A Man of Samples | Page 9

and found a half-dozen case of the
genuine. He filled two orders and put the other half-dozen on the
back-order book. The genuine was billed at the cut price and nothing

said on the bill. In a day or two back that case came by express, and an
indignant letter from the customer for palming off on him the old
tubular, when the agent had sold the new. The clerk erased the mark
and sent the case back to the other man in the town whose order was
not filled. You can see how much time, trouble and expense would
have been saved had the smart Aleck dropped a card to the house
saying he did not want the lanterns and held them subject to orders.
"Yes," said Blissam, "but I have seen goods go back when I thought it
was the proper thing to do. You know one of the latest schemes is to
sell goods in cases, and throw in the show-case. It started with needle
and thread men and has gone into a good many other things. A concern
from somewhere in Ohio had a man in Illinois selling shears in this
way. In one town he sold the dry-goods man a case, at 45 per cent, off
retail prices, and gave him the exclusive sale of the town, and then sold
a hardware man across the street at 50 per cent, discount, and gave him
the exclusive sale. When each party opened up his stock and made a
display they soon discovered how the land lay, and, furthermore, the
way in which the dry-goods man swore when he saw the other's bill at
so much less than his, would have made your hair stand up. He boxed
up these goods and sent them back by express, and I thought he did
right."
I went down to my hotel and sat a while in the smoking-room. There
were several traveling men there, and they seemed to be very much
interested in some "she," but I was never a good hand at making
acquaintances, and I made no effort here, but went to my room and
soon fell asleep, to dream all night about selling goods at 100 per cent
profit. The next morning I was out bright and early to see Jewell & Son.
The clerk said neither of the firm was in, so I made myself as pleasant
to him as I could, and posted myself as to the goods the house was
handling, and the prices they were paying. By and by the elder Jewell
appeared, and as I introduced myself he said:
"Gun men are plenty to-day; my son has just gone to the hotel with a
Mr. Blissam to look at his goods."

CHAPTER V.
When I found that Blissam was ahead of me, notwithstanding my being
out so early, I felt as if I should be glad to get away from him as soon
as I could. He was altogether too numerous for me. He had told me he
wasn't going to cut prices, and I was very sure I did not want to do it,
but I made up my mind I was going to get my share of the trade, cut or
no cut.
I began with talk to Mr. Jewell about a single-barrel breech-loader our
house was controlling, and quoted it at $7.20, sixty days.
"Is that the F. & W. gun?" he asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Why, Blissam quotes that at $7."
The deuce he did! Yet he was the boy that didn't intend to cut.
"Was his price net?"
"No, two off, ten days."
"Well, that brings them $6.86. We make 5 off in case lots, bringing
them down to $6.84, and there is 2 off that, ten days."
This was so mighty close to what the goods were costing us that I felt
like crying as I made the figures; but my back was up, and I didn't
propose to let Blissam walk over me, even if he was from Philadelphia.
Mr. Jewell was a very pleasant man to meet. He had no hobbies, no
crotchets. He was as pleasant with me as if I was buying instead of
trying to sell to him. This is a pretty good test of a man. One that meets
a strange traveling man pleasantly and gives him a patient hearing is
bound to be pleasant and kind-hearted clear through.
I gave him quotations on revolvers and cartridges, and tried to get him

to say he would not order of Blissam till I saw him again; but he would
not promise, for the reason, he said, that his son might even then be
buying at Blissam's room. Still, he said, it was the son's custom to do
no more than make a memorandum at