The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1909)

52 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. ^TALKING ^ ttOVELTT L— THE SIDE LINE SECTION _ is a part of The Talking Machine World, SiidS which is published on the 15th of each month by Edward Lyman Bill, 1 Madison Ave., N.Y. Complete copies 10c. each. Subscription by the Year $1.00 Domestic; Foreign $1.25 NEW YORK, MAY 15, 1909 KEEP EVERLASTINGLY AT IT. One Stroke May Not be Felt But Steady Pounding Will Win. "One stroke of a bell in a thick fog gives no lasting impression of its location, but when followed by repeated strokes at regular intervals the darkest night cannot conceal its whereabouts." It is the continuous work that brings success in everything. It is ill advised to change salesmen unless the change must, perforce, be an unquestioned improvement and the business unequivocally improved thereby. It is the continuous growth, following and development that makes a sales force valuable to the firm; it is the "continuous stroke of the bell" that draws people back to the salesman who executed his part of the work to a satisfactory and profitable finish. Often when a customer visits a store for an article which he is accustomed to find in a certain space and he finds the whole department has been moved to another section of the building, he loses his interest and drifts out of the store; he is rarely in a mood or has the time to explore unknown regions. This condition doesn't hold in the case of a new customer; he isn't familiar with the place and there is no disappointment. "The continuous stroke of the bell" is important in advertising — in either the wholesale or retail trade — and when a man is sure he has the correct medium for his business his regular announcements to his customers should be considered as necessary as the appropriation for the rent, and they should be classed as an imperative expense, not as a luxury that might be cut out when the exchequer is at a low ebb. The smaller the bank balance the larger the advertising appropriation. It is the insistent, tireless, regular work in any department that counts. On the road it is the regular visitor who has the advantage; the trade expects the man who calls regularly and the buyers are glad to save business for him. The momentum of a business often keeps it producing dividends long after the genius that inspired it has withdrawn its support. Continuous industry wins. Don't forget it when discouraged. STAND BY GOOD MEN. Encourage the Loyal — Put Blame Where It Belongs — Stimulate Good Work on the Part of the Salesmen. All too often the merchant burdened with his particular cares grumbles about the difficulty of securing competent help. All too seldom does he stop long enough to bring to his mind the loyalty some of his force manifest. And he lets his mind brood over the shortcomings of the one or the other who has not "made good." Truth is, that brainy, able men are always scarce. That is to say, they are seldom "looking for a job." And only in rare cases can such be had cheaply. The man who is extraordinarily capable learns his worth and exacts good pay, else starts out for himself and perhaps becomes your competitor. Before you grumble about this, that or the other member of your organization, consider whether you had a right to expect better work from the clerk at the salary paid him. Think also whether you saw to it that the in centive of probable substantial advancement was there to spur on the "best work" you had expected. Also consider whether your leadership affords opportunity for learning how to grasp and appreciate the business situations you expect your clerks to master. Remember that if you "jump on" a man for having in a certain case taken the initiative you must not expect him to attempt it again in a hurry. Men with initiative are even scarcer than brainy men. They are to be cultivated, and if at their first attempt an error in judgment appear, let them down easy. Show them where their mistake comes in; but be careful not to discourage the now riper use of the rare and desirable quality. For by too severe a reprimand you may choke the ambition and then you will have just cause to grumble — perhaps for a long while to come. ARE TIPS GRAFT? One Writer Says the Custom Should be Abolished and Presents Arguments in Support of His Theory — The World Does Not Agree With the Writer, Let us abolish tips. It is a disgusting, degrading, demoralizing habit. Those who receive tips are cheapened in the eyes of the tip giver. They are looked down upon and are regarded, in Kiplingesque, as belonging to "the lesser breeds without the law." It is seldom that tips are given willingly, unless, perhaps, it is by salesmen whose expenses are charged to the house. When tipping a railway porter, for instance, one instinctively feels that the octopus management has "put one over us." We feel that the railway company charges us full price for service to begin with and then places us at the mercy of a blackmailing blackman who must be placated with a bit o' siller. It is the same in hotels and restaurants. One does not have to give a tip if one never intends to visit that restaurant again. But woe unto the patron who neglects to give a tip and asks for service a second time. We do not object so much to indirect taxation. Most of us would rather pay the restaurant or hotel management the full price for service and let the waiter be given honest wages. We cannot help but look down upon tiptaking porters, waiters, barbers and the rest. Real quality Avaiters and barbers scorn tips. They realize that to accept them is contrary to man-building laws. The tip taker always has a cringing, supplicating, whining air. The tip taker is not a real man. Oftentimes he is but a poor imitation of the real thing. And don't forget this: The tip giver is as bad as the tip taker, just as the bribe giver is as bad as the bribe taker. And what is tipping but a species of bribery? The patron who gives the biggest tips gets the best service in a hotel, just as the corporation that pays the most graft money gets the greatest privileges in a city whose aldermen, are of the tip-taking kind. This tipping habit runs all through our business life. It ought to be stamped out. The movement should be started by the railroads and hotels and restaurants voluntarily. These places would then get more efficient helpers. And, although I am no believer in legislation as a cure-all for social diseases, I do believe that a national anti-tipping law would prove of much value, writes Thomas Dreier in The Traveling Man. Now Mr. Dreier may have a lot of supporters but the man at the World wheel is not among them. He believes in tipping, that when a man has rendered a special service he is entitled to some recompense for it, but the habit is carried to an extreme point in many cases. WORRY THE DESTROYER— CUT IT OUT. As not a few ailments complained of can be traced to worry, it behooves us to guard ourselves against this enemy — the destroyer of health. Worry injures sometimes beyond repair certain cells of the brain; and the brain being the nutriment center of the body, it naturally follows that other organs become affected. Like a thief in the night who so treacherously disregards the occupant of the house he intends to pilfer, so does worry creep into the bodily structure and does its terrible work of destroying it. The very fact that worry can destroy the brain cells, which are, so to speak, the commanding officers of mental power, health and motion, should be a sufficient ground for us to try our utmost not to permit ourselves to be connected in any way with this health destroyer. We like to add here that when worry manifests itself at intervals, the brain may cope with it; but the perpetual kind we should guard against, for this is the destroyer of health. BUSINESS TROUBLES. A petition in bankruptcy has been filed against the American Art Metal Novelty Co., of 304 East Twenty-third street, New York City. It is alleged that the company is insolvent and made preferential payments. The liabilities are not given but the assets are estimated at $5,000. A petition in bankruptcy has been filed against the National Materials Co., dealers in cameras, photo supplies, etc., at 49 West Twenty-eighth street, New York City. The liabilities are estimated at $4,500, with no assets given. A petition in bankruptcy has been filed against the Burham Safety Razor Co., manufacturers of safety razors, of No. 64 Murray street, by Carell & Henkel, attorneys for Edward Connors, a creditor, for $561 for money loaned. It is alleged that the company is insolvent and made preferential payments of $206. Judge Holt appointed Henry B. Barnes, Jr., receiver, with a bond of $500. It was stated that there is a stock of razors on hand worth about $1,000 and some outstanding accounts. The company was incorporated Feb. 28, 1908, with capital stock $50,000, and it was said that $6,000 cash was invested in the business, which did not prove profitable. The company was organized by a number of wellknown men who had been in the liquor line. Lawrence Mulligan, half brother of Senator Timothy D. Sullivan, became president; Daniel Mulcahy, vice-president, and Edward Connors, treasurer, who resigned some time ago. One cause of the bankruptcy was that the company could not make the razor blades sharp enough and had to buy them from another concern, which absorbed all the profit. Schedules in bankruptcy of the Vitak Company, manufacturer of moving picture machines at 180 Lafayette street, show liabilities of $13,647 and nominal assets of $7,120, consisting of stock, $3,285; machinery, dies and office furniture, $3,452; accounts, $358, and a note for $25. Among the creditors are C. A. Hayden, president, $2,152; J. H. Hayden, $2,278; W. E. Waddell, $2,663; T. M. Hardesty, $2,056, all for services; D. G. Plumb, Newark, $1,295, merchandise; Mrs. C. A. Vilas, Chicago, $1,500, money advanced, secured by 1,500 machines, and William B. Hayden, Catskill, N. Y., $800, money loaned, secured by 500 machines. ORDERS THAT PAY. Some salesmen take orders every day — they are natural salesmen — have a winning personality and so they get along after a fashion, until they learn that the percentage of profit they are making is not a paying one; or, until so-called hard times come, which is the unhealthy or abnormal condition of business. Then they learn that the orders that come easiest pay the least percentage of profit; that the lines that pay require the greatest effort, and that they know very little about real salesmanship. — Rahming. DON'T LOSE YOUR TEMPER. "Remember that when you're right you can afford to keep your temper, and that when you're wrong you can't afford to lose it."