Michigan Artisan; 1907-08-25

Notes:

Issue of a furniture trade magazine published in Grand Rapids, Mich. It was published twice monthly, beginning in 1880. and Twenty",Eighth Year-No.4 AUGUST 25. 1907 Semi-Monthly Colonial Dining Room Pieces FROM THE UNE OF "r• . , l' t "THE ~7 BETTER MAKE" I &. ~ WE HAVE OVER 400PIECESIN OUR LINE Bedroom and Dining Room Furniture ----SUiTES TO MATCH ---- NELSON~MATTER FURNITURE COMPANY GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Factory and Salesroom. 37 Canal Street Catalogues to Dealers 'on Heavy Plate Paper. Quick Shipments on Everything BIGGEST LINE IN T"E WORLD J 108 VARIETIES _ of PRINCESS and EMPRESS DRESSERS Have you seen our New Cata-logue devoted exclusivelyto showing the I08 Varieties of PRINCESS and EM. PRESS DRESSERS which.we manufacture--·by far the Biggest Line of Prin· cess and Empress Dressers in the world? The best of it is, we have every one 01 those 108 Varieties in stock all the time for in-stant shipment. You will not find that our low-priced items(down to $8.00) are oversold, so that you can gel from us only the high· priced items without waiting three or four months. Wedo not put out any low. priced items as a bait, but carry all in stock at all times, and you can get the beautiful selection which we offer you from no other manulacturerin the country. NORTHERN PRINCESS DRESSERS ARE WEll MADE -~~= NONE BETTER ~~=c---- • tjj Northern Princess Dressers are noted lor their elegant simplicityof style. tjj Northern Princess Dressers are carefully and beautifullyfinished-··the very latest in the market. tjj Above all, the Price is right,•••Prices to suit every Buyer. 4Jl Drop us a line today for a copy 01 our new PRINCESS DRESSER Catalogue showing every one 01 the 108 Varieties. NORT"ERN fURNITURE COMPANY S"EBOYGAN, WISCONSIN Callinet Makers In tbes.e days of close competition~ need the best posaible equipment, and this; they can have in . . . . BARNES' Hand and Foot POWER Machinery Our New Nand and foot P()\1/er Gircular Saw No. 4 The strOllgest, most powerful, and in every way th~ best machine of itl kind e\'er made, for ripping, c:ross-cuttlng, boring and gTOoVlllit. Send for our New Catalogue. "W. F. ®.. JOHN BARNES CO 654 Ruby Street. Rochford. Ill. The Ford 8 Johnson Co. MANUFACTURERS Chicago Salesroom Ford-Johnson Bldg., 1433-35-37 Wabash Ave. For the July market we will have many new things to show. All furniture dealers are cordially invited to call and inspect our line, which includes Chairs, Rockers and Settees-all goods; Dining Room furniture; Mission furniture; Fiber Rush and Malacca furniture; Reed Rockers; Children's Go-Carts and Carriages, etc. WE ALSO SHOW SAMPLES AT OUR OWN SALESROOMS IN Cincinnati Atlanta New York Boston 1 I-I 2 MONARCH PUSH BUTTON MORRIS CHAIR Public Demonstration Of tlu> Famous------_ MONARCH PushButton Morris Chair It Brought Crowds to the Store and Started the Fall Season with a Boom. Beginning: Monday IDOfflUl/lwewitl ei~ lI;public demOMtration of Ramsey. Alton', Famou$ Monarch -Pu&h Button Morris' Chair, II chair that is adiusted to anY desired position by the oceupant witfIout "';:ertilli' out. of the chair_ Th.e I'ush button does af'llf ~th the lltCOa1'tnience of ~n2: out of the chait. Is INtantlY AQju5ted Ramsey -Alton Man ufacturing . PORTLAND, . MICHIGAN IT PAYS THE RETAILER TO MAKE A PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION OF THE Below is a sample of a full page advertisement used b.vthe Winegar Furniture Company of Grand Rapids (The largest retailers of house furuishing goods in the state of Michigan), annonncing a pUblic demonstration of the Monarch Push Button Morris Chair: Why not order a stock of these superior chairs-the best of their kind on the market? The Mon-arch costs no more than the common old style Morris chair that lacks comfort and conveniences. If you have not secured the agency for the famous Monarch Push Button Morris Chair for your town, write for it at once. Our full line is illustrated. described and priced in a handsome catalogue which we mail to dealers. Wnte for it now. Eaoy to ~l. s.."",',.J"J._. S\"<'"-' _., ",,~~, ...... "" ...... ""' .. CIIo<n. ;,.., ,1><""'" "00 " ,"- "" 01,b.", ....... "."i.,..'... ;''W''..".",'"''"~f..'""',"'''''''',''.'I''"·.''.'.'"..,''"..''<''l'o' ....iI<'''~... ;... -;~".':;"~=,",~1, ::,: ~"'. ,h~ ~., ~.......... rl," ... _ ..... .....". __ ~"""".","'w .. ","',,..,,«\. ",."""ill"" '" '"'Y .<...~'h"...."..... ..... ~o< .... """'.",..".·." ..... """'''' v,* "'. """"""'l>oJ .. ,.,w':.," I. '"' ."" _"'-_ .. ""' .... ltll' .. "".""'C ..." ,.;. ~',':.::~;.""'"""" .. ~_',.."",< Jr'OO nr- Mp "",-", ,.."i.. ." "','"" .. "" ..." ' ll<y ·VIo_.; • w ""I)' &gI;" "" ,. c;... .., Wo· !IOTho<u',,"' ,_".... .....-.\-d,......_ <A.'I><" ,.".f«,,,,...,.,..,,· . F'" _, .... _llill" ~_ ....~,h" ......... 'l"\I ..... ""'p" . Demonstration at Both 'Stores WineGar'S TWO BIGSTotas So.. J)fv:l~on and CherrY St&. 85-87 Canal ,st .• Cor. Erie Co. \"',\1 ;~ "I l .,' , 28th Year----No. 4. GRAND RAPIDS. MICH.. AUGUST 25. 1907. A Suggestion to Ease the Money Market. A banker of Bostoll, l\Ias5., st1ggests a greater use of bank checks and increase in number of small deposits hy people geJleral1y as a remedy for the monetary stringency and 11ighcr rates of interest prevailing. Substitlltion of checks for cur-rency in wages payments, deposit Df more money in bank and carrying less about in the pocket, greater llSe of t11e sys-tem of checks in the smaller concerns of every day business, are recommended in order to give mOHo lO;-Uling ability to t11E' banks when strain Oil accommodation i~ great. Inquiry of banker,.; and merchants as to their views Oil the merits of the proposition shows generat disposition to dass -it with tlle numerous theorie.<=;for currency reform that spring up annual-ly and generally about the crop movlng season \\'1H';1]small bills are needed west and south, and eastern banks are dr;;I.\vn Upon to meet the need. That the small Wrtge earner willingly would assist in giving banks more ability to lend to the mer('.hant or to the financier, !lot to say speculator. is doubted; that Ill: will prefer a check to actual cash, or would deposit it instead of cashing it through the grocer or other smaE t1H';fchant, is matter of doubt. If a mechanical effort is mad",. to induce habits of thrift, the per~on to be benefited is likely to resist, especially in ,So delicate a mrttter as the form of his wages. It may he said that the questiOIl is one of utility; the people in the east do !lot like the silver dollar coin and for years specimens in cornman use among the people have been fe.w; in the west, notably the far west, the paper dollars are held in sim-ilar es-teem, or lack of it. The cent coin does litHe work on the Pacific slope; in tbe east it is the most favored a11d one of the most useful of our token coinage. The British and continental Et1I'opeans to a great extent are wedded to the use of gold coins; p~\pcr mOlley is of little use in the smaller transactions, where here we seldom see our gold coins used in such business dealings. 11atters of envir-onment, habit, personal like and dislike, govern in tile form of mOlley, and lessen the Success of the effort tOlviden the use of checks by substituting the sanw for the sn1all wages paid to workers is doubtful. The savings bank offers a good place for the thrifty; it is doubthtl if giving a check instead of cash would make a man more thrifty; the difficulty of C<lS11- ing it would gi\'e another ground of complaint ag;-i.inst that "\Vall street," the conception of which in the public ml11d al-ready is strong enough, ano the more inconvenient form in which \vages were paid, by increasing the snpply of lO:-lllable funds to "the big men," either in business or speC\.11atlon, scarcely would be tolerated. There is much of interest and suggestiveness in the the-ory, but it is feared that it is too late to restrict the wage earner's freedom of use of his money, al1d that is just what would happen if he were paid by check instead of cash with the hope of making him morc thrifty. And ::liter all, it is !lot so much the dollars of the small earners that are needed just no\"/ as confidence in the existing credit agencies. The outlook this autumn is fairly good; true, the banks' reserves $1.00 per Year. are low, much too low for the season, but the thorough li-quidation in the stock market has removed one source of trouble. The treasury is well able to extend aid over the crop moving season and 1\'Jr. Cortelyou doubtless \vill de-posit government money with the banks, customs receipts incLuded, under the new law, if such c<)urse is needed. Con-fidence, after aB, is the desideratum aifd we dou'bt if the workingman '>"'ould h3ve his confidence increased in his country's money system by a chauge from the direct cash payment basis to which lH~is accustomed. Stationers in the Furniture Trade. During recent years stationers, as wen as jewelers, throughout the United States have added office and library furniture to their stocks of merchandise. Desks, typewrit-ers, sectional bookcases, secretaries, couches, chairs and kin-dred goods are handled in large quantities-often on the com-mission basis. A considerable number purchase goods out-right of the manufacturers for the purpose of gaining the extra discount offered for cash, but others carry samples only, furnished by the manufacturers. Solicitors are em-ployed and espccial attention is paid to the trade of men WllO arc about to open business offices. OU~5PfCIAliMPfRIAl WrA T"r~rD OAK 'Oil STAin is the standard all over America. Are YOU using it? .ANU£A~TlJRC:D tsHj.Y OY CHICAGO WOOD FINISHING CO. 2.59·63 ELSTONAVEm2·16 SLOAN Sf. CH I CAcao - - -- -- -- -- -- -- ---- - - ----~~~-~ MUSKEGON, MICH. Moon Desk Co. OFFICE DESKS New Styles for Fall Seasen, OUR OAK AND MAHOGANY Dining Extension Tables Are Best Made, Bdt Finished Values. All Made from Thoro~hly Se~ned Stock. No. a64~Dining Table Tup, 48.48. Mad. m qyort.red 001:, rull Pu~,hed. Nkkd Calt... , No. 584. Same style as .b<)ve with square top. LENTZ TABLE CO. No. 384J4 Dhdttil Table. NASHVILLE, MICH. WHITE PRINTING CO, I I GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. I I HIGH GRADE CATALOGS COMPLETE Something DiffERENT in Couches No. 155 WOVEN WIRE COUC" $4.00 Net We have made for some time, Couches and Davenports with woven wire tops. Our latest es~aJ in this line is DIffERENT. Made and shipped K. D. Easily set up. A trial order will convince. SMIT" &. DAVIS MfG. CO.,St. Louis. 5 SPR.ATT'S CHAIR.S THE BEELMAN CABINET COMPANY 1662-1672 Columbus Road, CLEVELAND.·0. ARE THE JOY OF THE CHILDREN. "THE BEELMAN LINE" FOR SPECIAL SALES OUf new CHILD'S MISSION ROCKER was a winner from the stare. Wrirt for Caro./ague and price~. Our tine is large and prices are right. MISSION ROCKERS MAGAZINE STANDS TABLES MEDiCINE CABlNETS We make SEND FOR CATALOGUE CHAIRS 1o, GROWN-UPS as well al CHILDREN. GEORGE SPRATT & CO. Sheboygan, Wis. Soy you law this ad in th, Michigan Arti- ~an. 6 MICHIGAN ,. ?" r ;;;;;a; 71R..rr 10' y:I.i'l Si t 'f' 3hi"t s@ SHELBYVILLE DESK CO. M,\N"llFACTURER5 OF OFFICE DESKS Mahogany, and Imitation Qyartered Oak, Plain Oak in Three Grades. SPECIAL FEATURES A SQUARE DEAL SHELBYVILLE, IND. Miscellaneous Notes. Among the late visiling- buyers to the Grand £tapids mar-ket was \V. H. Riley, of ~le111phis,Tenn. Mr. Riley came over from Chicago Augt1st 4 and stayed but one day. It was his first visit to Grand Rapids, and he said to the Artisan representative that he expects to make semi-annual visits to this market hereafter. Mr. Riley is a prosperous furniture merchant, in one: of the JUost progressive cities in the south. He has been in the mercantile business in Memphis for nearly thirty years, and has recently erected a fine four story build~ ing at 594-6-8 Madison avenue. He aaid that Memphis is growing very, rapidly,and that it is his belief that in no eit) in the country of the' same size are real estate and rents so high. vVhile he carries a large stock and considerable high grade furnitun', the bulk of his sales are of lower and meilltun grades, and business in this line is steady growing. He will be a welcome guest at Grand Rapids. The Lentz Table C~l1npany ,hav~ been doing things of late. A new 200 horse power engine and an addition of twenty-five feet to the smoke stack are among the' improvements. When it comes to making' diriing extension tables, nothing is too good for Lou Lentz. He is always on the lookout for the best things, and how to make the best use of them. That's why the Lentz tables are so popular. Creditors holding about a third of the liabilities of Alex-ander Crow, ~urniture dealer of Philadelphia, Pa., have asked that he be declared bankrupt. Other creditors object and are contesting the proceedings vigorously. The latter in-sist on giving extensions and allowing Mr. Crow to continue business. F. S. Harmon & Co. have made an agreement with the J\Torthern Pacific railway whereby they relinquish the ground occupied by them in Tacoma, \\'ash .. to the railroad company for depot use and receive another site in exchange. The L. Harbach's Sons Co, Des Moines, la., have been incorporated to manufacture furniture. The capital stock is $200,000. The incorporators are L. Harbach, L. H. Har-bach and W. C. Harbach. M. K. Hunt has Deen appointed trustee by the creditors of the Baldwin & Standish store in Sault Ste. ':\'larie, )-lich. An inventory of the stock is to be taken to satisfy creditors. IVlcLain, Simpson & Co., furniture and carpet dealers of 538 Eighth avenue, New York, who were recently adjudged bankrupt, will pay all claims in full. , l, Charles N. Saunders of Ncg-aunee, :rvlich.,has invented a carpet cleaning machine, -...vhich,after a thorough test, is pronounced a great succcss. Elijah Van Camp, vice presidtnt and one of the founders of the Cleveland Varnish Company, died .11 \-tishome in that city recently. The Little Furniture Company of Gastonia, N. c., are selling out their stock at cost and will go out of business. Asa F. Leopold, formerly in the retail furniture business at Duluth, Minn., died in a Chicago hospital un August 4. George vVebber has sold his interest in the business of Webber & Lavery, Cadillac, l\:lich., to H. C. Harris. The S. S. Key Furniture Company succeeds Key & Mos-ley in Pratt City, Ala. E. P. Pittman has sold his furniture business in Coleman, Fla. Vv'. H. Kent has opened a furniture store at Viola, Ill. Installment Sales by Mail. The business of 'selling furniture on the installment plan by mail is growing and it is said the installment merchants arc cutting the ground from under the regular mail order dealers who require that the full purchase price of an article be remitted with an order. Below will be seen an adver-tisement ofa prominent merchant illustrating how the busi~ l:ess is conducted: HDMES FURNISHED BY MAIL DN CREDIT W.IU"';5~ homo' on "'~" .11 0'0' ,"" Un,.. d S,...... Wo<h.n« ._'.tdy ""'h'"" fo:.,- ,~,; <-:"di,««om""" d."",,_nc .ft....", __•• _.,,, '-'I ""'> Joo04, ~.::.,1r,.a~~./.:',';,'i:~l~ib,~.~~'~'::"~~~~'~~d'l: 5~~':t.Jf£*:1FiWO:~'l~n;i~,i~ II'OQ<Is at 1,..",-. "', ..... 'ban a'7"'''''' ~'''' ;~tM""'''''''' "'0"_"'0010 ::.-.~.::.o '489 HARTMAN FURNITURE AND CARPET CO. 223-22:5-227-22& wn.h AQ.. Chfcllso. U. S. A. ,--------------------------------- --- - CRY IS FOR SMALLER CARS. Chicago Shippers Declare Big Equipment Is Fatal to Their Trade. Adviccs from Chicago state that certain shipping inter-ests have begun a movement fOl~ a combined protest, against the increasing size of freight equipment and power on the railroads of the United States. it is stated that as the size of the power and equipment increases so does the delay to goods in transit increase. The big freight car and the enormous engine, it is admitted, wilt Made by Globe Furniture Co.. Evansville, Ind. not hurt the big shipper, but will make it almost impossible for the small dealer to con[jnuc in business. Already, it is stated, there is a great demand for smaller cars of 30 tOllS or so, anJ they aTc not to be had on any railroad in the country. So great became the craze for larger equipment that many of the railroads "scrapped" their small cars, and now the smalt shipper is confronted with a big car and a big minimum -weight. If he is not a carload dealer he f-inds himself in a bad box. The hrillg-ing out of the big eng.ines built for the Erje, the largest in the world, is made a basis for this argument. In so doing the fact is ignored that these machines are intended solely as pllshers to help heavy trains over steep grades. They could never be used in train service for the rails now in use would not permit it. Colonial Furniture in Salem and Lynn. A. C. Titus & Co., of Salem, \LlSS .. who have a branch store at Lynn, halldle furniture in colonial styles largely. l'vIany of the residents of those cities are descendants of colon-ists, and their homes ('ontain many samples of the colonia' periods, not only that of America, but of other na.tions as .\CdJ. 7 Having used colonial furniture from infancy, the people know what is pure amI reliable, and ha'le no tolerance for frauds. Titus 8:. Co. are fortunate in having such intelligent commun-ities to deal with. ')''1anyof the old houses in these cities are charming examples of the architecture of past centuries. PartiCUlarly attractive are the entrances. Architects from many citic!:>at bome and abroad a.re often seen in the streets opposite tbese homes busily engaged in sketching the same. Designers of furniture, when permitted to enter the homes of these people, find many specimens of beautiful design and workmanship. One delightful old home has been occupied by a wealthy family and their descendants through nine gen-era. tions, and as the present occupant of the house has three \'igorous young sons, there is apparently no immediate pros-pect of a change in the ownership of the place. Furniture Repairing. The repairing of furniture is a profitable industry that any dealer can engage in. A grt~at many retailers in the larger cities operate quite extensive shops, and advertise the same liberally. The Paine Furniture Con:pany of Boston use a large amount of spaee in the daily newspapers for the pl1r~ pose of soliciting orders for furniture to repair. A lat£: issue of the Boston Herald contained the following adver-tisement well displayed: ***** * ***** 1'**** * *** * FURNITURE REPAIRING. • * Vie do all kinds of furniture repairing, cabinet work, * * reupholstering and refinishing. The facilities of our * * tomplele furniture factory on the premises enables us to * * do this work economically and satisfactorily. * * Orders placed this month can be executed promptly. ,." * No charge made for estimating or teaming. " PAINE FuRNITURE CO. * 48 Canal Street * Between J',;"orth Station and Haymarket Square. * * **'" * ****""***** *- ****>i< Morris chairs with push buttons, by the use of which the back can be quickly and easily changed, are made as a spec-ialty by the Ramsey-Alton Company of Portland, Mich. r , QRAnD TDUnK DT. STST[M ,MOST ATTRACTIVE ROUTE JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION Tickets on sale daily until Nov. 30 11901, at very low rates. Pas-sengers have choice of several routes. On season and sixty-day limits, liberal stop--over. Passengers may go one route and return via another. FulJ particulars at City Ticket Office, 97 Monroe street. Phones-Citizens, 5576; Bell, main, 576. C. A. JUSTIN, C. P. & T. A. GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. NG BEDS E BREAD AND The "ELI" fOLDI . ~~OfIT WINNERS 'thout the Eh o.d s in Mantel and Upright. No Sto,k ,omp''''' w, "'." .... IUe. '~d'~~~ ELI D. MILLER &: Co.Writeforcutsall P PrICe $18.50. Has 48 InNcho.T2o5p1, .5 Legs and is Highly Polished. It's One of the "SUP~RIOR" _ .._. -----,-.. re all Peaches, Pie and There are man~ mta~logue a.nd get a tast~. Pudding. Send or ._' BOGKSTEGE fURNITURE GO. [VIllNSVILL[ IND. Globe Side-boards Are Ihe 8e81 on me GlObe lor me MOney GET OUR CATALOGUE Globe Furniture Company EVANSVILLE. IND. Cupboards Kitchen Cabinets and K. D. Wardrobes. Is all we moke but we make lob of them. Get Catalogue and Prices. The Bosse Furniture Co EVANSVILLE • INO. • nar~es War~ro~es . are Good Wardrobes GOOD Style Construction Finish PRICES RIGHT Writ~JT' or Cata /ogue Karges Furniture Company, EVANSVILLE • IND. 10 ·5t~MI9f1IG7!N The Sargent Mfg. Co. MUSKEGON. MICH. Bachelors' Cabinets Ladies' Desks Extra Large Chiffoniers ______ Abo Manufacturen and 'ExporterJ of ------ ROLLING CHAIRS Chairs adapted to all kinds of invalidism. both fot house and street use. OVER FORTY DESIGNS TO SELECT FROM Muskegon Valley Furniture Co. Musl<ellon. MicL •• Odd Dressers Chiffoniers Wardrobes Ladies' Toilet> Dressing Tables Mahogany Inlaid Good. Ladie' Desks Music Cabinets I· I HAND CIRCULAR RIP SAW MORTISER COMBINED MACHINE No. 4, SAW (ready for cross-cutting) Complm Oulfit of HAND and FOOT POWER MACHINERY WHY THEY PAY THE CAal"'~T MAKER He can save a mamdaeturer's profit a~ wen as a dealer's profit. He can make wore mOrley with less capital invested He can hold a better and moTe satisfactory trade with b is customers. He call manufacture in as good style and finish, and at as (ow cost as the factories_ The local cabinet Ulaker has been fQrced into only the dealer's trade and profit, because of machine manufactured goods d factories. Au out6t of Rarnes Patent Foot and Hand·Powe1" Machinery, reinstates the cabinet maker with advantages equal to his competitors. If desired. these machines will be sold on trial. The purchaser can have ample tittle to test them in bis own shop and 011 the work he wisbes tbem to do. De8c1'ipUve catalogue and prwe list free. W. 1'. Ii. JOI1N BARNfS CO.,654 Ruby St .. Rockford, III. HAND TENoNER No.3 WOOD LATHE No. 4, SAW (ready for ripping) FORMER OR MOULDER No.7 SCROLL SAW 11 RELIABLE and SUBSTANTIAL fURNITURE SUCH AS WE MAKE IS EVER THE SOURCE OF PLEASURE AND PROFIT TO THE RETAILER AND THE PURCHASER R.OCKFOR.D CHAIR and FUR.NITUR.ECOMPANY ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS Johnson Chair Company CHICAGO, ILLINOIS JVlanufacturers __ Office Chairs, Dining Chairs, Bedroom Chairs, and Parlor Rockers Send (or our new Catalogue, just out, illustrating our enttre line. PERMANENT EXHIBIT: Furniture Exhibition Building, 1411Michigan Avenue. The Higher Degrees of Furniture Construction Have Been Taken by the ESTEY MANUFACTURING CO. FOT Workmanship _------------...., FOTQuality CHAMBER SUITES No. 40() SIDEBOARDS and BUFFETS FOT Designs OWOSSO, MICH. CATALOGUE MAILED TO THE TRADE ONLY For Finish 14 -J'~MIgrIG7JN A. MONTGOMERY WARD. The Chicago Millionaire Merchant Who Lives in a Fortress and Wraps Himself in Mystery. "Watchdog of the Chicago lake front!" A. Montgomery \Vard, in years past, has become better known to Chicago through this sobriquet than ever he has through the gigantic business of his original mail order house in which his millions were made. But that A. Montgomery Warda.lso is called the watch-dog of a smooth, undulating gravel roadway which leads out of Oconomowoc village north along the west shore of La- Belle Lake will smack of novelty. La Belle Knoll for 20 years has been the Ward country home, a mile and a half out of Oconomowoc, Wis. Tt is a farm of 300 acres, where the casual visitor ringing the bell of the old fashioned farm house in the old times might he invited to a glass of hot toddy on a cold day or to a prime mint julep when the mercury stood in the 90s. But the old farm house of the Durands, the barns, and the granaries and stable, are gone. La Belle Knoll has sup-planted them with the \;Yard ,architecture, which may stand invincible to all weathers long after the \;YaHls have deserted it for that bourne to which Col. Durand has gone these many years. And under the Ward regime the, traditions of the old farm have changed more radically than have the farm's fields, fences, and architecture. "Watchdog of the Oc-onomowoC road" is more than a village adaptation of the W,ard spirit in the lake front controversy in Chicago. The sign manual of the master of La Belle Knoll obtrudes itself on even the simple farmer who dirves in and out of the vitlage along this west shore of La Belle lake, year after year. ********* how many infantrymen might be stood off from attack by land and; water? And the \Vard family c011sists of only Me Ward, Mrs. Ward and Miss Marjorie Ward, adopted heiress of the Vlard millions and daughter of Mrs. Ward's dead sister~ a giri just in the bloom of her young womanhood, but a Ward i:\ legal name only. Ward was a boy once, ragged, working for 25 cents a day in a .Michigan barrel factory when only 11 years old. At 14 years old he was working in a brickyard at 50 cents a day, which meant more help to his father's impoverished family. When he got a place in a St. Joseph, Mich., store at $5 a month and board the Ward fortunes were looking up indeed. Ward, the merchant, developed there. It was as a traveling salesman and a successful one that the idea of selling goods by mail came to the mind of A. Montgomery Ward. He was named for Gene. A. Montgomery "Vard, kinsman of \Vard's great.-grandfather, Gen. Isreal Ward, who served under Gen. George \Vashington in 1772. Two men and a boy constituted this first mail order house in the world. Holt was the other man's name; the boy's name is forgotten. The beginning was in 1872 in the loft of a Chicago barn. There are 2,000 em-ployes in the great build-ings of Montgomery \N ard & Co" as they front the preserve of Gntut park today. The month-ly sales of the house ex-ceed $2,000,000. Ward himself, with his millions retired from the house several years ago, main-taining only the watch on that park preserve, which in his land titles is assur-ed to him forever to re-main free of encroaching buildings. v.,r ork- work- work - work-work! This was the builder of the, Ward fortune-cease- Ie s s, tireless, timeless work. There were no vacations in these years of fortune building and fortune laying. Says a man who worked among these early co-workers of the millionarie- that was to be-men who were to become 'heads of depart-ments in the great house in the early years of its success: "There was Holt. VVhen the business had ex-panded sufficiently, Holt became manager of the gun depart-ment of the store. He had been a tirless worker, and for years there had been no va~ations tm anyone. Holt was in bad health when he recived notice that he might have a vacation of two weeks with full pay. He accepted the offer and went home. Two or three days later he shot and killed himself. "Keeney was an Irish buyer for the notion department of the house, Keeney shot himself and died. Birch, head of the crockery department, committed suicide. Wicker, head of the dry goods department, went to an exhibition of the Athletic dub and fell dead as he sat looking on." , The Thorne brothers, five of them, and all nephews of Ward's are the business heart of the Montgomery Ward & * BEWARE OF THE • * DOG. • * DANGEROUS • * PASSAGE. • * * * * * * * * • Imitation Leather Couch $1 Down and SOCa Week HishInnd Rugs THESE STRONG, Sl1JRDY DURABLE RUGS art" equal", every "·ay 10 ,bo.,.,.. """"",•• from $15" $10 Thoy ~ .. $12 50 ...hJghest grade product of the rua: <Pakers &l1 Y'"'' ~h...... • from hlllldred& of chou:c floral or oneolal carper .... '8'1S on ~ your QWI\ lenDS of paymenl at the low pnc," of •. ' .• --. ~J~~DWEN~··~~~~~ ooinl""~b\;' furnI>1l .. rum'';' a f><IrloN ~, B~"'. D!tIIrI;&mom ....'''n. PIDIMJ<>o>n> and 1UUl Kn,, __ ... llllebeo-a -tIll(, .... ~Iar ~_IDt-t<>rI"" !l?1'tIUe1I1 Iw JoII;. ::'::: $6& DPPo5tr£ PUB~IC L1BRAIIY ::::"~:. '$95 An Attractive Advertisement of a Rug Sale. The portals to La Belle Knoll are of granite, lettered deeply against wind and weath-erof a thousand years. Two granlte vases. fined with flowers, top the columns. Winding dO\vn to La Belle Knoll cottage, 200 yards away, is a beautiful drive between sloping- green borders mown to velvet smoothness, Viewed from the road, a skyline of huge elms shuts off the view of" La Belle lake and in the summer shadows under the trees most of La Belle Knoll's architecture is hidden. But grim and fortresslike above it all stands a giant round town or vitrified red brick, its white cupola perhaps 80 feet in the air, commanding miles of lake and fields, and woods and hills. Twenty feet or more in diameter at the top, flying at full mast the stars and stripes at the national emblem, the thought would obtrude: "Can this be the sum-mer home of a private citizen? Manned by sharpshooters, 15 Our Spring Business was ..50 per Cent Greater Than Last Year Sales at the mid-summer furni-ture show in Grand Rapids were more than satisfactory to us, all of which proves the popularity of the Woodard line. If you are looking for Circassian Walnut We have the Strongest Line in America LIKEWISE COLONIAL DESIGNS Have you our new fall oatalog ? A A If not send for it. ..A A Makers of medium priced Bedroom Furni-ture in all the Fancy Woods and Finishes. Woodard Furniture Company Owosso, • • Michigan Co. of today. It has been odd that almost allY of \;Yard's friends and a:-;sociates refuse absolutely to speak of \~Tard's personal life for public print. An old friend of the man's was ttlling the other day the pretty little story of the time \Vard sent back to the Michigan town of his birth, incidentally looking up the ·woman who once had worked for the \Vard family. He found her ill and in bed. Her husband was dead. There was a mortg-age on her home for $3,OCO, and she could not meet even the inter-est. \Vard sympathized with her, engaged a physician for her, supplied a nurse, and guaranteed all the household nec-essities to the town merchants and left her. A week later he mailed to her the canceled mortgage, on the house. to-gether ..v..i.tb a substantial check. "\\.That is t1l1s ll,'ltivc home town ()f his?" was asked. "Let me sec- 'ah, yes, Niles, 'wasn't it?" The story is told of a timekeeper in the \Vard establish-ment when 'Nard himse1f \vas omnipotent in it. There were 1,500 employes in the house at the time, every Ol1e of whom had to be checked in his comings and goings. This time-keeper reported for duty at 7 o'clock in the evening, having his own half hour for luncheon. But the apparatus of a burglar's protective association had to be arranged fat' the night at doors and 'windows, and the home life of the man was uncertain. The Thornes-l1ephev'is who have succeeded to the busi-ness, 'were gaining their husiness training at the time. They were heads of depart1r~ents and conductors of much of the business policy of the house, even then. But \\lard, meet-ing this timekeeper in the street one day bey()11d possible earshot of anyone in the hOl1se, stopped him. "I "vant you to keep a time check on the Thorne. boys, too," be said. "Do it on the quiet. Don't let anyOne know. But send the time reports to me marked 'Personal.' " Friends of the man admit that he is retiring, avoiding public notice of any kind-cold, even as he is seen by most men. In business always he was a sphinx toward his em-ployes. "Vhen he had something to say he sent for the per-son, said it, and sent the person away again. But the greet-ing of a "'good morning" from him was unknown to the ranks of his workers. He was the human icicle, shunning and shunned in all but the relations of business. Memphis Hotel to be Furnished from Grand Rapids Arthur Gibson, of the Gibson & Son furniture house of J\.femphis, Tenn., ]. S. Aisthorpe, ,of Cairo, Ill., and L. S. Parker of Memphis, were in Cr:md Rapids, Aug. 19, select-ing furniture for the new Gayaso hotel, at :rvlemphis. The Gavaso has been entirely remodeled and is \lOW one of the lea~ling hotels of the south. It is said that hetween $10,000 and $15,000 'worth of furniture will be purchased in Grand Rapids by lhc three visitors. Morton House American ......F'lan Rates $2.50 and Up Hotel Pantlind Rates $.. 00 &ondUp GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. European ......F'lan The Noon Dinner Served at the PanUind for 500 i' the fiNEST IN THE WORLD J. BOYD PANTLIND. Prop. 16 Sligh's Superior Styles Sold All Through the Season Dull Trade is Unknown by Dealers Handling the SLIGH LINES. « THE JULY SEASON'S SALES,:OF;:SLIGH GOODS A RECORD BREAKER. «iI CORRECT STYLES, GOOD MATERIALS AND HONEST WORKMANSHIP. STRONG FEATURES IN THE SLIGH LINES. SLIGH FURNITURE COMPANY, BUCHANAN STREET. GRAND RAPIDS. MICH. , c The White Directory CONTAINS A CAREFULLY COMPILED LIST OF MANUFACTURERS OF FURNITURE, PIANOS, ORGANS, INTERIOR FINISHES AND KINDRED INDUSTRIES ,Now Ready. Send h, your order. WHITE PRINTING COMPANY PRINTERS, ENGRAVERS, PUBLISHERS, BINDERS 2-20 LYONST., GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. The New Banquet Table Top u well .. OFFICE. DlNING and DIRECTORS' TABLES are our .pecialty. r'"~-", r "oL"'~""~£ ",1 . STOW & DAVIS FURNITURE CO.• ~~~pido. Wriie for CatalolJUe. ,Get satDPle& of BANQUET TABLE TOP. WE manufacture the larg. est line of FOLDING CHAIRS in the United Statea, suitable for Sunday Schools, Halla, Steamers and a.ll Pu bli~ Reaorta. • • • • We also manufacture Brass Trimmed Iron Beda, Spring Beds. Cot. and Criba in a large varlety. • • • Sead for Cat.lope and Prl.cu to Kauffman Mf~. CO. ASHLAND. OHIO THE LEXINGTON Michigan Blvd. & 22d 51 CHICAGO, Ill. R~furnished !lnd re-fitted throughout. New Manairem:ent. The fumittlre dealers' head-quarters. Most con-venielltly situated to t b e fumilun, display bouses. Inter-Slate Holel CO. OWNER &. PR()PRIETOR E. K. Cril~y. Pr~s.; T. M. Cdley, V. Pres.; L H. Firey, SeC-Tleu.s. The average Chicago commercial traveler is a Chicago boomer. On one occasion one of them ~aid, 'There are but three cities in this country. f.;cw York is one, and Chicago is the other two." "'len, that's going some, but when onc re-calls the fact that Chicago bad but 109.CGO people by the united States census in 1860: and that by the city directory for 1907 the population is 2,367,000 and that the city's in-crease within the last year is 65,500, not only the commercial travelers but everybody in the city has something to talk ahout. Every reader of the ?\lichig'<Illl\.rtisan kn<)l,vs that Chicago is a great £l1rniture and bedding; manufacturing city and yet it may be faidy questio,ncd jf nile of them can give more than an approxinwte estimate of the number of factor.ies or the value of the <1l1Htwloutput. A week SpCllt in Chicago visiting friends and acql1aintallces in the ftlrniture trade, some of whow tbe writeI' had not seen fo!- scver,ll years, was spent pleasantly, although a great mall)' \Vcre missed, not that they are dead or gone out of business, bllt some \Vere on their "racations, others at home sick or 011t of tbe eity On business and a good m,any more, the scribc did not have time to call on. The following aJ'e ;lD10ng' those called on: Horn Bros. 2S1 to 291 \Vest Superior street, manufacturers of tine and medium Ch;:lJlJbcr furniture. This hOt15C waR es-tablished In 1876 in a, small way_,hut bas had a eontinuotls grmvth for llearly 30 years, and today it SUHlds among the very best jIJ Chicago. Their line is chamber furniture, made ill mahogany, tuna mahogany" quartered oak and bird's~eye maple. Colonials enter largely into their product, and are much sought after by the best furniture dealers Their 1907 cat<llogue contaius 109 illustrations, nearly all of which are made in several woods and finishes. Trade 'was reported vcry good, and everything around the factory looked pros-perous. The Right }--follorable Presley 1,1. Herron, D. C. (Doctor of Commerce) the head pnsh of the Sanitary Feather Com-pany, says "Everything is lovely. a1Hl the aquatic fowl is elevated at a very high altitude," but not so high but that his choicest <1own and feather" find their way into the bins, machines, pillows, bales, and ticks, and from there into the hands of the leading furniture and dry goods merchants, and thence to the holt1e:s of the People, with a Big P. as :VIr. Lincoln used to say. The olnces of this company have re- 7IRTIS A..t"l 9 7$· 17 cently been enlarged, and President Herron has had a nice private office fitted up """here he can shut himself 1/1 when otcasion demands it, or invite his friends to a pleasant chat or get down to business without being molested by the gencral activity always to be seen about the business office" Trade was never better with this company. O. C. S. Olsen, \vho recently purchased the factory on l'\-loffatt street formerly occupjell by Spragtl~e, Smjth & Co., has built a fine three story and basement brick addition 56 x 116 feet, which wlll give him very much more floor space than in his old factory at Austin aVe',l1ueand May street. The first floor wlll be occupied as a machinery floor the second ""ill contain the offices, and such other uses as NIr. Olsen decides on. Also new dry kilns of the Morton patent with a capacity of 60;000 feet of lumber. He expects to have the H'hole factory in running order by the first of September_ The Chicago, :Milwaukee & St. Paul tracks run just south of the factory, with side tracks right into the lumber yards and shipping rooms, a convenience possessed by very fe"\' furniture faetories in Chicago. A. ]. Jc\hnson & Sons Company report a very heavy busi-ness in dining room furniture. Hanke Bros. for twenty-ilve years actively engaged in the manufacture of futniture on 'Vest Kinzie street, have sold their plant to the Northwestern Railroad Company and it is said they have retired from the business altogether, The Johnson Chair Company Shipped more goods in Jttly than in any month in the history of the Company. Their July sales were very heavy. Boynton & Co., manufacturers of wood carvings, mould-ings, etc., are enjoying a fine business. Theirs is probably the largest line of mouldings of any house in the business. Schultz & Hirsch, manufacturers of all kinds of bedding, have been in business twenty-seven years, and are having a splendid trade. They have always been noted for making good goods. Joseph A. \\-1eyers, President and Manager of the Manufac-turers Exhibition building Company 1319 lvlichigan avenue, is very well satisfied with present tonditions and the future outlook. vVith his able Secretary, Geo. W. Jackson, he has no difficully in keeping the big building filled to overflow~ ing with exhihitors. Indeed, it is only a question of huw many manufacturers he can accommodate, as they all want to get into 1319 if possible. The Kimball-Chappell Company, maiwfacturers of brass bedsteads, put some beautiful goods on' the market in July, ;md had a huge business as a re'ward for their enterprise. Frank Seng has been stung by the auto microbe and ha>i one of the worst cases on record, of course only the best automobile that money can buy is good enough for Frank, and nobody has a better right to el1joy it. The Hafner Furniture Company, manufacturers of up~ holste-red furniture at 26th and Dearborn, report a heavy business. This house is one of the old-timers~probab\y the oldest in this line in the city. Speakmg of mai! order business, one gentleman said "last year \ve received an order for 1,000 couc:.hes from one of the mail order houses, which developed into 6,500 in a single year. \\lbere is the furniture store that could use one-third as many in the same time?" KowJ it is up to the manu-facturers to either fill these orders or see the mail order houses build their own factories and still more complicate matters by sharper competition than ever. These huge mer-cantile houses cannot be driven out of business; they are not in a trust, but are their own sharpest competitors, and arc strictly within the law. To resolve and to boycott will not mend matters in the least, and yet I realize it is a serious problem .. and who is wise enough to solve it?" 'iV. C. Lumpkin has opened a furniture store at Hearne, Tex. 18 -§l~MI9rIG?JN $ ~STAaI.ISHEO 1880 ""0.", , - , I \ i '- \ , , L' _~- " ~ ~ ~ ~'''': - - PU"L.I.!IH~D ST MiCHIGAN ARTISAN CO. ON THE IQ.,.K AND 25TH 0" EACH MONTH OFP'ICE-2.20 LYON ST•• GRAND RAPIDS, MICH, ENTERED ...8 Mo\.TTI!.R OF THE 9ECOt<D Cl/lliS The sojourner in Boston notices, as an evidence of Yankee thriftiness, that the mercantile houses, with rare exceptions, are "as dark as a pocket" at night. The "eyes of the stores" (the display windows) are closed and the dimly lighted streets create the in:lpression that death has caused the mournful condition so noticeable to strangers. The stores of Hemy Siegel and Cobb & Eastman are wen lighted at night, offering a che.e:rfulcontrast to the gloom' of Wilsh-ington street. Roston needs an injection of Kew York 'ideas and Chicago liberality, *1* *1* *1* *(* Buyers make their estimates from a-p-pear,mces as wen as from statements."-GoQd Fixtures. That's true. And yet a truth ignored by many otherwise good business men. There are. too many men who spend for five thousand 'catalogues what they ought to spend for one thousand. The mails are daily burdened with poorly e.ngraved and poorly printed catalogues, ninety per cent of which -find their way to the waste basket without ever having been perused. A catalogue in a waste basket is a wasted catalogue. Don't do it. *1* *1* *!* *\* Battle Creek merchants have gotten rid of catalogue house competition by hard work. They united and fought along educational lines. They talked the matter over with the far,mers, and assisted them directty in building roads and making markets. They were patient and persisted. They also advertised in local papers, and enlisted these publications on their side. The result has been a g"reat victory, one worth all their efforts. *J* *1* */* *1* A retailer in furniture doing business in Buffalo mailed a large number of red tags to residents of many towns and cities in western New York upon which was printed the cut of a large buffalo and these words: "Take this tag and ship yourself to Buffalo. for old home week, September 1 to 7, The tOvVllamI all it cOlltains will be youn." Undoubtedly, if you possess the price. *1* *1* *1'" *1* Upwards of $2,000,000 were lost by the de!itruction of the hotels and cottages, with their contents, at Old Orchard Beach, :Me" recently. The hotels and many of the cottages ,,,,,ill be replaced. creating a heavy demand for cheap fnrni-tun~. There will be a lively squabble among the. members of the New England I-Iouse Furnishers' Association for this important trade. */* *1* *1* *1* Reports in re.gard to the oiana-gement of the express com-panies, obtained through theintcfstat{'. comm('.rt":ccommission, reveal the fact that outrageous charges arc imposed for services rendered. To check the hoggishness of these public servants, a parcels post wilt be established by the govern-merit, it is hoped, speedily. *1* *1* *1* *\* A s"Tenti"t of l\ful1ich, Bavaria, has invented a microscope by whleh onc can see an object 1-2.000,000 of an ineh in cir-cumference, That lens is hardly capable, however, of photo-graphing the margin of profit resultil1g to manufacturers of kitchen cabinets from the sale of their goods. *1* *1* *1* *1* There is no safer foundation for a merchandising business than satisfied customers-with satisfaction comes good will. Hence the merchant should never advise a .customer to buy anything that is not worth the price or that is not sure to prove sati!:dactory. *1* *1* *l* *1* Most of the concerns that go to the wall because of ;;l.lleg-ed tightness of the mOlley market are found to have been doing business on borrowed capital. When they can't any longer pay an old note with a new and bigger one it is time to stop. *l* *1* *1"4' *1* Beauty in a window display is a thing to be sought for, but lt is not the primary thing, Attract attention to the goods and show th{:m in the most advantageous light possible, If heauty may be added, it will serve an added purpose. *l* *1'" *\* *l* The salesman who sneers at customers who ask for cheap goods is worse than useless to his employer. His services are not worth 'his salary, whatever it may be, becaus'e he lnakes enemies for the store and drives trade away. *\* *\* *1* *1'" Every merchant who is alive to his own interest will urge the congress of the United States to establish a par-cels post, by law. *1* *1* *1* *1* The merchant who is interested in his customer's interests is apt to succeed. He is able to see with a ct1stomer's eyes and correct mistakes he. might make otheTwise. *1* *1* *1* "'1* When the opportunity comes to make good, tat) many men are engaged in grumbling, at their lot and miss the chal1ce. *1* *1' "'* 'I" Owing to the hoggishness of the express companies, a parcels post is becoming an imperative necessity. N,ot Satisfied. Buffalo and Boston spent a lot of money on "Home Com-ing Week," and arc not satisfied. Over 100,000 people, several of whom formerly lived in Boston, responded to the invitation to come home during the second week of August, but none of the important tradesmen derived substantial bene-fit from the influx. The people were too busily engaged in looking for Paul Revere's grave, Longfellow's home, the statues of Daniel Webster and William Lloyd Garrison, the frigate Constitution and l\Iother Eddy's spiritual home to give much time to the big merca11tile cstabllsnments. The transportation, companies, the hotels, the restaurants, the soda fountains and like businesses were well patronized. In Ruffalo the results have not been -figured up; but in many quart~rs. the expressions of dissatisfaction are more pro-nounced than were those that followed that most beautiful and enchanting failure, the Pan-American exposition. Death of a Collector. O. H. Sypher, the most noted collector of antique furni-ture, china, glassware and kindred goods in the United States, died recently at his home in East Orange, N. J., aged 74 years. It is believed that Mr. Sypher was the first New York dealer to import tapestries. He imported the Barberini ta~estries from the Barberini palace in Rome, which were owned by a famous Florentine family of that name, His ad-vice was sought continually on the furnishing of homes and evidence of his work may be found in many a Fifth avenue mansion. He was called upon almost daily by the custom hcuse 05cials to dC':ide on the value of al1tiqt~es. "Introspection and Retrospection," 1 have the blizzard of eight years ago to thank [or the most valuahle kSSUll 1 e\>'ET learned. Yet the bliaanJ oIlly illdirectly-a magllincent old Scotd> Canadian directly, "But from all evil some good we. may takc"-and jf th;:tt blizzard hadn't imprisoned a number of us in the city. av,;-:,' from our suburhan homes, I wouldl1't have had the 1c:sson. and you couldn't have bad it. For hours, a couple thousand nervOus men paced wearily up and down the big- ,,,,aiting rooms of the terminal depot. or gathered in grOl1ps and discussed the sitllatioI1, or asked questions of raihv:ws employes. No trains were running-no tdling \,...hen any would run. At la;;t four of Us decided to go to a hotel-and ·went, after telegraphing our families. Ferguson-·-the Scotch-Canadian and an iron master; :Mil-well- a Ja\\,'yer; Beale-a manufacturer; and myself. V/e could get hut one room-and that on the t.op floor, and a pile of snow had drifted in through a ventilator. But it was shelter, and there were tv,,'O big heds and plenty of covers, After some dinner and a smoke we went to the room. Vole drew lots for bf:'d partncrs, and Ferguson al1d I got the short oncs. \Ve said OUf prayers all(l tumbled in. Now that discom-fort was over, we were ·indined to have some fun. Except Ferguson He ,vas silent·-and it was strange, for he was a mighty companionable old chap. But we couldl1't make him ta{k for a long time. The rest of us chaffed, and told storics, and laughed-Ferguson was silent. He waSll't asteep-I discovered that \\rhen I yanked the covers off him and got a jab and a kick at the same time. At last he talked-and ",,'hat he said was worth listening to. He told us that he had been doing something his mother taught him up m the Vl,rilds of Canada, nearly fifty years be-fore. "Introspeciion and Retrospec::tion." he called it. Every night, h~ said, during all those years, he had done it. This is how: Lie with eyes closed, and -nentally review day. Things done and Bot done, and why. Personal behavior; treatnlent of others; maintenance of self-respect At first, he said, it ,..'.as hard to remember much that had happened, and still harder, I1ext t11ornit1g, to apply the de-cisions and resolves made. But sticking to it made it easy, and no\-\' every c\-'ent of the past day marched in or.derly p!'()CeSSiOll before him "...h.en JH' willed, and he awoke each moming armed and outfitted Eor that flay. TIe told LIS that it had become his habit to defer over-night, \vhenever possible, his decision on important questions. Away from the man ',vith an alluring proposition, or an engaging manner, he could decide things on their merits. and few things looked the same. He never changed lJis night tjmc decisions-said that where be was wrong once he was right a hundred times, and was satisfied with that proportion. Told us, too, of instances where he had reversed daytime decisions at night-and profited hy so doing. But what he had to say abont personal behavior, treat-ment of others, and maintenance o[ self-respect, "vas most interesting. If Jl(' lwd smoked a cigar too many: if he had been hate-ful in manner; if he had displeased himsdf in any way. If he had been any Jess a man than he felt he ought to be-and hJs standards ·were high. 19 Thc[-e was s11ame and reproach, and lntent to stand straighter, and effort.'> to stand straighter. He held that confessing a fault. was simply common honesty, and that an apology, if it was due, shOUld be made as sincerely and unaffectedly as a littlE;': courtesy to one's family . .More things Ihe told us-but you catch the drift, don't you~ And now for my experience with "Introspection and Re-trospection." I was self-assertive and positive; what I said and did was right because I said and did it-in my opinion. That is, before I trk.d the plan. t thonght I \\'as rather a hig man in achievement and position. Also, before I tried tbe plan. I had an idea that the world was especially made to be my habitation, and that pretty much everybody else was trespass-ing on my property. Ever feel like that? Politeness, while never essential, was all right with my friends and those from who I wanted favors, but with who were subordinate or who wanted favors from me-not to be expected. It was awful, the fm:t night. I lay awake a long time, And I didn't get anywhere near the business end of things. My confounded m.eannesses-that I had felt to be virtues -loomed up too big·. I\- ext day I nearly took a man off his feet by saying, "Good mornjng." I had previously grunted at him.. I apologized to another for some nastiness of the day be~ lore, and he immediately inquired about my health. T kept on, night after night--and made amends 1110ming after morning. Making amends ,-..as tough work ior awhile-but about the time I got sort of used to it I didn't have much of it to do. Yet it was never halt as tough as the arraignment of self by self-the baring of my soul to my soul in the still watches of the night. I grew de center and de center-had to, to find any comfort 111 living. I made fewer business mistakes. I have kept it up-every night. no matter how tired I am, I spend a quarter of an hour in reviewing the day and planning for the morrow. I am glad I learned-so will you be, if you learn. \?Ii/hy shouldn't we understand that in respecting the rights of others we arc firmly establishing our own rights? \Vl1y shouldn't we all be pleasant to do business with? \Vhethcr employer or employe? "Vhy shouldn't we make the most of ourselves? \Vhy shouldn't we be men-big, broad, kindly, thinking men? The world needs each of us as that kind of a 111an-and Introspection and Retrospection will do much toward making each of us that kind of a malL-C. A, Peake. \Vhile suffering under ';a bad s-pell' an upholsterer of Cbelsea (1\la5s.) ]lUng up a sign hoard over his door recently upon whjch is inscribed the words: "Chelsea Novelty Op-houlsterring Company." The intelligence of the community was greatly shocked. The Ramsey-Alton Manufacturing Company of Portland, Mich .• operate a large factory in the production of Morris chairs exclusively, Many styles of frames are used, anyone of which would please the originator of the Morris chair, the famous William Morris. OUR NEW 1907 LINE OF ALASKA REFRIGERATORS with side ice chamber is made in twenty-one styles, zinc lined, white enamel and porcelain lined. Our cataloguewill interestyou. Write for it. THE ALASKA REFRIGERATOR CO. Exclusive Refriger810r Manufacturers., MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN. 20 ·~MI9rIG7jN 2 Pacific Purchasing Plan Impl'actical. Two years ago, when fOUT big furniture stores in Los Angeles, Cal.-Barker Brothers, Niles Pease, the Los An-geles Furniture Company and the Frederick-Mackie Com-pany- were consolidated, under the name of the Pacific Pur-chasing Company, it was announced with the blare of many trumpets that the furniture business of that city and vidnity would be concentrated in the stores of the new compallY. It was planned to practically eliminate competition, but when the Pease Brothers, the California Furniture Company, the Lyon-McKinney Company and Bronson & Co. opened new stores with fresh stocks, the Pacific Purchasing Company was signally affected. The old stocks of Niles Pease, the Los Angeles Furniture Company and the Frederi<::k- Mackie Company were not easy to dispose of. but in due time the Pease store was closed. On February i next, when the lease of the store occupied by the Fr.ederick-Mackie branch of the Purchasing Company expires, the second store will be closed. The handling of the lar~e stocks of the several com-panies and firms mentioned has not been an easy undertaking, and this fact may account for the failure of the Messrs, Barker and Frederick to attend the mid-summer sales this year. Princess Dressers and Washstands. The princess dresser of today is different in construction from the princess dresser of 1886, In that' year the late Colonel Penney of Grand Rapids obtained letters patent fOr a cornbination dresser and washstand and commenced the manufacture of the same. The combination consisted of a zinc-lined tank, a movable dresser top, bencath which a wash-bowl was placed and a pail, contained in a cabinet, to receive the water from the bowl. The dresser was con-struded without drawers in the base" but a toilet and mir-ror and small drawers on the movable case top were provided. The dresser did not sell very well; in fact, it failed to please the ladies. The gentler sex did not consider it of any ad-vantage when in use over the old fashioned washstand, with pitcher and bowl, and the manufacture of the cases was dis-contiuued, after the market had rejectcd it. Washstands without toilets, constructed in the form of center tables, con-taining the tank, bowl and slop pail of the regular dresser, were also brought out by Colonel Penney, but failed to com-mand a market. Railroad Inconsistency. A news dispatch from Omaha states that although the Union Pacific is contesting in 'the court the recent laws en-acted reducing the passenger rate in Nebr-:}~ka to two cents a mile, yet that road has, in many sections of the state, just ordered put in effect a rate even less than two cents. Orders have been sent by the Union Pacific to all stations that where any other railroad, because of having a shorter line, charges less between stations than does the Union Pacific, the Union Pacific rate should immediately be reduced to meet the short line rate. Before the two-cent rate went inttJ effect. the rate from Omaha to Lincoln was $3. The two-cent bill reduced the rate to $2. The Union I:'acific new order will further re-duce the rate to $1. The new orders, in many places, will re-sult in a rate of lcss than one cent a mile, being- m",-devolun-tarily by the Union Pacific, despite the figH in the courts in \'\;'hichthe Union Pacific says two cents is a confiscatory rate. (£ST""BUSHED 1858) BERRY BROTHERS' Rubbing and Polishing Varnishes I MUST BE USED IN FURNITURE WORK TO BE APPRECIATED . THEY SETTLE THE VARNISH QUESTION WHEREVER TRIED WRITE FOR INFORMATION, FINISHED WOOD SAMPLES, AND LITERATURE. New York 262 Pearl St. Boston 520 Atlantic Ave. Phil"de)pbi8. 26-28 No. 4th St. BaltilJlGre 29 5. Hano'Ie! 51.. BERRY BROTHERS, LIMITED VARNISH MANUFACTURERS DETROIT eANADIA" FACTORY. WALri£RVIL\.E; ONTARIO Chic.~o 48.50 Le..k~St. Chu::innAti 420 MaiD St. St. Loub 112 So. 4th St San Frattc.itco 668 Homatd St. THIS IS THE CAN AND LABEL ... Reciprocal Demurrage. The last legislature of Oregon passed a reciprocal demllf-rage law, and ..v..ithin a short time it will be in effect. After its legal enactment and enforcement, tbe failure of railroads to supply cars within stipulated time, when called for in ac-cordance \'v·ith t1l(~ regulations, subjects the roads to a fine of $2 a day for each car 110t delivered. )[01' is the shipper free from respollsibility, for if he fails to lead the car l,vithin 48 hours after receipt, he is subject to a similar Ilne. In addition to the line for non-delivery of cars, shippers may sue for damages for failure to sllpply rolling stoc:k. Proof of d;;.rnage must be made to the Oregon state rail-way commission before legal action may be enforccd. Just STAR CASTER CUP CO. NORTH UNION STREE:T, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. (PATRNT APPLIRD FOR] We have adopted celluloid as a base for our Caster Cups, making the best cup on the market. Celluloid is a great improvement over bases made of o~her material. \V~elL it is necessary to move a piece supported by cups with celluloid bases It call be done wilh ease as the bases are per-fectly smooth. Celluloid does not ,>weal. and by tb~ use of these cups tabJ~s are lIev<:,r Jn8rred_ These cups are finished in Golden Oak and White Mapl~i fini~hed light. If you wW try a sample order Of thelU (foodsyou Wl l del'wt'e to handle them in quantities. PRICES: Size 2){ incbes $5.50 per hundred. Size 2;,( inches 4.50 per hundred. f· o. b, Grand Rapidl1. THY.l1 SAMPLE ORDER. how the lel\·vwill work is a matter of much interest to both shipping- and rail interests. III various states the effect has heen diJrercnt, and wh.1t its resultant action may prove in Oregon is a mattcr that time will ans.ver best. So far through-out the summer, there has bcen no paucity of cars, the sup-ply being larger than for sevcral years past. The test will come a little later, when crop mov<:mcnt on a large scale commences. So far as has been possible to learn, the railways have said little as to their course of action. It Inay bc that an attempt will he made to test the constitutionality of the: statue.-Orcgon TradesmOin. The Reason for It. Every piece of furniture in a room must have a good and clear reason for being there. In a living room there must be at least one sofa or davenport, one large easy chair, an ample table, a bookcase, a wall cabinet, several sl11.aller chairs and a rocker Or two. A desirable sofa is long enough to lie upon and take a nap, and deep enough and low enough to sit upon comfortably. If geesc cushions are provided, in the summer these call be stored away and the sofa used as a settee. \Vhcn maps are to be consulted, large books examined or a collection of prints enjoyed the advantages of a large tahle ~vill be apparent. Tlw Hthaise lounge" which used to bc common in France, and is an excellent artick for the family room, has no back except at one end, as an Irish-man mjght say, and it seems narrower than it reatly is on account of its length. The end of the lounge is set into a frame work of the seat at a little slant, and i~l some cases is carved in a lively expression; the legs and braces are also turned and so simple a piece of furniture takes on quite an air, while keeping its ornalTIQntation strictly lii bounds. 21 Trying on Furnitul J Trying on furniture is the latest in }Jew York. \iVhen the prospective bridal couple goes to a furniture to pick out a bedroom suite they don't have to speculate as to how it will look in their room 01' whethe" it will flt. \Vhen a sales-man lws seen that a certain suit has tjckled the eye of a pros-p<:, ctivc customer he summons a porter or tWQ and turns them loose in one of the several rooms fitted up around the main .~hO\vroom, setting them at work removing all the furni-ture in it. Thcn the sllit that the customer seems to be bankering after is placed in appropriate positions ill this room, and one can see at a glance just how the bedroom will look if that particular suit is bought. There are a half dozen of these smaller rooms around the main showrooms, and as each one is decorated in a different manncr it is easy to pick one ant that apprOXilTlat<:sthe scheme of your ,room at home. Like many ways of selling modern goods 11 is ex-pensive ill the beginning but it pays in the cnd, for this plan o[ shO\ving goods seldom fails of its intended effect. "Red Book" Men in Confer~r:ce. District 11,a.n'1agers of the Furniture Commercial Agency Company. publisher of thc "Red Book" held a four days con-ference in Cincinnati dmil1g the seccond wcek in August and ,vere wel1 entertained by Executive Manag'er E. M. Schwein and Secretary R. S. Smith. Among those in attend-ance ,",'ere, \7'v'.l James, Jr.; New York office; C. .1V1. Fuller, Bostnn; B. G. Tiffany, Jamestown, X Y.; H. J. Danhof. Grand Rapids, IVfich., and]. A. Eshelman, of High Point, N. C. Approbation. r like to hear 'em talkin' 'Bout We tbings thM ought to be; Thcre's ncver any balkin' In their speeches-no siree. take delight in viewin' Their valor in debate; don't kl10W what they're doin'. But the eonversation's great. It's most invigoratin' To read their "\yords sublime, To hear 'em permeadn' The corridors of timc; To have applause or laughter COllie ripplin' throug-h each line; don't kno\,\,. what they're after, But the conversation's fine. 't:=::~The D. & B. Line Steamers leave Detroit weekdays at 5: 00 p.m., Sundaysat 4: 00 p. m. (centr.rltime) a.ndfrom Buffalo daily at 5:30 p.m. (e:demtime) reachingtheir destina.tiontbe next morning. Direct connections with early trains. Lowest rates and superior service to New York, Boston,Phitadelphia, Atlantic City,all points east. Popular week end excursions to Buffalo and Niagara Falls, leave Detroit every Saturday. RAIL TICKETS AVAILABLE ON STEAMERS All classcs of tickets sold readin2"via Michi~n Central. Wabash and Grarul Trunk railways between Detroitand Bnffaloin either direction will be accepted for trallsponation on D. & B. Line S~ealIlers. Send 2c. sta.m2.for illustrate.i pamphletandGreatLakeswap. Address; L.G. LEWIS, a.p. A. DETROIT & BUFFALO STEAMBOAT CO., Detroit, Mieh. PHILIP H. McMILLAN, "'ICE-Pf\"s... A, A. SCHANTZ, GEN. MG". 22 DEPARTMENT STORES. Facts Concerning Their Management. An interesting article, b.eautifully illustrated, concerning the business methods of depat"tment stores in the larger cities recently appeared in Everybody's Maga:r.ine. The article is reproduced in part for the benefit of the readers of the Arti-san. The importance of the arrangement of the differe,nt de-partments of a store so as to attract trade is gone into ex-tensively. The location of the department is decided on in advance, the rule being to place the jewelry counters in frotlt near the entrance, where they are observed both on entering and \eaving the store. The notions are £Suod in the rear, conveniently near the other attractive departments. The no-tion counter is said to bring more trade to the store than any other, owing to the ncce~sities every woman must have, The millinery and suit departments are always on the second and upper floors, where plenty of room and light can be had. The department stores owe their success to their system of conducting business, the present system being vastly su-perior to the old. "Formerly the proprietor bought as cheaply as possible in quantities that were measured only by his capacity to sell and by his credit. Prices were not fixed, the proprietor generally depended upon the cleverness of his clerks to insure him a profit. The best salesman was he who imposed most on the public and so commanded a high salary. The percentage of selling cost was thus enor- 1110US." The present method was originally employed in the BOl1 Marche in Paris and was first adopted in this country by A. T. Stewart, soon followed by John Wanamaker. It is what is called the factory method. There is a certain fixed per~ centage of profit to be realized in all departments. The prices are marked in plain figures and the employe has no say in the matter of fixing them. Each department has a certain amoul1t of capital to do business with and it is the concern of the buyer or head of it as to how that capital can be employed to the best advantage, a certain per cent profit made and the money re-invested in new stock. The merchandise manager looks after both the buying and selling. He comes next to the proprietor in importance, is posted On subjects of wide latitude in regard to the business, looks after the advertising and keeps stocks moving. He directly oversees an departments, the managers of which are accountable to him. Reasons for non-selling of goods are inquired into and bargain sales conducted to dispose of unpopular goods. The profits of the large stores are immense. Marshall Field leads the others, the business of the firm last year being $26,500,OOO'-that is, retail. The wholesale was twice as much morc, bringing the total up to $70,000,000. John \Vanamaker's Philadelphia store comes next with $20,000,000, the New York store ranking third with $17,000,000. Adver-tising costs anywhere from $100,000 to $500,CCO a year, Siegel Cooper's being represented by the btter ngure. The distribution of charity is an important part of the year's expenditures, often as much as $10,000 is set aside for that purpo!>e, not to mention the at"tides given away for the same purpose. The merchandise manager finds this distri-bution to be one of his hardest duties. His salary runs from $15,000 to $50,000 a year, the maximum being paid by The Fair in Chicago. Buyers receive from $5,000 to $10,000 a year, the range being from $2,500 to $35,000. The linen buyer ill Ivlarshall Field's receives the latter sum yearly. The matter of hxing the selling prices of articles devolves on the buyer of each de.partment in stores where no merchandize manager is employed. "Everything is deter-mined on a percentage basis. Added to the price of the goods that are billed to the store are the various charges, such as rent, delivery, bookkeeping, selling expense, ete., amounting to from eighteen to thirty per cent, the average being twenty-five. The furniture and piano department~ require a vast amount of space and must pay a high rent. Tht: per cent of pront is based on the number of times the work-ing cap1tal can be utilized in a year. Proflt on certain a:- tic1es may be only two or three p,€r cent, on others as high as forty per cent. Prices are fixed in odd cents owing to thi" percentage system. Under the buyer is his assistant, whose salary depends on that paid his chief. The stock clerk receives from $25 to $60 a week. Thc best paid ·salesn1en are in the furniture and piano departments. They receive a fixed weekly salary and a commission computed regularly. Vast numbers of clerks are employed; the Wanamaker store in Philadelphia has 7,000, one-half of whieh are nl)1 placed in contact with the public. Delivery systems are very intricate. D.'1acey'sclaims tu have the most perfect in New York. The B. Altman COD1-· pany have the most expensive wagons and automobiles in that city for delivery 11SC. Salesmen are mostly paid on the percentage system. The accommodations for the comfort of the public are very adequate, vVanamaker being especially strong on that point. IVlarshall Field's, too, is noted for its cozy and spa-cious rest and writing rooms. Restaurants are a necessary adjunct to the comfort of shoppers and they are found very generally in the departmcnt stores in the larger cities. As a feature of the Wanamaker New York store may be mentioned the concerts which are given daily by the best ar-tists of the time. Richard Strauss received $3,COO for three concerts. The annual expense is $50,000 for this pleasing way of entertaining the vast crowds which gather regularly to enjoy the finest music of the time. BEST LINE OF OAK DRESSERS COM· MODES and CHIF· FONIERS ON THE MARKET PRICES $8.75 to $13 CHAS, BENNETT FURNITURE CO, CHARLOTTE, MICH. The ROYAL • the Original Push Bulton IS Morris Chair MORRIS CHAIRS ·--FROM--- $6.25 to $30.00 CATALOGUE. UPON APPLICATION Royal Chair Co. STURGIS. MICH. Chicago Salesroom; 1st Floor, G. D. WiUiam& Co., 1323 Mic.h.Ave., CHICAGO. Ill. Publishers of Programs Impose Upon Merchants. Among the trials the retailer i" often tOt'ced to undergo arc the calls of the publishers of programs for churd! enter-tainments alla picnics .'lnd souvenirs for the use of delegates to cOllvention:s. Endorsed by a particular union, relief or musical society or a religious congl'cg'atioll, the solicitors '-'take on" as much effrontery <lnd swcll-bc:tdcdncss as the leader of a brass band from the rural districts or a "barker" for a side show at the circus. \Vhen the ac1vertjs(~ment ue-rnanded is refused, the solicitor has resources at his com-mand, and sug·gests rt cash donation or the gift or an article of merchandise. The money contributed may reach the treasury of the society, or it may not, according to th(~ form of the payment. Tn discussing the practice o£ kvying' trib-ute upon business men by the unions and ")ther predatory bodies, a merchant of Detroit, IvTich., said: "\Vhen 1 refused to take space in a program, the suggestion of a cash dona-tion wa;.; presented almost in tlle form of a demall(L Refus-ing to yield \0 the grafter the amount he said the union would accept, Ilot at all daltllted, he proposed that T donate a sidc-boar< l, which he then and there selected, worth $50, to be offered as a prize [or the wilmer of the fat woman's run-ning racc. Our firm name would be published in the pro-gram as the contributor of the sideboard and we would derive much benefit as a result of our liberality. It did not require a moment's reflection to reiuse the proposition. It would be cheaper for our firm to give the union $50 in cash than to donate the sideboard. Not less than 1.000 unions and 50- cities are working the program and sot/venir game in De-troit, and the gift of a side hoard to one ,>yould bring to our door the representatives of the other organizations men-tioned, with demand;.; for like favors." In communities where the merchants maintain organiza-tions for mutual protection, the raids of the solicitors have been checked in a measure, but there are always a few weak EfUht Years of Test Have Established Its Supr.-emacy. All Others are lmltators. No Others So Good. THE."ROYAL PUS" BUTTON MORRIS CHAIR men in trade \vho submit tamely to impositions that should ll('ver be tolerated. The Reversible Bed Rail. Quite a commotion exists among the manufacturers of metal beds over threatened litigation on account of the use of tJ)('. reversible bed rail. A manufacturer in Ol1e of the eastern cities claims to own a patent covering the reversible rail, and he notil-i.ed all other manufacturers of metal beds to cease using the rail and p,-epare to settle his bill on account of damages sustained_ This condition caU!'ies much work for the lawyers, and incidentally the history of the business of manufacturing metal beds in the United States is under-going investigation. One of the threatened manufacturers slates that his attorneys have been unable to find evidence in the patent office that a patent upon a reversible bed rail had ever been gTanted. Previous to 1880 no brass beds had been manufactmed in the United States. A few flat iron low ,and narrow beds for hospitals and· public institutions had found a. ready market, but tbe bl-ass beds llsed were imported from England. The bed;.; ,,,,ere welt made and beautifully fll1ished, but the designs did not satisfy American tastes. During the first administra-tion of President Cleveland. certain capitalists of Buffalo de-cided to establish a factory and engage in the manufacturing of brass heds. \Vorkmen were engaged in England and brought to Buffalo and in a short time tbe industry began to thrive. Cnmplaint was made to the federal government, charging the Buffalonians with having voihtfOd the alien con-tract labor law. Defendants ,vere tried, convicted and heav-ily fined, and the business for the time being was practically abandoned. l"-fany of the workmen remained in the United States and to their skill and experience is due the impor-tant industry of manufacturing brass and iron beds in the United States. 23 24 ·f'~MICHIG.7IN ... C « Good Will a Valuable Asset. A circular addressed "To All Employes" by General Manager Handy of the Lake Shore Railway Cornpany ex-presses scntimellts and ideas that might be used to advantage by many merchants if properly impressed upon their sales-men, It re.ads, in part, as follows: "The public judges a railroad corporation ,,-cry larp;cly by the treatn~ellt it is accorded by the agellt representing the company in whatever capacity he may be employed. A 1'('- putation of fair dealing, with court(',ous and absolutely fali Made by Horn Bros Mfg. Co I Chicago. Ill. treatment of all customers, is essential to the success of all railroads. I'The good will and friendship of the community served by our railroad is the most valuable asset it can have; and the strongest recommendation for promotion an employe in any department can possibly have is the fact that by uni-form courtesy and kind accommodation of patrons he has secured for himself and for the road fhe good will and the friendship of the communities ill which he is located,". Some Use for an Undertaker's shop. "The one thing in Little Italy and other down-town dis-tricts that I can't gct used to," said a policeman, "is the many uses to which undertakers put their shops and places of establishments. [used to be of the opinion that the only possible errand a person could have .at an undertaker's was to purchase a coffill and other fuoeral supplies, but down~ town I notice people go there for all sorts of purposes. They . go to vote, to get married and to transact all the legal bUSl~ ness that a notary public is capable of transacting. Yesterday I even saw a party eating luncheon in an undertaker's establish-ment. They had come to town appar('.ntly to attend. a funeral, and instead of patronizing a restaurant, they calmly munched their midday meal in the midst of the lugubrious surround-ings.- From the Philadelphia Record. Charlotte, Mich. The Chas. Bennett Furniture Company will soon issue a new catalogue of chiffoniers, dressers, commodes and other case goods. This is a desirable medium priced tine, and fits in nicely in every well assorted stock of furniture. The Charlotte Manuhcturing Company has a deslgner who knows a thing or two when it comes to parlor, library and directors' tables. The line was on exhibition in Grand Rapids in July, and the order book gives abundant evidence of the appreciation of the trade. His name is Highee. Ever hear of him? Charley Elmendorf. The man in the wheel house of the Manistee Manufactur-ing Company, don't know how to take a vacation ·without work, so he took a line of sideboards, buffets, and dressers over to Chicago to have a \'acatioll, al1d he 'had it, by sell-ing so many goods that he has now to work with hands, feet and brain the rest of the year to keep his hundreds of customers from jumping on him. 'Serves ,him right. The Sterling Desk Company is a new firm recently or-ganized by Keene B. Phillips and .Frank De Kline to sell officc desks, tables and chairs at retail. Their place of busi-ness is over 49 Pearl street, Powers Opera House Block, Grand Rapids. Richmond Chair CO. RICHMOND, INDIANA Double Cane Line SEE OUR NEW PATTERNS CATALOGUES TO THE TRADE 25 DAVENPORT BEDS nest in t~eWorl~ ---at--- Prices to Suit All We also show the larg-est line of Loose Cushion Parlor Suites ever shown, also Leather Suites and Couches. Don't fail to see our line at our Show 35 to 41 North Capl'tol Ave. Rooms. Over 8,000 ft. of floor space. Thos. Madden, Son & Co. ~~~~~~~p.o~~s: Robbins TaOl6 Go. OWOllllO. MIGhi!lan No. 318. AMERICAN OAK. 44x48 IN. TOP. AMERICAN BASE. 7 IN. PILLAR. UNION FURNITURE CO. ROCKFORD. ILL. China Closets Buffets Bookcases We Jead.in Style. Com1nJCQoo and Finish. See our Catalogue. Our line on permanent exhibi~ bon 7th Floo(. New Manufact-urers' Building, Grand Rapids. MANUFACTURERS OF HARDWOOD ~~~~i~~ SPECIALTIES: ~'i.";'i!'E'BQUAR. OAK VEN EERS MAHOGANY VENEERS HOFFMAN BROTHERS COMPANY 804 W. Main St, FORT WAYNE, INDIANA 26 A Great Mistake. A party of capitalists, engaged in many ktnds of business, in looking for a new field for investments, found an opening for a department store in one of the great cities of the east-ern states. A building containing many acres of floor soace was erected and the management assembI ..<..1. the products of famous factories, looms and vineyarus throughout the world under its roof. Experienced managers of departments were employed and the "big chief" was a man who had WOn fame and fortune in the marts of trade. Elaborate displays of furniture, carpets, rugs, curtains, clothing, dry goods, glassware, shoes and other necessities of mankind were effectively arranged in the store windows and the forthcoming opening of the establishment was 'made the subject of much conversation and discussion in business and social circles. An experienced advertisement writer called upon the "big chief" for instructions as to the line of prejudices of the puritans would not again be offended. The community was but little affected by the statement. A few of the more curious entered the store and returned to their friends with reports of its magnificence, but continued to place their orders with the old established houses. Three ye~rs later the hostility of the cititzens continued, but the firm set to work vi.gorously in creating a demand for goods in the country and neighboring towns and have been successful in obtaining a sufficient amount of trade to war-rant the merchants 10 keeping their doors open. Whether they will succeed in ''v'inning the gpod-will and patronage of the puritans is a problem the future will determine. Another Museum for Salem. A wealthy 'woman formerly living in the interesting old city of Salem, Mass., provided in her will that her house and its contents should be transferred to the city and used as DINING ROOM OF SUMMER HOME AT NEWPORT, R. I. goods that should be used as a leader in the preparation of the flaming announcement, to appear in the Sunday news-papers, of the opening, and was directed to make the wine, champagne and liquor department a feature. The opening day was proclaimed in variegated colors, but in the body of the full page advertisements the liquor d~l}artment stood out as prominent as a burning barn on a lone prairie. The city in which the store had been located is puritanical, and the descendants of Governor Winthrop, William White, El-der Brewster, Myles Standish and their fellow voyagers from Leyden to Plymouth three hundred years ago, turned up their supersensitive noses and declared the offending mer-chants must suffer on account of the indi,:tnation and wrath incurred by the publication of the offensive advertisements. The puritans and their friends continued to bestow their trade favors upon the old fogy merchants. with whom they had dealt in the past, and the newcomers "Werecompelled to witness the attitude of the community toward their enterprise without a grain of consolation. FinaHy the management de-cided an apology was due the public for the mistake made, and in humble language the firm acknowledged that the tem-per and taste of the c_ommunity had been misunderstood when it announced the sale of liquid goods; that the department had been abolished, and that the temperate inclinations and a public museulU. The city recently gained possession of the property, and will soon open it to permit residents and sojourtlers to inspect its call tents. The house contains many rare and almost invaluable pieces of furniture, collect-ed in many pa.rts of the world. The Monarch Morris chairs manufactured by the Ramsey- Alton Company of Portland, ·Mich., are especially valuable ,in a stock for the holiday season. ftopkln& ."d Itarrtt.t Sb. Clnel ... tl. O. Nenry Schmit &. Co. )lA.kBd 0.. UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE POR LOOO~ AND PULPIT, PARLOR L1BRARl. nOTJ:L AND CLUB !lOOM August Furniture Sales in New York. The August furniture ~<tle is the product of the haste of modern life in this country. Tt not only brings money to the de:J.ler and the manufacturer and saves money for the housekeeper, but it cconomizes timc for all three. It makes busy \'v·hat would otherwise he a dull season for the maker and seller of furniture and hurries up the consumer, because it enables hir1.1to profit by buying early. Strange as it may seem to a Xew Yorker, this pt'ouuct oi a restless ag;e had its origin in Philadelphia. In tlte Quak-er City, according to the claim of one of its leading mer-chants, who aLso owns a mammoth establishment in ?\Tew York. the first furnitnre sale wa:':i held in lSg9. Its popular-ity was assured at the very beginning, and like every other good thing it was soon transplanted to New York, '>vhere it bas assumed vast proportiom;. Enough furniture is SQld in New York in the month of August to erect a half dozen of the best type of departmcl1t stores. Naturally Augnst would be th/? dullest month for the fur-niture dealer in the whole year. It is too early for the house-wife to buy. As like as not she is out of town, having sought ;m escape from its heat and dust. Or if she remains and has plans for furnishing a l1ew home, or fitting up an old one more elaborately, she is inclined to ,vait 11ntil the beginning of the apartment-leasing period, on the first of October. And were the housekeeper not persuaded to buy furniture bargains ill August, if the stores were empty of cllstomers who would IHturally wait until Fall, there \vould be thrown out of employment in this city during the summer, an army of forty thousand clerks. It would also make idle a still larger army of workers who wouid have nothing to do, ill the great furniture factories of Grand Rapids, IVlich., and at Jamestown, K. Y., and in the oak belt of the Carolinas. By means of the August sale the purchaser is ,able to buy furniture as low as half its ordinary price. In most stores many pieces of [l1TnitHT~:of expensive make, which bave re-mained lUl~old during the spring and carly summer ;.\re sac-rificed to make wny for !Jew autumn goods. And althottgh just a.s good ;u; what b.'1Sbeen sold ior twice the price form-erly, the August fllrJlitl1re must go to make room for later <:onsignmellts. The August sale also permits the manufacturers to put on the market furniture of excellellt workmanship, bttl of a .<:;tyle \vhich, for some reason or other, did not prove as popu-lar as other lints. It also makes it possible for makers of furniture to put up [or sale at low prices pieces of new design in order to learn whether they will strike the public fancy. Grand Rapids, the centre of the fttrniture industry, has its great furniture exhibition in June, at \vhich time buyers from all the big department stores pick up as many bar-gains as possible, to tempt August pmchasers. The samples of tl1(~exhibition, although just as good as if just turned Ollt Murphy Chair Co. MANUFACTURERS DETROIT, MICH. A COMPLETE LINE 27 of a factory, are all bought up to be sold in August at a sac-rifice. In the Latter pa.rt of July the New York city furni-ture fair is held, and its samples also find their way into the shop ~vjndows to help attract the August bargain hunter. So grc;rt is the attraction of August furniture sales that thousands of shoppers are attracted hither from as far away as Lake Champlain and the Connecticut Valley. These out-oi-towners find it more economical to pay the expenses of a trip to attend a New York furniture sale than to buy "to home." The ;,few Yorker who moves every fall, throwing away some of his furniture to fix up the new flat with something more substantial or more ornamental, finds the August sale most opportune. He can pick out a chair or bed, a desk or table, which just suits his fancy, pay a small deposit, and have his purchases stored free until he is ready to tn(we.- J oumal. Mr. Meisi.ng~r·s Succ.essful Season.. I In a letter to the Mtchlgan ArtIsan John ]. MClsing¢T who manages the furniture department hOlr Ceo, W. McAlpin & Co .. Cincinnati, says: ! . HHave completed taki~lg stock and find th.at notwit~stand- I1lg tlle unseaso~1able.sprlng weather for the SIXmonth!;!ending July 31 have gamed III sales reduced the stocks and $howed pro1Jts in the following departments: Furniture, uph~lstery, rugs, pictur0.s. This is 111y fIrst season here. Was f~rmer1y \vith Chapman & Co., Brooklyn, N. Y." , I Pione/er Mfg. Cq... I DETROIT, MICH. I R66d furni~ur6 Baby Garrla0611 Go-GaJ111 ~ Full line sh~wn Oft second Hom.·.j 1 319 Mlchil2ah Avd.. Chi • caItO. .In JanuatyI . r ItOOKWOOD Full line $OWQ on lMtCDl'2d £Iool'. 1319 Michigan Ave., ChiCaKO. in JauulU"Y' 28 MODERN MIRROR PLATE GLASS MANUFACTURE. Methods Employed in America's Up.to-the- Times Plate Glass Plants. The following highly interesting description of the pro-cess of manufacturing plate glass is by William D. I-Iartupee, chairman of the manufacturing department of the Pittsburg Plate Glass Company: Few people understand the difference between plate glass and window glass. It is a difference in re:flection entirely, which means, if you look at an object throu,?h plate glass, at a building, for example, the lines will show true and exact. The openings, vertical and horizontal lines, columns, decora-tions, etc., win appear to you just exactly the same as though no glass was interposed between the building and your eye. \Vhile, if you look at the same object through a piece of win-dow glass, the lines will not be true, but wavy or broken. The opening will appear crooked and out of place. Columns are apt to have a spiral appearance, and tOle whole image is distorted and untrue. To illustrate again ju~t what we mean, if you sU5pend a plumb bob from a line, and look at the line through a plate glass window, it will appear absolutely verti-cal and straight; while if you look at it through window glass, it witt be wavy and not verticaL This is expressed by saying that the image of an object seen thrO'\.\gh plate glass is true and exact, while the image of the same obiect. seen through window glass, is distorted and not exact. This is not due to any chemical difference in the structure of the two glasses, but is entirely due to the physical characteristics of the two. This physical character of plate glass consists in the two sur-faces being perfectly true and parallel tu each other-the surfaces themselves having been made so by grinding, smoothing and polishing both sides of the glass by skillful workmen on large, delicately adjusted and ~ccurately work-ing machines. The chemicals that enter into the' composition of plate and window glass are practically the same, although the plate manufacturer, by reason of wanting his ~lass clearer, of more brilliant color, and freer from defects than the window glass manufacturer, will, and does, select his materials with the greatest care, and requires that they shall be the best ob-tainable. For example, his sand must be of the whitest-his limestone of the purest....,...no trace of iron must show in either, for this would give a greenish tinge to his glass, which must be pure and crystal-like. No little pieces of alumina or clay must be allowed to creep in to the mixture that is to be melted, for thcse would cause, on dccount of their difficulty to melt, defects that would mar the appearance of the finished plate. These ddects mean little to the win-dow glass manufacturer, and are hardly noticed by llim, but to the plate: glass manufacturer they are important, and in-deed vital. Every material must be subjected to the most careful chemical analysis. In order to show the excessive care, the large amount of labor, the risk of breakage in the work lol.ndhandling that attends the manufacture of plate glass, a brief outline of its process of manufacture may be interesting. In the first place, the materials that form the basis of glass, are sand, known in chemistry as silicic acid, soda ash, known in chemistry as carbonate of soda, and limestone, known in chemistry as carbonate of time. Some variations are made in the above ingredients by some manufacturers, as, for example, substituting all or part of the carbonate of soda for the sulphate of soda, which is known to the trade as salt cake! and also by the addition of minute quantities of arsenic and carbon to the mixture, to counteract certain im-purities that may be found in any or all f)f the above in-gredients. All the ingredients are carefully weighed, as a druggist would weigh the ingredients of a prescriotion- L•• then they are ground very fine, and thoroug\'ly mixed and put into a huge crucible or pot preparatory to going into the furnace to be melted. Mixing of the Matel'ials. The mixing of the materials is a very important matter, and the reason the ingredients are ground very fine is, to en-able us to mix the particles more intimately together-each minute grain of sand wants, and must have, a little grain of soda, and one of lime, lying right close up to it when it is subjected to the heat of the furnace, for otherwise it would not melt. And the same way with the lime; unless a little grain of soda lies up next to it, the lime will not be melted. Did you ever look at a piece of glass and see a little white or gray speck imbedded in it? Well, that is because a little grain of sand, or a little grain of lime, did not get close enough up to a little gr<lin of soda, $0 as to be influenced by it. The hoiting of the n~as!';helps to bring these ingredients closer together, and the perfection of the operation consists in each ingrediellt being combined with just tIle right amount FURNITURE POLISH We offer a polish guaranteedto~roduce a BRILLIANT and PERMANENT lustre on any fimshed wood. A dealer's trade bUilder. Send for sample 14 gross, $3.75. Our Supttrior Repair Finisb never fails to remove burlap marks and mars; and, used with crystal shellac and a .set of our colors, [aniline, to match any finish] will repair deep scratches and jams) and reproduce the original finish, at once. A boon to factory or store. Repair outfit complete,With.colors, one$Q.25 quart finish, and instructions for use,. U. Send for Samples. Grand Rapids Furniture Polish Co. 24 MIUolIIA...e., Oraad Rapld-s. Mich. Automatic Phone 8226: of each of the other two ingredients, so after the mass is melted in a clear, transparent, crystal colored mass is obtained without any veins, streaks or foreign particles being found in it. If he saying Ilpurified by fire" was ever true of any sub-stance, it is true of plate glass, for it is only by applying the most intense heats, and violently boiling the materials hour after hOUf that we can obtain the beautiful dear, flawl'ess glass that has done 50 much to beautify the· world. We could go on and tell how we sometimes put a potato at the bottom of the melted mass to cause violent boiling as the gases arise from it, and work their way up through the melted glass; or sometimes stir it with a piece of wood fastened to the end of an iron rod; or how to get a little piece of clay in the glass, either coming from the side of the pot or drvpping from the cap of the furnace, that our chemicals or heat will not dis-solve, but stays in the glass as a defect, and must be cut out before the finished :plate is sent out to be used-or how a few bubbles of air confined in the boiling mass will ruin the entire pot of glass. A great many details like the1:lc could be men-tioned, but would he wearisome to dwell u?on, and afe only cited to show the care that must be taken to get a molten mass of metal sufficiently pure and free hom imperfections, out of which to manufacture plate glass. Pats in Plate Glass Plants. Now a word about the pots in which the glass is melted; as they play an all-important part in the manufacture of plate glass. They have to be tried by fire-not a steady continuous heat, which is not s) hard to bear, hut a Leating to a white, dazzling heat, three thousand degrees hot-hotter than any known thermometer will register; then they are taken out of the furnace and emptied of their contents, during which the 5urrqunding air cools them to a dull red; then they are quickly put bilCk il1to the glowing furnace and heated up again preparatory to receiving another charge of the mixed ingredients, and repeating the operation day in and day out. Plate glass mamiiacttlfers have hunted the world over to find clays out of whlch to make their ]Jots, 5d that tbey "vill stand this terrible test. Such clays have been found in Missouri, in this cODntry, and in Germany and in Fmnce, but not anyone clay alone will stand this punishment-it takes a mixture of the.se clays irom these far separated parts of tbe world, and they, in their turn, have to be as carefully prepared, mixed and manipulated as does the batch out of which the glass is made. Three years from the time the clay is taken out of the mine, until it is made into the pot ready to receive the glass mixture, is the least time we give the entire operation; and when we can give it four yeul's we like it better .and get better reslllts. After the day is mined. it is piled out on the ground and left for a year, for the wind and rain :and sunshine to weather it, This means the disintegration and ripening' of the clay and the elimination from it of ally particles of vegetable mat-ter it may have contained. Th(',n it is taken to a mill and washed, to take other ingredients out of it that might shorten its life in the furnace--then it is dried and ground ;wet burnt in blocks and sent to the plate glass maker. He then pro-ceeds to grind it all again into a powder, and then he mixes the powdered clay from .l\.Jissouri with some ham Germany, itnd with some from France, adds water, pnd stirs the mass l1p, just as a woman would mix up a batch of bread-only a machine docs the mixing, and holds many hundreds of pounds. Then when thoroughly mixed, this mass, still like the bread, must be kneaded until it is all of a sticky, plastic consistency. :!vlany machines have been devised for doing this, but, just as the housewife claims hand made bread is better than machine-nude, so the plate glass maker has found that no machine can equal the bare feet in kneading his batch. Now takes place a long period, a year generally, of tramp-ing and working the clay back and forth from fifteen to twenty times, and letting it lie, between these \vorkings,. jn bins to age and ripen. Two years have now passed, and the clay is just ready to be made into a pot. A man starts fifteen pots at onee~each day he adds a few inche5~bt1jJdillg it all up by hand, going round and round the pot, adding little pieces of clay at a timc, and \'v'orking and pressing it together with his hands, so tha.t the finished pot i~perfectly homogeneous and no crack or parting shows 'where the sccond piece of day is added to the first. It takes fifteen days for this man, with a boy to help him, to finish his fifteen pots, or his average is one pot a day. Afte.r the pot has been built up, it is damp and wet, so it must be carefully dried in a room of a certain tempe.rature. antl if you dry it too fast, it cracks, and your work is all lost. In a year, if carefully \vatcbed and dried, it will be ready to go to the oven, to be gradually heated up to a brigbt red heat prepar,ltory to being put into the white hot furnace to re-ceive the glass mixture. Poor pot! After all these years of preparation, its life is but from twenty to twenty-five days in that terrible heat, and then its work is done. Melting and Casting. The pot, having heen put into the furnace and brought up to the necessary high temperature, is filled heaping full with its required batch of silica, soda and lime. r.,:le!tillg reduces the bulk so much that the pot is filled thre.e times before it contains a suffic.ient charge of nlo!ten glass. The mixture boils like. an effervescent t~ass,' all alive, and is like liquid water. Then, 'wllen the che.mieal actilJn has all taken place, it settles down to a quiet mass of molten glass, ready 29 for the next operation. The pot is then lifted out of the fur-na<::'. eby a large electr;c cran£;. The pot, and its contents, weighing about two tons, is carefulty skimmed to remove a.ny imperfection which may rest upon the surface-then taken by another e1e(".trio:c:.rane to the casting table. This is a large, mas.<;i\re,flat table of iron, about 2S feet long and 15 kd wide. having as an attachment a hea,,'y iron roller which covers the full width, and can he mechanically rolled the entire length of the table. At the side of the table are ad-justed strips of iron upon whieh the roller rests, and which permit the production of pJates;of different thicknesses, as these strips are thicker or thinne.r. The pasty or half-fluid glass metal is now poured upon the table in front of the roller from the melting pot, and the roller quickly passes oyer it, leaving a sheet of glass of uniform thickness. The ends of the sheet, after it is rolled, are slightly rounded, as it is im- Grand Rapids Caster Cup Co. 2 Parkwood Ave., Grand Rapids, Mich. We a.re nDW putting lIDthe best Caster Cups with (:o-rk ba~s evet offered to the tmde. These are finished in Golden Oak and White Maple ill a light fmish. These goods are admirable for polished floors and fllrtl-iture rests. T"e~ will not sweat or mar. PRICES: Size2U inches•..... -$4.00 per lIundred Siz(!'2X indles-····· 5.00 per hundred Try a sampte Oraer. F. O. B. (-}r<tndllapid8_ possible to roll the glass so as to get a perfectly square sheet, The heavy railer is now moved out of the way, and then, by means of a stowing tool, the red hot plate is shoved into an annealing oven. All these stages of the 'work have to be per-formed quickly by men of long training and experient:e_ Annealing and Carrying Glass. The annealing oven, into which the glass is then placed, may hold from one to three plates, as the case may be, and for hours it has been heated so that when the glass is put into it. they are both of the same temperature. As soon as the glass is jn the oven, all the openings to it are closed and sealed up-the heat is turned off and the glass and oven cool off together. This cooling process takes several days, and when the temperature gets down to that of the surrounding ail-, the oven is opened up., the glass pulled out on a flat table, the edges trued up square with a diamond and ally defects that can be seen are cut out. The examinrttion of the glass at the oven mouth is only a preparatory one, to discover such defects as show on the surface, for the surface is rough, opaque and wavy in appearance, and defects in the body of the glass cannot be detected. The glass is then raised care-fuIly on its edge, .>:ndcarried to the grinding and smoothing departments, where it is put through the next operation. The tarrying of plate glass is a dangerous and delicate operation-twenty men are required to carry the largest plate, ten men on each :side. They have Ie::ther straps with a handle on each end. The glass is lifted and carried by these straps-one man on each end of the strap. They must step together in perfect unison, stand perfectly straight and go very slowly, or the glass, which towers from six to eight DRESSER No. 734-Golden Q!!.rt..-.d O.k. $30: M.h°Il"'Y. veneered. $31; Birdseye Maple, $31. CHIFFONIER No. 16 -Mahogany, veneered. $21.50; Birdseye M.pl .. $21.50: Gold.. Q!!.rte,ed O.k. $20.50. DRESSING TABLE No. 174 -Golden Quartetd Oak..$1&.50; Mahogany, veneered. $19; Birdseye Maple, $19. Write for new catalogue. 30 AI:f'~MI.f,HIG7JN ' .feet above their heads, may break and crash down on theIn, cutting them .. often seriously, and many times fatally. Grinding and Smoothing. The machine for grinding the glass is a circular, flat, iron platform, from 24 to·28 feet in diameter, and makes from 20 to 25 revolutitons per minute. It is perfectly level and smooth, and runs as true as a balance wheel of a watch. The surface of this platform is covered with a thin mixture of plaster of paris; the glass is then laid on this table, pressed into the plaster by men ca.refully and skillfully walking over it. The whole top of the grinding table is c.overed in this way, and when the plaster has set, which it does i11 a very few' minutes, the glass is ready to be ground. The table is then set revolv-ing and large, circular flat discs are lowered on the glass, hav-ing square irol1 blocks fastened to their under side. These runners, as they are called, revolve in the opposite direction to the table, and sharp sand is fed on the grinder by a stream of water, which, getting between the glass and the iron-shod runner. does the grinding. The :first operation is done by very coarse sand, until the glass is ground to a straight, true and even surface-then finer and fmer grades of sand are used, and at last the gri11ding operation is finished by the finest flour of emery. This final operation on the grinder is called smoothing. The top of this grinding machine is movable, and when the smoothing is finlslwd, the machine is stopped and the glass on the table is washed off carefully, for if one grain of sand is left on the glass at this time, that grain of sand will spoil the whote table of glass when it enters the next operation of polishing. The glass, ,,·,hen it leaves the grinder, has <t perfectly straight, true surface, feels like velvet, b\,t is opaque like children's drawing glass. The glass, after being washed and inspected for defects of all descriptions, and stitl being nnl11y, imbedded in the plaster, is put on the polishing machine, which is a machine muc.h like the grinder, and receives the grinder top-only the polisher has runners shod with dozens of circular felt discs which rest on the glass. The material used for polish-ing the glass with these felt discs is rouge, made from sul-phate of iron crystals, which have been burnt and ground to an impalpable powder. Same water is used in this operation, and it t~kes from three to fOUT hours. Now all this work of grinding .. smoothing and polishing has only finished one side---'-the other side is still rough as when it left the annealing oven. The table top is taken away from the polisher, the glass carefully raised, all the old plaster taken off the table, everything washed clean, a new bed of plaster spread on the table and the glass carefully turned over and imbedded in the plaster. Now the side that has been polished is down, and the table top is taken back to the grinder, and the rough side, which is now up, goes through the same operation of grinding, smoothing and poli,shing as THE QUALITY KIND IS MADE BY THE Horn Bros. Mfg. Co. 281 to 291 West Superior St., CHICAGO, III. Bedroom Furniture Our Specialty 7IR T 1.5'..7L"I t 3 f:. the first side did. After tlle second side has been polished, the Klass is carefully raised from the -polishing table and taken to the wash rack, where it is carefully cleaned and then taken to the wareroom. Here it is minutely inspected, every de~ fect cut out-defects that the eye of an ordinary man would never detect, are here, by skillful inspectors, in~tantly noticed and corrected. The glass has, during all these operations, been more or less broken. It has had to stand tOllS upon tons of weight upon it in the grinding and polishing operations. It has had to be lifted, turned over, washed and carried. All these operations are attended with' the risk of breakage, and entail great loss upon the manufacturer. In the warehol\se the glass is cut np for orders, carefully packed in boxes, with sheets of white paper between the Why Not Order? Say a dozen or more Montgomery IronOisplay Couch Trucks rent you (loB approval f If not satisfactory th~ can be returned at no expense to you whatever, while the price asked is but a trifle, com-pared to the ~n~en~ lhey atford and the ecoW)my they represent in the saving of Boor space. Thirty_two couch.es. mounted on the Montgomety Iron Display Couch Trucks occupy the same Boor space as twelve dis-plated in th.e U&ualmanner. Wrile f01 catalope giving full desaip-bOD and price in thi!l ditf~ iinishetl, to-gether with illustrations demonstrating the use of the Giant Short Rail Bed F au.tener for Iron Beds. Manufactured by H. J, MONTGOMERY P ...T..E.JilTB'it Silver Creek, New York, U. s. A. Dennia Wire and Iron Co .• e.-L.n Muu-fwlD'el$, London, Orat. plates to prevent one plate from scratching another in trans-portation, then all carfeully packed in straw, and the box is nailed up ready for shipment. Fires. The furniture establishment of Blumberg Bros., Chelsea, Mass., was damaged by fire Aug. 12. Loss $2,000. Listmann Furniture Company, North Yakima, Wash., Aug. ll, Loss $3.000. F. Deinzer & Soos furniture. factory, at Detroit, was damaged to the amount of $30,000 Aug. 16. The cause of the fire was a defedi ...e. electric motor. They manufactured mattresses and uph'olstered furniture. Capital Furniture Company Indianapolis, Aug. 13, damaged to the extent of $5,000. 31 REX [::;:~]MATTRESS CHAS. A. FISHER & CO., 1319 Michigan Ave., Chica.go. WRITE FOR BOOKLET AND PROPOSITION Wa.rehoulle,~ ST. LOUIS, MO. KANSAS CITY, MO, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. PEORIA, ILL LINCOLN, ILL. CHICAGO. ILL. Popularity One of the Essentials to Success. It is not ahvays the man ,...b.o does the big things jl] busi-ness who meets with the greatest success. There are people in business who have built up large and successful institutions by hitting on a little thing that "went" with the public, made their place of business popular and increased the flow of dollars to their tills 50 that they Soon had a large and still grO\ving business. Many men in business seem not to realize that they are in the position of being servants to the publie and if you ..v.ill think about the men you know who are sHccessful you will Ma.de by Chas. Bennett Furniture Co., Oharlotte, Mich. see that they have studiously put themselves and their busi-ness houses in the position of being servants to the public and of at all times being politely ready to wait on thc public The goods in one store may be of just as high grade and the stock be just as complete' as those of a rival store nearby, but if the proprietor, manager, floor walkers and salespeople of one are affable and accommodating and of the other indif-ferent or inclined to be grouchy, 'vho will get the most busi-ness? The answer is casy and all because the one store does things which tend to make it popular with the people. Big advertising space in the local papers and marking down prices are all very ,veIl to get people into the store, but no amount of advertising or marking down will overcome a feeling on the part of the public if it once gets it, that its presen(;c in tho.;-s,torc is not fully appreciated by the people of the ~tore. It's slow progress ma·king a store popular and a quick one making it unpopular with the public, but once a store has become popular with the pUblic, it has obtained. a big lead over all its competitors. A flooclNalker once hit 011 the idea of having the door opened for the customers to enter. That little move did wonders faT increasing thc popularity of that store before other stores ,",,"okeup and got into line. A saleslady who was casting about for a new idea to make herself popular with customers and thus increase the showing for her department, hit on the idea of taking an in-terest in the little folks. By tact she soon hecame popular with a large clientele of fond mothers and it was not long until she had her weekly wages increased without asking for it. Are you a patron of hotels or restaurants? 1£ you are ynu know wllat particular feature this one and that one is noted for. You know which one to go to for a steak which just suits you and what one to go to for a broiled lobster a 1a Newburg that makes you feel as though you were on the best of terms "vith the whole world. These same principles apply to one line of business as well as another. r talked with a novelty manufacturer in Grand Rapids, Mich., a short time ago, who was jU5t about to leave ior YOlll1gstown, Ohio, to visit a foundry \-vhich, he had learned, made .1 specialty of a certain class of work that would enable him to get ce.rtain castings made a little better than he had been able to get them made anywhere else. Somebody at the foundry had been making a special study of the needs of the novelty business and had dropped onto that idea that a department to make a certain difficult class of castings would stand a good chance of making the foundry popular with a clientele that had been foreign to it, and the department was put in. It was the new idea that quickly made it popular. It is the new idea that makes any buslness popular and it pays to ha\Te somebody about who js capable of getting out a new idea once in a while. Push button Morris chairs of the Ramsey-Alton make may be ordered in large or small quantities of the Ramsey. Alton Company, Portland, Mich. HOME TRADE LEAGUE EXPOSED Mr. Clark's Scheme Included War on the Chicago Jobbing Houses. The American Home Trade League~ Promoted by Alfred C. Clark of Chicago as stated in the, J\.Iichigan Artisan of July 25, a.ppears to have already "Come to Grief." It has been discovered that the object of the organization while purporting to assist the retail dealers ill ftghti.ng mail order competition, also included a scheme to help certain jobbers or, perhaps, to "bleed" them. At any rate Mr. Clark has been working a plan to divert bus-i.ness hom the Chicago jobbing houses and thus benefit thos.e in other cities. This plan, however, was not a.dopted until the Chicago jobbers had refused to be bled. The character of the II orne Trade League was exposed ,when a confidential letter, written by an Omaha, jobber to IV1r. Clark, was missent and fell into the hands of the Dry Goods Reporter. Later, other letters were found showing that Mr. Clark had received $1,000 from Omaha jobbers whQ had contributed that amount to boost the library end of the Home Trade League with the_ hope that they would secure some of the business that now goes to Chicago. The- money, ~it appears was used to print and mail a lot of circulars sent to merchants asking them to join in the movement and in-cidentally attacking Chicago wholesalers. One of the letters written by Mr. Clark to one of the Omaha jobbers who had "chipped in" $100 said: "You will notice that this circular helps the western johbers as against Chicago and is worth a good deal as a document in our campaign." Mr. Clark's first plan, it is stated, was to have the Chicago wholesalers furnish the "5inews" for the war on the mall-order -houses. He asked them to' put up a qnarter of a mil-lion dollars, but they declined to go into the scheme which they declared would amount to nothing more than an adver-tisement for the ..enemy ..-themail order dealers. Thcn he classed the Chicago jobbers as "enemies" and enlisted wholesalers in other western cities to fight the Chicago job-bers as well as the mail order concerns. The letter that exposed the scheme most completely came from Minneapolis. lmpellcd by a motive of curiosity. A prominent jobber is that city replied to l\lr. Clark's in-vitation to join in the movement and received a confidential letter in reply. Inclosed with this letter were cDpies of other lettersbne of which, according to Mr. Clark's statement was frani W. S. v\'-'right, treasurer of the \Vright-Wihelmy Company of Omaha to Mr. Clark and another supposed to have been written by Mr. Wright to <ll1other Omaha firm urging support of the Home Trade League. Another letter which, according to 1.fr. Clark's statement, was written by Mr. Wright to John Brady of the 1JeCord- Brady Company, Omaha, said: "l always have had a strong impression that this mail order business could be materially lessened' by educational weirk. The only chance we l1flVeis the country press. "\Vhat I would like to know would be 'whether your house would be willing to be one of ten to put up $100 each for the purpose of mailing circulars like the copy attached to the merchants, and working up through the medium of the country press an anti-mail order sentiment. Some sug-gestions in regard to the matter are- attached. "This Home Trade League i~a responsible organization, and has done some good work. You will notice this circular helps the western jobbers as against Chicago, and is worth a good deal as a campaign document. "I should much like to see this proposition started here, and I believe if we can get ten or twelve houses to put up this much money that the resu~t will be widespread in its 'in-fluence and pay large dividends on the investment." To, the Minneapolis merchant Mr. Clark gave the list of the Omaha contributors as follows and asked that steps be taken to obtain a similar amount from Minneapolis, stating that $1,000 woutd just pay penny postage on 100,000 circulars: Wright & Wihelmy, $100; M. E. Smith & Co., $100; Lee· C1ass-Andreesen Rdw. Co., $100; F. P. Kirkendall & Co., $100; Byrne-Bammer Dry Goods Co., $100; United States Supply Co" $lCO; Carpenter Paper' Co.,' $100; Lininger Im-plement Co'., $50; Omaha- Crockery Co., $50; McCord-Brady Co., $50; E. E. Bruce & Co., $50; Perlin, Orendorff & Martin Co., $50 Richardson Drug Co., $50. One of the Home Trade League circulars, headed "Mer- ~hants Take 'Iiarning" ad:vised retailers to "buy in any job-bing center outside-of Chicago." \Vhen Mr., Clark's attention was called to this circular he refused to give any explana-tion of his motive. He admitted that his circulars were "pretty rough on the Chicago jobbers" but claimed that such a policy "was necessary in order to whip them into support" of the Home Trade League. The Dry Goods Reporter, -in cQmmenting on the expose of ::Vlr.Clark's scheme says: "About a year ago Clark attempted to interest Chicago jobbers in 'a scheme of publishing attacks upon mail order houses in counhyi1ewspapers. His scheme was turned down as impracticable, because it WOLild give a lot of free adver-tising to the retail catalogue -hottses. There are some who say that Clark has been ,sore ever since :because of his turndown. There would have heen 'some ,fat advertising commissions for the promoter of such a publicity scheme, and Clark was then, and is now an advertising man and understands the game. 1\ow that the Home Trade League has been reveaied as a petty market organization inspired by the dis<lppointment of (me man, and the hYPocTisy of several others, the retailers of the country will have. little use for green circulars from mysterious sourc.cs,"- 249-256 SQ. Canal St., ·r_ -r- FREE With an order for lhe following Se· lection of 'SAN1P.l~ PILLOWS we will indude a SANITARY DISPLAY RACK like cut, K, D. 3 prJ. 61b. Cherry @ 95e 3 Pl". 711. Olive@-$1.35 3PI'1.6Ib. P8Bch@ 1.1S 3 po. 7 lb. Pear @ 2.10 3 Pt>l, 6Ib, Plum.@ 2.40 This Rack win in-crease your Pil-low Sales 100% [t may be referred to as SELECTION "0", without .pecial· ly naming Grades and Qyantities. SEND US AN ORDER FOR SELECTION "0" ~~J\~~~' CHICAGO. ILUNOIS 33 Honesty is only another term for "Square Deal" No. 2544. "SQUARE DEAL" is the kind that can be depended on when "your not looking," or where you can't see. You can't see what's inside of upholstered furniture, but when the inside is as good as the cover-ing, i. e. hair, moss and tow of ap-proved grades (the only kind u;ed in our factory), the merchant and the con-sumer both get the "SQU AR E DEAL" MUELLER & SLACK COMPANY, Grand Rapids, Mich. GENERAL CONDITIONS ARE GOOD. A Talk With John Widdicomb About What He Observed While Seeking Rest. "\Vhat did you see, hear or learn that would be of value or jnterest to your friends in the furniture trade?" That question was fired at John W.iddicomh, the well known fur-niture manufacturer of Grand Rapids, Mich., who has just returned from .a vacation trip in Europe, by a representative of the Micll.igan Artj",an, and the reply was substantially as follo.vB: "Really," I don't think I can say anything that will be of use to your readers. I ·went over there for a rest, tried my very best to get it and succeeded pretty fairly. I tried to put business out of my mind entirely-did not talk about it except when compelled to~.and I got a good rest." To the sug"gestion that a wide !:t'wake,progressive business man could hardly spend even a few weeks "on the other side" without observing the conditions and trend of business and financial affairs, I\·U. \Viddicomb said: "\Vhy, of course [ took notice of geuNal business .affairs, but I did not see, hea.r or learn of anything of particular sjgnifica.nce. Busi-ness over there--in England, at least, is fairly good. There has been nothing like a reaction that I could sec. Some of those directly interested in financial affairs have been hit quite severely by the shrinkage in the value of stocks~ shares they call them-but that does not seem to have affect-ed the manufactl1rlng, mercantile or commercial interests. I did not notice any gloomy feeling or disposition to curtail operations, On the contrary the people are prosperOU3 and cheerf1Jl-looking for a continuation of present conditions. I did not hear any explanation or reason for the slump in the value of securities. I do not think they blame America for their losses, If they were entertaining such an idea r would most certainly have heard something about it. "As to the furniture industry) I can point to one thing that indicates its condition. The Lebus Company, which) as you have stated heretofore, owns and operates the Jargest factory in the world, built a new plant three or four years ago. They thought they had made it large enough to meet their requirements for a generation at least, but they have already had to increase its capacity, and are now engaged in enlarging their power plant. "While in New York, on my way home, I gave consider-able attention to business and I did not discover anything that should be discouraging, or that shows a tendency to reaction in gen<:ral business affairs. Of course, the finan-cial speculators are not really happy, but their. woes are not felt by other interests and I do not see anything in the sit-uation that should cause any borrowing of trouble. "Here, at home, business is certainly good. With our company it was never better and there is no apparent reason why present conditions should not continue, unless we have a gellNal shortage in crops or something of that sort." Toured the Rocky Mountains. Daniel F, Tower, presid'?ut of the Grand Rapids .Brass Company, returned on August 24 from a six week)s vacation in the mountains of western Colorado. He had a fine time and never looked better in his life than now. Ramsey-Alton Morris chairs have been on the market for seven years and have never failed to meet the requirements of dealers and their customers. "Antique furniture niade~ orde~," is the audacious art':' nonncement of a cabinet maker of Brookline, Mass., upon ,a sign board over his door. inexperienced salesman may be pardoned for talking too long on these features of a dresser or a commode, but when the f1nish begins to grow dull or fade and the mirror develops waves or pinheads the customer feels that he has heen swin-dled. And he has, for more has been promised than it is in the power of the dealer to fulfill. ltmay he got as much for his money as he shou14 cxpeet;.but -the point is, that the salesman made him expect too mttch, promised· it to him, in fact, nad hence he is actually cheated by mean's ()f. dIe, saJes-man's glowing prornises~ What docs he do then?, Either he goes baek to the store with a com?laint, which, is lmjust as against the piece purcha!1ed, but just as against the-nl~,rchant, or else he goes to another dealer for his future wants .and urges hi's friends to do likewise. With such experiences the dealer is disposed to make un-just claims upon' the manufacturer, but the latter are not so compliant as formerly! and rarely allow claims for damages unless the proof submitted in support of the same is conclu-sive. Exaggeration is generally resorted to by the sales-man because he has nothing to say worthy of consideration, Educating the Customer. The average customer knows not, and knows that he knows not, the various kind of. woods used in the construe"; tion of furniture and the finishes applied to the same. If the salesmen have but tact enough to .supply the wanted in-formation in a quiet, tactful way, being sure that his manner is not overbearing, the customer will appreciate it. For ev-eryone is anxious to learn, and gives due respect to the one who teaches him. But when it comes to learning in the store, the customer does not want the knowtedge handed out in a manner that implies he ought to have known without asking. The tactful salesman will tell the customer what- he wants to know without forcing him .to ask too many questions, and will tell it in a way that is interesting <l.ndrespectfuL In this way he will gain the confidence and respect of the cus-tomer, and make the selling the easier, He will not say, "You don't know it, but-," Rather he will couch thai: idea in words something like this, "Few People know it, but-," and then go on to tell it, and the MADE BY MUELLER & SLACK CO., GRAND RAPIDS, MICH, customer need not admit he did not know it unless he feels like it. In this way the salesman can show his knowJedge of the subject without appearing to do so in a superior way, and without offending the customer. It is a.lways a good thing to let the. customer realize that you know something about what you are selling, for then the customer has more con-fidence in you and in the store, and buys easier, arid is less likely to object to the price. All this implies that the salesman knows the subject, which he n:J-ustif he is to be a real successful salesman, where there is any competition to be worthy of the name. . Then he must also know the various kinds of covers, and be able to tell without hesitation just what each is suited for. Too often a salesman knows none of these details, and feels only that the store is a good square place to trade, and unhesitatingly recommends every article he shows, for style, and for anything else that the customer may ask about. This is wrong, A salesman should never dilate up-on the lasting qualities of finishes or the permanency of mirror backing. Custom-ers are led to expect too much, and trouble is created. The He feels he must make a sale and knowing nothing to say to effect a sale, he brags about the durability of the finish or permanency of the colors ina fabric, such as a couch or di-van top, for instance. He might as well gloat over how long a pound of sugar will last, when he does not ·know how many there are in the family, or: how many spoonfuls the dif-ferent members like in their coffee. In selling a dresser he is only selling so much wood put together and finished in a certain way., What the customer will do to it he cannot guess, and how long it will last is about a.s much of a conjecture a.s it is how long the sugar will last. It depends on the individual, rather than an the dresser. And the salesman, in telling how ,the finish is applied, need not perjure his immortal soul in swearing how long the finish will last or the mirror remain flawless, He should tell his customer what may be reasonably expected. WHITE PRINTING CO., GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. PRINTERS OF CATALOGUES and everything needed by business men 35 36 Mahe Your Advertising Profitable Use Outs to Attract Customers , (We will furnish duplicates of the cuts shown ~(ow fo.r th.e prices stated. Remit with order. MICHIGAN ARTISAN CO .• Grand Rat>ids. Mich..) Price $1.00. I:BUY Mate Your Own 1arms Price 65 Cents. PAYLATE& Prier SO Ceftts. , r~~-·~-=-o;'~-'iRE~CiEDif :I! II ~ % I. A1140 0 I Saving to You i DURINC THIS j . Clearane, .Sale I;!• , -, TQ qlri<k1Y""d docis.ivd~ ol.~r w' <ow" \>«> ... "" s\<>d< <>I" !>;'rn",,'" m "",po,s,l.,., 1<" J.. new;arri1ooJo, ""'otf ...._.~r"'""T~. .. I>!ntl" or. pasl~y •. ·ond aO-tuaL Come in ~~ Mondayis Special Bargains Price 50 Cents. SUGGESTIONS FOR DECORATORS, ------------ - "Christmas Greetings" i f] A Special Publication in , Three Colors for the Holi-day Trade. ,, g Of Great Value to Dealers in Furniture and Kindred Goods. , Sarp.plesand Prices on Application White Printing Company CATALOG AND COMMERCIAL PR

Date Created:

1907-08-25T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Grand Rapids Public Library (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Collection:

28:4

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/2