Weekly Artisan; 1910-08-13

Notes:

Issue of a furniture trade magazine published weekly in Grand Rapids, Mich, starting in 1879. and GRAND RAPIDS, MICH., AUGUST 13,1910 SLIGH FURNITURE COMPANY The Largest Manufacturersof CHAMBER FURNITURE EXCLUSIVELY IN THE WORLD Catalogue to Prospective Customers. GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. L - _______ .. - _a. .. _.. . ._. -------------------~ I HARRr C. WHITE, Treasurer. II II I,IIII IIi I,,t I II II II II HALF-TONES' . .. ARTHUR S. WHITE, President. ALVAH BROWN, VIce President. LET US MAKE YOUR Perfect Prod tict Large Facilities Courteous Treatment "Right" Price I• IIII I II III ,I IIII II I, III II t CO.I,, II I •• oil MICHIGAN ENGRAVING GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. I Samples and Estimates Upon Request. I I., ••••••• - .••• a_ ••••••• WEEKLY ARTISAN 1 YOU CAN MAIL YOUR CATALOG SEPTEMBER 7th If you place the order with us. . W"ITE PRINTING COMPANY GRAND RAPIDS, MICU. I PRINTERS FOR THE FURNITURE TRADE. I 2 WEEKLY AR.TISAN ~ .- ....... ..-_ ....... ".-. __ ........ ._.. ..,.... • • •• • ..... 1* ...... " .. I ... " ..... ; .... iii ..... .. . • '".. • Ii. •• LUCE FURNITURE COMPANY GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Manufacturers of COMPLETE lines of MEDIUM PRICED DINING and CHAMBER FURNITURE. Catalogues to Dealers Only. __ ..- ..-_- .4 Luce-Redmond Chair Co.,Ltd. I BIG RAPIDS, MICH. High Grade Office Chairs Dining Chairs Odd Rockers and Chairs Desk and Dresser Chairs Slipper Rockers Colonial Parl-or Suites In Dark a1ld Tuna Mahogany BIrd' J Eye Maple BIrch • !Zuartered Oak and C,rC4JJlan Wl1lnut Our Exhibit you will find on the fourth floor, East Section, MANUfACTURERS'BUILDING,North Ionia Street GRAND RAPIDS, MICmGAN Exhibit in charge of J. C. HAMILTON, C. E. COHOES, J. EDGAR FOSTER. ~--------------------------~- GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBl?ARY 30th Year-No. 59 GRAND RAPIDS. MICH.• AUGUST 13. 1910 Issued Weekly MANAGEMENT OF THE MACHINE ROOM The Office Is Not the Only Place in a Furniture Factory Where Brains Are Needed. By M. C. Berne. The success of a great many furniture factories is at a very low ebb owmg to the antIquated way of managing the mechamcal departments. There are furniture factories to-day eqUIpped with modern machmery at great expense for the productIOn of hIgh-grade furniture, but whose methods of handling the work and of engmeering it through the various departments are so far out of date that unless improvements are made 1ll thIS respect the factones themselves will, one after another, pass out of existence. Year after year in some of these factories, when stock-taking tJmes comes, instead of a substantial profit, there is either a loss or the profit IS so small as to be quite unsatJs-factory. Where is the trouble? The managers have bought the raw matenal at the lowest price consistent with quality and the salemen have sold the finished goods at little ex-pense The cause cannot be in the office, consequently it must be in the factory end. The cost of converting the raw material into the finished product is too high. Now comes the question of reducing factory expense and the suggestion to cut wages is being considered. Don't do it. Raise the wages. Mr. Manufacturer, I crave your indulgence for a few mom-ents while I address myself particularly to you. Do you suppose that the office is the only place in a factory where brains count? If you do. you are making a mistake. If you have a large plant, and in order to save the few hundred dol-lars which represents the difference in salary between 'the competent and the incompetent man, you think you can place cheap men at the head of your mechanical departments, and then you yourself supply the Ibrains for the whole institution, you are not only out of date, but you will soon be out of business. A manager may exercise a general supervision, but the details of the work to be successfully done must be carried out by men of large brain carpacity. A certain man-ager, in answer to a protest that the head of a certain depart-ment was incompetent. said' "There is no use discussing the matter further; if Jake had my brains, he would be drawing my salary." Right here is the key to the whole situation. If "Jake" had not as large a brain capacity for his particular work as the manager had for his, then he had no business to be in his position; and if he did have, then in order to en-courage him to do hIS best he should be given a sa.lary ade-quate to his brain power. I am reminded of the words of the president of a com-pany, who, addressing the men on the occasion of a presen-tatIOn to himself. saId: "The success which has attended our efforts to place upon the market an artJc1e which would meet the requirements of the trade and profession is due not so much to the firm as to the men III the factory. We 1ll the offIce buy the raw material to best advantage. we may attend to the detaIls of distributing the finished product, but we cannot make organs Each responsible head of the various departments of our factory is an expert and an artist in his 1111ea,nd It IS to them we must gIve much of the credit and praIse that falls to us today." Let me say again, "Don't cut wages." If your factory is not bringing you the returns it should, reduce your factory expense by increaslllg the output. If you have a head of a department who is not a man of bralllS equal with yourself. get rid of him and get some one in his place who is. Pay him a 'Salary equal to hIs bralll power and you will find it the best lllvestment you ever made. I recall a manufacturer whose net profits amounted to $15,000 per year HIS general superintendent drew a salary of $1,800 per year, and when he asked for $2,500 it was re-fused. He left and stal ted in business for himself, thinking that if he could make $15,000 for another he could make a good part of it for himself. And he did. Within three years his former employer's business was in the hands of the bank, and today, instead of $15,000 in profits, he is drawing a paltry $3,000 for the use of his name. The greatest and most successful corporations of today are not dominated by one man. as many seem to think, except in so far as he has been able to select the right man for the right place and to hold him strictly responsible for the pro-per performance of the duties devolving upon his depart-ment A one-man factory is, usually, a one-horse factory. Permit me to repeat it· There is no place in the whole economy of the modern factory where brain power-the ca-pacity for details, inventive genuis, executive ability, know-ledge of human nature; in one word. the 3.lbility to think 4 WEEKLY ARTISAN p-.. •• ---------- • • - • • • - _. •• • • -----------------------~ I "THE BEST IS THE CHEAPEST" : BARTON'S GARNET PAPER Sharp, Very Sharp, Sharper Than Any Other. SUPERIOR TO SAND PAPER. It costs more, BUT It Lasts Longer; Does Faster Work. Order a small lot; make tests; you will then know what you are getting. WE GUARANTEE SATISFACTION. Furniture and Chair Factories. Sash and Door Mills, Railroad Companies, Car BUilders and others wJI consult their own interests by using it. Also Barton's Emery Cloth, Emery Paper, and Flint Paper, furnished in rolls or reams. MANUFACTURED BY H. H. BARTON & SON CO., 109 South Third St., Philadelphia, Pa. II, II ~- . ---" clearly and qUIckly and act promptly-b of more \ alue than at the head of the \ anous mecha11lcal Jepartmenb A suc-cessful manufactul er once said to the \\ ntel, An mtellJgent mecha11lc IS a velY \ aluable man' But It does not ah\ ay" follo\\ th2 t becdlhe the co~t ut convertmg the raw matellal mto the £111l~hed plOduct h e,,- cesslve the fault lJes \\ Ith the heads ot the mechanical de-partments Man} manufacturers hd\ e ta' led ~Impl) becdlbe of their obstl uctn e method" oi mLel tt1mg \\ lth the plan,., ot the heads of the JlfIerent mecha11lcal depal tmenb I could give a score of mstances \\ ho e the wten uptlOn" to the \\ ork resultmg from such mtetference hay e pi 0\ ed the undomg oi the busmess, but It IS not necessal) Ho\\ e\ er, a" an Illus-tration of Its effect and the mannel of pI actlcllH; It \\ e mIght mentIOn the case of a \\ ooel-\\ orkmg e'tablbhment that hael a monopoly of several lIne, of manutacture dnel cuuld lM\ e made barrel, of mJney undel propel lnana~cment nut the concern never pad dIvIdends out ot ItS ear111ng,." and because ItS orders were never filled on tnne, ,;ome of lh be,.,t cn"tomer,., began to manufacture these Ime, f()1 them"eh c~ or place then orders elsewhere As a sample of one day " mtel iel ence 1 \\ 111 gn e the followmg, taken from note,; 111the dldl \ ot a pel,.,on II ho had the informatIOn at £1r"t hand On ::\Ionda}, lmmedlatel) after the early mornmg mati had bee'1 reaJ, the manager II ent to the head of one of the depal tments \\ Ith d letter mqumng about order No 104D, for A B &. Co The toreman e"plamed that hIS men vvere now \\ orkmg on 01Jel ::\0 WI D, \\ hlCh would be completed anJ ready to ship by tomorro\\ (Tud- Jay) The manager ,;ald the) could not II alt and that It would be necessary to change from K 0 WID and rt1,.,h ::\0 I04D as fast as pOSSIble The fOIeman tned to expla111 that he had now changed from Ko 96D 111O1del that Xo WID mIght be rnshed out VI Ithout dela) a" It ah.J II d,., \\ anted qUlckly 'Then chang-e agam from '\0 IOID to Xo 104D,' 'iald the manager \Yhen the aftern.Jon mdl1 aHl\ eel It brought an order from C D & Sons, and marked 'Rush' Thls order was sent to the f01eman, with mc,tructlons to lay ever)thm~ el'ie aside and 1u,;h It through at once The foreman went to the office to explam to the manager the chsastt ous conse-quence of these contmual m ten uptIOn S Followlllg IS the conversatlOn "Manager-The orelel must be l;0t out dt once Foreman-These chan~e,; are co,;tl) Not onl} do thev take time, but they mtenupt the SW1l1i.; of the \lork "Manager-\V ell, lt h me who pay" fOI lt "Foreman-If \\e are g-Olllg to make an) progre'i'i in filltng these orders \\ e must work accord111g to ,;ome sys-tem \\1 e have no" made ,;evel al chang-es and none of the orders are filled, although dll al e started I have told my men that 1\0 lO-iD I" \\anted lUshed, and I dlJ the same on No WID ~ow lf I go and change them agalll, before the ordel 1" complete they wJll thlllk I don't know what I am dOlllg or that I am a bluffer "::\Ianager-::\ OIv, LlOk here, I don't care anythmg about ) oUr system and I don't care what your men thlllk, I want ) ou to change and get thb order out at once 'The followlllg day, lmmedlately after the noon hour, the hreman II a,., called mto the ofhce to explam I'vhy order \0 IOID \Vas not ready 'It ha'i been 111 for some time and 'ihould have been ready before thl';,' said the manager 'A B & Co. hay e telegraphed that unless It can be sent for\\ard at once to conslder it canceled' " In order that a furnIture factory may be succe,.,sful from e\ en standpomt It 1.0 nece'isary for each department to fit 111to the requlfements of the other and all move along to-gether as one \\ hole The machllle loom mmt feed the cabI-net loom and the cdbmet room must feed the filllShlllg room II Ith the regulallty of clockwork To hd\ e the machine rO.Jm place on the cabll1et floor several Job'i, none of whlch al e complete, "'0 that the cab111etmaker" may Stdl t all, but ~annot finbh any of them, IS to create the utmost confuslOn But \\ here the cabmet room sends several mcomplete Jobs to the filll"hmg department the confuslOn lS much greater, as there each Job must pass through vanou'i processes, each process reqUlnng tlme to dry and prepare Itself for the pro-ce,., s \,;hlch IS to follow Each proce,.,s must be noted and dated, and the amount of extra work mvolved where the Jobs g-o through plecemeal l'i 111creased m proportlOn to the nUl11- bel of parts mto which each Job lS dIVided, and is equaled only by the blundenng stupldlty which render'i such \,;ork necessary ~ ow. all thb cau"es lo"s of tllne and consequently loss of money I know there are those who thl11k that lt does not cost an) thlllg to change from one Job to another III the fin- Ish111g room, but the,;e men al e not half a,; obsen mg as the) glve themselves credlt for Xo matter m what 1111eof dCtlVlty It may be, the hghtest 111telruptlOn 1etard" progre,,,, and although the cJn'iequent lo"s "ustamed 111 one day may not be nottceable to the man 111the office, lf r011tl11ued for any length of t1111ethe'll' 1000,;e" 111 the aggregate amount to a conSiderable sum One great drawback m thiS connection l'i II hat we rmght call the "one man one Job" method of puttmg \\ork through the cabinet room This" ay of l1d\ ml; one or two men start and complete a lob fight tblOugh I" not mly co,.,tlv fOl the cabinet, but the effect on the filllshmg lS, m some mstances, almost dlsastrous Take for mstance a small shop employing fifteen to twenty cabmetmakers IN e Will suppose the men are dl\ lded mto pairs and each paIr on a different Job If WEEKLY ARTISAN -------- . - - - - - - -----------_._------------_._------_ ... ---------------------_._. ---- _. - - - - - .~ Pitcairn Varnish Company I Reliable Varnishes of Uniform Quality Our Motto: "NOT HOW CHEAP-BUT HOW GOOD" ...--- I!I 1 C. B. Quigley, Manager Manufacturing Trades Dep't. ~ . . .. . It IS one man to a J)b so much the worse It IS qUIte lIkely several of these Jobs wIll be completed m the cabinet room on the same day and arrive In the finIshing room at the same tnne Ii IS also Just pos,Ible that for several days the foreman finIsheI has been worned to find work enough to hold hIS men together Now would be a good tIme for hIm to make an effort to rush thmgs m order to mill1mize the loss sus-tamed through the mactrv ity of the past few days But he finds that "ome of them are wanted quick, and Instead of beIng able to rush thIngs and thus reduce the cost, he must add to the cost of finIshIng by dIvIdIng the Jobs that he may get some of each through Out of twenty-five sIdeboards and an equal number of tables, dressers, etc , he must rush ahead three or four of each Now, If the cabInet room had put through one Job at a tIme, or even two, WIth some men cleanIng up, others bUIld- Ing cases and others fittIng drawers, each taking hIS part as the Job was suffIciently advanced for hIm, the first of these Job" would have been pI etty well through the finIshing room by the tIme the last arrn ed, and the enforced inactlVity of the finishers vvould have been avoided, together with the consequent loss, '.'.htIe the present confusion and crowded condItion of the finIshIng room would not have occurred It IS Impo"sIble to keep a finIshing room anything lIke well balanced v\ hen the work goes to It In such a fitful way Rut the ad\ antages of thIS modern way of puttIng work thlOugh the cabInet 100m-of havmg It pass Into the finIsh- Ing 100m In an even, steady stream-are fully as great to the former as the latteI \i\ here the w')rk IS LhvIded and subdIvided Into various branches every man becomes an expert in his lIne The man '.'.ho fits dray, ere, can do lt much better and quicker than the man who 10 dOIng everythmg The man who makes mirror frames and nothIng else soon becomes, through accuracy and rapIdIty wIth whlch he does hlS work, the wonder and admir-atIOn of hIS fellow workmen ThIrty years ago an organ actIonmaker could take a board and construct an actIOn nut wlth the march of pro-gress actlOnmakInl; has been diVIded mto several depart-ments, whIch grv es each man an opportunIty to become an explft In hb hne The result of all this is that today a much bettel actIOn can be omIt f01 only a fractton of what It formerly cost These prmcIple" are all applIcable to the cabinet room of the modern hIgh-grade furnIture factory To put one or two men at w;ork on a dozen or twenty fine sideboards which will wholesale at $75 to $100 with the expectation that they WIll be maJe at a cost whIch will enable the manufacturer to sell at a faIr profit m competItJon WIth goods made under 5 Manufacturers of Factories: Milwaukee, Wis.; Newark, N. J. ---------------- -. .. - •••••• -.-....1 modern condItIOns and up-tJ-date methods IS to expect the impossIble ThIS method of doing thmgs IS a survival of the days when our forefathers hewed out for themselves homes 1ll the foree,t; when the pioneer butIt his own house and made hIS own furnIture, and when the good housewIfe spun the yarn and wove the cloth to clothe them It IS the last link in the chain WhICh bmds Us to an honored past and, although to break It may afford many a tWInge, It must be done if competitIOn is to be met, because It has no place in thIS age of great aChIe\ ements The hIgh mtellectual order of the present generatIOn of human bemgs vvill be surpassed by the IntellIgence of the generatIOn whIch IS to follow. The won-derful inventIons and ama71ng achIevements of today will be dwarfed mto m'iIgmficance when compared with the gi-gantIC achH'vemente, of the future, and the only men who WIll not be dIstanced 1ll the race for fame or fortune will be those who utIlIze e,'ery opportumty and grasp every advan-tage, no matter how "mall, that WIll enable them to keep pace WIth those about hI111m thIS rapIdly on'.'. al d movIng world ThIS does not mean dnvmg the workmen to see how much can be ground out of them It means the exerCIse of that God-glVen bram power WhICh every man IS supposed to possess There are many heads of departments who grind thier men from morn to nIght who, 1f they exercised one-half the energy 1ll ImproVIng methods of domg work, or adopt-mg methods now tned and found satIsfactory, that they dIS-play m watchmg and pushmg theIr men would obtain re-sults much more "atIsfactory from the standpoint of both quantIty and quahty MIsery 10\ e" company, but the company isn't apt to call agam po--_. ... _. -- ------~------_._--- ------------ i I I THE WEATHERLY INDIVIDUAL Glue Heater SeoJ your aJJre.. aoJ aoJ receIve Je.cr,ptive Circular of Glue Beaters. Glue Coolier. aoJ Bot Boxes WIth prIces. The Weatherly Co. Grand Rapid •. Mich. . ---_._-------~ that the old chair is not 1D keeping with the new desk, or he needs a new filmg ca~e or a table to gIve his office a more up-to-date look These sales I have found in many cases to be more profitable than the first sale, and even if one does not ~ell a thmg, It demonstrates that one IS mterested in seeing that the customer is entirely satisfied In many instances aftel I reach the offIce, the purchaser is in a quandary as to w here to place his purchase, and I am called upon for sug-gestIOns By giving them in a diplomatic way, I can recom-mend that the desk be placed in a certain place, and he then finels that he has room for a table or an additional chair, fil-mg devIce or something that he needs Such sales are profit-able, as hIs fnends will call and compliment him on his office, \1 hlch IS a fine advertisement. In sellmg furmture I never try to load a customer up. nor do I try to sell a customer a $150 desk where a $75 desk will do 1\ hen a customer comes to me and explains his wants, I put mvself in hi'3 place and try to interest him in furniture that WIll not only be servIceable, but a source of satisfaction. I would not have him feel when he enters his office, that I had talked hIm Into something that CO'3t more than his business could profitably afford Big sales are a source of satisfaction, but a satisfied customer IS of more importance, as it results in future trade, and a personal feeling towards one, which com-mends one to his friends. Not long ago, I walked into the office of a large concern and found that SIX months before they had placed their wants Illth a firm II hlch had loaJed them up with $720 worth of filing ,Ie, Ices. and a ~,~tem from which they were not gettmg the '3en Ice the} expected and they were "ready to throw everybody out that came 111 talking system" After some persuasion, he consented to listen to me, and I sat down and went over his C'ntlre svstem I simplified It down for him to such an extent that his ,,,ant'3 only demanded a little over $200 warth of file;:; and supplIe~ I then offered to help him dispose of the '3urplus stock for a ~light commission, which offer he accepted and he in turn proposed that I take all the other goods and pnt mine in their place Thi;:; I consented to do, and in a short tlme I had his file'3 disposed of and he is now using ours A month or so after" ards a gentleman came into the store, \\alked back to my desk and sat down He gave me his card and said that he was in the market for an entire office outfit. Ive went up ~tall s to our show room, and after I had shown him my entire stock, he gave me an order for over $1,000 II orth of furniture I wa'3 amazed to realize how easily the order came to me, and my curiosity was aroused I had hardly returned to my desk when the telephone bell rang. and my fnend '" horn I had helped out' with the filing devices said: "\fr Blank is down in my office and has just told he that he ha~ placed ",ith you his entire office outfit order, and I just ,'Vant to say that 1 sent him to you as an appreciation of the '3ervice yoU rendered me a '3hort time ago" Both these orders heli e since been added to conSIderably, besides the advertise-ment I got through the publIc seeing this offIce ",hich I fitted up Thm the servIce I rendered was the mean;:; of pulling for me not onlv two good friends, but profitable sales and customers '\ at long ago 1 landed another sale of filing devices that ran 0\ er $3,500 This '3ale was made without any competition ""hen I obtained the information of this contemplated pur-chase, I went to the secretary of the company and offered him BUYING AND SELLING OFFICE FURNITURE Pointers Wrought From Experience in Managing a Furniture Department That May Be of Value to Many Dealers. George B Wray, the author of the followmg article, is the manager of the offIce furmture department of VVIllIam B Burfold of IndianapolIs No dealer in the Hoosier state is better known than Burford, and MI Vi,!ray, as one of hIS chiet assistants, is a man fully qualIfied to speak on the sub-ject of the selection and sale of offIce furmture, sav~ the editor of "Office Appliances," ChIcago, from which It is r:,- printed: Office furniture of a modern type has become such a necessity during the past five years that no business concern can now afford to be WIthout it, and dealers in the several lines must recognize the condItions existing today to success-fully compete in this important branch of business In selecting office furniture, '3uch as filing devices, desks and chairs, four points should be considered by the dealer, first, the quality of the line, second. its publicity; third It;:; completeness, and fourth, the co-operation of the manufac-turer When I selected my desk lines, I had one aim, namely, to obtain the agency for a good high grade line, and alsJ a good medium line I dIvided the desk manufacturers into two classes, as a concern which makes high grade goods doe'3 not care to put its time m making medmm price desks, and likewise, the medium pnce manufacturer has not the facllItle'3 to turn out high grade goods Now m selecting a lIne, I always take a trip to the factory, and see and study for myself how the goods are made The first thing I hunt i'3 the glue pot to see if the glue they are using is made m a brass kettle and fresh every day I figure that the grade of glue used IS very important in the construction of a desk and its abllih to stay together after it reaches the customer Some concerns are inclined to Use the old glue after it becomes cold This is a mistake, as it does not have the proper strength after it once becomes cold, and the agent IS the one i\ ho suffers if the desk comes apart or the veneer cracks after It reaches the customer The next thing I see is the dry kilns to find in what manner the wood is dried After that, I go through the different departments to learn to what extent good II orkman-ship and fidelity to details is used Il1 turning out the goods Having followed these rules, I take the agenc} for a line of goods, and I am ready to stand by the lme so long as it proves satisfactory, and I guarantee and stand back of every piece of furnitrue I sell Of cour'3e to .:10 this, you must know your lines I figure that a satisfied customer will tell his friends. and they in turn will come to you for their furniture. The trade I am after is the future. for this is where we get our success and profits. Now in selling and displaying furniture, a great deal depends on the show room and the way the goods are di'3- played, for many times a good display sells the furniture Constant changing of di'3plays, I find is a great advantage, not only in the show room, but Il1 the windows also. One thing must be done and that IS, the elimmation of dust, not only on the outside of the furniture, but also in the drawers pigeon holes and openings 1\1so the brass feet, handles and label holder~ should always be shl11ing This IS especiallv important WIth mahogany and weathered oak In delivering furniture to a customer, I 'TIake it a point to carefully inspect every pIece that leave'3 our store, and see that it is properly placed on the wagon for safe delivery I have found that it pays to follow up a delivery, a'3 the pur-chaser, after he gets the de'3k in hl'3 office frequently discovers WEEKLY ARTISAN 7 These Specialties are used all Over the World ., f V.neer Pre ..... dIfferent kind. and .ize. (Pale.led) Veneer Presses Glup Spreaders Glue Heaters Trucks, Etc" Etc. Hand Feed Glueinc Machin. (P.1eIl1 pendm•. ) Many .tyle. and .ize •• Wood·Working Machinery and Supplies Power Feed Glue SlIreadine Machine, Sincle, Double and Combiaation. (Palented) (Size. 12 in. to 84 in wide.) LET US KNOW YOUR WANTS N. 20 Glu. Heater CHAS. E. FRANCIS COMPANY, Main Office and Works, Rushville, Ind. No.6 Glu. H•• t.r. my services. I found that he was a very busy man, so I set to work and laid out hIS entire outfit, J1lustrateJ and mapped out In such a way that all he had to do was to lay my illustration before the board of dire.ctors They were clear, prices opposite each outfit and they could see what It would cost to install each department wIth files The rcsult was, I obtamed the entire order through the serVIce I gave to the secretary Good servIce is one of the most important thmgs in sell-ing furniture The clerk or mana~er should be well versed not only in hIS own line, but also his competItors Also the sales-room shouLl not be crowded The furmture should be well dIsplayed S0 that the customer can see It from all angles and not have to look over other goods to get a proper vIew of the artIcle m questIOn In displaymg chaIrs, I have them arranged all over my show-room, not bunched together, but so placed that the customer wJ11 aCCIdentally drop into one, and If the chair feels comfortable, hIS mterest is aroused, and m many cases I close a sale right on the spot I think it is also a good Idea to have model ofhces fitted up. showmg an entire outfit ready for delivery WIth a neat display card stating the price of the entIre outfit There are many buyers who come m with the mtentlOn of fitting up an office, but with no Idea of what they ~ant only that they do not deSIre to spen,i over a cer-tam amount You can show a customer your model offIce and he sees lust what he wants Now perhaps thIS amounts to more than he desires to pay, so you suggest to take out a certain piece and then he sees that the office looks bare WIth-out it, and he wants it returned, and gives you the order for the entIre display DIsplays hke thIS not only save your time, but also that of your customer It shows him that you are up-to-date and makes purchasing easy, for what IS so con-fusing as to take a customer into a show-room where there are - 25 to 50 desks, t~ice as many chairs, and a dozen or more tables and 50 feet of filing devices, and expect him to purchase an offIce outfit? It IS not only hard for him, but gIves him the opportunity for an argument as to why this piece is more and that piece less One thmg I always try to keep clear of is an argument with a customer, I use all my energy in shm,- ing the workmanship and the points about the furniture, and thus get him so enthUSIastic over It that price is a mmor consideration In arrangmg filing devices I use two schemes On one floor of our showroom I have n ery pIece of sectIOnal sections made, arranged together, namely, the vertIcal upnghts on the same idea, and the small cabinets on top and around them so that the customer can see every sectIOn or cabinet. On an-other floor I have a large table with easy chairs around it, and m front of thIS table I have arranged ten system stacks of sys-tem'l that are the most popular in use If a customer comes m and desJres to see a stack of filing devices that will be SUItable for takmg care of his mail order and follow-up sys-tem, I show hIm my stack covenng thIS system with the guides and everything pertaining to it arranged in the differ-ent drawers, the label holders having printed labels show-mg the subjects This idea appeals to the customer, as he 'lees hIS scheme worked out Sometimes some changes are made, but the appearance and the system stands before him, the sale is qUlckly secured Instead of the buying being a bore and a strain on both the customer and one's self, it is a pleas-ure The customer's time is not wasted while you build up and tear down a stack to suit his ideas, hand cards to show him the system and many other things, and consequently he has tIme to look around and see your other lines This also demonstrates to hIm that you and your store have the facilities for giving the nght kmd of service with every sale T have found that a great many houses which sell filing deVIces neglect the most Important part of the sale from the money POint of view, that is, supplies that go WIth a cabinet or section They exert all theIr efforts to sell the furniture and let theJr competItors sell the supplies "hich is the cream of the sales m fihng deVIces As an IllustratIOn take a four dra" er vertical cabmet The supphes for this cabinet will coml st of one set No 1fiO alpha1betical press-board guides, one set No 160 alphabetical folders, 500 blank folders, one-half cut, also, when his file becomes full, he wJ11 need transfer cases, another set of alphabetical folders, and 500 one-half cut folders The proportionate discount to the dealer is greater upon these supplies than upon the cabinet Besides all thIS, it brings the customer into the store, keeps him away from the competitor, who in time might replace your cabinet with his own and spOIl your chances for other sales Thus it IS important that one should not only have a bright attractIve store with well displayed stock, but salesmen, who, when they sell an artIcle can '(ell everything that be-longs to the system Also, salesmen should study not only then stock, but be famlhar WIth the quality and prices of the stock of competitors. In being tl ue to the interests of the customer, one is true to one's employer and to one's self other "Wants man finds a source of JOy and a spIrit of dehght m playmg the game of busmes'i for the game's sake Men who do thmgs often find that they ha\ e progressed m theIr cho"en vocatIOn untIl by Jegrees It has become theIr avocatIon as \\ ell, and therel11 he'i the true germ of lastmg progress '\ 0 co-operatn e plan whIch Ignores or operates to suppress the mdlvlduahty of It" aJherent UllltS or fads to prOVIde the widest pO'islble scope for theIr exercIse and development need occasion surpn;;,e If the result aImed at end~ m dlSappOl11tment Befm e undertakmg any ambItIOus schemes let ItS sup-porters be sure that they understand each other and each other's respective quahficatlOns for the task m ml11d, as well as the temperamental equations whIch must come into play and wdl leave theIr Impre,,'i on the progress of their work It l'i not wI~e to overnde honest prejudIce nor even unfounded fear m the adoptIOn of plans whIch must for theIr successful \\ orkmg depend upon the good will and co-operatIOn of all concerned The workmg out of many problems will m their last analysb be found not matters for paper elUCIdation, but for research, expenment and thoughtful stUdy m the presence of actual condItions OrgalllzatlOn'i are not so much in danger from without :lS from \\ Ithm-from domg too httle as from attemptmg to do too much-nor from eIther so much a;;, from dIstrust of one another''i motrves. I ha\ e been lllfluenced to make the foregOIng ob'iervatl Jns at the n'ik of becommg tlfesome and bemg charged with preachmg generahtles, because I feel convmced that the prin- CIple.., m, oh ed and the lessons whIch they teach are funda-mental and must be kept constantly m mmd as the gUldmg stan of ) our orgalllzatlOn In every 'itruggle for survi, al or for supremacy those UllltS of actIOn whIch are best eqUIpped sClentIficall) and most capable of concerted actIOn-other thl11gs being equal-wIll always prevaIl Osten'ilbl), all aS'iociatlOns are formed and fostered "WIth ..,ome defilllte obJect" In vIew Trade a"soclatlOns for better trade condltlOn'i, pohtlcal associatIOns for better government. and so on RetaIl furlllture dealers' assocIatIOns may be a pO\\ er for good, but, hke all other force'i for good, they must be mtelhgentl) dIrected or they wIll not reahze the more sub-stantIal benefits whIch the law of co-operatIOn affords The "oclal SIde of the"e assocIatIOns makes fnends of competitors anJ leads to a better under~tandlng and hIgher appreciatIOn of the other fellow'~ motives, better acquaintance means FURNITURE MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS From. an Address Delivered by O. H. L. Wernicke to the North Carolina Retail Furn-iture Dealers' Association, August 10, 1910. THE GEO. B. LUPFER CO., 262-94 North Hanover St., Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Lupfer having sold his interests in the firm in which he was a full partner for sixteen years, during which time he had full charge of the manufacture of Fine bedding, wishes to announce to the Furniture Trade that he has organized the Geo. B. Lupfer Company. Purchased an up-to-date Factory building, installed the best and most modern machinery for manufacturing a superior line of Mattresses, Box Springs, Woven and Coil Wire Springs, Feathers and Pillows. Guaranteed in quality and price. You are invited to call and examine the merits of our lines. With our New Equipment, long experience and square dealing, we solicit a portion of your business, which will have our immediate and best attention. Samples shown only with F. T. Plimpton & Co., 1319 Michigan Ave., Chicago, III. (4th floor), and at the factory The pnnclples of co-operatIOn by whIch an added force may be gIven to human purpose'i 111 every department of so-cIety. are so well and generally understood In our hme and theIr advantages so defillltely proven and WIdely apprecIated that extended argument m support of the general propo"ltlOn seems to me hardly nece'isary before thl'i bod) of merchant" I shall, however, try to bnng out the particular phases of co-operatIOn bearing on the condItIOns and the posslblhtles of the furlllture industry It WIll not be senously dIsputed that capItal for enter-prises which are wholly depenJent upon mdlvldual effort tor permanent succes" IS becoming scarcer and scarcer every year, and other eVIdence accumulates rapIdly to emphaSIze the old adage that "In unIOn there IS strength" SocIety IS growing m knowledge and wealth at an amazing pace. old forms of do-ing things prove madequate to the new wants that are bemg contmually created, modern mdustnal conditlOn" are con'-tant-ly becommg more complex and the tendency to ne\\ demand~ m thmgs IS mcreasmg the burden of supplymg them Shght reflection wIll show that a higher degree of skIll and ablhty IS required to meet these new condItions, and the neces~lt) oJ: organized effort, consIstent WIth the time In whIch \\ e In e, IS becoming more apparent to all who are mtere"ted m the welfare of large enterprise'i, but whIle these e, olutlOnar) pro-cesses are makmg themselves everywhere felt, the depth of theIr meanmg I" not always understood or apprecIated b) those who are affected thereby There IS abundant eVI\lence on e, er) hand that co-opera-tion IS the pnnClple through whIch present day busme"s I, seeking rehef from the mcrea"mg complexltle" \\ hlch beset our industrie", the Idea, however, IS represented b) tv\O db-tinct economIC schools, agreeing as to the potency of co-op-eratIOn but dlffenng almost oppOSItely as to the pollC) \\ hlch should govern these forces One IS monopohstlc and al bl-trary, the other SCIentific and constructive, and we are mdeeed blind If we have not already seen that the former contam~ the "eeds of economic sophistry and IS ndmg for a fall to\\ al J~ the rocks of pubhc opmlOn I do not WIsh to convey the Idea that success IS Improb-able, or even doubtful, unless co-operatIOn IS It" gUldmg pnn-clple and ruhng force On the contrary, the spmt of mdn d-ual illltlatlve and of achIevement gIves ample proof that "uch is not the case Above and supenor to the Idea of makmg money to prOVIde hIm WIth hIs nece""ltles and to ;;,upply 11ls . ._ .. ANNOUNCEMENT. :... , .. WEEKLY ARTISAN 9 p- ----------------------- ..__._......._-_._----_._._._---...---_. _. _.------------- WE MAKE REFRIGERATORS IN ALL SIZES AND STYLES Zinc Lined. Porcelain Lined. White Enamel Lined. Opal-Glass Lined. You can increase your Refrigerator Sales by putting III a line of the "Alaskas." Write for our handsome catalogue and price lists. THE ALASKA REFRIGERATOR COMPANY, ExCI:~:8u~~:~~M:U~:S~KoErGON, MICH, New York Office, 369 Broadway, L. E. Moon, Manager . - t... .. greater respect and establishes that broader and more chari-table bas1s for mutual confidence and esteem without which the highest 1deals and the most advanced methods in business would remain but names. These steppmg stones on the road of progress must not be mistaken for the final goal. They are but the fragrant and showy blossoms which precede the ripened fruit. There are two elements, either one of which will blight the efforts of any association The name of one is Distrust; the other, In-difference; and of the two the latter is the worse. There are three kinds of co-operation: the kind that helps nobody, the kind that helps somebody at the expense of some-body else and the kind that helps everybody. The first is a waste of hme, resulting in misspent energy and neglect of op-portumties for gooJ; the second works on the principle of helping yourself at the expense of another; the third is the worst of all forms because it means monopoly, and the idea of monopoly is the same as robbery. There is no difference between enforced consent to robbery and robbery by force; in pnneiple they are alike and a people who refused by the blood of their sires to be taxed without representation will not permanently endure robbery m any form whatsoever. The only form of co-operatlOn that is worth whl1e is the third; it benefits everybody and hurts nobody. The progress of the world in every department of life may be traced to helpful co-operation. All other efforts of that nature have resulted in failure because they engendered op-position which grew stronger and stronger unhI its force was great enough not only to res1st but to destroy its enemy---- and so w1ll it ever be. The furmture men all over th1s great country of ours have orgamzed or are organizmg for mutual benefit. This movement has found expression among manufacturers as well as among merchants. Look wherever you will and organized co-operation confronts us, whether among the machine hands, the cabinetmakers, the carvers, the finishers, the tnmmers, the shipping clerks, the salesmen or the big bosses. So, also, with the merchants and the various subdivisions of their in-stitutions. There is nothing very new or even alarming in this state of affairs. It simply means that the world is still progressing and that better and higher standards are de-manded by those whom we attempt to serve for personal gain. The one great common error wh1ch business men commit is that they take mankind too seriously. It is inconsistent w1th human nature to be senous. Man is a frivolous creature by instinct. I mean by th1s that what we call civilization and progress is nothmg more or less than sentiment----a desire to shllle and to satlsfy the wants created by your own desires. It is, therefore, good business to stimulate the wholesome desires of others in order to create new and greater wants to be supplied by ourselves. I doubt if more than one-tenth of the money expended by a people goes for their actual needs. The rest of it goes for wants. There is a vast difference be-tween human needs and human wants. All that anyone re-ally needs is food and shelter sufficient to sustain life and health, and these are abundantly supplied by Mother Nature. Beyond these simple needs, which every living creature enjoys, oUr activities have to do with our wants, and this rep-resents business or commerce. Furniture is a human want----not a neC'essity-and it fol-lows logically that every effort which results in a greater de-sire for furniture will benefit those who a1e engaged in that business. It follows, also, that all of us, whether we make or sell furniture, should co-operate to enlarge the desire for more and better furniture. It is the one and only sane solution for all of the socalled evils of the trade. The only way to bring this about is by organized efforts to create more inter-est in furniture. There is no such thing as over-production in our industry; but we are suffering from under-education. A nation that spends seven times as much to support its government as it does for furmture needs furniture education and not curtailment of production. A nation that supports one saloon for every five or six hundred inhabitants and has but one furniture store for every five thousand needs furniture education. A nation that spends more for tobacco, for coffee, for car fare and for an endless variety of other human wants and luxuries than it does for furmture can be educated to want more and better furniture. The annual sale of furniture in the United States is only about $1 SO for each person. Think of it! Why, it would not pay car fare for a month 1 I want you to take this simple truth home with you and think it over until you fully realize what it means; and I want yoU to con-sider whether you are doing what is for the betterment of the business or whether you are simply drifting aimlessly on. I want you to ask yourself whether your Association is doing anything to create a desire for more and better furniture or whether it is merely an Association which is trying to make business better by a vain effort to choke off competition. One trouble with the business is that few people know enough about furniture to interest anybody, and the public seldom buys the thing in which its interest has been aroused and cultivated. We need more foolishness over furniture, more furniture talk-call it whatever you please; but. remember, we need it just the same. Start any fad or fashion, give it interesting publicity, endow it with sentiments that appeal to people's (Continued on page 12.) 10 ------,-------------------,- -, Carpet Trade in Julv. Trade for the month of July in the carpet and rug trade have turned out better than was generally hoped for, accord-ing to reports from several selling agents 111 the east. July is usually a very dull month for manufacturers and sellIng a-gents, as retatlers are busy with their summer trade, and Jobbers are more interested in making deliverIes on orders already booked In several quarters sales are reported as shlShtly ahead of those for the corresponding month last yeal \V lth the opening of the new month there are signs of some nTIprovement in the demand. Quite a few buyers have come into the market. and while they are not placing orders freely, they are looking over the situtation and picking up any cheap, salable lots that can <behad. Stocks 111 retail hands are said to be in good shape, and the large pur-chases which were made at the auction sale in May, have been comfortably taken care of. The retail trade throughout the west and middle west has been good. and many of the reports coming through from as far as the PaCific coast. show that there has been a fair amount of retail bus1l1ess during the past month. Rugs have been lSood, especlally in the oriental designs in domestic goods. \lany of the American consumers are taking these goods in place of Oriental rugs. as they claim that they are cleaner, and theJr wearing qualities excellent. Although there has been a good demand for rugs, piece goods have also come in for a very fair share of the trade, and well known lines such as the Hartford. have secured better orders than those booked a year ago. Reports still vary. according to the quarter from whence they come Some selling agents object to the statements that husmess has been fair, and claim that the past month has been unusually dull ¥,'here prices have been reasonable, and the patterns attractive, buyers have shown interest. Outside of the usual summer close down at the mills, there have been few complaints reaching the eastern markets of manufacturers placmg their plants on short time Quite a few improvements have been going on in the mills this summer, and everything has been put 111 readiness for a good fall and winter business. Some acldltions have been made to certain plants, and taken as a whole it does not appear as if the carpet trade had been passing through a very poor season. Late advices from Canada state that road salesmen are out wlth new lines for the spring season of 1911. Canadian mills have been giving considerable attention to rugs in Oriental patterns. and extensive ranges are now being shown for the new season Greens occupy a very prominent position in the new Canadian lines. mostly in dark rich effects, with designs of a lighter shade. Medallion centres have about passed out, and are being replaced by square-borderea de-s. igns, with the centre entirely plain. Mulberry shades are making their appearance, and promise to become a feature in the spring trade ... FOX SAW DADO WEEKLY ARTISAN HEADS GREATEST RANGE QUICKEST ADJUSTMENT LEAST TROU&LE PERFECT SAFETY Also Machine KnlvsJ. Miter Machlnss. Etc. 185 N. Front Strset. Grand Rapid •• Mlch .. - _. ...~ SMOOTHEST GROOVES FASTEST CUT LEAST POWER LONGEST LIFE ROLLS ------------ ------1 For Bed Caps, Case Goods, Table Legs and many other purposes; in Gum, Mahogany and Quartered Oak Veneers. Th8 F811wock Auto & Mfl!. CO. EVANSVILLE, INDIANA ----- -..... -_._----------_. These saws are made from No. 1 Steel and we war-rant every blade. We also carry a full stock of Bev-eled Back Scroll Saws. any length and Kauge. Write .. f.r Prie. LIII& ...d .....,0_& 31-33 S. Front St., ORANDRAPIDS, MIClI. BOYNTON &, CO. Manufatlur«Iof Embo ... d and Turned Mou\cl· in ... , Embol" ad and Spindle Carvinlrl. & n d Automatic Turoln ••. We aJ.o manu-fa~ UIe a lerae be 01 Embo .... d Ornaments for Coucb Work. 1725-1739 Dickson Street, CHICAGO, ILL. Ws'll iladly tell you all about It. PERMANENT ECONOMY FOX MACHINE. CO. .. SEND FOR •• --1 Bones and Rocks. Everybody has heard about "bones of contention," and "rocks" of offense, but it was reserved for the Carrier Lumber and Manufacturing company of Sardis Miss., to explain it be-ter than anyone else In a letter to C. W. Manning, 66 Broad street, NY., which appears in the advertisement of the Grand Rapids Veneer Works on another page of this week's issue of the Weekly Artisan. it is so clearly explained that anybody can understand it. Look it up. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between oppor-tunity and temptation. WBEKLY ARTISAN UTradeWeeku in St. Louis. The St. Louis Furniture Board of Trade is an organi-zation of the furniture manufacturers of that city, and it embraces all of them, with one or two exceptions. who are banded together for the benefit of the furlllture trade in general and for the betterment of this ml1rket in pqrti~ulqr Several years ago the custom was established of holding a "trade week" tWice a year during the market season. and in choosing the date for these meetmgs the convemence and best mterests of the retail dealer has been the object :"ought With this in view the board has set the date for the ~um-mer meeting for the week beginl1lng August 15 The Board has advertised "trade week" liberally and several thousands of invitatlOns have been mailed to dealers throughout the tern tory tributary to St. Louis. A'San extra inducement for buyers the Board proposes to pay part of the expenses of the trip. Buyers traveling less than a hundred miles, who visit St. Louis and buy $150 worth of furniture from members of the board during "trade week" will receive full return railroad fare. Those who have to travel more than 100 and less than 200 miles, must buy $300 worth in order to obtain return fare and the amount to be purchased increases until it reaches $1,000 for those who live more than 500 miles from 5t Louis. All railroads belonging to the Southwestern Passenger association and the Western Passenger association have in effect, during August, a "summer tourists' rate," to St. Louis and return. on a basis of 2c per mile each way, (this rate does not apply to any tern tory in Missouri or the northern half of Arkansas). Buyers are expected to purchase round-trip tickets. When they arrive in 5t. Louis they are to call at the office of the 5t. Louis Furniture Board of Trade, 810 Olive street, and register with H. 5 Tuttle, the manager. When purchases are completed they are to furnish the manager with a memor-andum of the amount purchased from the members of the St Louis Furniture Board of Trade. The manager will then return one-half of the amount of the round-trip ticket. "Trade week" will also be the week of the "Made in St. Louis" show at the Coliseum. While the title of this exhi-bition sounds like a local affair. everyone who attends it is assured, "be he from New York City or Beaumont, Texas. that they will be delighted with what they see, and will pronounce it a great show-just as more than 100,000 people did last year." Elected President. Benjamin Bosse, who was recently elected president of the Business Men's Association of Evansville, Ind. in one of the "live wires" of that hustling city Mr. Bosse is an offi-cial of several prosperous furniture manufacturing corpor-ations and will make an efficient head of the business men's association. During his incumbency of the office of president there will be "something doing" in the association every minute. His first work will be devoted to largely increa'ling the membership. Machinery Installed. The addition to the plant of the John Widdicomb com-pany has been provided with machinery, increasing the ca-pacity of the factory twenty-five per cent. The addition con-tains five floors 80 x 100 feet in size, and an "L" is 24 x 60. The total floor space of the Fifth street factory of the com-pany is about 200.000 square feet. The capacity of the Kent factory is fully as large. Six hundred tnen are employed. ,.-. - ..,. Dodds' Tilting Saw Table No.8 We lake p1elllure lDlDlroduClDg10 you our new Saw Table The base IS Ilm,lar 10 whal we have been uung on our No 4 Saw Table. only we have made ,I larger on Ihe 800r The ralsma: and lowenDI deVice 1$ the same at we have on the No 4 Machine. WIth lever and pllman The lever 's made of sleel The .rbor IS made of I %-lDch steel. runmng In long nng m1ma bon •• and IS for I-inch hole lDsaw. We furnISh one 14-lach saw on each maclune It wul carry a 16-mch .aw If demed Table 1$ made Wlth a center .ltde 12 mche. w,de Wllh a movement of 21 mches It hal a lockmg deYlce to hold ,t when you do not wISh to use ,t. and hal a detachable mitre llUage to be used when usmg the Ihdma-table. Can crOls cut With table extended 10 24 mches. also np up to 24 mchel w,de Table has a removable Ihroallhat can be taken out when uSlna dado It .Iso has two mItre guages for reguJar worle and a two J.1dednp guase that can be used on. nlher SIde of lhe saw. more espeCJalIywhen the table 'I blted, also a biting np aauge to be used to cut bevel work when you do not WIShto bit the table The top IS 40x44 mche. Countershalt hili T & L pulleys 10xl4mches, and the dnve pulley 16x5 mches. counter- .haft .hould run 800 Makmg ,n all about as complete a machme as can be found and at a leasonable pnce Wnte us and we wul be pleased to quote you pnc.. Addr .... ALEXANDER DODDS, CO., ~)-)83 Canal St., Gr ....d RapId., Mich. _____ o~ ~----.---.-_---. _._0· ._._.__ • __ • ~ ,I I Palmer's Patent Gluinlr Clamps The aboYecn* .. _ken dJnet from a photosraph. ADd ....... the ra.D6e 01 on. .b. onl7. our No.1. U-Inch Clamp. Wo make .Ix other ...... *akinlr In atock up to 60 Inch.. will. ADd = lncJIao thick. Oara.. the mod practical method 01 ......plnc clued Hoek III aM at tho preaeDt tJme. H_llnda 01 ladorlu hayOadopted our waT the put .,_ and hunllnda mo... wID la Ulo tature. Let 1U allow 7Oa. Le* a. .eDd Ton the _ea 01 n_IT 100 I.. rlM (oDITa Iraetton ot our Hit) who aye ordered and reordered mllDTttmea. Prool poaltlye our .. aT .. tho bu*. A poa* card wID brine 1*.CIOtaloeIncladed. Don't lIel,., but wrI*o uda:r. A. E. PALMER &, SONS, Owosso, MICH. .. 11 ..... • 0 ~ • ------ ---- -----,-~~--------------- Rockford Chair and Furniture Co. 12 WEEKLY ARTISAN Furniture Manufacturers and Dealers. (Contmued from page 9.) wants and forthwith it IS a seller 1 This sort of educatIOn knocks over-production into a cocked hat There IS never any trouble over prices or profits when the demand equals or exceeds production, and if we can make people want to spend two dollars for furniture where they were spending but one dollar before there would be no "Jobs" at half pnce, no complaint about mail order competItion and no threats to boy-cott the manufacturers The average furlllture man remmds me of the hoot-owl going to a funeral; in fact, many of them combme the funeral busmess with furnIture and wonder why It IS that the thnfty young bride endowed with thoughts of Me and gaiety does not come into his store and SIt around among the coffms and other mortuary emblems while selecting some furnIture for her nest. How many of us in the business really know some inter-esting things to say about furnlture-someth111g that would make some other person want to spend hIS money for It? Mighty few! The reason for this IS that furniture manufac-turers have been narrow minded regarding publicity and blind to their own interests They have not taken the publIc Into their confidence by telling them the many interesting thlllgS that may be said about furnIture The talented desIgner and the skilled producer have hugged their own knowledge of 111- teresting furniture lore so closely to their bosoms that they have nearly squeezed the life out of it. They shut themselves up like a jack-knife for fear that some one may steal an idea from them Ideas, like grains of wheat, only grow and multi-ply when they are scattered broadcast in the soil. A disagree-able truth is sometimes a better business asset than the most pleasant fiction, but the truth need not be dIsagreeable It is usually quite pleasant to take when one gets the habIt It is largely a matter of acquired taste and should be CUltI-vated with dIligence * * * * There is not a single commodIty in the realm of human wants about which more interesting things can be saId or written than about furnIture It IS with us 111JOy or sorrow, al-most every hour of the day from the cradle to the grave The making of furniture is an ancient craft, trace of which is lost only where history begins In all stages in all coun-tries the degree of civilization achieved may be read in the SI-lent records of its furniture and its architecture. The furni-ture craftsman of each generation has been confronted with ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS Dining Room Furniture BUFFETS, CHINA CLOSETS and TABLES Library Furniture-Library Desks, Library Tables, Library Bookcases, Combination Book. cases, Etc. Our entire line Will be on exhibition in July on the third floor of the Blodgett Building, Grand Rapids, Mich. problems of \'; hlch hI" pI edecessOf never dreamed There is, probably, no phase of the furnIture bu"mess in which our sev-eral mterests can not be advanced by taking advantage of the opportulllty whIch thIS co-operative movement affords, and until the good that can be derIved from the forces and the knowledge we already have IS realind It would seem to be a doubtful expedIent to go farther The furniture mdustry in thIS country has developed out of ~impler surroundmgs than v,e no\\ enJoy, and m the natUle of things the men who are Identified WIth It dId not need to have a very hIgh degree ;)f scientific kno\\ledge a~ a basis fOJ thclr techlllcal trainlllg, and It IS but natural that \'; e should find ourselv es confronted with <;ome problems \\ lllch demand hIgher qualIficatlOns for their solutIOn k '" -1< The maklllg and selllllg of good fur11ltUl e are complicated processes, combllllllg skill, SCIence, art and commercial wis-dom. All these reqUlrements al e Iarely met WIth III one estab-lIshment and almost ne\ er in one per:oon Each respective UUlt of a co-operative body may have 111 ItS ov\ n way built up a busIlles<; more or less successful III character, and there may be wIth III each concern a degree of ,,1011, talent and order up to the average found III SImIlar lmes elsewhere when meas-ured by eXIstlllg standards of effICIency It may, therefore, be taken for granted that no lef1ectIon IS meant and that no credIt or honor is taken away from any person or concern If we now set about to examme the standards them ~elves to see If they are suffIcient for our present need:o, as well as for those more complex problems which will soon be prcssmg for solu-tion It is my purpose to bring forCIbly to your mmds the fact that whel e progress in the art IS pOSSIble It w11l sooner or later be made by some one, and that there al e always import-ant advantages to be gamed by getting there first. There 13 one thought \'; hlch appeals to me WIth Impressive force and seems to find confirmatIOn 111 expellence Smce the development, productIOn and use of good hunltUle appeal to the sentImental and aribtlc consideratlOn of people \'; Ith about the same force as they do their practical notIOns, It follows that extreme economies in its productIOn, ~ale and distnbu-tion, whIle deserving of careful thought and attentIOn, are not of such Importancc as to 0\ ershadow all others, and herein hes the need of educatIOnal work, whIch takes ac-count of the wants, thoughts and sympathies of the people of our time and \'; 111be expressed m the quahty, character and deSIgns of our furniture WhIle It may be true that WEEKLY ARTISAN Henry Sohmit 8' Co. HOPKINS AND HARRIET STS. Cincinnati, Ohio makers of Upholstered Furniture for LODGE and PULPIT. PARLOR. LIBRARY. HOTEL and CLUB ROOM '"---~----------_. -- -_._-------~ httle can be added to fUll1lture designs as received from eatlier penods. it IS also true that each epoch in the history of every progl eSSlVenation has left ib distlllct impress upon furniture, and we have the same opportunity to express the dommant fOlces of our time In our furniture and thereby discharge our debts to the past by legacies to posterity Thi" need not take the form of deSigns alone. but may find expl e"S1On in many other ways, such as quality, practical ideas and a greater harmony in all these. I should hke to see every member of your organization provided with the cUJrent furniture literature of today, to-gether with the best text books pertaining to the various branches of furniture. science and art I believe it is quite possible for your organization to make itself felt in a center of thought which shall guide and direct, if it does not origi-nate, the dommant note in all that will be said or written about good furniture Thel e is to me somethlllg inconSistent III the semi-an-nual revolutIOn" of styles and designs as against the further refinement of the good, strong and popular deSign') and the artful improvement of their details and conveniences. The practice which prey ails seems to me to cheapen the designer's art and prostitute the glonous opportunities which our time and circumstances have placed upon his altar A creation 111furniture in which there bl eathes the soul of genius and which radiates the sklll and talents of the craftsman, even although its lllles be plain and Its cost a modest amount, can no mal e be successfully copied that the creation upon can-vas of a Raphael \Ve have an opportul11ty to set up stan-dard,., of our own and to educate the buy ing publlc up to them, III other words, to choose our own vantage ground where the public wlll be With us and Will accept our views If we only set about It in the right vvay and with the right spmt Your interests and mine; the lllterests of every furniture retaller and of every manufacturer are absolutely identical We are all in the same boat; whatever hurts or helps the re-tailer also affects the manufacturer. and vice versa. There are really but two Sides of the problem The producer and the seller on one hand and the consumer on the other hand It IS plalll to all that in the end you retailers will only sell as much furniture as the consumer can be induced to buy; and If the manufacturer produces more than that or you lay in any more than that one or both will be stuck for it. You can not make consumers want more furniture by keeping them in ignorance regardlllg the most interestlllg facts about it; and one of the most 111tensely interesting facts about furni-ture from a consumer's pomt of view is that it was made by a house that knov. show. Many retailers prefer to believe that their word goes farther With a consumer than anything the manufacturer can say. Sometimes that is true but the smartest dealer does not know as much about a piece of furniture as the man who made It He may have the confidence of his neighbors ~- _._-_ , ~ A. L. HOLCOMB &. CO. Manufacturers of HIGH GRADE OROOVINO SA WS DADO SAWS I - . CItizens' Phone 1239 21 N. Market St •• Grand R.aplds, Mich. but he can not make them believe he knows that which in fact he does not know The responsible merchant who handles goods made by reputable and well known producers has a two-fold advan-tage and inspires a confidence which results in satisfactory business for both. The producer who makes a good article and who lets the public know it helps the merchant to sell it What we want in the furniture trade is a better appre-ciation of the fact that the makers and merchants can double the consumer's demand for furniture by working together and by giving the subject greater and more interesting pub-licity. Every maker of furniture should brand his goods with a name or mark to let the world know who is responsible for it. Then if it is good he gets credit; if it is bad the mer-chant is at least partly relieved from blame by placing It where it belongs A merchant's guaranty, not publicity backed by a reputable and responsible maker. involves a big-ger risk than any retailer can afford to assume for the ordi-nary profits in the business. I am glad to note that more and more the furniture makers are beginning to appreciate the value of trade-marks and publicity and that the best mer-chants are giving them encouragement and support This form of co-operation will result in better furniture and better furniture will increase the demand. It will also increase profits and, together with publicity, will drive the snide houses out of business, to the lastmg benefit and greater sta-bility of the whole industry I am firmly convinced that a series of lectures by de-signers and others having knowledge would be a benefit to the furniture industry Such lectures could be illustrated by lante! n slides in colors to show styles and decorations, and if gotten up with care by makers and backed by retailers would draw immense audiences in every community and would rouse up through the press and social circles more real interest in furniture than we can stir up in any other way, This plan. if carried out by the leading makers and mer-chants, would accomplish more and cost less than any other form of furniture publicity ever devised. Let the merchants get together and say to the producers of furniture, "We want you to brand your goods! We want you to advertise them by letting the consumer know why you desire his patronage; that will help us merchants and, in return, we will help you." Every retail furniture store should be a center where people who have homes can get inspiration that will result in making their homes more "homey." It takes more than a "Clearance Sale," or "Half-Off," or "Blue Tag Day." at Sham & Fake's to increase the demand and respect of the consumers of furniture and, consequently, the profit of the merchant and the maker. In conclusion let me say: If my httle effort here today should result in some benefit to some of you who are present, or to the industry as a whole, I will feel myself amply repaid for my time and in coming here all the way from Grand Rapids, and I wish to express my gratitude for the opportunity of addressing you -- • .fi Beam, Ardery & Co., is the name of a firm just engaging in the business of retailing furniture in St. Joseph, Mo. Mr. Beam wac; formerly and for many years with Louis Hax. "Provided you have planted the trees from the lumber of which you will eventually make them you may ship to me 125 maple bedsteadc;," reads an order recently received by a manufactunng company of Grand Rapids. Wllham H Beard defines the decorative art, so called, of the day, as "a craze" consisting of Japanese fans. cat-tail and sun flowers, grouped grotesquely, and fastened with a horse-shoe upon a background of sick colors, cut bias." 14 WEEKLY ARTISAN New designs In the Louis XVI Style. WRITE FOR SAMPLES AND PRICES. OLD "NEWSn REPRINTED Paragraphs Copied FroIU the Michigan Arti.an for DeceIUber9 1881. Payne & Willingham have opened a stock of furniture in Macon, Ga. Dewey & Stone of Omaha, sold furniture to the amount of $375,000 last year Ketcham & Rothschild will soon take possession of a new factory, located on Lake street, in Chicago "Johnny" Zerfass, of New York. spent a day in Grand Rapids recently. John is a fine fellow-on the Zerfass at least. Conflicting patents on children's carriage chairs will cause long and expensive litigation unless the patentees "get to-gether." A. Bamberger of Chicago ic; endeavoring to compromise with creditors by offering to pay a small per centage of his indebtedness. Nelson, Matter & Co, have shipped an elegant chamber suite to Washington, to be used by President Arthur, in the White House. It is no longer fashionable to place mirrors in any room of the house. except the bedroom It is very bad taste to use mirrors in the parlor. Brown & Bliss. manufacturers of dining room furniture in New York, were damaged to the amount of $105.000 by a fire in their factory recently Manufacturers of furniture in St Louis are promotin~ a movement among the manufacturers of furniture located in the Mississippe valley for an advance in prices Many manufacturers in Chicago have discontinued the use of the telephone owing to an increase of $50 per annum for the service The amount now charged is $125 .. No. 1711 Looseness. Some people have the habit of looseness-loosness in everything they do or attempt to do If they were to make a box it would be sure to have a board that would not agree with the rest of it; or something else would be wrong. "The cheapest thing that will answer is good enough," is their motto Their are some manufacturers of furniture just like that, victims of the loosenesc; habit When they make up their lines they buy the cheapest veneers, lumber. glue. varnish, castors and furniture trimmings. The stuff is poorly made, and sold cheap, and bears the marks of the marker and almost his name. which is Looseness. Not so with the careful man, the man of success, who knows that his reputation is at stake in every piece of furniture that goes from his factory. His reputation is more to him than his bank account, for he knows full well that if his reputation is gone his bank ac-count will soon go with it His name might appropriately be called Perfection This man demands the best of every thing-that's why he buys his wood furniture trimmings from the ,Vaddell Manufacturing company of Grand Rapids. the largest manufacturers of wood furniture ornaments in the world . ••• •• * .. No. 1705·1705 GraQd ~apids Brass <00. GRAND RAPIDS, MICH• j .. WEEKLY ARTISAN Sleeping Car Fares. TraffIc Manager Wann of the Los Angeles-Salt Lake route. while in New York last Saturday, expressed the opin-lOn that there is no likelihood of an immediate adoption of the proposed plan to make sleeping car passengers pay a hIgher rate of fare than those who ride in day coaches, al-though he is in favor of it. Concerning the propositoin Mr. Wann said: "I t costs more to handle passengers in sleepers. We can seat 70 persons comfortably in a coach, while between 30 and 40 will crowd a Pullman, which weighs 40 per cent more and costs twice as much as a coach. "I think it would be no more than right to charge the first class passenger in the Pullman 5 per cent or even 10 per cent more than the second class passenger in the coach, but we could not make such a change just between Salt Lake and Los Angeles unless it was made on through first class tickets farther east "Furthermore. the interstate commission recently cut our rate from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles from $30 to $25, which is as low as we can afford to haul passengers. If we should undertake to charge even 3 per cent more than that for the additional comfort and service of a sleeping car the commis-sion might object. "If the time ever comes when it is possible to make fur-ther reductions in passenger rates. I believe this plan will be adopted and those who ride in Pullman cars will have to pay higher rates." Commenting On Mr Wann's statement, the New York Commercial, a paper that is usually more than fair to the railroad interests, says: Mr. Wann ha" given what may be termed stock argu-ments and raesons for every general passenger agent or other traffic official talked with upon the subject ever since the plan was first made public in the Commercial, when a contemplated conference upon it in New York was indefinitely postponed, has made practically the same statements In fact there was so little variation, that it was suggested they had been speciallv prepared in advance for the information of inf(uirers and as an answer to objections that mig-ht be raised That there is strong uncertainty in the minds of the tra-ffic officers as to just how the interstate commission will view the matter is incHcated in the remark of Mr Vvann about po'SSible objections from that quarter and confirms what the Commercial intimated when the idea first became known that the abandonment of the joint conference' was either due to something of this kind or the expectation that the traveling-public wonld at once make undersirable war upon the roads before the commission As to the cost of a Pullman car. that is something- the railroads do not pay but they do pay a consideration to the "Pullman comnany for the operation of t~c cars, the precise character of which no one outside the corporations has defi-nite and reliable knowledge It has been said to have a ,anable chal acter and it has also been repeatedly alleged that if some of the contracts obtained by the Pullman com-panv from the railroads were brought into the limelig-ht and nublicitv for them gained they would make mighty interest-ing reading matter The point is likelv to be raised by travelers that because thev ride in a coach they are not to be rated as second class passeng-ers for thev pay a first class fare the same as the passenger in the Pullman, the latter paving to the Pullman company its price for occupying- a berth or an upholstered revolving chair The Pullman corporation for years and years has regarded itself as a law unto itself but the interstate 15 Give your men tools that are ac-curate to the one-thousandth part of an inch. Tools that are straight and true and hold their cutting edge. No matter how expensive and per-fect your machinery may be, if the cutting tools are not of the best, you can not turn out good work. We pride ourselves on the fact that we have manufactured only the very best for thirty-five years. Write for our complete catalog. It shows many new ideas in fine labor saving tools. MORRIS WOOD & SONS 1508-1510 W. LAKE ST., CHICACO, ILL. .. ... commission has lately contested its position and its rates and the courts are to eventually decide whether it is right or wrong. Iowa Attacks Freights. Attorney-General Byers of Iowa, acting in behalf of the state has filed complaints with the Interstate Commerce Com-mission, actions against all railroads operating in the state of Iowa, asking revision of the present rates which are alleged to be excessive. discnminatory and unlawful. The actions are divided into three classes, the first re-lating to the proportional class rates. and directed against the seven largest roads operating in the state; the second relating to commodity rates, against all roads and the third relating to local shipments. The actions are lbased on the amendment made by the last Congress to the act to regulate commerce, such amend-ment prOVIding that no more shall be charged as a through rate than is the aggregate of the intermediate rates. This amendmen t becomes effecti, c on August 17-The actions charge that Iowa is discriminated against by reason of through rates from points in Illinois and the East being higher than the aggregate of the intermediate rates. The roads affected in the first class are the Rock Island Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. Burlington, Great Western. IlhnOls Central, Iowa Central and Northwestern. Most of us should carry repair kits to mend our broken resolutions A man must either make a way for himself or make way for others. T 16 WEEKLY ARTISAN MICHIGAN ARTISAN COMPANY luaSC'''JOTlON $1•• 0 JOE"YE...." ....NYWHE"E IN THE UNITED ST....TES OTHE" COUNT"IES $2.00 JOE"YEA". SINGLE COJOIEI I CENTS. PU.L.ICATION OI'"I'"ICE. 101-112 NO'HH DIVISION ST. GI'IAND RA~IDS. MICH. A. S WHITE. M....N....C;ING EDITOft Ii:ntered .. lecond cia .. matter, July 5. 1999, at the post ollice at Grand Rapldl. MIChleaa under the act of March 3. 1879 CHIC...G. O REPR.SENT...T. IVE. E. LEVY. The tide of money which set in toward New York so strongly in June was still flowing the past week. The clear-ing house banks in their statement showed an increase of very close to $11,000,000 in their cash holdings There was some increase in reserve requirements. due to an expansLm in de-posits accompanied by an increase in loans. but these re-quirements consumed less than one-half of the increase in cash, so that the surplus reserve was mcreased by more than $5.575,000. This brings it up to above $53,000,000. which is considerably more than twice the amount of the surplus re-ported at this date a year ago To this large increase in sur-plus several factors have contributed m varying degrees, most important of which has been the inflow of currency from the interior since the beginning of July Heavy payments by the government have done their share toward increasing the re-serves of the banks, and gold imports have also added to the gains from other sources With the passing of the first month of the new fiscal year the heavy excess of government pay-ments over receipts at thIS centre is lIkely to diminish and the inflow from the intel ior may normally be expected to halt in the near future How long the gains by gold imports will continue depends upon a number of factors. some of them entirely beyond the control of American financiers, but the indications at the moment are that the gold import movement will continue for some time to come. This state of affairs is pleasing to business men, some of whom have feared a short-age of currency, when the movement of crops begins From present indications there is not lIkely to be any lack of cash with which to market the crops this year. By his appearance. manners, the tones of his ,oice and conduct. the retail merchant tells his customers many things he does not intend they shall know The goods he sells and his ways in selling them impress either favorably or unfav-orably the prospective customer. A case in point· A lady called upon a retailer for the purpose of purchasing a daven-port. The space required on the floors of merchants hand-ling these useful pieces of furniture is so large that it is im-possible to show many samples. but with a supply of blue prints at hand, it is not difficult for the customer to make a selection. The lady inspected the 'samples in stock but did not find the style she fancied The blue prints were brought out and while studying the same, one after another, the lady laid one of the sheets aside, to be studied later. The dealer quickly picked up the print, pulled out a draweI, buried it among a lot of photographs and printed sheets and close.:! the drawer. The lady's suspicions were aroused She could not define the motive of the dealer in placing the print she had selected out of sight, and <;oon lost interest in the entire collection Had the dealer explamed the reason for his act he mIght have retained the confidence of the lady. Failing to do so It v. as but natural that the lady should "look a little further" and make a purchase of another dealer Little things count for much m the busmess world \Veek after next, beginning August 22, will be home-commg week m Grand Rapids The affair has been widely advertised, special railroad rates have been secured and there is little doubt that many thousands of former residents of the city will improve the opportunity to return and spend a few days ,,,ith relatives and friends As is well known there are many men fOlmerly engaged in the furniture iudustry here who now reside in other cities Indeed there is hardly a furniture factory anywhere in the country that does not number among ItS employes men who formerly worked in Grand Rapids If they were all to "come home" at once they would make a large addition to the home-coming crowds here. In addition to former residents, many others are expected tJ visit the CIty during the week, including a considerable number of furniture buyers, and for theIr convenience the factory showrooms and exhibition buildings will be kept open and ready to do busmess Elaborate arrangements have been made to amuse and entertam visitors and the local furniture men v\ III aSSIst materilaly in making the affair a pleasing success for all concerned. Judgmg from the large number of new fdc-tone" that are reported as bemg estabhshed m all o,ectlOn" of the coun-try, there must be many men who are eager to get mto the furmture-makmg busmess and It is probable that many of those now going in will be quite eager to get out after they have had a year or two of experience Many are undoubt-edly actuated by the idea that "there are mullions in it" and some of them wIll find that their expectatIOns are based on theones very much lIke that promulgated by "Col Sellers" in his eye-water project. The INest Coast FurnIture company of some town in FlOrida. registers a double shotted protest agamst the prac-tIce indulged In by certain manufacturers In publIshIng m catalogues theIr prices for goods, WIth a dIscount of fifty per cent to dealers Catalogues frequently fall into the hands of persons not entitled to receIVe the same and the information conveyed in regard to the discounts creates trouble for the dealer. The VVest Coast people suggest that a pnvate cipher be used in prmtmg the dIscount rate. The suggestion is prac-tical and should be adopted by manufacturers. One Max Leckner, a musician of prommence, remem-bers when. as a boy, there was but one piano in the town of ShelbyVIlle, Ind There are but few famIlIes now living in Shelbyville that do not possess a piano. The music of the planer and the dovetailer in the eleven big furmture factories of the city have supplied the means WIth which the reSIdents of the town purchased pIanos. The Merchants' Protective association of Portland. Ore, aim to keep all assets out of bankruptcy, because in the settle-ment of estates they obtain far better results than by allowing proceedings to be instituted in the bankruptcy court. where release from debt seems to be the interpretation of the law. WEEKLY ARTISAN 17 -...-.~-----------~.-----------'-----------'--------_._------ -------_._------------~, FOUR NEW BARONIAL OAK STAIN FLANDERS OAK STAIN S M 0 K ED 0 A K S T A I N EARLY ENGLISH OAK STAIN in acid and oil. in acid and oil, in acid and oil, in acid and oil, TRADE MARK REGISTERED PRODUCTIONS Send for finished samples, free. Ad-el-ite Fillers and Stains have long held £ir'~tplace in the estimation of Furniture Manufacturers and Master Painters. In addition to the reg-ular colors the above shades offer unusually beautiful and novel effects. The Ad-el-ite People CHICAGO-NEW YORK .. .. . . EverythIng In PaInt SpecIaltIes and Wood FID1shingmaterIals. FIllers that £tll. StaIns that satIsfy ._---- -------- -- -----_._-------_._--------------_._-- -' -_.- ~ Funeral of Charles W. Black. On Tuesday afternoon, August 9, funeral serVIces were held over the remains of the late Charles W Black, who died August 7, at Grace church, Grand Rapids. Rev F. R Godolphin officiated A quartette of male voices rendered "Rock of Ages" and "Lead Kindly Light," and among the organ numbers played by Mr Stillwell, was Chopin's funeral march The bunal serVIce for the dedd of the Protestant F)piscopal church, was Impressively read, and the rector eulogized the deceased eloqently. He recalled the humble en-try of Mr. Black into the business affairs of lIfe and spoke of his gradual rise from the bottom rung to a position of promi-nence, power and usefulness in a great industry His never failing courage, his unbending will, exercised in the pursuit of high ideals in his occupation, the valuable contI ibutlO113 he had given to the movement that had made Grand Rapi,le, famous as a furniture manufacturing center; his lIberal al-though unostentatious support of charities, and his loyalty to friends, were commented upon and praised In the lIfe of such a man the Father of all performs hIS wonders, said the speaker VI'cighted down with cares and re"['ons'l)!lltIh that would ble-lk tPf spints of many, he Wd" !lC t d periecL man hUL the speaker recognized in hIS alms and purposes the desIre to serve mankind, honestly and faIthfully. The body was interred at Oak HIll cemetery. One hun-dred men from the Oriel Cabinet company's factory and a large number of iurniture manufacturer dne! tncnds attended the services. Doubling Capacity. To double the capacity of any department of the factory, without increasing the expense, is certainly a great achieve-ment. It means a great deal to the stockholders, and in the furniture bus111ess, where competttion IS so sharp, that in many cases a dividend ever so small IS a great welcome (even if not a great surprise), it seems as though every manufac-turer of furniture would be on the alert to grasp whatever is best and most economical. In no department of the furniture factory is this more necessary than the dry kiln This i" usually a money maker or a money loser, and it i" so subtle that many manufacturers do not detect it, but are surpnsed when they come to figure at the end of the year that they have not made any money, or scarcely any. Every other depart-ment seemed to be in good shape and each foreman was able to make a good report, but somehow or other not one of them thought of looking to the dry kIln to find the leakage Here is a case in point from one of the great chair manufac-turing companies in Sheboygan, Wis, where more chairs are made than in any city in the Ulllted States Turn to the ad-vertisement of the Grand Rapids Veneer Works, on another page of this issue of the Weekly ArtIsan and you will be much 111terested in what yoU read. ~---_..- -- ------~.-._----------_._---__._..-..-.., 1Loufsbabn DESIGNS AND DETAILS OF FURNITURE 154 Livmgston St. GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN CItizens' Telephone 170Z. I'"'-- - • _ •••• we •••••• __ ... 18 - - --------- When a man could be no longer tolerated, he was let out in the smoothest and kindliest manner, for one reason or another. The greater number of men had been long III the service and \\ ere very loyal and respectful towards the firm, and ready at all tImes to speak a good word for the factory and its owners The men were never crowded, everything was done with the utmost deliberation, the absence of hurry and bustle being one of the notIceable features of the place Most of the appliances in use were crude and out of date The system of heating was httle better than nothing, and during cold weather the men \\ asted their tIme in an effort to keep warm. No one seemed to take the trouble to suggest improvements in either the building or equipment, the idea being to adapt the ways of doing things to the <;urroundings rather than seek for im-provement The methods of time-keeping, cost-keeping, estimating and billing work into the mill were of the simplest and most rudimentary character, and a woeful lack of system was every-where evident. To anyone with the most superficial knowledge of modern factory methods, the daily violation of all those principles whIch are held to be necessary to the successful operation of every manufacturing plant seemed to indicate that the miII was badly managed, that it was being operated at a loss, and, sooner or later, must result in failure. From my point of view as an humble mechanic I could imagine myself out of a job, and resolved to seek another. In a city several hundred miles distant I found employ-ment in a factory turning out practically the same kind of goods The principal owners were men of considerable ex-perience The buildings were new and the equipment modern In eyery respect The management was in the hands of a progressive. energetic, and wide-awake young man, an en-thUSIastic apostle of "industrial efficiency," thoroughly im-bued with the latest and most up-to-date ideas of factory management, including the most economical methods of hand-ling- materials and labor, and the systematic recording of all the' arious operations in and around the plant. Part of this progressive svstem ,vas to issue all kinds of arbitrary instruc-tIOns to the foremen concernmg theIr duties, usually remind-l11g them of their shortcomings and the weak spots in their departments. \Vhen a man of a foreman failed to meet the official re-qUIrements, a new one was promptly instaIIed As a result WEEKLY ARTISAN TWO KINDS OF FACTORY MANAGEMENT Two Much System. Rushing and Pushing May Spoil the Best of Theories. Benjamin McCune, In the ,Vood Worker-When we speak of good and bad factory management, or refer to a well-managed plan, we usually have in mmd a concern in which all the vanous operations are conducted according to some preconceived theory, based on the elimination of waste of time, materials and labor, together with some method of ascertaining and recording the value of all the different items of expense entering into the finished product, the whole re-duced to a system, the object of which is to diminish costs and increase profits as well as to keep the management in-formed at all times on the exact condition of the business in all its details Bad management therefore would imply the absence of all such methodical arrangements It will be admitted that some simple method of procedure is necessary in even the worst managed plants, and that nu-merous wood-workIng establishments are being successfully conducted in a happy-go-lucky, old fashioned way, the only consideration being to get the work done by following the lines of least resistance-by taking the shortest cuts from the lumber yard to the shipping room and the exercise of common sense. The following narrative, based on my own experience. presents what seems to be a peculiar example of the com-parative results of the two kinds of management· A good many years ago I was employed in a rather exten-sive and well-known wood-working establishment The own-ers were two very fine gentlemen of rather imposing appear-ance, dignified and courteau., in manner, but unacquainted with the details of the business The actual running- of the plant wac; under the direction of a superintendent. a practical man and a very fine gentleman The foremen in charge of the different departments were ordinarv good men. very pleasant and agreeable, and c;eemed to get along on the best of terms with each other and the men under them There was a notice-able absence of that pulling and hauling such as I have en-countered in other similar plants It was an ideal place for a man to work; everybody put in the time about as he saw fit; joking and story-telling- were favorite pastimes during working hours \iV ages v. ere com- .p.aratively high. and everybody seeme-d -ha-pp-y_an..d--con-ten-ted- ---------------- ------------~ Lentz Big Six No. 694. 48 in. top. No. 687. 60 in. top. I Others 54 in. top. I 8 Foot Duostyles I I II ANY FINISH II CHICAGO DELIVERIES I• II I Lentz Table Co. NASHVILLE, MICHlGAh .-. ----------~---------_. _.. ._._--_._-------_.~---------I.. WEEKLY ARTISAN 19 WE HAVE NO PRETTY THEORIES ABOUT STAINS OR FINISHES THE MARIETTA PAINT AND COLOR CO. MARIETTA, OHIO. Making stains for practical men has been our job for many years. And long before we became makers we were USERS. Above all, our products are practical. They WORK. The results in your finishing room, if of this policy changes were frequent, both among the men and the foremen. first in one department, then another. They came and brought with them tales of former achievements, and the best schemes for doing everything as everything ought to be done. The mill was always crowded with work, and the whole atmosphere of the place was hurry and bustle, everybody on the jump, this state of affairs being offICIally recorded as "in-tensified production" In direct contrast to what I had been accustomed to, system was everywhere-in the yard, the factory and the office It was measuring, counting, check-ing, tabulating continually until it became a sort of nUlsance, greatly interfering with the progress of the work. Frequent changes of men and machines from one job to another became necessary, in order to live up to some particU-lar phase of the system, and the getting out of numerous small jobs was greatly hindered by what seemed to me much useless red tape, so that the unusual activity displayed did not neces-sarily mean increased production. In contrast to the attitude of the men toward my former employers. the presence of the manager In the mill had about the same exasperating effect on the men as if he had carried a banner with the words, "We are here to make all the money we can out of you fellows" A sort of dissatisfaction appeared which gradually developed into a spirit of enmity against the institution-a situation that would seem to confirm the con-tention that it seems impossIble to get the maximum of work out of a man and still retain his good will. Be that is it may. I was conVInced that the supposed ad-vantages of the latter system over the former were never real-lized After several years of striving to enforce the practical application of an unerring theory, the concern referred to has never been a financial success. On the other hand, the busi-you have the right kind of finishers, will be the same results as we show on our sample panels. You are not experimenting when you buy stains from us. Ask your best finisher about them. Send for sample panel to desk No.3. ness of my former employers is in the most prosperous <:on-dition, enjoying the highest financial standing, the owners being among the wealthiest and most influential men in the town. respected by their employers and held in the highest esteem in the community in which they live. It is not my purpose to advocate sloth among men nor laxity of methods in the operation of a mill, but merely to record what came under my own observations from the point of view of a subordinate employe; but judging from all known standards of companson, the concern that should have been a failure was a success, while the other was as near a failure as possible. While the compa! atlve standing of the two institutions may have been due to other causes than those mentioned, I am confiJent that the personal qualities of the men at the head of both institutions were the most lmportant elements in the case In the former instance the owners possessed that subtle quality that commanded the respect and inspired the confidence of their men-the recognition of the human ele-ment around the plant In the latter case the attempt was made to enforce the same ngid principles as to materials. ma-chines and men ahke, wlth clock-like precision, in an effort to obtain that which was theoretically desirable instead of that which was practically feasible If your DESIGNS are right, people want the Goods. That makes PRICES right. (tlarence lR. bills DOES IT 163MadIson Av~nu~-Cltlz~ns Phon~ 1983. GRAND RAPIDS, MICH .4 --------------1 20 WEEKLY AaTISAN . ... ... ...., Be careful of the dealer who tells you he can furnish cutters "as good or better than MorrisWood & Sons." He is imposing upon both you and our reputation. If you would have cutters which do the most perfect work, at the least expense, that wear out on the jointer and not on the emery wheel, which save their first cost in a few weeks, in the saving of time, required to grind and adjust sectional cutters. Write ua right now for further information. We have made solid steel cutters for thirty-six yeats. Is that worth anything to you? A trial order is our most convincing argu-ment. Write now before you forget it. MORRIS WOOD & SONS 5108 W. Lake St., CHICAGO, ILL. ...- _--- ~_._._._._,_-.-.-._. _4.. ..I . .., Here is a Rocker that's a seller. Write for the price. GEO. SPRATT ($ CO. SHEBOYGAN, WIS. No. 592. ... ...... -..-.....--- ----------.----.....1.. Grand Rapid. Factory Notes. The announcement that D. C. McNamara, who recently engaged with the Marvel Manufacturing company, will travel IllS old territory, was wrong Mr. McNamara's positIOn with the Marvel company is that of sales manager. 1\1 E Campbell, who recently engaged with the C S Pame company to cOver a part of the middle west territory, is out on hiS first tnp James Gillies, who formerly represented the company In Pacific coast territory, is no longer with the Pame company. "There is nothing in the way of news that I know Gf," said Robert W Merrill, secretary and manager of the Phoenix Furniture company. "Our buo;;iness is about as usual and I think that IS about the condition of most of the factories. Both manufacturers and dealers are acting conservatively. Of course the dealers must buy if they expect to Jo business anJ their orders come along steadily. There is no indication of a desire to branch out or speculate on the demands of the future" "Business is fair," said Joseph S Hart of the Hart Mirror Plate company the other day. "I have Seen it better and I have seen it a great deal worse. I suppose our business is a sort of mdex or indication of the general condition of the fur-niture industry. If so, business must be picking up with the factories, for we have had a considerable increase during the past few weeks There is nothing like a boom, but business has certainly improved during the past month and especially during the past few days We now have live accounts with e\ er} factory, that uses glas"i, in the city. The summer sales ~eason \'"as certainly good for the local factories." :\Ianager Edgar S Kiefer of the Dahm & Kiefer Tanning company, accompanied by hiS family, is in Europe for pleas-ure with a little business on the side. The furniture leather department added by the company about a year ago has proved a great success and while abroad Mr Kiefer Will try to ar-range facilities to make it still more profitable for both the company and its patrons He is looking for better facilities for obtaining skins and other supplies The success of the fur111ture leather project has encouraged the company to add 111010CCO leather to its line of products. It has already made ~Ol11emorocco leather for which it has found a ready demand and ~fr Kiefer hope~ to secure suppltes of skins, either su-mach tanned or 111 the hair that Will enable them to turn out a most desirable grade of morocco leather Their furniture leather department is said to have reached a stage where It 13 not necessary to send out traveling men to secure orders-the orders come 111 without solicitation Have Plenty of Business. The Grand Rapids Blow Pipe and Dust Arrester company IS having a fine trade, having plenty of business nowadays. In addition to the large list of orders recorded in the Weekly Artisan a short time ago, they have secured the contract for repiping the E H Stafford factory at Ionia, Mich, and also the factory of the Hayes-Ionia company which makes automo-bile bodies III the old wagon works factory. The latter is a large job, necessitating a complete outfit. They also have a contract from the Flint-Wallen company of Kendallville. Ind .• manufacturers of windmills, tanks and silos. for a complete outfit, and another from the Indiana Box company of Muske-gon, Mich, for additional piping that Will take the shavings and dust through pipes 600 feet to the Sargent Manufactur-ing company's boiler room and depOSIt them in the furnace. This company certainly has a lot of work on its order books, largely because every job is guaranteed to be perfect. Its business is growing every year WEEKLY ARTISAN New Factories. Contracts amounting to $48,000 have been let for the erectlOn of new buildings for the plant of the Appleton (Wis ) Chair company. Work on the new couch company's plant on Norfolk Downs, Quincy, Mass, is progressing rapidly. It is to be ready to begin operations on September 22. E. A. Lancaster and associate,; have incorporated the Greenville Furniture company, capitalized at $50,000, to es-tablish a factory in Greenville, Green county, Tenn. Hamilton Moses, S Sidney Stein and Leo J Kramer have organized the Safety Infant Bed company, capitalized at $5,000, to manufacture a newly invented little bed, in Chi-cago, III Managers of "a furniture factory in a northern state who wish to change their location',' are negotiating with the Chamber of Commerce of Roanoke, Va , with a view of bulid-ing a new factory in that city. The Concealed Bed company capitalized at $24,000 has been incorporated by George W. Coover, C. W. Snidow and W. T. Snidow, to establish a factory and manufactuer a patented folding couch and bed at Portland, Ore. A company is being organazed to manufacture grass mat-ting and rugs at Green Bay, Wis. It is to be capitalized at $100,000, of which $70,000 has been subscribed, and work on the construction of the factory has been started. W. V. Corbett, L. W. Walker and others have incor-porated the Stork Highchair company, to establish a plant and manufacture a patented highchair, recently invented, at Los Angeles, Cal. Capital stock, $25,000; subscribed, $5. P. H. and J. K. Laman and William Kaiser have incor-porated the Duluth Casket and Undertakers' Supplies com-pany to establish a casket factory and do a general whole-sale business in undertakers 'supplies in Duluth, Minn Cap-ital stock, $25,000. L. T. Yoder and three other capitalists of Pittsburg, Pa., have incorporated the Augusta Veneer company, capitalized at $100,000, to establish a large veener and rotary cut lumber plant at North Augusta, S C. They have secured F. J. Wells of Penn Yan, N. Y., as superintendent and general manager. uGrand Rapids" Beyond the "Rockies."9 Suggesting a route to be traveled by tourists who wish to make the best of their time when visiting the city, the Ore-gonian of Portland, Ore., says' "The first factories which you will pass, are a number of large concrete buildings where furniture is made and before you forget it. tell your friends that Portland ranks first in furniture manufacturing west of the Rocky Mountains. Everything is made here from the plain mission type to the costly mahogany and much of it is specially designed. Hundreds of skilled workmen are busy, turning the product of the forest into things which beautify the home. One may go to any large city west of the Rocky Moun-tains and find furniture bearing the stamp of some Portland •manufacturer." Zion9s Co-Operative Mercantile Institution. The largest mercantile establishm6nt in Utah is the Zion Co-Operative MercantIle Institution. The store is located near a group of mormon institutions and is partonized by all classes. It is a large establishment, and all varieties of merchandise are handled. The managers and their employes are mormons. The business transacted annually runs into millions. " - . . -., HOFFMAN BROTHERS CO. FT. WAYNE, IND. HARDWOOD LUMBER SA~~D } QUARTERED OAK { VENEERS SLICED AND MAHOGANY ....... UNION FURNITURE CO. ROCKFORD, ILL. China Closets Buffets Bookcases We lead in Style, ConilruCbon and Finish. See our Catalogue. Our lme on permanent exhibI-tIon 3rd Floor. New Manufact-urers' Building,Grand Rapids. ..... - .... _-_. -_. __ . ....... ....- -., -....-...-...-. --_-_ -..-.--_.... _. -----------_._-- ... .. ............• ..& ," .. I Don't Burn Your Moulding. Blackened edges so often found in hard-wood Mouldings indIcate the use of mferior tools, which frIctIOn and burn because of their failure to have proper clearance. The Shimer ReverSIble and Non- ReverSIble Cutters are made of the finest tool steel by experienced workmen. In deSIgn and con-struction they are superIor to anythmg on the market. They cut well and retam their shape until worn out. Send us drawmgs or wood samples for estImates on special cutters. Many useful de-sIgns, with prices, are given m our catalogue. SAMldEL J. SHIMER & SONS, Milton, Penn. Manufacturers of the Shimer Cutter Heads for Flooring, CeilIng, Sidmg, Doors. Sash, etc. ... .. . ... 21 ....I ....., ... , WEEKLY ARTISAN Complete lines of samples are displayed at 1411Michigan Ave., Chicago, and in the Furniture Exhibition Building, Evansville. THE KARGES FURNITURE CO. Manufacturers of Chamber SUItes,Wardrobes, Chlffomers, Odd Dressers, Chlfforobes. THE BOSSE FURNITURE CO. Manufacturers of Kitchen Cabmets, K D. Wardrobes, Cupboards and Safes, m Imltallon golden oak, plam oak and quartered oak. THE WORLD FURNITURE CO. Manufacturers of Mantel and Upright Folding Beds, Buffets, Hall Trees, Chma Closets, Combination Book and Lbrary Cases. THE GLOBE FURNITURE CO. Manufacturers of Sideboards in plain oak, imitation quartered oak, and solid quartered oak, Chamber Suites, Odd Dressers, Beds and Chiffoniers m lffiltallon quartered oak, ir<lltatlon mahogany, and imitation golden oak. THE BOCKSTEGE FURNITURE CO. Manufacturers of the "Superior" Line of Parlor, Library, Dining and Dressing Tables. THE METAL FURNITURE CO. Made by The Karges Furmture Co Manufacturers of "HYiiene" Guaranteed Brass and Iron Beds, Cnbs, Wrre Spnngs and Cots Evansville is the great mixed car loading center of the United States, made so by the Big Six Association . • WEEKLY ARTISAN Made by Bosse Furniture Company Made by World Furniture Company. Made by Bockstege Furmture Co --pnng I" bemg pU'3hed lapldly. It will be completed and occupIed by the mIddle of September. The CI11Cmnatl RetaIl Furniture Dealers' associatIOn has a'3ked the' CIty councIl to pass an ordinance requiring owners ot mm mg vam to file reports of their operations. giving name'3, dates an,l the old and new addresses of the migrators. 1 he Konrad company, undertakers, of Oshkosh, Wis. dre electll1l:; a nev. two stOly bllck building to cost $8,000 The first floOl v\ 111 be occupIed by the office, chapel and mal ~ue, and the uppel floor wIll be used for a furniture shop 'l!1el --tale 100111 I'ecau"e then btbmess has not been up to expectations dt1l111g the past yeal or more, the Edwards-Ihrig company of O"hkosh, \Y IS , manufacturers of caskets, mattresses and bed spnngs. hav'e JeClded to close out the stock and material on lund pay then debt,., and quit busl11ess On Its v oluntary petItIOn the Henry S. Holden Veneer company of Grand RapIds, MIch. has been adjudged bank- I upt The ltabIlitles are scheduled at $14,578, assets $14,087 Of the claIms $1,831 are secured Among the creditors are sn el al \ eneer manufactunng concerns or their agents. Henry B -:\lorns. formerly connected with the Michigan '-,eat1l1g company of Grand Rapids, Mich t died at Michigan Cltv, Ind, last \\ eek, aged 66 years. He went to Michigan CIty to take a pOSItIOn 111 a factory soon after the Michigan Seatl11g company moved from Grand Rapids to Jackson, Mich. \\ hen the Bosse, Globe and World furniture companies ot },v ans\ Ille, Ind , \\ ere merged recently, the property of the Bo""e company \\ as appraIsed at $150,000, that of the Globe at $150,000 and of the World at $100,000. The consolidated com pany also 0\" ns the new factory that is being erected on ~l11th a\ enue The Rocktord (Ill) Furniture oompany. in order to meet d pres~lng obltgatlOn, has borrowed $12,000 from Edwin E UdCl at ChIcago, gl\ mg as security a trust deed covering the factory SIte, bt1lldmgs, machinery an'd appltances. but not the lumber suppltes nor stock finished or in course of (un" tructlOn fhe Interstate Commelce Commission has postponed its 1m l--tlgatlOn of I11creases 111 freight rates which had been --cheduleJ to begm on August l5----next Monday. Some of the raIlroad offICIals declared they could not "get ready" so soon It IS now announced that the I11quiry will begin about the first of September ] he lug \\ eavmg demonstrations that were inaugurated la--t --plmg are rapIdly growmg in favor with dealers. Sev- (J a1 manufactt1l er" now have demonstrators "on the road." "\ 100m set up 111 the store of DaVIdson Bros .• Sioux City. 10\\ a, last '" eek, turns out a small rug complete in fifteen minutes The looms ale great "drawmg cards" for the stores m whIch they al e exhIbIted ] he Bosse-G1obe-\Vorld Furn\ture company, recently fOlmed bv mel g1l1g three of the prominent companies of EvansvIlle, Ind, b planmng for the erection of an elegant commodIOUS offIce bUIlding. It will be of pressed brick, one "tOl y. 60 J\.80 feet alhl WIll stand on the corner of Ninth ave-nue and .:\Ialyland street. Hem y Stud11lczha, Amencan commercial agent. report-mg from VIenna, Am,tna. says "Nothwithstanding that Vi-enna produces and manufacturers a large variety of furni-ture. there IS room here for furniture of American produc-tIOn I learn that the Amencan Trading Company, located 111 thIS CIty, has ananged for supplying a new hotel in c':m-stantinople WIth Amencan furnIture." MISCELLANEOUS NOTES AND NEWS C A. Swope succeeds ,IIller & Co, fUlnlture and hard-ware dealers of PI escott, Kan J B Johnson has purchased the unJertakmg bl1"l11e--" of W V. Almand at Conyers, Ga Managers of furmture faetones In the mIddle \\ e--t are complaimng of a scarcity of skIlled workmen The llorala (Ala) Furmture company, dealel -', ha\ e 111 creased Its capital stock from $3,500 to $4,500 The only feIt makl11g machine in the state of Kansas IS being I11stalled m the new mattress factory at \\ Ichltd W M HIlls. furnIture dealer ancl undertaker at \1 d more, Okla, has been succeeded by the -\ D Ra\,,11l1s com-pany J A Newsome, furniture and hardware dealel of J ack-sanVIlle, Fla, has enlarged hIS store by leasing an ad]oll1lng bUlldl11g Dukes & McDonald, furnIture dealers of GreenvIlle, Ky , have dIssolved partnership 1\1[ B McDonald '" III contl11ue the business The stockholders in the Sanitary Upholstenng company of MIddleton, Conn, ha\ e decided to dIssolve the corpordtlOn and qUIt business The Fort Smith (Ark) FurnIture company reports a large and rapidly increasing demand for theIr Border Queen lme of kitchen cabinets The Caswell-Runyan company, furnIture manufacturers of Huntl11gton, Ind, has added to ItS capItal by issumg SlO,- 000 111 preferred stock The Cl11cl11nati RetaIl Furniture Dealers' aSSOCIation IS consldenng a propOSItIOn to admIt plano dealer" and c1oth-merchants to membershIp The Crown Mattress company, manufacturers of St Pdul Minn , has been I11corporated by F M Dolan, A B Hackert and Henry Kane. CapItal stock, $25,000 J. E Van has pUlchased an I11tele'3t m the retaIl furm-ture house of Lowe Brothers, Eugene, Ore, and has a'3sumed the general management of the busl11ess J D and VV R Craft, cahmetmakers of Hattiesburg, MI"S, have mcorporated theIr busmess under the name at the Craft Cahl11et company CapItal '3tock $10,000 Carter & Campbell, manufacturers of I eecl chaIrs and go-carts have gIven theIr reed workers an I11crease of ten per cent m wages, taking effect on Monday, August 8 Portland, Ore, IS to have a manufacturers' cJ\.po"ltlOn under the auspIces of the RetaIl -:\Ierchanh' aSSOCIatIOn and the Board of Trade, dunng the week openmg October 31 The Holden famIly of DetrOIt, possesses an hen 100m m the form of a sideboard deSIgned by a grandmother, on the panels of whIch ate the busts of her chlldlen, pamte,l by her-self. R F Hayn"worth, preSIdent, G H Hurst, se'cretaly-treasurer and W C WIse are the newly elected offIcers of the J. D CI aig FUI niturc company, manufacturns of Sump-ter, S. C. J H. Tiemeyer. for over 40 years a furniture and carpet dealer of St LOUIS, Mo , dIed on August 4, aged 62 ) ears He was a native of St LoUIS, and leaves a widow, t\\ a <.laughter" and a son. The Sledge Furniture company, dealers, of Wmston- Salem, N C, are erectmg a two story brIck bUlldll1g 25 x 75 feet It IS located on Trade street and \\ 111 ha\ e a plate glass front The rebUlldll1g of the sectIOn of the UnIOn Furlllture company's plant at Rockford, Ill, that was burned last WEEKLY ARTISAN WISCONSIN FUNERAL DIRECTORS More of the Proceedings of Their Annual Con-vention Held at Fond du Lac Last \Veek. The twenty-ninth annual convention of the Wlscon:01n Funeral DIrector.., and Embalmers' AssoclatlOn, whIch was In progress at Fond du Lac, when the \V eekly !\rtlsan went to press last week, wa'i one of the mO'it 'iucce'3sful, interest- Ing and profitable mEetings ever held by thc orgamLatlOn Thc reports showed the affairs of the as'iOClatlon to be In a most prosperous and satisfactory condItion WIth a steady l11crea'3e In membershIp and mterest At the second seSSlO11of the conventlon:vr K Rellly de-livered an address whIch won hIm a vote of thanks He open-eJ hIs remarks by paYing a tnbute to the hIgh standard of the undertakers' prOfeS'ilOn as set by V\ Iscon'im men engaged 111 that pursuit He saId It was no longer consIdered a bU'ilnes3 but a professlOn "A man may be honest and get along WIthout the servIces of a lawyer," said the speaker" He may go through Me WIth-out the counsel and advIce of a clergyman, he may hve ac-cording to hygIene and dl'3pense with the servIces of a phy-' siclan, but sooner or later he must bow to thc scepter of the undertaker. He is one of the men who comes to the home when it IS clouded WIth SGrrows He IS called upon not only to exercise the mechamcal dnd SCIentific part of the profcs- SIan, but to hghten the burden of those bereaved and be theIr fnend in the trYing hours that follow" Mr Reilly then spoke of the need of a new phIlosophy of success for the Amencan people He spoke of the insanity of the business world in the maJ race for 'iucce'i'i, commercIally and professionally at the '3acnfice of health anJ happiness Years ago, he said, the buslne:os men were satIsfied to retIre after they had accumulated a competency and become a hver in the world. Kow It IS a mad nerve racking \ ace for untold wealth at the expense of hfe and happiness At the conclu-sion of the addres:, the speaker was enthusiastically applauded The next number on the program was a report of the dele-gates to the natlOnal conventlOn, whIch was gIven by John R Ragan of Grand RapIds, \VIS, who, on Tuesday had been elected presIdent of the Wlscons111 Retal1 Furmture Dealers' associatIOn The conventlOn mentlOned 111the report was held at Portland, Ore, Sept 29-30 and October 1 An excerpt from hIS report IS as follows, "\Ve are a waken111g to the fact that in the stncken home where we each come into close re, latlOnship with the pubhc and where we hghten or darken the versIOn of the Eternal world, geography has no meamng, but that In every place In all thIs land In the dreaded hour of death and In the rendenng of servIces we profess to perform, there should be one reqUlred standard of ablllty and there should be granted but one graJe of certificate or hcense \Vh;le we, as an orgamzatlOn are not permitted, perhaps very prop-erly, to fix the reqUlred standard that is to determine the con-ehtions on whIch the certificate or hcense shall be granted, yet I beheve that our attitude accompamed by reasonable sug-gestlOll'i does and wlll serve a large purpose Ul estabhshlng and ma111talnmg such a standard "\Ve therefore ask that the term 'professIOn' a'3 apphed to our calling be Justified by ask111g that suitable prehmUlary educatIOnal reqUlrements, whIch shall be eqUlvalent to a hIgh school dIploma in our pubhc schools be made of all aspIrants for embalming hcenses. • Mr Ragan expre:osed the thanb of the assoCIation to the delegates at the natIOnal conventIOn for the electIOn of GeOlge L Thomas of W ISCOnS1l1,as national presIdent. 2S On Thur~day, whIle conduct1l1g the "expenence hour," 1\11 Ragan dcclared that undertaker'i were born, not made "There are some ~ ho th1l1k a ~hOlt term 111 an emhalm111g 'ichool and a dIploma al e the only requIsltcs of an undcrtaker," "hut thIS IS very much a mIstake." he "aId "It IS only the be-g111mng A man to be '3ucces'iful 111 the undertak111g mu..,t pOS'ies.., tact, ablhty ancl represent a hIgh type of manhood The days when undertaker, were harsh m the11 conduct and ruled the famIly mto whIch they werc called have changed, and now the undeltaker~ are the one'i VIho arc ruled If they hope to succeed !\nyth1l1g that does not mean the nght kind of manhoJd. and gentlemanly conduct on the part of an un-dertaker at all time" means that hIs competltOl VIlli soon put hIm out of busmess " Past PI esdent J R \lcLaln, of Mannette, \\ IS, ad-dre: O'ied the convEntlOn, ha' Ulg been a~ked to take the :oubJect "Undertakers' Records" The speaker declared that the under-taker ~hould be a power for good Ul the commumty In whIch he re-,Icles He saId hl'i deportment should he open to 111- 'ipectlOn at all times, and hIs a11n 'ihould be to exemphfy the true ele, ated type of manhood "\Ve must he 'iympathetlc In thIS bU'ilnes'i of ours I don't mean that It IS the busln ess of an undertaker to go to the father or the WIfe and condole WIth them and at the same time have 111m111d a mahogany case WIth slh er tnmm111gs vVe can d'J more than thIS by con'iollng them by the 111telhgent handl111g 01 the11 dead" The speaker scored the class of undertaker'3 who count theIr VIC-t1111Sbefore they are dead, and saId that men 111practlcmg hus- 111e~'ithat way laId themselves open to the scorn anJ contempt of all nght-mUlded member'i of the profe'i~lon and people at large "They 'ihould be ellIven out of the commuUlty ," ~ald Mr MeLam. "at the pOInt of the 'iword of puhhc dhappI 0\ al and mJlgnatlOn There 1:0no place for thcm In the ranks of undertakers who profess to be men among men, theIr place 13 m the membershIp roll of the amalgamated umon of ambu-lancp chaser:o " \Ir McLam al'io spoke of the grow111g e\ll of tak1l1g the naUle of the SavIOr m vam He saId the evl1 wa~ a bhght up-on mankind and the cur..,e, a'i he called It, has no place m the vocabulary of the undertaker "'\ 0 soldl er, ho\'\ ever low, would apply the names to hh general that mank1l1d use, WIth apparent unconcern m blasphemmg J esu~ Chnst" " . .- ..-- ... ---- We Manufacture the Larlleat Liue of Folding Chairs In the Unlted States, SUItable for Sun day Schools, Halls, Steam-ers and all publIcresorts We also manufacture Brass TrImmed I ran Beds, SprIng Beds, Cots and CrIbs In a large I varIety Send for Catalogue I and PrlCtl to II I KAUffMAN ,I MfG. GO. ASHLAND, OHIO Ih_ • .~ I ... 26 W'EEKLY AltTISAN Minnesota Dealers' Retail Furnitu)."e " > Association OFFICERS-PreSIdent, J R Taylor, Lake Benton, Mlnn , Vice-President, D R Thompson, Rockford, Mmn , Treasurer, B A Schoeneberger, Perham, MlDn , Secretary, W L Grapp, Janesville, Mlno EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE -Chairman, Geo Klem, Mankato, Mmn., 0 Simons, Glencoe, Mmn, W. L Harns Mtnneapohs, Mmn , C. Danielson, Cannon Falls. BULLETIN No. 163. A REMEDY TO ELIMINA1.~E TRADE EVILS. W~NTED-A Furniture Dealer, who will put him-- self in a position to save from $1,500 to $5.000 a year, with a chance for increase. Such an "ad" If publIshed m a dally newspaper and properly br'ought before the furniture dealers would create a de.'Hre to know how. why, ctc Ii, no doubt 1\ (mId bnng a multItude of replIes The furnItUl e dealer, who is pluggIng hard from morning untIl nIght. would no doubt say: "That appeals to me, you bet' I would lIke to do that If I could Another dealer who has a reasonably large volume of busI-methods whIch wIll bnng about such saving which are cash, quantIty and cuttmg out the \\ aste in gettlllg his merchan-dIse \\ e Imagme \\ e can hear the all wise saying: "The Idea. of anyone bemg able to buy better than I, or to assume that functIOn of personal selection I" etc Thoughts like these runnIng thru the mmds of suspicious dealers, is the cause for so many, many thousands of furniture dealers plodding along ) ear after year 1ll the same old rut. At the end of the year the' find that they have not made any money and they find themselves contmually hard up. ~ If \'ve have stated what is true, then there must be some unIver"al cause for these condItIons. and in trying to solve tIns problem, we find that It is true because of the education No 1 No.3 As shown In Catalog The tl Uf lornpanson rhe Real ArtIcle The above row of cuts shows a method that our AbSOclatlOn ('Ill ploys to help Its members to proteLt. themselv es ~ga111st fraudulent m.all ordm advertisIng Look at cut No 1 Isn t It a massn ( tablp to be sold for $1125? Yet No 2 cut shows the vast dlfh ILnce bet" E, 11 the arhcle as re-CPlved In compallson to the mall Older IllushatI( Il Wouldn t you have a prett\ hard tIme convIncIng the IllJ.11 OldpI UIS tomer that the PlCtUlP dS Illushatec1 b\ the catalog hou"'ie IS ani) a Inch base but that IS what the descllptlOn states and \\ hat the, ShIp out So make good use of the opportuIllt\ of exposIng thIS fraud \\ ( have ordered one of these tables and we are makIng a duplicatp onl' ness, might say "Well. how can It be done?" Or, he might say' "The audaCIty of anyone tellmg me that I might save from $1,500 to $5.000 a yeal 111 hUY1l1g my year's suppIJes Yet, that 1" what thIS httle "ad" Imphes if ) ou take It at Its true meanIng No doubt many a small furnIture dealer would be lookmg at this "ad" and wondellng why a savmg of from $1,500 to $5,000 is not more easily found -Read on: The person who answers the above "ad" must be a clean red-blooded, progressIve, "I WIll" dealer, who has the ability to plan ahead an,1 who can see that by combmmg the buymg forces of many that he will be able to do that which is Im-possible as an indIVIdual That i" just what the Minnesota Co-OperatIve BUY1l1g aSsoClatlOn is domg for ItS members Ah, there i" the rub, "co-operative buying ., The proportionate savmg of from $1,500 to $5,000 a year would be most desirable and should ll1terest every furnIture dealer ThIS extra saving wIll not come to anyone unless he IS willIng to adopt such a \ (I \ luueh bettpr finIsh a 42 Inch top plaIn oak vVlth a 6 Inch ped estal fOI ~4 <;;:J 01 It Cdn be had WIth et 7 inch pedestal for $535 H( n1PInbei that e\ (n at these prIces that these tables are made hood (nough <;;) tll It no furnIture dealer need be ashamed of them ( ould \ ou a.., a ..,m 111 dc-aIel "ho ('an only buy from 10 to 15 tables a <.,( ason c, el l ...1.).( < t to gpt them eLt thIS figure? But thanks to co-op PI d. tIOn \\ f' al P able to furnIsh j. OU thIS tablE> at a pnce that Vi. III not onh dHl j-OU t< meet It but make' a profit also v\le have 200 tables bPIIlg mau( dt facton and shIpments ean be made In ten days Order \\ h 1t "\OU need no" the consumer 1" gettIng thru the mail order business methods, the soap club lIterature and the vanous wholesale jobbers, "hlPp1l1g merchdnlhse to theIr customers out of their regular lme, all of \\ hlCh 1" showmg the consumer. that certain com-modI tIe" can be had at a certa1l1 pllce These pnces are so close to the pnce demanded of the small dealer, that it is not an) wonder that they are not makIng money The small dealer an'(IOUS to retam hIS volume of bUSIness begins to talk quality dlhl serVIce and he does everythmg WIthIn his power to stem thl" tIde, (vl-hIch by the way, IS the remedy generally pro-posed for these e, 1Is) StIll we find a certaIn volume of trade cont111uaIl) slIppIng away from us-why? SImply because bu"mess IS beIng done more and more upon the cold blooded bU"1l1c"" ba"I" and because our old tIme Ctlstomers can and d J C vcry now dlld then some Item for Ie" ... tl1dn we can "ell It We ImmedIately ask our"elves "Now If this, that, or the other fellow can scheme to do thIS," should I not be able - ~ - ~-------,-----------,------- WEEKLY ARTISAN to buy my merchandise as close as they?" Our answer is "Yes you can, that IS, If you wIll do as they do." But you say "I am only a small dealer and I cannot buy in carloads, etc" Yet, thIs is the condItion of all the small dealers It took the Minnesota association over three years to discover the solution of these conditions, which are, either that we wiII be forced out of the game of business or we mu<;t adopt such methods that will enable a smaIl dealer to get on the same ba.sis as to the first cost of his merchandise, a'S doe<; his big rival WhIle co-operative buying has those features that are hard to overcome, which we wish w~r&other- WIse, we find that unless we use this plan.: ~t'$ptofits are on the decline instead of where they ought to be~ce. when the years roll around we find our small dealers doing quite a No.3. Cheav ~Iontgomery Ward Bed a.. shQ<Wnin Their Catalog 27 But, My Dear Brother, of the furniture trade. what are you going to do? You have certain conditions to meet, the majority of which are not of your making No doubt sooner or later the small dealer will come to that understanding where he wdl see that he will have to adjust hImself to the scientific methods of today which methods are adopted by the <;uccessful enterprises now III existence. or he must atone to the offended law of the survival of the fittest. In which class are you gOlllg to be found? It 1<;the purpose of this article to inspire you and to Illculcate that hope in you, whIch WIll spur you on to do that which WIll make you successful and prosperous in your furni-ture business At the beginning, it may seem hard for you to adapt yourself to the requirements necessary to make co- ST~DY THIS ITEM. No 4. T Two-Inch Post Bed. Half Tone of Real Article. ThIS F2 No 0-035 Is the greatest bargaIn ever offered In a 2 Inch post Hon bed The maIn pIllars are 2 Inches In dIameter, and IS a plaIn artIstIc deSign in any bed room FInished WIth one coat of antI-rust filler and two coats of enamel SIzes 3 or 4 feet ThIS No 2 contInued post bed can be fur-nished our members 111 all SIzes In white enamel for $4 85 V Martm $5.35 Can you as a small dealer, who does not use ,)9 60 or 100 beds a Year, ever expect to buy beds at thIS price? Haven t you of-tener paId from $7 00 to $9 50 Yet by cut hng out all the waste, we are able to do It at aba" f' pflce Another IllustratIOn of what the nght kInd of co operatIOn WIll do rhIS IS--ihe kmd of bed the catalog buyer has in m1nd when he comes to your store. The half tone On opposIte SIde IS what you show him Unless you have an illustratIOn of this kInd pInned on the bed you are apt to have a hard tIme to conVInce hIm ThIS bed Is sold for $158. Note what we furmsh them for on OppOSIte side. No.1. Montgomery Ward S prIce for thIS dresser $11 55 but cut No 2 shows what you get Do you thInk that If theIr dresser wae; II lustIated as It IS shown In cut No 2 that It would teinpt anyone to part WIth then money? '" ell hardly, yet thIS IS the- kIn 1 of a game the dealer IS up against Look at cut No 2 and study It carefully volume of business, yet the net results are not there Why aren't they? Think again Of course we do not as<;ume to say that this is So in all cases, but we challenge OUI readers to deny that these con-dItion, affect the maJonty of our Jealers If you want to get at the bottem of these conditions, Just take a trip with your friend the travehng salesman and follow hIm on his route and you WIll probably be made to realize the fact as you never have realize

Date Created:

1910-08-13T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Grand Rapids Public Library (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Collection:

30:59

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/176