Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 77, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 March 1916 — FEATHER BED TRUST [ARTICLE]

FEATHER BED TRUST

Farmers’ Wives Fall For Scheme and Later Make Heartrending Discoveries. Toronto, Ont—Ever hear —of the Feather Bed Trust? Of course you didn’t. No one ever heftrs of trusts nowadays. Still, the Feather Bed Trust is a different sort. You see, it isn’t a trust with an enormous capitalization, and one of those fancy interlocking directorates, it’s just a simple little organization of a few manufacturers here in Canada and the States. They met a little time ago, and portioned out the continent, so much for each firm. The way they make thelr money la delightfully old fashioned In its homely simplicity. The agent of the trust, a sauve young gentleman, takes his group of assistants into an Ontario town. Any small Ontario town you know of will do. He rents a vacant house or store, sets up a steam cleaning boiler and other washing devices for washing feather beds, and then, three or four bottles In his pockets goes off to work the town and countryside. •• He shows this urbane young chap, his bottles to some housewife, who has read a lot about cleanliness and hygelne. One bottle shows a feather as it comes from the pelt of the innocent chicken. Bottle No. 2 shows a little spot developing into a nest of germs, and the other exhibits continue the fearful lesson. For a couple of dollars each-feath-er bed in the house will be cleaned. A wagon waits without, and away goes the beds to the steam cleaning plant. They are washed well, give the trust credit for doing that. But the feathers are blown full of very: " live'steam? and they sweltT’When tfie time comes to stuff the fluffy feathers back into their cases only about half can be crammed in. The other half is shipped to a Toronto factory, where feather beds are made. Thehousewife gets back her feather bed---For sixmonthsit is soft and Ibvely. Then it develops their spots and lumps. About this time a new young salesman comes into the town selling factory made feather beds. He knows just where to make sales. Funny Isn’t it, that all" the best money making ideas are comely and simple. ; .