a grain of oats laid out flat. These husks succeeded one another in a line, graduating in size when applied to a chair leg. A chair is shown here with the shield shaped back and husk pattern On both legs and back. Originally, no doubt, this chair was covered with the dainty striped brocade or damask which Hepplewhite g-ives such minute directions about in his books, and which should be u::.ed on his chairs with ab-nndant gilt nails ananf';cd in a pattern. His striped seats and the nails are almost as much a part of this maker's work as his spade foot and shield back. It is a pity when old furniture is restored not to carry out the usage of the maker. It will be seen that in all these. las;t examples the heavy • cross bars for supporting the legs were banished and that the whole effect was lighter and more dainty. The styles in dress had something to do with this, and the- spreading gowns of the ladies and the wide stiff coats of their cavaliers necessitated chairs and seats ovcr which they could flow with-out confinement of arms. By the time Sheraton gave his undivided attention to his books the modes had altered once more. Slender clinging gowns of transparent tissue and cutaway coats were all the rage, so we find many chairs with arms among Sheraton's designs. The one shown here is a simple one, but entirely representative of this maker. It is well proportioned, simple and elegant, and shows the leg which Sheraton was so apt to put on his furniture, vary-ing its length tor a four post bed and suiting it to the con-fined limits of a lady's footstool. The pretty ornament in the back is agreeable to the eye and of sufficient strength. The back legs had an air of more solidity than the incurved ones of Hepplewhite's work. 1\Iany such ch;:lirs found their way over here, some sets which went into the mansions numbering seventy-two. These were for the dining room, and while the greater num-ber were side chairs, there were usually ~t least six arm chairs. This style of chair was often covered with leather, some-times 'with horsehair, '''v'hile those which were a little more' ornate had on the scat brocade, worsted work or velvet, or had cane or rush seats. The prices, which are demanded and obtained for chairs like any of these shown are very high, a set of six in good condition often going into fOUf figures. Chippendale's pieces which have an authentic history, like the original bill, partic-ularly if the piece is one of those made of rosewood or ma-hogany finished with brass, copper or silver mounts, and japanned or gilded, may bring $2,000 or $3,000. A few such piece:; pass through some of the great auction houses in London each year, but they arc hardly ever met with here. White Printing Co. HIGH GRADE CATALOGS COMPLETE GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. ====== === 30 ~l'1.19pIG7JN , Unprofitable Piracy. "The light-hearted, neatly dressed young salesman who has taken a course in a school of furniture sketching during his between-seasons vacation and enters upon the piratical practice of sketching the attractive pieces found in the ware-rooms of the dealers Upon whom h~ confers the favor of his presence from time to time, and forwards the same to the very honorable manufacturer he undertakes to represent, not infrequently causes a lot of trouble," remarked the vet era n manufacturer. "This is the way it works out. Our company occa-sionally brings out a piece that looks good in every way. The season opens and it meets the approv-al of the buyers. The first lot cut is cleaned Ollt quickly. The second cut-ting is ordered. In the meantime the young sales-man with the sketch book has noted the p"iece. It Made by Manual TrainiDIl' Department, Grand looks good. Everyone RapidaPublicSchools. has it. He makes a sketch and sends it to the house. On his next trip he finds it on the floors of the trade he calls 011. It must be a great seller. But it isn't. It is a 'hoodoo.' Scracely one of the first lot cut has been disposed of. The originator of the style has the second cutting on hand and 1)0 one wants any part of it, The copying manufacturer enters the market with copies, and the sketching young salesman 'learns a few things.' Perhaps the second and third copying manufac-turer contribute their 'able cfforts' to the unsalables, and assist in loading the market with a hoodoo for the year to come. This is an old lesson, as old as the trade, and yet there never seems to be lacking sketching young salesmen and 'reproducing' manufacturers to learn it." Don't Become a Miefit. There are plenty of misfits in this world. il'1en who would have made good n~echanics have become poor clerks; men who would have made a success of farming are strug-gling along as lawyers 'with a few clients and little income; men who might have been good salesmen are sitting in offices with a physician'S shingle on the door, waiting, waiting for patients who never come. In fact, every trade and profes-sion contains many men who are not fitted for the work they are trying to do but who would be able to do good work somewhere else. It's a pity that we can't adopt the merchant's plan and take all the mistfits of business life and place them where they will do real good, but as this cannot be done, we urge every boy and young man starting out in life not to become a mis-fit, says Spare Moments. If you love tools become a me-chanic. If you lm'e the outdoor life among the fields be-corne a farmer. If you love drawing, become a draftsman. Find out what you lovc best and then follow YOllr inclination if yOll would avoid becoming a misfit. Don't let pride stand in your way. The world has more respect for a good mechanic or a good laborer than it has for a poor clerk or an incompc-tent physician. Some folks will tell yOll that every trade and profession is crowded. So it is, but the crowd is at the bottom of the ladder and not at the top. The mcn who lead in every walk of life are the men who love their work, not the men who have chosen such work because it was considered more respectable than other vocations. Misfits are always unhappy, always growling and grumb-ling at the fate that keeps them down. The man whQ loves the work he has chosen, is contented with his lot, although ambitious for greater things. The man who fits will rise. while the misfit will hover around the bottom of the ladder of succe!';s. Don't become a misfit. Like Trying to Bell the Cat. That IVlontgomcry Ward & Co. are not scared nor dis-couraged on account of the efforts of the national and state associations of retailers of furniture to restrain their opera-tions in selling merchandise is shown by the fact that the linn has under construction a new plant for the distribution of goods covering l1~ore than an ordinary farm and costing mil-liars cf dollars, in the city of Chicago. It is the purpose HOUSEKEEPER ....... Save One-Half the Money You Are Now Payin, for Your feN. Coffees. Dakin, Powder. Splc .... FlaVUiin, Exll'acte. Soaps. Perfumes. and Other Household Supplies. A HANDSOME PRESEIIT GIVEN WITH EVERY ORDER Sample of Advertisements Ueed by Premium Houses. of the company to erect and operate factories when the retail associations shall have succeeded in cutting off the usual source of supplies; in fact, they are now sustaining financial-ly a number of factories operated in the production of goods the firm handles exclusively. Other mail order merchants will 'establish retail stores and carry stocks, if it shall be deter-mined that the vast amount of merchandise contained in their warehouses do not entitle them to membership in the several associations of retailers. How to put the mail order houses out of business seems a more difficult proposition than con-fronted the mice mentioned in the fable about putting a bell on the cat. THE LEXINGTON Mich~n Blvd. & 22<1St CHICAGO, ILL. Refurnished and re-fitted throughout. New Management. The furniture dealers' head-quarters. Most con-veniently situated to the furniture display houses. Inler-Slate Hotel CO. OWNl:l:K &. I.'ROPRIETOR E. K. Criley. Pres.; T. M, Criley, V. Pres.; L. H. Firey, Sec-Tleas. QUALIFICATIONS OF SALESMEN. A Few Ideas on the Subject Expressed by Prominent Detroit Merchants. Detroit, April 23.-.'1'hat it requires 110 ordinary amount of ability to be a successful furniture salesman is the emphatic opinion of some of Detroit's most successful dealers-men who, themselves, have risen from the ranks to become the heads of large concerns. "First class salesman arc born, not made," said James Fitzsimmons of Fitzsimmons & Co. "Of course, a n:an must have experience rind it requires years to learn the business, but if a man hasn't the llatural qualifica-tions, he ""ill never make a high-class salt:sman, 110 matter how hard he tries. "1 think that 1 kno ..v.. a good salesman \"'hen I see one, but I can't draw up plans and specifications of all the qualities that he n1115tpossess in order to be successful and advance in his business. But \-ve'll suppose, for example, that you are going out to b11y a piano. You don't know milch about pi- ;mos-·at least most people don't. You go to a store and a clerk shows you the stock But for some reason you don't like the way the man shows his goods and you go to another place, and get into the hands of the right sort of a salesman. He shows you the pianos that afe in stock. They probably aren't a bit better than the olles you saw at the f1rst place, but in SOlIle \vay this salesman ll1~·lkesyOll think that they are. FIe brings out all the good points of the piano that he is try-illg to sell you-·he makes you think that it is exactly what you want, without undue urg-ing or resorting to falsehood or misrepresentation rind before you kllOW it he has sold you a plano. That is the sort of a saleS111r1!tlhat we are all look-ing for and the kind who command the hig-h salaries. And unless a man posseSSes this quality of briJ!ging out the best points of the article lle is trying to sell and convincing people that it is superior to all others, be will never make a s:tlcs-man, but win always remain a mefe clerk. "Of coursc, there are other qualities that the s:lcces'iful salesman must possess. One thing that ,ve insist upon in this store above an others is strict boncsty. i\ salesman who mis-reprcsents goods is treated with no leniency even though he makes :l good s,tlc by his fal'iehood or half-truth. Lea-ving out all other considerations, it is poor business policy. Soon-er or later, the cuStOtllCr is certain to find out he has been deceived and not only will he never patronize you again, but he will tell his friends ;.lcd after a while you will feel the effect. No finn th<lt is not strictly honest call hope to achieve permal1cnt success." "In regard to stimulating business in dull times, it has been my experience that to conduct bargain sales on some special article is the best way. I believe it is better to make 7fT<.-T I..s'.71.2'1 .e 7 r. 31 sales even if you have to sell the articles at actual cost than to sit down ~nd wait for trade to come to you. At least, it keeps you from getting rusty and when people buy articles so cheaply at one of these bargain sales, yOU often obtain their good will and when they want to buy furniture at some later time they are quite likely to remember you." "There is one trait "\vhich the furniture salesman must pos-sess above all others if he is to be successful," said F. M. Adler of vVeil & Co., "and that is adaptability. He must be able tn adapt himself to al1 sorts of peaRle <Iud conditions. You can't lay down ally fixed fules. Of COurse, there are certain qualifications necessary to success in ally business, but it I have one hobhy it is adaptability. People are so dif-ferent that a salesman must be able to size up each and every customer and decide just what is the best way to appeal to him. It is a hard matter to select good furniture salesman, at the best; many times a man whom you think has all the qualities will prove to he an utter failure. But I think that I am safe -in saying that if a man can't adapt himself to nearly all kinds of people and conditions be will prove to be a failure." "My hobby in selecting a furniture salesman is to get one who knows perfectly every article to be found in the store and bow to sell it," said "\V, 1. Owen of Owen & Co. "The furniture business isn't like others, where each salesman sclls the article in his department and knows little or nothing about the others. For this reason we never take on a man who has not had experience. "Those aren't by allY means all the 'qualifications. A man in order to be a good salesman must be hooest and he must have a pleasant way about him that will make -a favor-able impressioll with customers. A man who is gruff, im-polite, inattentive or careless is worse than useless, and I don't know of any business where there is less use for a lazy man. The bcst salesmen ,ve have are the boys who started in as office hoys and gradtw_lly worked their way up. They know c\'crytbing in the store and they kllow aUf ways and methods. ",As to enlivening business in dull times, about the only method that I know of is to make a sale on some special article. That gets people to coming into your store and makes you think that you are doing a lot of business anyway, even if you aren't making much, and then it gets pcople ac- Cjuailded with your store and often they will buy other ar-ticles besides the one that you are making the special price 011. vVe believe that it is a.pretty good way of advertising." Grand Rapids Caster Cup Co. 2 Parkwood I\ve.•Grand Rapids. Mich. Vile ar",- now putting on th~ best Castet Cups with corll bases evn offeree to the trade. These ate finished in Golden Osk and White Maple in a light finish. These goods are admirable for polished flooT!;and fum. iture rests. They wllll10t sweat or mar. PRICES: Size 27.i'inches $4 00 per hundred Size 2M inches····· - 5.00 per hundred Try a Bample Order. F. O.B. Gyand RapidJJ. 32 ·~~MI9fIIG7f-N OUR NEW 1907 LINE OF ALASKA REFRIGERATORS with side ice chamber is made in twenty-one styles, zinc lined, white enamel and porcelain lined. Our catalogue will il'lterestyou. Write for it. THE ALASKA REFRIGERAlOR CO. Exclusive Refrigerator Manufacturers, MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN. Using the Auto as a "Booster." The success of schools established to teach young men how to nm an automobile shows that interest in the "pro-fession" is widespread. During the fall one was organized in connection with a motor company at Buffalo and a part of one factory building was set aside for a class room. Soon inquiries began to pour in and there was no difficulty, after the start had been made, in :filling all the classes. The pros-pective drivers come from all parts of the country, as is shown by the fact that in the class now going through the school two of the men are from North Dakota, three from Virginia, one from Nebraska, one from Georgia and two from Canada. The men are said to be young and bright looking and are of a mentality that enables them to grasp quickly the me-chanical problems involved. Most of them say candidly that their reason for preparing. for this kind of work is that they expect to use it as a stepping stOne to something better as it will throw them irito contact with men wllo will be in a pO-sition to help them . .Notes on Columbus Factories. The Harden-Winders Manufacturing Company have in-corporated with the capital stock fixed at $10,000. The offi~ cers are as follows: President, James Keyes; vice president, C. H. Carpenter; treasurer, Frank Winder~ M. D.; secretary, Wilber Winders; manager, D. T. Winders. They manufac-ture mission furniture, novelties, porch swings, and hall clocks and will show their full line in Chicago in July. To many men there is nothing more enjoyable in a hot day than a good book, a good cigar and a Harden-Winders Porch swing. The E. 1'1. Hulse Company are enjoying their customary good trade. Last year they had a record-breaking business. and barring fires, frosts and frenzied finance, they will set their peg several notches higher during the year 1907. Their new Buckeye Oak for davenports and couches in an eye-open-er. E. M. Hulse will tell you more about it if you give him a chance. The Columbus Couch Company is building up a good busi-ness in couches upholstered in leather and soft goods. Architects- Are Not Good Furniture Designers. Several af the large furniture manufacturing corporations of Grand Rapids are full of orders for hotels, the- contracts for which were secured through retail dealers. In discuss-ing this branch of the furniture manufacturing business re-cently, the superintendent of one of the large plants re-ferred to remarked that much illy designed furniture is used in the equipment of hotels, because proprietors of the same have employed architects to prepare special designs. The average architect is not conscientious in the drafting of de-signs and aims to please his employer rather than to give truthful expression of the art he undertakes to portray. He is usually successful in fitting the furniture to the wall and floor spaces it is intended to occupy, but beyond that reQuire- Made by Century Furniture Co. Grand Rapids. Mich. ment he is seldom successful. While the conscientious man-ufacturer endeavors to carry out the purpose of the <!-rchitect many instances arise in which changes are necessary in or~er that strength and utility shall not be sacrificed. The av-erage hotel keeper, owing to his lack of experience, does not inspect the furniture purchased on his acco,unt as closely and as intelligently as the regular trade buyer" and when he places an order directly with the manufacturer, the opportunity pre_ sents itself for the manufacturer to slight the. construction and finish of the goods ordered. No manufacturer of estab-lished reputation, however, will take advantage of such op_ portunities. Inse! , II To Our Western Patrons NOTE: There has been no change in the management of our CHICAGO FACTORY, the same practical men who have brought it to its present high standard continue in our employ. BE NOT DECEIVED. I WE CAN MATCH ANYTHING FILLER BONE HARD OVER THAT WILL DRY N I G H T The great majority-in fact just about all of the manufacturing trade ask for a filler to be hard dry the day after filling. We can do better than that. USE OUR FILLER AND YOU CANNOT DIG IT OUT OF THE PORES THE ===== NEXT DAY ============== IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR VARNISH TO PENETRATE THE SURFACE IT SANDS OFF IN A POWDER THAT WILL LEAVE YOUR SAND PAPER CLEAN AFTER THE WORK IS DONE. The Barrett-Lindeman Company , IN CONSOLIDATION WITH The l.Jawrence-McFadden Co., Ltd. 61-63-65-67 No. Ashland Ave•• CHICAGO. 1400-2-4 Frankford Ave., PHILADELPHIA. Inset Tha Univarsal Automatic CARVINO MAClflNE ==== IPERFORM$ THE WORK OF 25 HAND CARVERS And does the Work Better than it can be Done by Hand -----~-MADE BY------- Union [n60SSlna MACUlnr (0. Indianapoll .. ,Indiana Write for Inlorm.tion, Prices Etc. The Pittsburg Plate Glass Company MANUFACTURBRS AND JOBBERS 0" Plain and Beveled Mirrors, Bent Glass for China Cabinets, Plate Glass for Desks, Table Tops and Shelves. Our facilities for supplying furniture manufacturers wiJJ be understood when we state that we have 10 Glass factories, extending from Pennsylvania to Missouri; and 13 Mirror plants, located as follows: New York Boston Phlladelpbia Buft'alo ClnciD.natl St. Louie MinneapoUs Atlanta Kokomo, Ind. Ford City, Fa. DJgh PolDt, N. C. Davenport Crystal City, Mo. Also, our 22 iobbint honses carry heavy stocks in all lines of glass, paints, varnishes and brushes and are located in the cities named below: New York-HUdson and Vandam sts. BufI'aJ0-3'l'2-4-e-8 Pearl Street. Buston-41-49 Sudbury, t~9 Bowker. Bts. Brooklyn-636 aod 037 Fulton Street. Cbicag0-442-452 Wabash Avenlie. PbUadelPbla-PltcaJrn BuildJog, Arch Cincinoat1-Broadway and Court Sts. and Eleventh Sts. St. Lout_Cor. 7th and Market Sts. Davenp0ri-410-416 Soott stl"&!t. MinneapoUs-OOO-lilO S. Third St. Clevelwul--149-Gl-6S Seneca Street. Hetl'oit-l5Z-55 Lamed. St., E. OmRha-1608-10-U HaJooey Street. Plttsburgb-l0tal0S Wood Street. St. Paul-349-51 Minoesota Street. MDwaukee. WIs-492-494 Market St. Atlanta, Oa.-30, S2 ItDd 34 S. Pryor St. :Qochestel', N. Y.-Wilder BuIlding, Malo Savannah, Oa.-746-749 Wheaton Street. and Exchan&,e St&. KanS&s CIty-Fifth and Wyandotte Sts. Baltim(l~221-223W. Pl'att Street. Blrmlogham, Ala.-2nd Ave. and 29th St. It needs no argument to show what advantages may be derived from dealing directly with us. AGENTS FOR THE COULSON PATENT CORNEl\. POSTS AND BATS. GLOBE VISE AND TRUCK CO. OAH:e 321 South Divbion St., GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Mfci, of High Grade Wood Workers Vises AND Faclory Trucks Qualily and Price talk in factory trucks and we can interest you. Will you send us your address and let us write you about tbem? Wntefor PriC68 B. WALTER & CO. M.nuf."u"," of T ABLE SLIDES Exclusively WABASH INDIANA WRITE FOR PRICES AND DISCOUNT SOM.ETHING NEW WE have perfected a new GOLOU OAK OIL STAIN without the use of asphaltum or acid. This stain is the strongest and most penew trating stain on the market. It entirely pene-trates the wood, leaving no surplus on the sur· face to penetrate with the filler. Samples furnished on application. -- We have over 12different styles of factory and warehouse trucks 'to offer, also a complete Hr,e of woodworking vises and benches. CRAND RAPIDS WOOD FINISHINC COMPANY 81S-69 ELLSWORTH AVE., GFiAND RoIlPltlS, MICH. This Machine Makes the Money ========== BY SA VI NG IT ========== It makes aperlectimitation of any open grain because it uses the wood itself to print from, and one operator and a couple of boys can do mOTe work with it than a dozen men with any other so-called machine or pads on the market. That~8 why it·s a money maker. It imitates perfectly PLAIN or QUARTERED OAK,lMAHOGANY. WALNUT. ELM, ASH or any other wood with open grain WRITE; THIt --- Posselius Bros. Furniture Manufacturing Co., Detroit, Mich. FOR PRICES AND FULL PARTICULARS. MENTION THE MICHICAN ARTISAN. Inset Inset Oran~Da~i~sDlow Pi~e an~Dust Arrester Compan} THE LATEST device for handling shavings and dust from all wood-working machines. OUf eighteen years experience in this class of work has brought it nearer perfection than any other system on the market today. It is no experiment, but a demonstrated scientific fact, as we have several hundred of these systems in use, and not a poor one among them. Our Automatic Furnace Feed System, as shown in this cut, is the most perfect working device of anything in its line. "'\Vritefor our prices for equipments. WE MAKE PLANS AND DO ALL DETAIL WORK WITHOUT EX-PENSE TO OUR CUSTOMERS EXHAUST FANS AND PRESSURE BLOWERS ALWAYS IN STOCK Offic. and Fa.ctory 0 208-210 Canal Street GRAND RAPIDS. MICH. Cltb,:en. Phone 1282 OUR AUTOMATIC FURNACE FEED SYSTEM r, B0YNT0N ex. C0. SEND FOR CATALOGUE Manufacturers of Embollu~d and Turned Moulding., Embossed and Spindle Carvings, and Automatic:: Turnings. We also manu· facture a large line of Em.b'i)~d 0 ..n8' ments for Couch Work. 419·421W.fifteenth St..CmC4GO, ILL. FOLDING BED FIXTURES Profitable fixtures to use are those which give the least trouble. They are made by Folding Bed \iViliiams in many styles and designs, suitable for every folding bed manufactured. Furniture Cast-ings, Panel Holders, Corner Irons, etc. New ideas and inventions constantly being added to the line. F. B. WILLIAMS 3812 VINCENNES AVE" CHICACO Manufacturer.of Hardware Specialties fortheFurniture Trade. Established 1,s78. FOX SAW SMOOTHEST GR,OOVES FASTEST CUT LEAST POWER LONGEST L1FE DADO HEADS GR.EATEST RANGE QUICKEST ADJUSTMENT LEAST TR.OUBLE PERFECT SAFETY Also Machine Knlve.r, Miter Machines. Etc. PERMANENT ECONOMY SAMUEL J. SHIMER &. SONS MILTON. PENNSYLVANIA, U. S. A. FOX MACHIN£. CO. TOILET SCREWS: 1;£ to 2 inch knobs can be furnished as toilet screws to order only with standard bolt 3,%inches long and patent drive nut and washer. ===. We'lI gladly tell YOU all about It. 185 N. Front Street. Grand Rapids. hitch Wood Forming Cutters We offer exceptional value in Reversible and One-Way Cutters for Single and Double Spin .. dIe Shapers. Largest lists with lowest prices. Greatest variety to select from. Book free. Address THE KNOB THAT WONT COME OFF NO-KUM-LOOSE WOOD KNOBS Section of "A" GRAND RAPIDS BRASS COMPANY, Grand Rapids, Mich. CUT shows tbe construction of our line of Wood Knobs. The metal nut is clinched into the wood at its front end, pre-venting turning or pulling out. To the back end of the nut is riveted a steel base, having projecting spurs which enter the drawer front. The knobs are held in place by a screw and corru-gated spur washer, which avoids any possi-bility of unscrewing. All goods are smooth-ly sandp

Date Created:

1907-04-25T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Grand Rapids Public Library (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Collection:

27:20

Subject Topic:

Periodicals and Furniture Industry

Language:

English

Rights:

© Grand Rapids Public Library. All Rights Reserved.

URL:

http://cdm16055.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16055coll20/id/76