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"slight headway, but during the next
Set VA
. PAGE THRE
I:
CHAPTER LXIV
Our success had been so striking
since the beginning of the November
‘1 attack that I felt full advantage
should be taken of the possibility of
destroying the armies on our front
and seizing the regidn upon which
‘Germany largely depended for her
| supply of iron and coal. In accord-
lance with these views the following
!order was issued to the First and Sec-
‘ond armies:
“The energetic action of the
First army should completely 'ex-
pel the enemy from the region be-
| tween the Meuse and. the Bar
i within the next few days. The re-
sults obtained by this army have
been felt on the entire front from
| the Moselle to Holland. ol
“It is desired that, in carrying.
out the directions that are out-
lined herein, corps, and division
commanders push troops forward
wherever resistance is broken,
| without regard for fixed objectives
and without fear for their flanks.
| Special attention will be given to
impress upon all officers and sol-
diers that energy, boldness and
open warfare methods are de-
manded by the present situation.
“2. The First and Second armies
will at once prepare to undertake
operations with the ultimate pur-
pose of destroying the enemy's
organization and driving him be-
yond the existing frontier in the
region of Briey and Longwy. . . .”
Between the Meuse and Chiers riv-
ers, north and northeast of Stenay,
there was a very strong position
which commanded the crossings in that
vicinity. I believed that if we should
{eross the river south of Stenay and
move in the direction of Montmedy
we could turn this position and have
an excellent opportunity to capture
large numbers of German troops. driv-
len back on the line Sedan-Montmedy.
i By this maneuver we would also be
‘in an advantageous position to ad-
vance on the important supply areas
of Longwy and Briey.
An attack by the Third corps to'the.
e2st across the Meuse, south of Dun-
sur Meuse, in conjunction with the
‘northward movement by the French
Seventeenth’ corps, was prepared as a
preliminary to a new line of advance
to the east.
November 3, 4 and 5, the Fifth di-
vision of the Third corps in a brilliant
maneuver on a wide front effected
crossings of the Meuse and established
bridgeheads south of Dun-sur-Meuse.
The heights of the Meuse were grad-
ually, cleared by the Third corps and
the French Second Colonial = corps,
which had relieved the French Sev-
enteenth corps. Now for the first time
since 1914, the French positions around
Verdun were completely free from the
menace of these heights.
In these operations the Fifth’ divi-
sion, assisted by a regiment of the
Thirty-second, on November 5 had
captured Milly and established its line
from there south to the Bois de Chat-
illon. : By night of the 9th it had ad-
vanced to Remoiville and north of
Mouzay.
Our front was also extended to the
south, and by November 10 an excel-
lent line of departure was secured for
an offensive in the direction of Mont-
medy. The Seventy-ninth division
(Kuhn), in the French Second Co-
lonial corps, met decided opposi-
tion in its attacks of the 4th, 5th and
6th against the Borne de Cornouiller,
and this strong point was finally tak-
en on the 7th. On the following day
the Seventy-ninth, with units of the
Twenty-sixth division (Bamford) at-
tached, advanced on its entire front,
and on the 9th took Wavrille.
Between November 38 and 7 the
Twenty-sixth division, on the right of
the Seventy-ninth, made no attack. On
the 8th it took up the pursuit of the
retiring enemy, and by night of the
9th occupied a line which included
Ville-devant-Chaumont.
The Eighty-first division (Bailey)
entered the line as the right division
of the French Second Colonial corps,
November 7, relieving the Thirty:fifth
division (Traub). Attacking on the
9th against stiff defense, it captured
Manheulles and Moranville.
Reaching the Meuse. ;
The Righty-ninth division,) Fifth
corps, overcoming stubborn oppgsition,
captured Beaufort on the 4th and
reached the 6 Meuse. The yg de
Jaulny was cleaned up the following
day, and Cesse was occupied. The
Second division in its attack] of the
4th suffered heavy losses anfl made
two days it continued rapidly, and by
night of the 6th reached thg Meuse
south of Villemontry. 7
In the First-corps the Fa
ieth di-
My Experiences
in the World War
By General John J. Pershing
em
Ah ol souneniia}y Se No the North American
EE : : 7)
W.NU |
including the Berries
east oI 0ches, but on fhe Hth 1s Tite
was pushed forward to the north of:
Stonne- and La Besace. By night of
the 6th the Seventy-seventh had
reached the Meuse, Remilly and Villers
being entered by its patrols. ’
The Seventy-eighth division on the
4th captured Les Petites Armoises, and
‘on the following morning advanced
more than a mile to the north. The
‘Forty-second division relieved the Sev-
enty-eighth on this line, and by the
6th established itself north of Bulson,
It was’the ambition of the First
army, and mine, that our troops
x should capture Sedan, which the.
French had lost in a decisive battle in
1870. I suggested to General Maistre
that the prescribed boundary line be-
‘tween our First and the French Fourth
army might be ignored in case we
should outrun the French, to which he
offered no objection, but on the con-
trary warmly approved.
To reach ‘the objective the left
boundary of the First army would have
to be ignored, as Sedan lay to the
northwest beyond that limit. The
afternoon of November 5, the First
corps wag directed to bend its ener-
gies to capture Sedan “assisted on its
right by the Fifth corps.”
A misconception in the Fifth corps
of the exact ifitent of my orders re-
sulted in the First division erroneous-
ly going beyond the left boundary of
the Fifth corps and marching directly
across the sector of the First Corps |
during the late afternéon of the 6th
and throughout the night. The troops
“of the First division carried out this
unnecessary forced march in fine
spirit, despite their tired condition.
Considerable confusion resulted fin
the Forty-second and Seventy-seventh
divisions, and their advance was de,
layed as roads became blocked by the
columns of the First division, Thy
Forty-second and the Fjrst then begax
a race for the honor of capturing Se
dan, Part of these divisions had en-
tered the zone of the French Fourth
army and were waging a fight with the
enemy for the possession of the
heights south and west of Sedan.
The morning of November 7 found
men of ‘the Forty-second and the First
divisions on the heights overlooking
the city. Under normal conditions the
action of the officer or. officers, respon-
sible for this movement of the First
division directly across the sectors of
two other divisions would not have
been overlooked, but the splendid
record of that unit and the approach
of the end’ of hostilities suggested
leniency.
The enemy’s main line of communi- |
cations was now within range of the
machine guns of the First army, which
had driven him 24 miles since Novem-
ber 1. His position on the western
front was no longer tenable and he
urged immediate consideration of an
armistice.
Late on November 9 Marshal Foch,
then in conference with German repre-
sentatives regarding the terms of the
armistice, sent telegraphic instrue-
“tions “to all allied ‘commanders in
chief from which it might be inferred
‘that he was uncertain regarding the
outcome of negotiations and wished to
let the enemy know that there would
be no further delay. The following
was the message received:
“The enemy, disorganized by our
repeated attacks, retreats along
the entire front. y
“It is indportant to co-ordinate
and expedite our movements.
“I appeal to the energy and, the
initiative of the commanders in
chief of their armies to make de-
cisive the results obtained.”
No Respite for Enemy.
Orders in response to this appeal
were immediately issued and their
execution by the First army was un-
der way November 10 and 11. Yet
here again no sort of urging was nec-
essary. Our troops were determined
not to give the enemy any respite. Al-
ready the crossing of the Meuse had
been planned for the whole army, and
the Fifth corpse got over during the
night of the 10th-11th. Part of the
Eighty-ninth division’ crossed on rafts
just west of Pouilly, and others in the
rear of the Ninetieth division (Allen).
The Second division was unable to
force a crossing at Mouzon, as
planned, but about a mile south of
Villemontry the engineers of the di-
vision, with exceptional rapidity and
skill, threw two bridges across, over
which one regiment passed. The
Seventy-seventh division, now on the
left of the Fifth corps, only sent over
patrols on the 10th and 11th, the low
ground north of the river opposite its
front being flooded by heavy rains and
damming operations by the Germans.
The First corps’ from November 6
to 10 was withdrawing its divisions to
points on the Meuse between Dun-sur-
Meuse and Verdun, preparatory to a
vision, on the 4th, in Spite
emy’s stand, captured Vaux- -en
and Sommauthe, The enemy
during the night and the divisi took
up the pursuit, overcoming y Prous:
rear guard resistance until rMrching |
a line north and west of Bed uo.
During the night of the 5th itfs Dro
ress continued, the division hefing
lieved the next morni ing,
The Sev ony seventh divisi
the en-
ieulet
etir
| corps.
| preparing for this’ moment ever since
"| its organization.
. | November 5 for the
| First and Second armies.
i
general attack which would have as its
object the turning of the enemy's
strong position in front of the Fifth
East of the Meuse the First army
advanced in conjunction with the Sec- |
ond army, which had been earnestly
Under the instructions issued by me
advance of the
| throughout the day. Elements of the
‘division entered Stenay but were un-
vision on the 2nd, and the division
‘was relieved on the 3rd by the French.
"the 10th.
again took Grimoucourt.
which re-
ceived approval of Marshal Foch in a
personal note of November 8, the Sec-
ond army made advances along its en-
tire front in the direction of the Briey
iron basin during the last three days
of hostilities. ;
Attacking on the 10th, the Thirty-
third division reached the Bois d'Har-
ville and eaptured Marcheville, but
was forced to retire. The Twenty-
eighth division occupied a part of the
Bois des Haudronvilles Bas, as well as
Marimbois farm. The Seventh divi-
sion took and held against counter-
attack Hill 323. The Ninety-second
division captured the Bois Frehaut.
On the front of the First army, the
Ninetieth division, on the left of the
Third corps (Hines), had crossed the
Meuse on the 9th and attacked on the
10th, meeting decided opposition
able to clean up the town, while others,
after hard fighting in the nearby wood,
reached but could not take Baalon.
The Fifth division (Ely) captured
Jametz and cleared the Foret de |
Woevre, The Thirty-second division
(Haan) re-entered the line on the 9th,
as the right division of the Third
corps, and made substantial progress.
On the 10th the division moved for- |
ward until stopped by heavy fire from’
east of the Thinte river.
. On Other Fronts.
. Meanwhile other of our divisions
were engaged on distant fronts. In
Flanders our Fhirty-seventh and Nine-
ty-first divisions, which hadybeen sent
to the, French Sixth army at Marshal
Foch’s request, entered the battle Oc-
tober 31. The Cruyshautem ridge was
taken by the Thirty-seventh division
(Farnsworth) on the first day, while
the Ninety-first (Johnston), advancing
against intense fire, seized the strong-
ly defended wooded area in its front.
Both divisions moved forward rapidly
to the Escaut river on the following
day in pursuit of the enemy. Despite
resistance, crossings of the river were
effected by the Thirty-seventh, No-
vember 2 and 3, the division being re-
lieved the following day. Audenarde
was occupied by the Ninety-first di-
Both divisions re-entered the line for
the general attack of the French Sixth
army November 10. The Thirty-sev-
enth division was directed to relieve
two French divisions east of the Es-
caut the morning of the 10th, but these
divisions had been unable to cross, and
were relieved on the west bank. De-
spite severe. losses the Thirty-seventh
succeeded in again crossing the river
and moved forward the following day,
advancing two and a half miles east-
ward. The Ninety-first division met
slight opposition on the 10th and none
on the morning’ of the 11th, reaching
a line east of Boucle-Saint-Blaise.
In the First army the Fifth corps
advanced rapidly the morning of the
11th. Elements of the Eighty-ninth di-
vision occupied Stenay and established
a line on the hill to the north. Poull-
ly-sur-Meuse was mopped up early in
the morning. and Autreville occupied.
The Second division advanced to the
ridge west of Moulins, while the Sev-
enty-seventh division held its line of
In the Third corps, the morning of
the 11th, the Nineteenth division en-
tered Baalon, and the Fifth and Thir
ty-second divisions were preparing to
attack. The Seventy-ninth division of
the French Second Colonial corps at-
tacked against the Cote de Romagne
and advanced a short distance, the
Twenty-sixth division made slight
gains, and the Righty-first division
On the front of the Second army the
attack of the Thirty-third division on
the 11th was held up. The Twenty-
eighth division earried its line forward
north of Marimbois farm, the Seventh
division made no attack, and the Nine-
ty-second division attacked but did not
hold all its gains.
The line of the First army, Novem-
ber 11, extended from Fresnes-en-
Woevre to Pont-Maugis. (The Second
army line ran from Port-sur-Seille to |
Fresnes-en-Woevre. ‘Thus both Amer-
ican armies were now in position to |
carry out the offensive as directed by
my orders November 5, which was
what I had planned and advocated
when Marshal Foch insisted that there |
should be a coverging movement of all
the armies west of the Meuse, with |
Mezieres-Sedan as the objective of the !
American First army.
CHAPTER LXV
As the conference between Mar-
shal Foch and the German delegates |
proceeded, and in anticipation of ad-
vices regarding ‘the armistice, tele-
phone lines were kept constantly open
between my headquarters and those
of the First and Second armies.
When word came to me at 6 a. m.,
November 11, that hostilities would
cease at 11 a. m., directions to that
effect were sent to our armies immedi-
ately. Our troops had been advancing
rapidly during the preceding two days,
and although every effort was made
to reach them promptly a few could
not be overtaken before the prescribed
hour.
A brief account of the conference
with the German delegates was given
to me a few days later by General
Weygand, He said the Germans came
across the line by automobile the aft-
ernoon of November 7 and boarded a
special railway coach sent by the
French to meet them. During the
night this car and the marshal’s were
placed side by side in the forest be-
tween Compiegne and Soissons.
The emissaries were ushered into
the marshal’s presence, and after pro-
ducing their credentials were asked
the object of their visit.
that they had come to discuss the
terms of an armistice. The marshal
then mada it clear that he himself
They replied
was not requesting an’ armistice and
did not care to have one.
When asked if they wished an arm-
istice they replied that they did. The
marshal said that if that was the
case, here were the terms, a copy of
which he handed them. The severity
of the demands seemed to surprise
them and they appeared very much
depressed. They had no power to sign
an armistice they said, without the
consent of the chancellor, and after
some little discussion they started an’
officer to the German capital with the
terms.
They did not seem to object to turn-
ing over 5,000 cannon, but deplored
the condition which required them to
surrender 30,000 machine guns. They
finally succeeded in having this re-
duced to 25,000 machine guns on the
ground that they might have some
left for riot duty. In speaking of the
danger of riots, the delegates were
asked why they did not send some
of their reserve divisions to maintain
order in the- interior.
~ Their reply was that they had no
divisions in reserve, as every division
that they had was actually in line.
Then they complained about the short
time allowed for evacuation, stating
that the German army was in no con-
dition to move, either forward or back-
ward. .
What America Had Done.
Between September 26 and Novem-
ber 11, twenty-two American and six
French divisions, with an approximate
fighting strength of 500,000 men, on a
front extending from southeast of Ver-
dun to the Argonne forest, had en-
gaged and decisively beaten forty-
three different German divisions, with
an estimated fighting strength of 470,-
000. Of the twenty-two American div-
isions, four had at different times dur-
ing this period been in action on fronts
other than our own.
The enemy suffered an estimated
loss of over 100,000 casualties in this
battle, and our First army lost about
117,000. The total strength of the
First army, including 135,000 French
troops, reached 1,031, 000 men. It eap-
tured 26,000 prisoners, 874 cannon,
3,000 machine guns and large quan-
titiessof material.
The transportation and supply of
divisions to and from our front during
this battle was a gigantic task. There
were 26 American and seven French
divisions, besides hundreds of thou-
sands of corps and army troops,
moved in and out of the American
zone, A total of 173,000 men were
evacuated to the rear and more than
100,000 replacements were received.
It need hardly be restated that our
entry into the war gave the allies
the preponderance of force vitally nec,
essary to outweigh the tremendous
increase in the strength of the Ger-
mans on the western front, due to the
collapse of Russia and the consequent
release of German divisions employed
against her. From the military point
of view we began to aid the allies
early in 1918, when our divisions, with
insufficient training to take active part
in battle, were sent to the inactive
front to relieve French divisions, that
they might be used in the fighting
line,
The assistance we gave the allies
in combat began in May, with the suc-
‘cessful attack of one of our divisions
at Cantigny. This was followed early:
in June by the entrance into battle
of the two divisions that stopped the
German advance on Paris, near Cha-
teau-Thierry, and by three others that
were put in the defensive line.
In July two American divisions,
with ome Moroccan division, formed
the spearhead of the counter-attack
against the Chateau-Thierry salient,
in which nine of our divisions par-
ticipated. There was a total of ap-
proximately 300,000 American troops
@mgaged in this Second Battle of the
Marne, which involved very severe
fighting, and was not completed until
the Germans were driven beyond the
Vesle -in August.
In the middle of September an army
of 550,000 Americans reduced the St.
Mihiel salient. The latter part of Sep-
tember our great battle of the Meuse-
Argonne was begun, lasting through
47 days of intense fighting and ending
brilliantly for our First and Second
armies, November 11, after more than
| 1,200,000 American soldiers had par
ticipated.
A Time to Forget Hardships.
It was a time to forget the hard-
| ships-and difficulties, except to record
| them with the glorious history of our
achievements. In praise and thanks
for the decisive victories of our arm-
ies and in guidance for the future,
the following order was issued:
*G. HQ.
“American Expeditionary Forces.
“General Orders No. 203
“France, Nov. 12, 1918,
“The enemy has capitulated.
It is fitting that I address myself
in thanks directly to the officers
and soldiers of the American ex-
peditionary forces who by their
heroic efforts have made possible
this glorious result. Our armies,
hurriedly raised and hastily
trained, met a veteran enemy, and
by courage, discipline and skill al-
ways defeated him. Without com-
plaint you have endured incessant
toil, privation and danger. You
have seen many of your comrades
make the supreme sacrifice that
freedom may live. I thank you
for the patience and courage with
which you have endured. I con-
gratulate you upon the splendid
fruits of victory which your hero-
ism and the blood of our gallant
dead are now presenting to our na
tion. Your deeds will live forever
on the most glorious pages of
America’s history.
“These things yon have done.
1 of the future,
There remains now a harder task
which will test your soldierly
qualities to the utmost. Succeed in
this and little note will be taken
and few praises will be sung;
fail, and the light of your glorious
achievements of the past. will sad-
ly be dimmed.
“But you will not fail, Every
. natural tendency may urge to-
ward relaxation in discipline, in
conduct, in appearance, in every-
thing that marks the soldier. Yet
you will remember that each offi-
cer. and each soldier is the repre-
sentative in Europe of his people, -
and that his brilliant deeds of
yesterday permit no action of to-
day to pass unnoticed by friend
or by foe. \
“You will meet this test as gal-
lantly as you have met the tests
-of ‘the battlefield. Sustained by
your high ideals and inspired by
the heroic part you have played,
you will carry back to our people
the proud consciousness of a new
Americanism born of sacrifice.
“Whether you stand on hostile
territory or on the friendly soil of
France, you will so bear yourself
in- discipline, appearazce and re-
spect for all civil rights that you
will confirm for all’ time the pride
and love which every American
feels for your uniform and for
you.
“JOHN J. PERSHING,
“General, Commander in -Chief.
“Official :
“ROBERT OC. DAVIS. ’
“Adjutant General.”
The experience of the World war
only confirmed the lessons of the past.
The divisions with little training,
while aggressive and courageous, were
lacking in the ready skill of habit.
They were capable of powerful blows,
ut their blows were apt to be awk-
ward—teamwork was often not well
‘understood. Flexible and resourceful
divisions cannot be created by a few
maneuvers or by a few months’ as-
sociation of their elements. On the
other hand, without the keen intel-
ligence, the endurance, the willingness,
and the enthusiasm displayed in the
training areas and on the battlefields,
the decisive results obtained would
have been impossible,
There is little to add in praise of
the spirit of determination. that stimu-
lated each individual soldier to over-
come the hardships and difficulties
that fell to his lot. With fortitude
and perseverance he gave his every
energy to the accomplishment of his
task, whether it" required him to
charge the enemy’s guns or play the
less conspicuous role of forwarding
‘supplies. In their devotion, their
valor and the loyal fulfillment of their
obligations, the officers and men of
the American expeditionary forces
have left a heritage of which those
who follow after may ever be proud.
[END
Orr
THE FACTORS FAVORING
SMALL-TOWN BUSINESS
—
(Continued From Page Nn re
has increased 235 per cent in ten years,
and, with more than 17,000 people now,
it has definitely emerged from the
small-town class. Now what happened
here? # Well, Klamath Falls acquired
better railroad and highway facilities.
As a result, new agriculturall and tim-
ber lands were opened. New indus-
tries came in. Existing plants expand-
ed their equipment and activities.
More tourists flowed into the town as
they passed between California and
the Pacific Northwest.
‘Let us look for just a moment at
Dodge City, Kansas, wich doubled its
population during the past ten years.
One of the main reasons, here, is to be
found in the development of power
farming—transforming the plains
country 'west and south of Dodge City. |'
And this progressive town has utilized
, wisely the business advantages of its
strategic location.
~ And the South, the vigorous new
South of fine, aggressive business”
spirit, has plenty of good illustrations.
For instance, there is Bogalusa, Louis-
iana, registering af 70 per cent gain
since 1920—increasing from 8,000 to
14,000. In this case, aggressive indus-
ing latent lumber resources with a
trial development did the job—exploit-
paper mill, a new furniture factory,
and a box plant.
One cannot emphasize too strongly
that new developments in transporta-
tion have an immensely vital bearing
on the business future of the small
town. The story of Novi, Michigan, il-
lustrates that. It seems that the town
was once Stop Number Six—“No.”
Roman numeral “VI”—on an old-time
stage route. When the railroad first
camethrough that that country they
missed this village of Novi, going 20
miles away to the then equally small
village of Detroit. Partly as a result
of that action (and partly ,of course,
because of its water transportation
advantages) Detroit is a great metro-
polis. Novi remains a hamlet of 300.
But who knows—possibly some little
hamlet of the plains may be a Detroit
given prominence by or
newest mode of transportation, the
airplane. Already many small towns
have been ‘put on the map” by the
airlines serving them; and hundreds
of’others have derived some additional
income. whether fairly large and
transient or rather small and steady,
from air transportation.
Take the case of Pasco, Washington,
an important division point on the air-
line; serving the great Northwest,
which has spurs connecting the major
cities of the Pacific Coast and the “In-
fand Empire” with the transcontinen-
tal route, and which will soon be con-
nected with an airline serving Alaska.
The airline has made’ Pasco famous
| througout the country. It is a, sur-
| prise to seasoned air travelers to learn |
L
t its population is less than 5,000;
eo of them had doubtless expected
rapers and double-decked busses
ness:
_| store activity. In the nature of
it cannot have so much large-scale
‘ing merchandise by mail,
7
there.
as it has been doing recently; that
supposition may become ‘a reality.
Another small town in somewhat the
same position is Bellefonte, Pennsyl-
vania, which owes much of its present
renown—and some increase in busi-
ness to the fact that it is important as
a stopping place for mail and passen-
ger planes when bad flying weather
sets in over the Alleghenies.
I could greatly lengthen this list of
new airline towns. Elko and Las
Vegas, Nevada, and Midland, Texas,
‘tare other
enne, Wyoming, had an early history fe
pertihent examples. Chey.
closely identified with the pony ex-.
press, but recently our newest (an
almost equally glamorous) means o
communication has furnished a sequel
to those frontier days. Cheyenne is
now an airline division point, with TE
pair shop, pilots’ quarters, and so on.
At the airport a plane comes swing-
ing down from the sky, mail bags are Oo
transferred, and another plane roars
away in a cloud of dust. The weekly
4
drama of the pony express is revived,
in a way, in the speed and hustle of
the skyway service.
There can’ be no deubt that radio ve
has worked to the advantage of the
small-town business man. Supplying|
an endless variety of entertainment
for the home—and for the store as
well—it tends to counteract the lure
of city amusements.
closer to their own hearth-stones and
to their home-town merchants | or
neighborhood shops.
vision comes, in full power and per-
fection—as it surely will some ti me—
this stay-at-home influence will be en-
| hanced and intensified immeasurably.
inevitably iS
Small-town business will
benefit from such a striking transfor-
mation and forward step as this. £
Let us take a brief look now at one
of the livest and most contentious
questions that bear upon such bu usi-
store
Namely, “Can the chain
successfully invade the small town?”
Certainly a vital problem—this one of =
the survival of the independent, who,
as President Hoover has put it, is “the
foundation of American business.”
Of course, I cannot begin to answer
such a controversial question in the
two or three minutes at my disposal.
I just want to mention a few of the
things that influence the situation. A
chain store in a real small town—not
a suburb, mind you—lacks some of the
characteristics that help to “make- the
wheels go round” in typical ain-
requisition, distribution, accounting, £
and other city chain-store advantages.
Probably that is why our census
figures show that, in towns of less
than 10,000 the chains do less than 10
per cent of the total business. To in- Yas
crease that, they are up against one
of the great assets of the small-town
independent, ‘namely, personal réla-
tions and special service.
Take the credit question. The in-
dependent merchant can take advan-
tage of the fact that it is probably as
safe to extend “open credit” in the
American small town as
where on earth. He ,Tuns across very
few cases like the one in which an
exasperated merchant, desperate over
a bill long due, accosted the debtor
with these words: “Look here, John,
you've been owing me this bill for a
vear. Now T'll meet you half-way.
I'm ready to forget half what you
owe.” And John came
with: “Fine! Tl meet you.
the other half!”
A pretty weighty factor in determin-
ing the flow of business in a small
town is that of personal friendship.
The local people go to the same
churches—belong to the same lodges
—swat mosquitos at the same picnies.
The independent small-town merchant
I'll forget
knows the typical wants and proclivi- +
ties, even the dispositions of his
townspeople, He would never make
such a blunder as that of the old rag-
man who approached a sharp-visaged
housewife witih the query: “Any bot- |
tles, ma’ am—any wine bottles?” Thorr
oughly outraged, the woman snapped:
“Do I look as if T drank wine?” The
questioner peered at her more closely
and hastened to exclaim:
—my mistake, lady. Any vinegar bot-
tles?”
The element of personal contact is
one of the factors in the situation with
respect to the mail-order trade. What
is the mail-order situation, taking it
by and large? It is easitest to express
it by index figures. Let us take the
1923-25 average as our basis, or 100.
For 11919 the index figure for mail-
order sales in the country as a whole
was 93; for 1930 it was 172, or a little
less than double what it had been 11
years before. It seems reasonable to
assume that the business of small-
‘town stores has been injured to some!
extent by this mail-order expansion,
though I find no figures available to
indicate the exact extent of such en-
croachment. Our experts at the De-
partment of Commerce say that, from
their experience, it looks as if the
mail-order - houses get a much larger
business from the farmers, in propor-
tion to the number of people, than
they do from the actual residents of
small towns. (Of course, that rurak
business would otherwise come, in.
major part, to the small-town stores.)
In the villages, the factor of conveni-
ence; the possibility of looking over:
the goods and comparing and select-
ing, and again that highly important.
element of personal friendshin for +
storekeeper, combine to hell a
trade for the good local RIE §
against the distant establishmen
a] mT
And so, although there ate unfayvor-
able factors against small-town busi-
ness, there are, on the other hand,
strong favorable elements which are
THOTe modern, more in the spirit of
the
circumstances, A business friend of
of/mine, Mr. A. M. Matson, of Dallas,
Texas, director of a great wholesaling
house operating all over the country,
writes me: “TI have been conv inced—
not through guesswork, but By actual
éxperience—that there is a come-hack
in the small town in Texas: there are
many good reasons for it, but the most
| keepers.”
outstanding is more efficient 'store-
Small-town industry and business in
| this country are justified in entertain-
ring a lively hopefulness and sturdy Ph
courage.
If air traffic goes on increasing
It keeps people
And when teiend ga
ings Pi
it is any- ad
right back
“My mistake
“new age,” than are the adverse
’
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