Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 November 1893 — Advertising that Pays. [ARTICLE]

Advertising that Pays.

A large number of people will read of the wearing out of a number of Senator's throats with a great deal of indifference, if not positive satisfaction. A jewfish was caught on the Pacific coast at Avalon, Cal., recently by a Mr. Lindley, that tipped the beam at 300 pounds, being the largest of the species ever captured. The latest evolution of the slot machine gives your weight, plays a strain of the latest popular song, and tells your fortune, all for a nickle. And yet some people talk about hard times and grinding monopolies. The Washington City real estate boom seems to have collapsed, or at least shrunk to a remarkable degree. It is estimated that there are 10,000 vacant houses in that town and real estate values barely hold to last year’s figures in cases where a large advance was confidently predicted. Dr. Talmage occasionally grows witty in his Sunday sermons. In one of his recent efforts, in speaking of Theosophists and their alleged miraculous performances, he said the most remarkable achievement of these mysterious devotees was their success in keeping out of the insane asylum. That will strike the average uninitiated man as a pretty good hit. ____________ There was a great deal of betting in New York on the outcome of the races between the Vigilant and the Valkyrie. Those who lost, as usual, knew that they would lose, but bet as they did against their better judgment. That is generally the way. Men who bet on elections and lose always do so from a patriotic motive, and not for the money they hope to gain. We all know such men, and the subterfuges they invent to cover their losses and chagrin are not the least amusing feature of a hot campaign. The Viking ship will probably be “presented” to the United States government, and will oe removed from Chicago to Washington City to serve as a memorial and an attraction at the Smithsonian Institution or the navy yard. Capt. Andersen, of the Viking ship, has been in Washington on this business for some time: It is understood that a subscription, amount not stated, is necessary before the plan of “presentation” can be carried out. Those foreigners do not appear to have been in this exposition business for their health any more than the “selfsacrificing” Chicagoites. Three great battle ships have been lost within the last three months. The Victoria, of the English navy, went down because pf a mistake of her commander, The Haytien crusier Alexander Petion and’the Russian ship Pousalka succumbed to the ordinary perils of navigation. Peace seems to be more dangerous than war —to the modern castles of iron that try to float the waves in modern times. Safety has been sacrificed to solidity and strength. The thickness of their armor has increased in proportion to the weight of guns and powers of projectiles until the battle ship of the day seem to be more dangerous to its crew than to the enemy it is constructed to exterminate.

A New York philanthropist spends thousands of dollars every year to aid the poor, but is careful to never give the beneficiaries of his bounty a cent of money. His theory is that ready cash demoralizes people in urgent need. This good man will go to almost any trouble to help a person ho considers worthy by supplying him with groceries, paying his rent, or securing him employment. As soon as employment Is secured for the object of his charity, he inwardly asks for the repayment of the sums paid out by him, stating to the poor man that he is under moral obligations to refund at any convenient season the sums expended for his benefit. If the party pays, the philanthropist regards the case as a triumph of self-respect and of more benefit to the poor man than to himself. If the poor man fails to pay it is all the same with the rich philanthropist—he keeps on giving to .persons who succeed in enlisting bis sympathies. This benevolent man allows himself, an income of 16,000, and devotes all the balance of the large profits from his mercantile business to charity. “Hibtobv repeats itself.” In olden times great public characters

listened to the sibyl’s tale, or the seer's warning. Who has not read ‘‘Txjchiel, Lochiel, beware of the day when the lowlands shall meet thee in battle array?” Great warriors never embarked in a new venture without consulting oracles, and the Witch of Endor is quite as prominent a character in Holy Writ as some people of more canny reputation. Men in all ages have dabbled in the mysterious and sought to “catch on” to events of the future before they become due at their station. Probably a great many distinguished persons would be ashamed to confess to their faith in the superhuman. The latest exhibition of a public character of this nature was the visit of a fortune teller from Wisconsin to ex-President Harrison at Indianapolis. The retired statesman was not at home, but the modern “seer” delivered her message from the ‘‘Great Beyond” to his private secretary, to the effect that Mr. Harrison was down in the Book of Fate for re-nomination and re-elec-tion, but that many misfortunes and pitfalls lay in the paiit of his further triumphal progress. It was all revealedto herein a dream, and she felt in conscience bound to warn Mr. Harrison of the triumphs and tribulations that awaited him, so that he could be prepared to thwart his enemies and avert to a great degree the misfortunes while holding fast to the rewards that follow well laid plans.

Philadelphia North American. It. has been rightly said “the time to advertise is all the time.” The most successful' merchants o 2 the country are those who have been the most persistent in keeping their business before the public. Experience of more than a century has shown that newspaper advertising is pre-eminently the best, quickest and cheapest method. Reference to the files of the North American of more than a hundred years ago shows that tho wide awake business men in those days were, as now, the men whose names appeared most frequently in its advertising columns. It has been conservatively estimated that the merchants of the United States are spending more than $60,000.000 annually for newspaper advertising. A recognized factor in business since the beginning of journalism, it has only been within the last decade that advertising has reached such proportions and become such a lever in the commercial world. The shoppers of to-day no more think of miking a purchase without consulting the columns of their newspaper than they do of going to a place of amusement without first reading the newspaper criticism or notice of the attraction. The life of business is advertising, and there is no more profitable season for newspaper advertising than during a general business depression, when the great majority of people feel compelled to economize in every possible way. The paper to advertise in is, of course, the paper that reaches the buyers.