Show THE DRUMMER how the commercial traveler works up ills trade on the road boston globe all ali f theres one of roy my colleagues doing the thing up brown said a commercial drummer aa as be he stood at the desk of one of swell hotels paying his check at thelam tle same time pointing to a table where a young stylishly dressed man and ai I 1 d one ono 4 more mature years were seated enjoying an elaborate dinner nothing slow nebout him he b e continued as lie saw the waiter bring a couple of bottles of champagne to the table mentioned lie ile is id a good one I 1 tell you who is lie was asked oh he lie travels for a large new york woolen house they do a big business in boston and elderly gentleman you see with him is is one of if their best customers rather rev reversing ensing the order of things it for a customer to take a salesman out to dinner dont make any mistake of that kind my boy that venerable party won wont t pay anything for that dinner be ared assured of that my friend the drummer listen to such a proposition no no it is the e same old story the merchant is is being worked in the regular dav way you speak as though it was a common occurrence for drummers who as a rule dont get princely salaries to set up their customer customers reg regulars to 10 or 20 dinners finners certainly they cant do that unless their emp employers era foot the hilla hills their employers dont foot many bills of that kind you may basure be aure that is not if they know it one of our salesmen when lie was fresh at the business made a trip out west and spent a small for anne for win wines s dinner dinners and cigars for men to whom ho he tried to sell he ile had heard the boys labout tel doing this sort of thing and of course thought it was all right when he lie got back from liis his three months trip he lie put upon hi his 3 c bil bilt to treating customers bomers well wei 1 I perhaps lie pet get a dressing down from the firm you should have been there to hear the fun the senior member one of those gruff old fellows told him he must be a foul fool and asked him if he lie thought he lie was supplied wh wine and cigars ne h hail itt lu to stand the racket himself tand you may be sure ho he never got caught in that scrape again hi ilis customers cual omera I 1 suppose got no more dinners at his exPel expense ise oh yes they did lid just as many as ever only they appear on hid his expanse exan e bills any more paid fur for them himself it eh well nn n no n c not exactly was wa the response accompanied by ft a ely sly wink we drummers I 1 know are a pretty froh innocent lot but f we dont agn g quite BO so far aa as to amend till ull our salary and more too ill m treating kating tr our customers nt not much lutich 11 perhaps I 1 quite follow you but I 1 understood you to say that the theno ane of wh whom om you spoke continual conti nuel to to spend money fur for the purpose mentioned and yet t charge harge c it to the firm how then did he escape paying it himsel bim sel have a cigar eaid said the commercial man as lie nonchalantly i lighted one himself and an d tossed the match away and come over here lind sit down while I 1 tell you about it comfortably seated he be went on i you gee a drummers drum mcra life ia is peculiar in many respects in inthe the first place it is a it roving restless sort of du an exist existence ericc that heeps keeps him always on the g go eyer success Is achieves is is duo due to his ilia own ual exertions the com competition petition in almost every line of trade is in lense and if a man wants to sell any goods he ha has s got to make him zelf eli blid as the boys eay say with his eie the only for him to do this is to m male ale himself popular now popularity in nine cased out of ten ia is due to to an hu haud goodsel good fel and liberality t that h at drum luera as a rule must possess in order to succeed it is absolutely esst essential n for him to bo be liberal w with ith his customers and occasionally invite them to dinner or to the theater lie ile must do this thia even with his old customers and when he wants tu to catch onto on to a man to whom a rival is selling it is even more essential well now DOW of 0 fco course the drummer cant stand the expense of flies tiles rackets out of his salary I 1 thea the would soon eat it up ilu how v then dues does he lie fix it 1 I really give it up the only way obvious obviously sly is foi for him to catch on to some extra of income and this as a mat tei of fact is what whai most of us do V he ther the means that we take to d this are alin always fuyii just what any oni out would call perfectly square is W in due JU tiou 11 however however ril ill give gic you my idea of wl what iett they arc are on in tin tilt strict IQ T you understand aix alid you can call judge fur for you yourself relf suppose now HOW for exam example llev tha it travel ravel through the tile western par oath of the e state slat or in rhode lim island I 1 d ui connecticut of course I 1 pass over the same roads very often and in time come to know all the tors to 9 bal gagen asters and other railroad employees very well the conductor passes through the train recognizes me stops and shakes hands and after a little chat passes on never thinking to ask me for my ticket I 1 dont think of it either and the result of it is that next time I 1 go over the road the same ticket answers my purpose now who shall profit by this mistake not the firm certainly I 1 charge two fares on my expense bill and pocket the profit see or suppose again that I 1 have a few re y hundred pounds of extra baggage I 1 know the baggage master well perhaps he has more than one of my cigars or taken sundry drinks with ne we at all events we ire are ure good friends I 1 go to him and say look here old man ive got a little extra what ait ia it how flow much is it 11 ah not a great deal a few fe V pounds per perhaps well I 1 guess we wont charge you ou anything for it aisch obliged have a and I 1 hand over two or three cigars now clearly the firm ought to pay for that extra baggage and you can ret re t ass assured that they do too in the course of ofa a year it i foots fe up to quite a little sum then there is the old racket of having your letters sent to the fifth avenue hotel and stopping at some cheap uptown hostelry this however is is something that the more respectable members of the profession rather look down upon its rather low you ou know but now heres another question suppose I 1 have haie ft a friend as very often happens lial Tens in some of the towns where I 1 have to stop two or three bayst das and they invite me to stay with rith them thein must I 1 charge the firm the regular bill for expenses a it delicate question aint it ve we generally do though all the same and as I 1 think properly they there are lots of other ittle 1 ricks tricks of the trade similar to those I 1 have spoken of that I 1 could rela relate to if f I 1 had time As I 1 have an appointment however ho uever witha country customer MIAMI at 3 to shew show him 11 little of city I 1 must leave you good day |