Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, July 27, 1913, Image 10

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10 D TTEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN, ATLANTA. OA., SUNDAY. JULY 27. 1013. '1 '1 4 WHAT ATLANTA MANUFACTURERS AND JOBBERS ARE DOING How Straphanger’s Nickel Is Divided Conductor and Motorman Get $.008; Bondhold- ers $.007; Plaintiffs, $.002. Abuse of Jobbers Draws Logical Reply That All Who Market Goods Are Producers. "Wa hoar much a bus** nowadays directed against the middleman." sny« W. M. Birrlie, of H. H. Whit comb & Bnrke Co., Atlanta’s fore most grocery broker* "Atlanta** prosperity to largely due to 1t» pre-eminence as a jobbing cen ter—ft might be called a city of mid dlemen—and It seems to me that some reply should be forthcoming to these critic*. ""We bear fulmtnation* to the ef fect that the producer gre*s the small , end of every bargain, while the job ber and the retailer get the biggest share of the profits of nearly every thing sold to-day. "In my opinion, commission men and retailers are. In most case*. just as Important as the man who pro- I duces, considering the present scope of business. The middleman per forms a function for modem society, • nd an Indispensable function. 1 have i been using the word ‘producer’ In j the popular sense. I think It can be proved that all of us are ‘producer* ’ "Now, our firm stands In tbe po*1- | Mon of middleman, and 1n the strictest sense. We do not touch the original producer on the one side or the ac tual consumer on the other. To make It clear, we handle lard, tinned meats end canned goods, among a quantity of o<her things. Yet we do not deal with the man who gTow the fruits, the hogs or the osttie from which these product* came. We get these things from the Chicago packers whom we represent and from facto ries. Take lard, for example. It "s quite likely that some broker or buyer stands between farmer and packer, so that, passing from farmer to hog buyer, from hog buyer to packer, and from packer to us, we are ths fourth to handle our goods. "We do not sell to retailer*, in anv rase. So wholesaler and retailer stand between us and the consumer. Five men, then, stand between the farmeT who bred the hog and the housewife who buys a pail of silver leaf lard. All Have Real Use. "This makes our position clear Now, I think the existence of every one of these men can be justified. First, the man who buys up live stock. Unless he Is in business on an excep tionally large scale, no farmer can ship a solid carlot of hogs, and It is evident It would not pay him to ship less to the Chicago stockyards. The buyer who gives him a fair price for his hogs, pays cash down and hauls them away, then, performs a useful service for the farmer. The buyer serves the packer also, for without him the packer must employ buyers of his own to scour the country for hogs, make them up In carlots and attend to all the details of getting them to the Chicago.,market. "Now. neither the farmer nor the hog buyer can make lard either well or economically. I think the exist ence of the packer is justified so plainly as to need no argument. "But the packer can not profitably maintain a selling department large enough to deal direct with the con sumer—imagine Swift & Co. Ailing mail orders for single palls of lard’ Nor can the packer afford to deal with the hundreds of thousands of retailers all over the country—that would be almost as bad. For the same reasons the packer can not deal direct with the wholesale grocer— that would necessitate installing, for one thing, a credit bureau of national scope and maintaining a gigantic force of salesmen. Profits are too narrow' for such methods. Serve Both Parties. "Here we are Justified—in effect, we act a* agent* for Swift A- Co., to mention only one concern. We serve the packer well in marketing his goods, and we e*»rve the wholesaler in being able to All his order for any reasonable quantity of Swift’s prod ucts ‘in8tanter.’ "The wholesaler, having intimate acquaintance with the retail trade, with hi* salesmen on the road, and Where doe* the nickel go that you give to the street car conductor? Ever find out? According to statistics compiled by the Census Bureau of the Unite 1 States, a large part of the passenger’* fare goes to labor. Of the whole fare, 32.1 per cent, or 1.606 cents, is disposed of In this way. Conductors get the largest share of this amount, with motormen, road and track men and car and mo tor repairers following In the order named. Fully 60 per cent of that part of the fare which goes to labo/ is received by conductors and motor- men. The supply men come next. They get 19.3 per cent of the nickel, or .905 of a cent. Thing* that are paid for under thl* head Include fuel, wire, rails, ballast, stationery, printing and general publicity. Next come the company’s creditors. They share the fare to the extent of 14.8 per cent, or .74 of a cent. Under this head come men or corporation* from which mon ey has been borrowed on bond or mortgage, on short-term notes or oth er collateral. The landlord** claim to the nickel dropped In the box amounts to 11.2 per cent, or .66 of a cent. Unless this claim is paid the companies may be dispossessed of piece* of roads, ter minals or of trackage right* and fa cilities. The State, county and the city also share In the Income of the various companies, and consequently the tax collector comes In for 4.6 per cent of the fare, or 23 of a cent. Prompt payment of thl* charge is necessary New Furs Cheaper, Undyed Pelts Cause Fashion Favors Pieces Made From Skins Left Ju*t as Taken From the Animal*. At no previous time have buyer* been aWe to procure such attractive fur sets at reasonable prices. This Is due to the number of styles that man ufacturers have brought out for all classes of trade, and to the extensive use of undyed pelts, by which many new effects were added to the lines. Silver kit fox 1* prominent this season, as well as the Imitation, coney kit fox, which costs about half the price of the genuine Natural kit fox is quite new, and is one of the most popular of the incxj>ensive furs shown for fall. Variety Is the keynote In the styles of both scarfs and mu As. The new est muffs have the outline of an elon gated pillow'. Some are twenty Inches long, and the width of an ordinary muff. While the majority have square edges, some are rounded in front to give a heart-shaped outline. Huffs, ties, collarettes and small crossover pieces are the smaller neckpieces sub stituted for the heavier ones. because he assembles everything the retaJl grocer wants, gives it to him promptly on demand, and extends proper credit for it—performs a use ful service. If we, on the one hand, had to maintain such an organiza tion ot sell our special lines, we would have to take the wholesaler’s proAt to pay for the service. If the retailer, on the other hand, had to go to a dozen different places to get his stock, he would lose, in time, labor and ex pense, enough to eat up his profit. "The wholesaler, then, is necessary. And, I take it, there can be no argu ment necessary to prove the need of the retailer. "All this might be gone Into much more deeply. But it is easy to prove that everyone who assists in the economical marketing of any product is a producer. In the old days the farmer raised his hogs Slaughtered them, made lard himself and sold it himself at the grocery, or perhaps even direct to families. He then was THE producer. But now' that he has delegated seven-eighths of this work to others, are they not alBo producers? And the producer needs no apology for his existence." to prevent the Infliction of penalties or extra fees and Interests. Claims for Injuries to body, soul or spirit, and to property (Including horses, cows, dogs), take care of 4.2 per cent of the far**, or .21 of a cent. After the average company treas urer has paid out for miscellaneous expenses another slice of the tare amounting to 1.5 per cent, or .076 of a cent, he makes provision for "rainy" days. For this 3.2 per cent of the nickel is put In the secret drawer to take care of emergencies. Only .16 of a cent of each fare 1* used In this way, however. Executives of various kinds receive 2.9 per cent of the cost of a ride for their share, there necessarily being many of them In systems that boast of any »lze at all. Their share totals only .145 of a cent, but It helps to reduce returns to the stockholders. I^sst. but not least, come the stock holder*. To them, for the use of their money, goes only 6.2 per cent of the fare In actual payment it repre sents .31 of a cent. If these stock holders could be paid what savings banks would pay them if the par value of the shares had been depos ited In 4 per cent savings banks In stead of being Invested In electric railways, they would get 19.5 per cent of the nickel. But that can’t be done, and the stockholders must be con tent with their 6.2 per cent. “This," the bulletin adds, ‘may ac count for the disheartening state of affairs shown in the following fig ure* Miles of electric railways built In 1902-7, 12,154; miles built in 1907- 12, 5.295; decrease, 6.859 miles, or 56.4 per cent." New Firm Displays Holiday Goods Line Flelding-Behrend Co. Opens Branch House In Atlanta, With Two Salesmen In Charge. Newcomers to Atlanta are Harry J. Sternberg and George S. Anderson, who will represent In Southern terri tory the Fielding-Behrend Stationery Company of New York. A branchhou.se has been opened in Atlanta, at No. 8 Peachtree street. Mr. Sternberg later will travel South Carolina. Florida, Alabama, Missis sippi. Louisiana and Georgia, while Mr. Anderson will have for hip terri tory Virginia, North Carolina, Ken tucky and Tennessee. The firm deals In holiday lines, In cluding calendars, brass and metal novelties, box papers, leather goods, desk sets, albums, artificial flowers, mirrors, purses, cut glass, china, toilet goods and silver plate goods. The lines represent the product of nine manufacturers. Both the sales- | men In Atlanta are well known In Southern territory. ON REPORTS IF BUTTERFLIES TRIM HATS. Butterflies are the newest trim mings for fall millinery. These flare made In very natural effects of vel vet edges, with metallic dust to give the brilliant color effects, and also of feathers cleverly pasted to show' the soft spots on the wings. Two, three, or four butterflies In one cluster fit straight up on the hat, and every movement sets them fluttering In life like fashion. TD IF GREATER More From the Selling Force Will Become Partners in Future Than in Past Whether salesmen any longer have the opportunity of mating big money as salesmen Is frequently discussed. There are many who say that per sonality la a, larger factor than ever, and that this, together with the science of salesmanship, will always maintain the value of selling power. A prominent manufacturer said the other day that a salesman had to be better posted along scientific lines to day than ever before. He must study his customers’ competition and be ex pert In retail merchandising, as well as a keen reader of character. He must have the knack and Judg ment of knowing what his trade w’ants, and must aid his customers in making selections. He must be a close student of his own lines, and be able to point out superiorities and infe riorities. He must also have personal magnetism and the power of making friends. Must Control Temper. Besides these, absolute control over his temper and actions Ip necessary. Disagreeable scenes often come up. and the salesman of to-day must either he clever enough to smooth them over or else school himself in making as graceful an exit as possi ble. A clever salesman will never quarrel with a customer or a pros pective one. It makes a bad name for his house, and besides it does not pay, because he knows that the day may come when he will sell that man a bill of goods. “With such qualifications," remark ed the manufacturer, “the modem ex pert salesman will command more money than ever, because personality and unusual efficiency are necessary in all line* of business. More sales men in the future will probably be come partners, because tbe type of man successful in the selling field embodies qualifications and executive characteristics that have not been thought necessary In the past. Neglect New Firms. "Old-time salesmen rarely open a new account, but go on, season after season, evidently without knowing that new' merchants are constantly starting in business. There are plen ty of such men puttering along Just where they were fifteen years agoi simoly taking orders from the custo mers they have without trying for new ones. "In the same houses men have been made partners who entered long aft er the order takers started. Order takers would never be anything else anywhere. They never get ahead. It is the salesman with plenty of energy and a desire to get ahead that can rise to a partnership. To men of this caliber selling goods offers greater op portunities than ever In all line* of business." $100,000,000 Goods Wait on New Tariff No Such Wealth Ever Held In New York Before—Sugar Worth $12,000,000. Yield of 10,000,000 Bales Ex pected, Which Is Short of De mand, Says Authority. Jute costs much more now than it did two weeks ago. according to the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills, among the largest users of burlap in the United States. Ben Elsas, of this company, says that a jute crop of about 10,000,000 bales certainly no more, is expected from India this year. "Trade authorities assert that this is something less than enough to go around,” says Mr. Elsas. The South uses large quantities of burlaps, particularly in sacking cot ton seed meal and oil cake. Estimates of the Indian crop vary. Somo Bearish Figures. One prominent Calcutta house, which is Interested In twelve burlap mills, estimates a record breaking yield, placing the crop at 10,300,000 bales, while other authorities believe that the yield w'ill be much smaller than expected, and not over 9,500,000 bales. The British Government’s pre liminary estimate indicated an in crease of about 6 per cent over last year, but from private sources the information has come to hand that the crop has been badly injured, and the output will be of poor quality, with the total production not above last year, which amounted to 10,000,000 bales. Cables asking whether the estimate of 10,200,000 bales was likely to prove correct brought replies to the effect that the concern giving this estimate was "bearish” on the market, as the new crop gives every Indication of be ing below the 10.000,000-bale mark. On the other hand the last authorities are reported In other quarters as de cidedly bullish on crop conditions. New crop jute has advanced to £28 10s a ton, and is reported as very Arm at the higher price level. Calcutta Burlap* Up. Calcutta burlap prices are reported to have advanced several points, with the market strong, although there Is not much forward business being put through. Buyers have been watching the crop estimates, and until they have a bet ter Idea of the situation, are not like ly to start in covering ahead. Im porters are also holding back on for ward contracts, pending further de velopments. Prices are stronger than they were. Cables from Dundee report slight advances in that market, with manu facturers firmer in their price ideas, especially when it comes to a ques tion of forward contracts. Southern Railway Company has sold to bankers $1,750,000 5 per cent equipment trust notes to pro vide for additional cars. * m m Virginia-Carolina Chemical Com pany directors will consider the com mon dividend at the annual meeting. ‘Bungalow Beds’ an Atlanta Innovation Iron Bed Factory Has Products Human Race Wants From the Cradle to the Grave. Tight Skirts Cause Decreased Profits For Silk Weavers From the cradle to the grave, and one-third of the time between, the At lanta Metal Bed Company claims to take care of members of the human race, which perhaps Is as ambitious a project as any Atlanta factory un dertakes. Cribs and doll beds make provision for the youngsters. Then there are "bungalow beds” for girls and boys, beds of many descriptions for adults, and. to complete the list, casket stands for use during the rites over the dead. "Bungalow beds” are worth a para graph in * themselves, for they are unique. No other manufacturers as yet have introduced them. The ••bun galow’ bed” is single width, and about half the height of the regular size— In other words, its head is about thirty inches high. These have proven particularly popular at schools and colleges* and their introduction in such Institutions has built up a de mand from students who want the same kind of furniture for their homes. Make Hit at Show. ^ These made a hit at the High Point. C., furniture show, where the At lanta products were exhibited. So did the doll beds. Of course, there are (loll beds of all kinds, but these are bronz, white enamel, or oxidized, and come complete with springs, mat tresses and two pillows—perfect miniatures of "sure-enough” expen sive beds. There are few metal bed factories in the South. The reason, according to L. C. Moeckel, manager of the At- I lanta plant, Is the scarcity of skilled metal workers and Anishers. The At lanta factory' has trained green men. under the direction of foremen and superintendents from Northern fac tories. Manufacture begins with the as sembling of the material—angle iron from the Pittsburg steel district, round iron from the Atlanta Steel Works, and tubing from the National Tubing Company. The materials are fastened on frames, held in Just the position the pattern of the bed de mands. Molds cover each joint, and into these molds is poured molten iron. The beds thus are held to gether by chilled iron castings. When the rough bits incident to casting have been chipped off, the beds are ready for finishing. But there is another kind of metal bed. the "chill-less” bed. In this proc ess the tubing is bored with holes one-thirty-second of an inch smaller than the rods. The rods are tapered at the ends and driven into the holes. This does away with the little knob like castings and makes a higher- priced and more sightly piece of fur niture. The work of applying the enamel ts elaborate. First, a "priming coat” of white is applied and baked several hours at a temperature of 150 de grees. Then follow three coats of enamel, w'ith a similar baking for each. Bronze Blown On. The most ingenious machine in the factory is the Vernis-Martin machine, which bronzes beds, or, in fact, would bronze anything put Into it, from a derby hat to a piano. The bed frame* are coated with "size”—a sticky sub stance. Then they are put in a cham ber, into which the blast from a pow erful blower fan is directed. The bronze powder is fed in by teaspoon fuls, and the strong blast drives the powder against the sticky substance, covering the surfaces more thorough ly, more evenly, more quickly and more economically than the work ever could be accomplished by hand. Two men, with this machine, bronze 35 beds in two hours, where formerly, by hand, it took two men ten hours io do the same amount of work. Later the bronze beds are lacquered, so that the bronze is, in effect, held between two sheets of glass and can not tar nish. Another ingenious machine is the one which bends two-inch steel tubing into the shape of a "U,” the operation taking only a few seconds. This 1« a patent of the Atlanta factory, and many of these machines have been sold to other manufacturers. Steel cables grasp the ends of the tubing and bend it at two places around a grooved wheel as easily as a man could fashion a hairpin from a piece of fine wire. All previous ma chines have bent one curve at a time, necessitating a double operation for each piece of tubing, and in most in stances the Insertion of a plug or sand filler to prevent crushing the tube. All Other Textile Manufacturer* In Germany Report Better Busi ness Than in 1912. The decreased demand for silks consequent upon the vogue of tight- fitting skirts has been responsible for a reduction in the divdends paid by foreign silk weaving concerns. In a generally good year for textiles, the silk mills had earnings below those of the previous year. Balance sheets so far issued for German textile companies reflect a marked Improvement. The average rate of dividends paid this year by 123 representative textile undertakings, having an aggregate capital of $50,- 000,000, works out at 8.4 per cent,- against 6.9 per cent paid in 1912. The increase is the more satisfac tory in view of the fact that in many cases large amounts have been pirt aside to strengthen the reserves, which last year were largely drawn upon to provide dividends or make up for losses. The worsted spinning companies show a slight falling off, the average . dividend of twenty stock companies being 7.8 per cent, as against 8.1 per cent last year. In other branches of the woolen industry fifteen represen tative concerns paid an average divi dend of 11 per cent, against 10.7 per cent in 1912. The average dividend of the silk mills, which was 8.6 per cent in 1912, fell off as a result of the changed styles to 5.8 per cent. DOMESTIC OLIVE CROP. It is estimated by the California Olive Producers’ Association that that State will produce this year 1,125.000 gallons of pickled olives and 1,000,000 gallons of oil, which will be a record output. Write for our latest Catalogue. The leading merchants are adding the 5c and 10c departments. Why not one for your town? McCLURE 10c CO., 47-49 S.Broad SI. Give Your “DIMES” a Chance DIXIE PICKLE AND PRESERVING CO. Manufacturers of Pure Apple and Distilled Vinegar, Catsup, Pickles, Mustard, Pepper Sauce, Sauer Kraut,.Jelly, Etc. CANNED GOODS 364 to 378 Marietta Street, Atlanta* Ga. SIDELIGHTS ON SELLING. Cravat* of crepe de chine are much in vogue for wear with shirt blouses, and the new Jabots are shown made In black and white, and color combi nations. The demand for slippers for home wear Is greater than ever before. A firm in Lynn has started Its run on slippers for the holiday trade a month earlier than usual. The Pierrot ruff, a small neckpiece, is very popular for fall. Thi* comes in marabou, with shirred crepe de chine and satin ribbon bows, in all colors. Marabou and ostrich sets are In good demand in natural col ors and fancy combination shadings. NEW YORK, July 26.—More than $100,000,000 worth of merchandise is stored in the bonded warehouses of Greater New York. Never on the face of the globe has there ever be fore been such an aggregation of everything that the soil yields and human industry produces. The fifty-six great bonded ware houses are gorged almost to bursting with &41k*, teas, coffee, spices, oils, rugs, carpets, toys, textile fabrics. Jute, hemp, wool, chemicals—with everything in which the merchants of the world trade. More than 200,000 tons of sugar, worth over $12,000,000. are in bond. The New York Stock Company alone has 80,000 bags of coffee; its ware houses. with a capacity of 81.000.000 cubic feet, are filled. V0LLMER MANUFACTURING COMPANY Moor; Building ATLANTA, GEORGIA MAKERS OF FINE JEWELRY Special Designs in Platinum .1 Engravers Diamond Setters Watchmakers Specialists in Jewelry Repairing Buy Your SCHOOL SUPPLIES OF THE MANUFACTURER and get better goods at the same price or the same goods for less. We manufacture Tablets and School Stationery in our own factory—the only one of jts kind in the South. Get our new 500-page cat alog and buy by mail. We ship mail orders in 24 hours from their receipt. MONTAG BROTHERS Manufacturers—Importers 10-12-14-16-18-20 Nelson St. ATLANTA TO OUT-OF-TOWN MERCHANTS: Howwouldyou like to hear the brainiest folks in the mer chandising business talk about the Big Questions that concern every storekeeper in the country? How would you like to rub elbows for a few days with Four Thousand other merchants who are all keen for more and better merchandising? How would you like to seethe way some other successful merchant runs things that pester you, how he handles the knotty points, how he succeeds where others fall down? How would you like to spend a few happy days resting up and getting the needed change of scene while using part of the time gathering up inspiration that will freshen and bright en your business for a whole year? If these things sound good to you, here’s what do: Make your plans N3 W to come to the SOUTHERN MERCHANTS’ CONVENTION ATLANTA, AUGUST 4 TO IS No investment you can make will bring you bigger returns physically, mentally, or where you carry your coin than this trip. Don t give it the go-by. You’ll be sorry if you do. ’ hlS