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Show MANY PUT TRUST : IN TKE UNKNOWN i Never Satisfied With Those Things With Which They Are Familiar. INCLINED TO TAKE CHANGE Curious Traits in Human Nature Have Made Possible Growth and Development Devel-opment of the Great Mail Order Houses. (Copyright, 1917, Western Newspaper Union.) A curious' trait in human nature makes itself apparent very frequently. That is an inclination to trust in the unknown rather than in that with which one is familiar. A person is very apt to take a chance, even though he may know that the odds are 100 to one against him, instead of being satisfied satis-fied with lesser rewards about which there is no possibility of doubt. It is, possibly, the flaring up of the ever-present gambling instinct but there is something more in it than that. There is in it the unexplained tendency ten-dency on the part of most people to rench for the chimerical and ignore the tangible and substantial thing which is near at hand. Man is seldom sel-dom satisfied with those things that are within his grasp but is reaching always for the unattainable. Too often, of-ten, he loses that which he might easily eas-ily gain by blindly pursuing that which is always just out of his reach. Why "Con" Man Thrives. Coupled, in a way, with his faith In the unknown is the tendency on the part of so many people to place confidence con-fidence in a stranger in preference to one who Is known and has been tried and proven. It is this tendency which makes possible the operations of the "con" man, the get-rich-quick artist, the unscrupulous promoter and the salesman of worthless mining stocks. The man who would not think of trusting Bill Jones, his next-door neighbor and fellow church member, will confidingly turn over his life's savings to a stranger who unfolds a tale of riches to be won. Bill Jones might talk his head off in behalf of a legitimate proposition without, getting a dollar where the slick stranger with the worthless proposition can get thousands. thou-sands. . , It is these two tendencies which, apparently, ap-parently, are so widely prevalent among all classes of people that have made possible the success of the great mail order houses in the big cities. A knowledge of psychology is as important im-portant to the mail order man as a knowledge of business practices. He plays upon these tendencies of man to take a chance, to trust in the unknown un-known rather than the known, to place confidence in the stranger rather than the friend. Hope to Draw Prize. Those who buy merchandise from a mail order, house are moved partly, whether they realize it or not, by that trait in their nature which prompts them to trust in the unknown rather than in that with which they are familiar. fa-miliar. They are hoping, it may be un-. un-. consciously, that they "will draw a prize. They do not know what they will get, for It Is impossible for one to know what he is going to get when he orders or-ders merchandise from a picture and a highly colored description In a catalogue. cata-logue. He is taking a chance on the unknown. Buying merchandise from the local merchant, on the other hand, contains none of these elements of chance that enter into the dealings with the mail order house. When one buys a stove from the hardwarevtore in his home lown, he may get none of the thrills that, come from -taking a chance but he will get a stove that will last longer and keep him warmer than the one that he might get from the mail order house and to the average individual, ihffse things nre likely to be more im: portant than the thrills. Using Your Eyes. When you buy from the local mer-(jiant mer-(jiant you see the thing that you are buying, you inspect it carefully, examine ex-amine the workmanship and the quality qual-ity of the material of which it is made and in many cases you have the privilege privi-lege of testing it before paying for it. You have not only your own eyes and knowledge of values to rely upon, but you have the advantage of the advice- if the merchant who h?s an expert knowledge of the merchandise which he is selling and who, in "JO cases out. if 100, can be relied upon to tell the truth about It. Then you have the --unrantee that Is backed not only by he retail merchant, but In many cases by the manufacturer. If the article '. hlch you buy does not prove satisfactory satisfac-tory after it is gl--en a fair test, you an take it back to the store where ;. "U bought it, in most cases, and get your money back. The retailer may ;et his money back from the manufacturer manu-facturer but If he doesn't, he stands w loss. In any event, you are protected. pro-tected. Why a person will place his confi-i confi-i dence in a stranger rather than a ;':iend or will trust in the unknown valher than in that which is tangible, I is something that is hard to wmler-1 wmler-1 ; li 1 . Even the mail order.bouse ioes ! ,ut pretend to know why it is so but t :t accepts conditions as it finds them ;nd makes the inost of the oppor-i oppor-i 'unities that they offer. |