FOOLING THE PUBLIC
TRICKS OF THE TRAVELING RE
TAIL GROCERY AGENTS.
GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
The Price May Be Small, But the
Goods Are Expensive Even at
That and Net Big
Profits.
You may know something about the
modus operandi of the traveling gro
cer, and how the house after paying
him 25 per cent, commission still
makes a princely profit. There may
be some things, inside affairs that it is
well that the people in general may
know. It will be found on close inves
tigation that the average Merca. *'e
Supply company, Buyers' association
or whatever name is used to gull the
unsuspecting farmer, consists of one
or two schemers, who hrve a small
office room iu (;;u■ i; and a
back room in tliu iu. > jiguborhood
where the "storeb" are stored and the
re-packing and the mixing done. The
re-packing and the mixing are two
important parts of the work o? the
"company." When the "repre .tenta
tive" sells John Jones 100 pounds of
sugar for S4.CO; five cases of canned
goods at $2.40 a case; three boxes of
dried fruits at ten cents a pound, a
few gallons of extract at a bargain
and ten or 15 pounds of spices at a
profit of 200 per cent., the order is
sent to the "home office." There it is
recorded. The boy is sent down to the
wholesale grocery house which gen
erally stands in with the concern,
-brings back a lot of ordinary bulk
dried fruits, the cases of seconds or
thirds, in canned goods, and the ave
rage run of poor spices. In the pack
ing room the dried fruits are over
hauled, washed up If possible as in
the case of prunes, and packed in
boxes, supposed to contain full 25
pounds, but only run from 18 to 22;
branded with some fictitious mark
and shipped out with the other sup
plies. The spices are dumped out,
uud again run through a mill with a
Jot of ground nut-shells, bark or other
matter, and perhaps some bran or
other cheap material is added. The
extracts are of the cheapest class,
synthetic, and the pure fruit flavors
are products of coal-tar, doctored up
with coloring matter to look good.
The label is the only pure thing about
it aside from the glass in the bottle
containing it.
In fact, the tricks of the box-car
outfits are legion. The teas sold are
never up to the samples shown. In
one case a schemer traveled over the
country carrying with him samples of
Ceylon teas that were worth 45 cents
a pound wholesale. He agreed to sup
ply this tea at 50 cents. He received
large orders. Every order was filled
with teas that cost only 20 cents a
pound, and the funny thing about it :
was that there was no kicking, be- ,
cause the farmers knew nothing 1
about teas, and were satisfied as long
as they thought that they had a fine
Ceylon article. The same way with
coffees. If there is anything that even
coffee experts know' little about it is
coffee. It is a wine merchant who
knows the classes of coffees he is
handling. The box-car man generally
shows up a cheap big-berry, tells all
about it being a great mountain Mocha
and sells three poands for a dollar,
and buys it at 1C or 17 cents a pound.
Should the local grocer try to sell the
same grade to his customers at such a
price, there would go up a roar that
would raise the roof of the store. Still
the farmer continues to bite at such
baits, and doesn't squeal.
Where the Money Is.
More than 40 per cent, of the popu
lation of the United States proper lies
in less than a dozen eastern states.
These states are known as manufac
turing states. In the banks of one,
New York state, is contained nearly
40 per cent, of the money of the coun
try. New York city alone has in its
banks 25 per cent, of the money in cir
culation. This has been made possi
ble by the conditions that enable the
large cities to draw trade from all sec
tions of the country. In fact, great
cities must have support of a large
territory. Cut one of the great evils
and which injures the masses who are
residents of agricultural district is the
system of drawing support from local
towns and communities to the cities.
This system takes from the rural dis
tricts the surplus wealth that should
be retained to build them up.
The Drinking Orchid.
One of the most remarkable plants
known to horticulturists is the drink
ing orchid, which is found in South
America. This orchid takes a drink
whenever it feels thirsty, by means of
a tube which It lets down into th*
water. The tube when not in use is
coiled upon the top of the plant.
The formation of the orchid is dif
ferent from others of its species, hav
ing sharp leaves, lancehead-shaped,
growing round the root and radiating
from it. From the center of the plant
hangs the tube, about one-eighth of an
inch thick and one-fourth of an inch
wide. When touched It gradually
contracts and rolls itself up in a
spiral-like coil. As a rule these or
chids are to be found growing directly
over the water, or where water has
been, and in the latter case it is al
most pathetic to see how the tube will
work its way over the ground to a
pool or river.
Where tha Fool Irritates.
The most irritating tiling about a
fool is that he seems to be enjoying
himself so.
NOT A GOOD SYSTEM.
How th; Mail Order Business Injures
the Agricultural Sections.
We must admit that mail order
system is a legitimate business if it. is
carried on legitimately. It is a great
American privilege to carry on trade
in this way. Yet the principle from
an American standpoint or any other
standpoint that is consistent with
equal rights for all is entirely wrong.
Through the mail order system the
merchants suffer a direct loss. To
them it is an unfair competition. It
diverts trade from established chan
nels. The loss of the merchants in the
' local town means a loss to the town
itself, to every resident of the town
and the surrounding community. It
ia the business of the city or town
that makes it a live place or a dead
one. Dependent upon the activity of
a town is to a great extent the value
of all farm lands in its trade territory.
Thus is the farmer affected by any
system that causes a deterioration in
his home town. Yet the farmers are
the main supporters .of the catalogue
houses. They assist in feeding the
snake that is stealing their eggs and
they little realize it. Tliey are as vi
tally interested in the upbuilding of
i their home town as the merchant. It
is for their benefit as well as for all in
the community that the town is there.
There is a more vital phase of the
question that few farmers realize.
That s the evils resulting from the
vast capital that is concentrated in
the large financial centers. It is this
surplus of money that makes it easy
to build up trusts and combinations.
These trusts aiTect the affairs and the
prosperity of the farmer. He does not
stop to think that when he sends his
money to the distant concern that he
is doing just so much to help along
the trusts.
HELPS FOR TOWN BUILDERS.
Some years ago on bill boards and
street cars and in the pages of the
magazines were run a series of adver
tising cards the prominent feature of
which was "Spotless Town." There
can be little doubt as to the whole
some lessons taught by this unique
advertisement. The town that is not
kept in good condition, its walks in
good repair, its streets well graded,
and all neat and clean, is a reflection
upon the residents of the place, and
is evidence that the town is already
dead or fast dying. Should you make
a good impression upon strangers,
keep streets clean, business places at
tractive, and don't forget that the
front yards and the general conditions
of the residences indicate the charac
ter of the people who reside in them.
Residents of agricultural sections
who a few years ago looked upon the
automobile as a nuisance, are begin
ning to realize that it is a great factor
in road improvement, and has brought
about renewed interest in country
roads and their betterment, with a cor
responding benefit to the farmers.
It is as much to the interest of the
people of a town that there be good
roads leading to it, as it is to the
farmers who must use them In haul
ing their goods to market.
There is a vast difference in the
farmers of to-day and the farmers of
a quarter of a century ago. It is won
derful how the improvements brought
into existence in a single generation
will change conditions. Every inno
vation that makes life in the towns
more desirable, also finds a way of
conferring a benefit upon the farmers.
No longer need for the resident of the
farm district to not have all the up
to-date things that can be found in the
finest city homes. The telephone and
the rural delivery has brought him
within a "stone throw" of the city.
Living for the Children.
Froobel's sentiment "Come, let us
live for our children" rests on a sound
philosophic basis. To live for them is
to call out the noblest impulses of
parenthood. And we cannot live for
them in the truset sense until we be
come familiar with their needs. It is
in the endeavor to meet those needs
in the largest way possible that we
find our own characters richly recom
pensed in strong and well-developed
parenthood. We practically become
what we are by what we have done or
left undone, what we are willing or
unwilling to do for our children. The
principle is universal, and should find
its extension and application among
children at all times and in all places.
Has not the church lost ground in
failing to recognize the primary and
fundamental place of the child in so
ciety? If so, it is obvious how that
lost ground may be recovered. —Homi-
letic Review.
Anticipating Age.
Why do people allow themselves to
fret about getting old? There are
those who anticipate it and fear it as
if it were the most melancholy fate
that could befall one, and many of
them have never been really young in
spirit.
And youth is more a matter of
spirit than it is of body. Enthusiasm,
interest in everything, warmth of
heart and breadth of feeling, are the
qualities that stand for youth.
The Guile of the Greeks.
At first the more thoughtful ones
regarded the gift suspiciously. Then,
taking further thought, they said, ono
to the other:
"Aw, what's the dif? It's only a
near-art. horse, anyhow. Now, if it
was ono of those chug-chug wagon;'
coming in here to break the speed
limit laws we wouldn't stand for .t
for a minute."
Thus it was, the victim of ovor
confidence, that Troy fell. —Puck.
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1907.
DEADLY GAS
Killed Seven Miners in an
Abandoned Pit.
ALL ARE ITALIANS.
The Accident Is Said to Have Been
Due to the Ignorance of the
Unlucky Workmen.
Hazleton, Pa. —Seven mine work
ers, all Italians, were killed in an
abandoned slope of the Lehigh and
Wilkesbarre Coal Co. at Honey Brook
Thursday by deadly white damp.
Three others are missing, but official
confirmation as to whether they are
| in the mine cannot be secured.
Of the dead only the body of James
Lavanno, a foreman, has been recov
ered from the slope and there is no
hope that the other bodies can be se
cured soon because of the deadly
gases.
The accident is said to have been
due to the ignorance of the workmen
regarding the mine gases. Two of the
men had been sent into the slope to
I measure water by Foreman Lavanno.
j When the men failed to return to the
I surface two other men were sent into
the mine to assist them. These also
| failed to return and two more de
scended. Finally Lavanno went into
the workings with Frank Bowda, an
experienced Inside man. Bowda de
tected the white damp and got out
safely, but Lavanno refused to leave
and perished.
James Goldsmith, superintendent;
William Goldsmith, a fire boss; Will
iam Davis, foreman: Charles Schaar,
fire boss, and Philip Harsleft, a pump
| man, organized a rescuing party and
| went into the slope, but they were
! driven back. Dr. Farrar, of Auden
| ried, was finally lowered IGO feet into
! the slope and succeeded in bringing
| up the body of Lavanno, though he
; was almost unconscious when he was
drawn up from the workings.
A STORY Of BRIBERY.
Man Who Is Acting as Mayor of San
Francisco Tells of Selling His Vote
to Telephone Company for $5,000.
San Francisco, Cal. —Dr. Charles |
Boxton, temporary mayor of
San Francisco, on the witness stand j
in tlic Glass trial Thursday afternoon ]
told the story of his alleged debanch
ment by Theodore V. Halsey, indicted !
agent of the Pacific States Telephone j
Co., who, Boxton testified, paid him !
$5,000 "mostly in SIOO bills" for hav
ing voted and used his influence as a
supervisor against the granting of a
franchise to the Home Telephone Co., |
a rival concern.
Adjournment was taken to permit j
Boxton to attend "a very important,
meeting of the board of supervisors."
The first and only important ques- ;
tion asked of Boxton in cross-exami- j
nation before he was excused brought
out the answer that the supervisorial
caucus at which a majority of the IS
supervisors decided to abandon the
Pacific States Telephone Co. by
which, according to their confessions
to the grand jury, the supervisors had
been bribed, and to vote a fran- j
chlse to the Home company, was held
in the office of Mayor Schmitz on the j
Sunday evening preceding February I
20, 1906.
A TRAFFIC IN SLAVE GIRLS.
Japanese Women are Brought to Pa
cific Coast Cities and Sold.
Washington, D. C. —A vigorous
protest has been received by the gov-'
eminent from the Japanese and Kor- j
ean Exclusion league, the headquar
ters of which is at Seattle, against I
what is asserted to be an organized
traffic in Japanese women, who, it is
alleged, are brought to this country in
large numbers for immoral purposes, j
The protest declares that wholesale J
misrepresentation, perjury and fraud j
are perpetrated on the part of immi
grants, and perjury and collusion on
the part of Japanese residents in this j
country. It is stated that the traffic
is regularly organized and that wo- j
men are brought into the country and j
sold into a system of slavery.
In connection with the traffic there ;
Is said to exist a gang of blackmailers j
composed of Japanese who live on the
"hush money" collected from the im
porters of the Japanese slave girls. It
is asserted by the officers of the
league that hundreds of these women
are scattered among the cities of the
northwest and in the logging and min
ing camps.
Negroes Shoot Two Policemen.
Pittsburg, Pa. —In attempting to
arrest three negroes who were
caught effecting an entrance to the
Bessemer & Lake Erie railroad sta
tion at East Pittsburg shortly after
midnight Policeman Thomas Sullivan
was shot dead and Policeman John
O'Brien was so seriously wounded
that the physicians say he cannot live.
A Japanese Spy Is Arrested.
San Diego, Cal. A Japanese
has been arrested at Fort Rose
crans while making drawings of the
fort. Maj. Getchell acknowledges that
n Japanese was arrested, that he was
drawing plans of the fort and that
there is a heavy punishment for the
offense.
Explosion was Fatal to Four.
Ketchikan, Alaska. The barge
Japan, loaded with explosives,
blew up when Hearing Bold Island
Wednesday night and four men were
killed.
A PLUNGE TO DEATH.
SIX PEOPLE IN NAPTHA LAUNCH
ARE DROWNED IN CONE
WANGO RIVER.
Boat Was Swept Over a Dam Near
Russell, Pa.—Three of the Party
Escaped.
Jamestown. N. Y. —• Six people
were drowned late Friday evening
near Russell, Pa., 11 miles south of
here. Nine people h'ad taken a gaso
line launch on the Conewango river,
which was very high owing to recent
rains. The boat was swept over a
dam and six people drowned. The
dead are:
Mr. and Mrs. John Best and daugh
ter Violet, aged 18, of Warren, Pa.
Mrs. George Baker, Warren, Pa.
Mrs. Hilda Knox, Warren, Pa.
O. F. Butts, a traveling salesman
from Philadelphia.
A dispatch from Russell, Pa., says
that Mr. 'and Mrs. John Best had in
vited a company of friends to take
supper with them at their cottage on
the Conewango river and had come
down to the Russell boat landing to
meet them. The visitors were in one
naphtha launch and Mr. Best and his
party in another.
The boat containing the visitors be
came lodged on a rock pile a short
distance above the dam and Mr. Best
went to assist them, when the engine
in his launch broke and the boat con
taining nine persons drifted toward
the dam without an oar to stay them.
When the boat reached the dam it
was drifting broadside and as it went
over turned upside down. Six of the
nine persons were caught under i£.
BUSINESS BULLETIN.
Few Complaints of Midsummer Dull
ness Are Heard —Retail Trade
Is Brisk.
New York. —R. G. Dun & Co.'s
Weekly Review of Trade says:
There is not the customary com
plaint of midsummer dullness in gen
eral trade channels, while the demand
for seasonable fabrics is rapidly de
pleting stocks that threatened to be
carried over. Brisk retail trade is ac
companied by more prompt collections
and many cities that were slow to re
spond to the better feeling now send
satisfactory reports. Jobbers and
wholesalers are receiving liberal or
ders for fall and winter merchandise,
and interior buyers are active in the
primary markets. Manufacturing re
turns tell of large orders on hand and
very heavy production during the first
half of the year.
Lower prices for pig iron were due
to the larger output and more prompt
deliveries that reduced the premiums
paid for early shipments. Consump
tion has not. appreciably diminished,
although a few of the steel mills are
closed for repairs. Despite some fur
naces rendered idle for the same rea
son, the total number in blast increas
ed six during June.
LARGE FINES ARE IMPOSED.
Officers of a Steel Company are
Mulcted for Failing to Stop Ore
Dust Nuisance.
Pittsburg, Pa.—A decision of in
terest to property owners in tha
mill districts was handed down by
Judge Young in common pleas court
Friday in the suit instituted by the
residents of Oakland against the
Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. to have
the company stop the emission of ore
dust from its blast furnaces.
The court held all the officers of
the company to be in contempt for
failing to comply with the order to
atop the nuisance, and fined B. F.
Jones, president of the company,
000, Superintendent Messner, of the
Eliza furnace, SIOO, and all the direct
ors of the company each SIOO. Judge
Young further stated that unless the
Company can get a device to do away
with the ore dust it must shut down
the furnaces. In this case, 10,000
men will be thrown out of employ
ment in the Jones & Laughlin Co.
alone. An appeal from Judge Young's
decision has been taken to the Penn
sylvania supreme court.
ACQUITTED OF MURDER.
Mrs. Bowie and Her Son, Who Killed
the Betrayer of Their Daughter
and Sister, Go Free.
La Plata, Md. —It took the jury
in the Bowie murder trial Friday
but five minutes to decide that, in
southern Maryland at least, the "un
written law" is the law to which the
seducer must hold himself answer
able. And while there was 110 marked
demonstration when the verdict be
came known, there was sufficient evi
dence that the verdict of the jury was
the verdict of the people of this sec
tion.
Both jury and people acquit Mrs.
Mary E. Bowie and her son, Henry, of
•all blame for meir acknowledged
slaying last January of Hubert Posey,
the seducer of their daughter and sis
ter, Priscilla Bowie, who, with her
fatherless child, made a pathetic pic
ture in the court room.
Four People Drowned.
Springfield, Ky. Miss Nellie
Nee,- »\us* Mary Comstock, Jacob
Pargiew and a negro boy, of this
place, wore drowned Friday in Little
Beech Fork riv.-r. The young people
were out in ■£ rowboat which was
swamped.
An Embezzler's Sentence.
St, Paul, Minn. Philip Kcm
plen, formerly paying teller at
the Capital national b.i ik, was un Fri
day sentenced to four years in prison
He pleaded guilty to misappr >priatiot
Of $ J5,000.
Balcom & Lloyd. (
WE have the best stocked m
general store In the county J|
and if yon are looking for re- Ȥ
liable goods at reasonable !*
prioes, we are ready to serve t|
yon with the best to be found. *j
Our reputation for ti ust- 3
worthy goods and f&ir dealing "J
is too well known to sell any
but high grade goods. jl
Our stock of Queensware and
Ohinaware is selected with 9
great care and we have some nj|
of the most handsome dishes P
ever shown in this section,
both in imported and domestic
makes. We invite you to visit
B us and look our goods over. S
i *
i i
pj - «
| Balcom & Lloyd, j
wnwwpowiim'iifw nimur ww ny urn ** <wp ny w wnw n
|! LOOK ELSEWHERE BUT DON'T FORGET
|| THESE PRICES AND FACTS AT
I | LaBAPTS ||
14 II " I
M M
£| We carry in stock ~ | £1
£ j the largest line of Car- -, ' pj
pets, Linoleums and S HTHTTiT fff] B ' ||
H Mattings of all kinds ~ hi
ever brought to this .
112? town. Also a big line ' afar £2
M of samples. M
Avery large line of -FOR .THE |." . gg
55 Lace Curtains that can- ...* . . i?- - H
" rhereVAhe p r le auy COMFORTABLE LODGING »j
Art Squares and of fine books in a choice library
J3 Rugs of all sizes and select the Ideal pattern of Globe- M
M kind, from the cheap- Wernicke "Elastic" Bookcase. ffl
est to the best. I Furnished with bevel French 1 £ !
M plate or leaded glass doors. I j| j
M Dining Chairs, I '°"■" j
Rockers and GEO. J. LaBAR,
tkjH High ChairS. Bole Agent for Cameron Countj. ku
112 J A large and elegant I—————————_ fa
?? line of Tufted and
Drop-head Couches. Beauties and at bargain prices.
K 4 ^ ———— |jj|
|3O Bedroom Suits, COC |4O Sideboard, quar- ffQfl fcj
solid oak at 4>ZO tered cak 4>OU PI
S2B Bedroom Suite, tfOI f32 Sideboard, qnar- tfOC £3
If solid oak at 4>Zl tered oak 4>ZJ
$26 Bed room Suits, tfOfl |22 Sideboard, quar- CIC *3
M solid oak at 4>ZU I tered oak 4) 10 ||
M A large line of Dressers from I Cb ffoniers of all kinds and p|
*ji $8 up. all prices. fc#'
i. . ||
hg The finest line of Sewing Machines on the market, kg
II the "DOMESTIC" and "ELDRILGE.' All drop- {J
N™ heads and warranted. *3
A fine line of Dishes, common grade and China, in 112!
** sets and by the piece.
k As I keep a full line of everything that goes to pi
$| make up a good Furniture store, it is useless to enum- $|
M erate them all. £$
Please call and see for yourself that lam telling ||
you the truth, and if you don't buy, there is 110 harm ££
done, as it is no trouble to show goods.
II GEO. J .LaBAR. §
TJpaiDEsrs.TAis.iNo.
3