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THE MU3IC TRADE REVIEW
and what they saw, and what they heard, and by and bye the separ-
ating process begins and they find that after the chaff has been
winnowed out the good grains of valuable knowledge remain.
T
HE keen competition of modern business has wrought wonder-
ful changes. In the first place there is a lessened abuse of
competitors' wares. This perhaps does not show that men have
more consideration for each other than formerly, but they realize
that their customers are not to be influenced by abuse of rival con-
cerns. They know that abuse is not the form of argument which
appeals to the intelligent buyer, and we are appealing more and
more to the intelligent side in everything. Men may be won over
by straightforward arguments but not easily by abuse. The man
who attempts to abuse his competitor's wares is behind the times.
He is riding on the stage coach instead of taking the Twentieth
Century Limited. We are progressing. In other words we are
going some. We have changed in many ways; for example, there
was a time when the idea existed that the road to success for a sales-
man or traveling man was the capacity which he could exhibit for
intoxicating liquors. It was believed that the man who could boast
of absorbing the greatest number of highballs in an afternoon or
evening was the man who would land the fattest business contracts.
There are tcf-day in this trade or in any other trade few salesmen
who regard the red wood bar as their legitimate place of transacting
business, and a cafe acquaintance is depreciating in value as an
asset for sales in any line of trade. The up-to-date business man
has a greater respect for a clear head than he has for a thick tongue
when it comes to talking of the merits of any particular product
whether it is piano, piano player or musical merchandise. Brains
are winning out against that greatly overrated ever-falsely named
quality of goodfellowship. At one time the man who could carry
the heaviest load of liquor was respected and feared as a dangerous
business rival, but the drinking man is now rapidly disappearing
from view. He is no longer considered useful or amusing. In fact
drinking to-day for the most part is confined to purely social oc-
casions and is much less a feature of these than formerly. As a
matter of fact the modern demands upon the business man are so
great that he must, in order to maintain his position, keep a clear
head and clear reasoning powers at all times. We have simply
grown out of the early conditions and we never will return to" them
again, and it is better that it should be so.
T
HERE are just as good opportunities to-day for the small man
in business if he concentrates his energy, even if his capital
is small, as there ever was, and when you come to take the small
man in business there is none in any line who stands a better show
than the piano man in the small town. He knows his trade, most
of it personally. He can cut his expenses to a low point and he can
sell quality goods and in that way he can win a reputation for him-
self. To say that the days have gone by for the small man is
absurd. If we go back a few years we find so'me of the big fellows
to-day were small at that time. They have grown—they have im-
proved their opportunities by taking advantage of conditions and
they have learned the value of concentration. There are just as
good opportunities to-day as existed a decade ago. In fact there
never was a time in the history of the world when there was a
greater demand for energy and perseverance than to-day. Ask any
of the hundreds of piano men who are gathered in New York this
week if they desire the services of a bright, active boy to grow up
with the business and we believe they will reply in the affirmative.
There are plenty of opportunities for ambitious young men, but the
difficulty is that the voting men of to-day think they can vault to the
top of the ladder without ever touching the lower rungs. Many a
good fellow drifts along for years too proud to take a position low
clown the line and he does not really deserve a higher salary. When
young men are worthy there is no question as to their receiving
salaries commensurate with their services.
Y
OU cannot be a weather vane in business and shift with each
breath of the wind. You have got to adopt a policy and
stick to it. You must have confidence that happy conditions will
be restored and commerce will again run in its deep strong channel,
for the world must be fed and clothed and must have music. It is
the retail piano merchants' duty to see that the taste for music is
properly supplied.
IN LIGHTER VEIN
If you make blunders, try to profit by them.
The customer warms up when received cordially.
Benjamin Franklin said:
"He that drinks fast pays slow."
Misrepresentation of anything is fatal to a reputation for honesty.
Successful salesmanship is based on an intimate knowledge of numan
nature.
"They say very few authors sleep more than seven hours a day."
"But think how much slumber they furnish other people."
Mr. Bacon—You should never judge a man by his clothes, my dear.
Mrs. Bacon—I never do. I always judge him by his wife's clothes.
Don't grumble over trade conditions. Help to make them better.
Optimism is a mighty good asset. The man who is full of business
health is the real thing.
"The weather used to be in four acts; spring, summer, autumn and
winter."
"Well?"
"But now nature seems to have gone into vaudeville."
"Come on, and I'll stand you a drink."
"What's up?"
"See that fat woman over there with those six kids?"
"Yes."
"Ten years ago she refused to marry me."
"At last," he sighed, "we're alone. I've been hoping for this chance."
"So have I," said she very frankly.
"Ah! you have guessed, then, that I wanted to tell you that I
love, you."
"Yes; and I want to say 'No' and get it over with."
A young woman recently answered an advertisement for a handy girl,
and the lady of the house seemed pleased with her. But before engaging
her there were some questions to ask. "Suppose," said the lady, "now,
only suppose, understand—that you were carrying a piece of steak from
the kitchen, and by accident should let it slip from the plate to the floor,
what would you do in such a case?' 1
The girl looked the lady square in the eyes for a moment before
asking:
"Is it a private family, or are there boarders?"
"There are boarders," answered the lady.
"Pick it up and put it back on the plate," repMed the girl.
She was engaged.
"Some persons have the knack of d-eriving a comfortable living fr*>m
the energy of others, while they dodge hard work themselves. By this
I do not mean that they practice fraud, but simply that they know how
to use their wits legitimately," said a well-known San Francisco lawyer,
who is a keen observer.
"I saw a practical illustration of this on the water front several days
ago," he continued. "Two negro boys were selling peanuts, each having
charge of a large basket. One was a bundle of energy and kept up an
endless 'spiel' as he rushed hither and thither in quest of customers.
"'Here yoh go, here!' he would shout, 'red hot peanuts, fi' cents a
lag On'y fl' cents a bag, here; red hot peanuts. Here yuh go, here!'
"The other chap, comfortably ensconsed on a box, would wait until
the first one had to pause to catch his breath, when he would chip in with
a monotonous singsong:
"'Heah, too, heah too!'"
Once on a time, runs a modern fable which appears in the Philadel-
phia Ledger, a youth about to embark on the sea of matrimony went to
his father and said:
"Father, who should be boss, I or my wife?"
The old man smiled and said:
"Here are one hundred hens and a team of horses. Hitch up the
horses, load the hens into the wagon, and wherever you find a man and
his wife dwelling, stop and make inquiry as to who is the boss. Wherever
you find a woman running things, leave a hen. If you come to a place
where a man is in control, give him one of the horses."
After seventy-nine hens had been disposed of, he came to a house
and made the usual inquiry.
"I'm boss o' this ranch," said the man.
So the wife was called, and she affirmed her husband's assertion.
"Take whichever horse you want," was the boy's reply.
So the husband replied, "I'll take the bay."
But the wife did not like the bay horse, and called her husband aside
and talked to him. He returned and said:
"I believe I'll take the gray horse."
"Not much," said the young man. "You get a hen."