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—OUR—
WEEKLY SMILE
(C.J.T.—Phila.,Pa.)
A lady came to me last week and
said, “Pardon me, but I would like
to ask a question. I have often
wondered if large department stores
like Gimbel’s, Macy’s and Wanna
maker’s didn’t lose a lot of money
in the course of a year on charge
customers, employees and crooks who
go from store to store. When I
say employees, I mean by that, you
have 5,000 here in Gimbel’s —how do
you know how much goods they steal
and how much they give away to
friends?’’
Os course I went into detail and
explained to her that our system was
so near perfect that it is almost a
physical impossibility to steal more
than once and not get caught. After
she left I wondered if my friends
who are Hartwell Sun readers would
not like to know all about how a big
department store in a city is run so
as to prevent losses. I think you
would, so here goes.
In a small town the rule is and has
always been that the merchant con-
Qfree
Foot Comfort
Demonstration
Friday, September 4th
Foot troubles are universal. Government records show
that 7 out of every 10 adult people have some form of
foot trouble.
You are probably a victim of foot trouble yourself. It
may be only a corn, a callous, a bunion or some more
serious trouble such as weak and broken-down arches.
You might not know the nature of your trouble but you
do know that your feet ache, pain, and get all tired out
on the slightest provocation.
Foot Comfort Expert Here
Come to our Foot Comfort Department on the above
date and get a Free Demonstration. There’s no charge
for this valuable service. This work is in charge of a
Special Demonstrator from The Scholl Mfg. Co. This is
an opportunity that every foot sufferer should grasp.
FREE PEDO-GRAPH PICTURE
‘ln a few to^ crinc ' s ’ time, without removing the hose he
can make a photo K :.' ,Dhic print of your foot that posi
tively shore if you do l*?ve and to nat
stage the trouble has This js abso*
anQ places you under no obligation whatever.
FREE SAMPLES
Do you want to know how to stop corns hurting in
stantly? Come in and get a sample of Dr. bcholl s
Zino-pads. They remove the cause of coms—friction
and pressure. Thin, antiseptic, healing.
J. A. W. BROWN
HARTWELL, GA.
the southern serves the south
As the South grows
the Southern must
keep pace
Freight traffic on the Southern Rail
way System has nearly doubled in
ten years.
With the South growing at its pres
ent rate, traffic a few years hence
will be double what it now is.
Many millions of dollars of new capital
will have to be found for increasing
the capacity of tracks, yards, terminals
and shops, and the purchase of cars
and engines.
This needed new capital will be at
tracted to the Southern if the profits
from its operation are maintained at
a level to establish a broad market for
its securities.
(Oy
southern railway system
siders all of his clerks honest and
not until he puts in a good cash regis
ter system does he find out that there
is a black sheep among his family of
employees. As a matter of fact the
National Cash Register Company tells
all of its employees, or rather its
salesmen, to be very careful when
discussing the question of honesty of
clerks with a small town or even a
city merchant of small size, for nine
out of ten merchants will take of
fense at the suggestion that there is
a dishonest clerk among his number.
In a city it is different. The depart
ment stores, especially, conduct their
businesses just as though every clerk
was dishonest for, if they didn’t, the
few dishonest ones in every store
would soon be able to retire.
Now, as regards cash transactions,
a customer pays the money to the
clerk and the clerk either rings it up
on a cash register (a six drawer reg
ister—each clerk being held respon
sible for his own drawer) or sends
it in a carrier through an air-suction
tube to one of the 500 cashiers in the
sub-basement. The customer cannot
leave with the package until the
wrapper receives the paid sales slip
from which she tears her voucher
which is her authority for wrapping
the package. If the clerk rings up a
less amount than the customer paid
the wrapper would refuse to wrap
the pasckage because the price tags
THE HARTWELL SUN, HARTWELL, GA., AUGUST 2«, 1925
(printed in indelible ink and acces
sible only to the managers of the va
rious departments) and the sales slip
would not agree. The wrapper, or
inspector, as they are called, would
also refuse to wrap a package which
had been charged unless her wrap
ping voucher had been O. K.’d by the
credit department.
Now, Gimbel’s Philadelphia store
has 600,000 charge customers and
one would imagine that they lose a
lot of money in the course of a year,
but, on the contrary, one of the as
sistant managers of the credit de
partment told me that their collec
tions are 100 per cent. To begin
with, in order to open a charge ac
count you must either be a property
owner or have your application en
dorsed by one. That, in itself, means
much for if a customer should today
open a charge account and tomor
row sell his property, the credit
department which watches all trans
fers and sales of property in the city,
every day, would instantly be on his
trail. As I stated once before, when
a man opens a charge account he
is given a “coin.” This coin is a
piece of metal with a number on it.
If he should want to purchase a
shirt, for example, he would present
his coin to the clerk who would make
out a charge sales slip and have the
inspector to look in a book, one of
which is located at each inspector’s
desk, and find out if this customer’s
number is listed as “N. G.” If it is
not listed, the inspector may hand out
the package to the customer. If it
is listed, the inspector sends the coin
and sales slip down the tube to the
credit department. If the customer’s
account has been fixed up since it
was listed in the book, the credit de
partment O. K.’s the sales slip and
returns it. If the account has not
been fixed up, the credit department
keeps the coin and the sales slip
comes back with a printed note which
reads, “Refer customer to credit de
partment, sth floor—see Mr. Jones
or Brown,” or whoever may be the
one he is to see. Some customers go
up and some don’t. Some act highly
insulted and leave but, of course,
they know why they were refused
credit. ;
Occasionally, a customer says, “I
would like to purchase some goods
but I forgot my coin.” In that event
the salesman calls the manager of
the department who interviews the
customer to see if he has proper
identification and, if he has, writes
on a gummed sticker, ‘‘ldentified by
initials on watch R. A. C.,” or name
on bank book, Philadelphia Trust
Company, or initials on ring or name
in coat pocket or letters, cards or
railroad pass, and pastes this sticker
on the back of the original charge
slip and sends it down the tube to the
credit department. The managers of
the various departments are privi
leged to hand out small packages
amounting to sl, $2, and even $5,
if the customer looks good, without
having the checks O. K.’d, and right
here, I will pat myself on the back
for I have never gone wrong on a
customer yet. I call myself a pretty
good judge 'of human nature, if you
will pardon me for saying so, and I
rely on that to a great extent. I
cash checks for customers on their
face alone and I have never haH one
returned. Wait till I knock on wood.
A traveling salesman is usually a
good judge of human nature for he
makes a study of merchants—how to
approach them, etc.
“Suppose I should lose my coin,”
this., lady asked me, “couldn’t Bill
Jones or John Smith purchase on my
coin if either of them found it?
Couldn’t they use my coin and give
most any name since your inspector
goes by the number and not by the
name?” Yes, that’s possible, but
each customer is instructed to notify
the credit department if he loses his
coin and the*/ list the coin in the
book as “N. G.” This coin book is
changed every morning and during
the day little pink slips with coin
numbers on them are sent down to be
pasted in the book. These are used
in cases of lost coins or overtrading
of an account. Each account is lim
ited to a certain amount, according to
the wealth of the customer, and,
when that limit is reached the coin
number is listed in the book as “N.G-.”
is some stealing done by
customers and employees but this
has been reduced to a minimum for
there are numbers and numbers of
store detectives going through the
store at all times. No one knows
who they are except the managers of
the various departments and the high
er officials of the store. Each de
partment is just like a store in it
self and T am not interested in what
goes on in the drug department for
that is under another man, but I am
interested in the men’s furnishing de
partment and I know each sales per
son in that department personally and
I know pretty well who is straight
and who is crooked.
No employee can leave the build
ing with a package unless it has been
sealed and O. K.’d by the manager
of the department from which it was
purchased. We have gummed stick
ers which have “Employee’s package
—O. K.’d by,” printed on them, and
then the manager writes his name
with a blue pencil. The package
must then be countersigned by the
floor superintendent and stamped
“out” by .the doorkeeper. All hats
and coats are locked up and cannot
be released during the day except at
lunch time, without an order from
the manager of the department in
which the salesperson works.
About bank checks and money or
ders. If a bunch of post office mon- I
ey orders are stolen somewhere in I
Georgia, for example, Gimbel’s is 1
notified within twenty-four hours and 1
the firm, in turn, notifies the man- ■
agers of the various departments to >
be on the lookout for those orders
bearing certain numbers. The same
thing applies to express money or
ders, travelers’ checks, etc., from all
parts of the country. Occasionally
we get a notice which states that a !
man about such and such an age, .
giving his description, has been pass- 1
ing bogus checks on department
stores in New York or Philadelphia
and to be on the lookout for him.
This information comes from the De
partment Stores Association. If a
, man’s credit is no good at a certain
' department store the Association no
tifies all other members.
That was some meal which Enoch
Benson described as having eaten at
the Starr, (S. C.) hotel. DeWitt
Teasley, make your plans to join me
in ’a visit to that hotel Christmas.
There is a hotel at Rutherfordton, N.
C., which has the same reputation.
They serve Parker House rolls at ev-
I ery morning and evening meal. I’ll
. venture to say that the Star hotel
will know that DeWitt and I have
been there after we leave for we are
blessed, or cursed, as you want to
put it, with a Teasley appetite.
Q
810 CHURCH
Bio church closed a six-day re
vival last Friday night, August 21.
This was the greatest revival in the
history of the church, which was or-
I ganized some forty-five years ago.
I There were thirty additions, twen
| ty-one of which were by baptism.
One young man, Herbert A. Warren,
announced his call and decision to
preach the gospel. Our supply-pas
tor, Rev. T. M. Galphin, had the gen
eral oversight of the meetings. Rev.
J. A. McManaway did the preaching,
and Rev. T. J. Rucker led the sing
ing, assisted by his daughter, Miss
Kathryn, who rendered some fine
selections. Also much credit is due
Miss Fannie Sue Rucker for presid
ing so faithfully and ably at the
piano. '
We appreciate the attendance of
the people from the neighboring
churches and the valuable help in the
song services and in other ways.
Splendid behavior, fine attendance,
some night services overflowing.
People seemed eager for a revival
of the “Old Time Religion.”
More than 60,000 aliens were
smuggled into the United States dur
ing the last six months of 1924.
One sign of greatness is to have
a signature nobody can read.—El
berton Star.
Announcing Important
Changes in Bodies 4 |
| and Chassis '
Added Beauty and Utility | 4
Closed Cars in Color ■ f ,
No Increase in Prices
All-steel bodies on Tudor Sedan, Coupe
and open cars. Bodies and chassis both .
lowered. Larger, more attractive fenders,
affording greater protection. New im
proved transmission and rear axle
brakes on all types. One-piece ventilat
ing windshield on closed cars; double
ventilating type on open cars. Curtains
opening with all doors on Touring car
and Runabout. C Closed cars in colors, ; |
with upholstery of finer quality to har
monize; and nickeled radiator shells.
Many other refinements now acid to
the beauty and quality of these cars.
See your nearest Authorized Ford Deal
er today for complete details.
DETROIT, MICH. & ;
• * '
HART MOTOR COMPANY
R. E. COX, Manager ,
Lincoln Fordson
CARS' ’ TRUCKS TRACTORS
Hartwell, Ga. Phone No. 48
Permanent roads
are a good investment
* —not an expense
The High Cost of
Postponing Permanent
Highway Building
Poor motor roads stifle industry and agricul
ture, waste huge sums annually in high mainte
nance costs, and greatly increase gasoline, tire
and repair bills.
There is not a community that isn't paying
a heavy price for having too'few permanent
roads.
Many sections of the country—even whole
states are trying to operate twentieth century
traffic over nineteenth century roads.
Even what we often call the moreprogressive
communities are far behind the demands of
modern highway traffic with its
motor vehicles.
From the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from
Canada to Mexico, we need more Concrete
roads—the roads for twentieth century traffic.
Your highway officials want to be of the
greatest possible service to you. They know we
need more Concrete roads —the roads for twen
tieth century traffic. Get behind them with
ways and means that will provide these roads
and streets. Such an investment will pay you
big dividends year after year.
PORTLAND CEMENT ASSOCIATION
Hurt Building
ATLANTA, GA.
A National Organization to Improve ancLExtend
the Uses of Concrete
OFFICES IN 30 CITIES?