The Syracuse Journal, Volume 4, Number 44, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 29 February 1912 — Page 6

DEAO LETTER SALE" Excitement of the Annual Auction of Undelivered Mail. Goods Are Put Up and Knocked Down Without Ever Being Seen —Government’s Desire Make Everything Fair as Possible. Washington.—No dirges are being intoned over the pitiful heaps of dead .. letters and deaddr packages which the Christmas past has landed in the postal morgue. “Too bad!’’ groans the rest of the country when told that this year two thousand Christmas packages expired for want of postage or proper address or whatnot, the major proportion of tfiem never to be revived. The lame melancholy news causes the good people of Washington to roll their eyes In prophetic ecstacy. “Two thousand parcels! Ah, can we wait till we get a chance at them?” For you see the national package morgue has its ghouls, its gloating resurrectionists. Only they have to curb their unholy cravings till another Christmas time is near. Then the postofflce department, foreseeing a fresh slaughter to come, clears out the dead letter office by force. A mighty auction sweeps off the whole year’s accumulation, and all the bargain hunters 4a the city attend. It is safe to say that there are estimable ladies whose prime reason for living In Washington is this annual debauch of bargains. Not as other auctions are Is this raffle of defunct mail matter. More exciting than that. Goods are put up and knocked down without ever being shown. The government has the desire to make everything as fair as possible, wearing none too easily the mantle of the auctioneer. Therefore the contents of the various packages are assorted and made up into lots. The auctioneer announces the contents of each lot in the barest terms, giving no hint of quantity or quality. As to that yon take your chances. This lot is said to contain spoons. Not silver spoons, nor plated spoons, nor pewter soopns, nor wooden spoons, nor doll baby spoons—just spoons! Delicious then the thrills the ladies as the rival bids mount higher and higher! Knocked down at $3.15! Will it turn out to be worth S3O or thirty-five cents? AIT the feminine necks crane wildly to see as with trembling fingers the highest bidder tears at the wrappings. Measuring spoons, ladies! The sort that grow four on a single stem. A sympathetic sigh goes through the crowd as the victim, a trifle flushed, drops the cheap things at her feet and valiantly plunges again. For you must be content to purchase many gold bricks If you would happen on the nugget of great price. Embroidery? It may be the dingy work of childish Ungers, or a centerpiece and doilies fashioned by an expert and worth—anything you are fool enough to bld. At it we go again, eyes getting brighter and cheeks getting pinker, the pile of wrappings rising like a tide about our knees. It should not be supposed that the ladles have the bidding all their own way. Dear me, no! There is a naval officer in Washington who counts on getting his entire year’s supply of tobacco at the auction. The risk on it is horrid. Most of the cigars that come his way are a pain to every sense. And still he bids and blds whenever there is mention of man's beloved weed. And, inexperienced bidders being shy of tobacco, lot after lot Is knocked down to him—plug, and “hay” for the laborer’s clay, and cigars dear at two for a nickel. And then once in a while comes a box whose label brings a spaarkle to his knowing eye, Havanas so choice that it will take him a long while to make up his mind to smoke them. A canny bidder plunges where a novice would draw back, well knowing j that the nuggets turn up where least I expected. One man who bid seventyfive cents on a lot said to contain j false hair—repulsive thought!—was rewarded with a beautiful actress’s wig, apparently unworn, which he later disposed of for SSO. Another man always blds on balls Gs twine, children’s rubber balls, knitted balls, golf balls (good ones) and billiard balls of ivory. A delightful lottery! Every number a prize! No blanks! It is more fun than a play. Therefore let us hush our plaintive dirge for the Christmas packages gone to the morgue. Very likely the should-have-been recipients didn’t want them anyhow. And only think what a carnival they provide for the happy plungers of the Capital! UNCLE LITTLE STORE. Uncle Sam, contrary to the generally accepted opinion, does not supply members of congress with free stationery direct. Hardly has a new legislator been shown through the Capitol by some older colleague than he comes acquainted with the fact that dewn in the basement of that big gray building there is one of the most complete stationery stores in the United States. He is astonished at the cheapness of everything and marvels at the fact that there he can buy 1,000 sheets of the finest linen paper, bearing at the top in deep old English engraved lettering the inscription, House of Representatives, U. S. Washington, for $2.40. Later the congressman is told the reason for this, and along with that Information it is explained to him that fcls stationery allowance will be $125.

The reason for.the cheapness of everything in Capitol stationery headquarters is that the stationery store makes not a shadow of profit. The handsomely engraved paper is bought “flat." The cutting and engraving are done at the government printing offices; so is the lithographing. Pens, pencils, ink, mucilage, paste, clips, erasers and every other sort of supply is sold to the congressman at manufacturers’ cost. At such low prices the $125 more than covers the office expense of the busiest congressman. It rarely has been known that the appropriation has been exceeded. But there is one other advantage—all the unexpended balance comes to the congressman in cash, and if he does not care to purchase at the stationery store, he ca t n have the money in advance and make his purchases elsewhere. The older men of congress, many of them, long ago learned the trick of getting the use of $125 for a whole year without interest. Annually, at the opening of congress, at least three-quarters of the members of the house draw their $125 in money; they buy their office supplies on “tick.” At the beginning of their second year of office, they settle their bills for the preceding session, again drawing down the difference. This system has been going on for a generation. * Another cause for remark in connection with the stationery room of the Capitol has been the tremendous supply of social stationery and pretty little desk ornaments and implements, such as attract the eye of women. In the stationery rooms which may be purchased—handbags, fancy reticules, pocketbooks, the daintiest of note paper, scented and otherwise; pearl or silver handled desk implements—an endless array of pretty little kniefcknacks which a mere man would scorn to use as an embellishment of an office desk. The affable clerks of the stationery room will explain that this fancy goods department is an outgrowth of the habit of the American legislator to elect his whole family to office along with himself. The $125 goes a long way and the stationery room at Christmas, Easter and other gift-mak-ing seasons is as busy a mart as any similar store in the national capital —and everything at cost. PLEA FOR MORE MONEY. The district commissioners do not believe that $10,000,000, named in the senate bill for the purchase of twentytwo squares of ground, located south of Pennsylvania avenue, between 14th street and the Capitol, as sites for federal buildings, is sufficient for the purpose. They so reported this afternoon to the senate committee on public buildings and grounds, where the measure is now under consideration. The commissioners did not indicate what amount they think will be necessary for the acquisition of the property, but they refer to the fact that the last assessment, as made by the assessor of the district, gives the true value of the land and improvements at $13,114,000. The report of the commissioners, who say that they are in favor of the purposes of the bill, was based on recommendations submitted by M. C. Hazen, surveyor of the district, and concurred in by Capt. Mark Brooke, assistant engineer commissioner. According to Mr. Hazen, the commissioners, April 8, 1908, submitted to congress an estimate on the value of the land specified in the bill, together with five additional squares, Nos. 226 to 230, between 14th and 15th streets, of $19,300,000. The estimate for the five squares was $3,228,000. Later these squares were acquired by the United States for $2,459,931.08. It Is said that the value of the twen-ty-two squares included ink the bill, based on the previous estimate of the commissioners, would be $15,950,000. Reducing this estimate by an amount proportionate to the saving in the ac- ! tual cost of the five additional squares over the estimated cost, it is suggest- | ed, would make the value of the twenI ty-two squares $12,150,000. • Capt. Brooke estimated that the bill for the acquisition of the property should provide an appropriation of approximately $13,000,000. RAILWAYS KILL MANY. The railways of the country can still be depended upon to kill off a few thousands people every year. The report just issued by the interstate commerce commission on the number of persons killed and injured by the railroads of the United States in the year which ended June 30 last shows that the total number of casualties for the year was 160,555 —10,396 killed and 150,159 injured. The killed numbered 30 a day, or more than one an hour. Os this total, 439 were killed and 79,237 injured in accidents classed as industrial, which do not involve the movement of cars or engines on rails. In the year 5,287 persons were killed and 5,614 injured while walking on. the tracks or stealing rides on trains. Accident reports on electric lines, which carry interstate traffic, show that 401 persons were killed and 3,264 injured In the year, exclusive of “industrial accidents.” Ten employes were killed and 399 injured on the premises of electrical railroad companies in accidents which did not involve the movement of a car or engine. The report gives the total number of employes in the service of the rail road companies of the United States on June 30 as 1,648,033. In the yeai one employe was killed to every 458 employed and one Injured to 13 employe*’-

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REPLIES TO QUERIES HINTS AND ADVICE ON ALL KINDS OF SOCIAL FORMS. Mme. Merrl, Most Noted Authority on Such Subjects, Also Furnishes Helping Ideas for Varieties of Home Entertainments. I want your advloe —and hope I don’t ask too many questions of you. Will you suggest a buffet supper for a simple home wedding? Does the bridegroom furnish the flowers for the bride and her maid? What floral decorations, and what flower for the bride’s bouquet would you suggest for a February wedding? Is it the proper and necessary thing to make a gift to the bridesmaids and to the pianist also if they are relatives? And for the groom to present the best man with some gift? Wb».t would you suggest as being appropriate? Is a black suit, white vest, white shirt and tie a conventional dress for an afternoon wedding—Pat. For a winter buffet supper have scalloped or creamed oysters In patties, chicken salad, cold turkey, coffee, olives, salted nuts, ice cream, cake, bonbons. The bridegroom presents the bride and her attendants with their flowers. In large cities most of the spring flowers, hyacinths, tulips and jonquils, are obtainable in February; roses are always lovely with carnations, which are acceptable and beautiful at all seasons. It is quite customary to present the attendants and pianist with some token, usually a pin or something for personal adornment. The men of the party most always have scarf pins or cuff links besides ties and gloves. Questions From “A. M.” Would you please tell me what would be a proper gift tn give to a girl friend whom I have been keeping company with for awhile, as she graduates from the public school this year. Is it proper to give a present when graduating from public schools? Do you think a boy eighteen years old and a girl seventeen years old would be too young Ho keep steady company, and go to a show or entertainment once in a while if her parents don’t object? Do you think we would be too young to attend private dances at this age?—A. M. It has become quite the custom to bestow gifts on graduates and I would suggest a new book, a card case, a box of candy prettily put up. I think that young people your age are too young to go with each other steadily, for It is not fair to either of you. See a lot of other girls and boys and be good friends with all. We cannot help having our preferences, but it is just as well not to express them decidedly too early in life. Take the out occasionally. Birthday Party for Ten-Year-Old. I wish to give my little girl, who will be ten years old the 25th of February, a birthday party. The guests will number fifteen or twenty, ages ranging from seven to twelve years. What would you suggest for refresh-

CHAIR FOR DOLL’S HOUSE Making of Cardboard Furniture Affords a Great Deal of Fun and i Amusement. A great deal of fun and amusement can be derived in making cardboard (furniture, and with the exercise of a little ingenuity, chairs, tables, stools, and all kinds of furniture can be constructed. As an example, to illustrate this, we give a diagram of a 'chair, which can be traced and then pasted on to a thin piece of cardCardboard Chair for the Doll's House, board and left to dry, and then carefully cut out with a sharp pair of scissors. After that it is an easy matter to bend the legs and back into their proper positions, and when thia has been done the chair will have the appearance shown in the small sketch

ments, games, prizes, souvenirs, etc.? I do not wish for anything elaborate, but would like something different. ; Please answer in the Sunday paper, i Thank you.—“ Anxious." For refreshments you must have ice cream, or it would not be a party. Also a big frosted cake with ten candles and ‘one to grow on.” At the age of ten girls love to dress dolls, and I heard of a most successful party I where the girls dressed wee dollies, and prizes were offered for the best one. An hour was allcted to the task. A box of letter paper and a box of candy make excellent prizes, or cups i and saucers. Cunning little baskets j may be given for favors. Questions From “Perplexed.” If a girl of seventeen never has had a sweetheart or does not care to go with boys at this age, do you think it is right to call her “old maid.” She thinks It looks unladylike to flirt and have regular sweethearts at the age of seventeen. Do you think a stenographer is a desirable position for a girl? ! Which are worn more now, large < hats or small ones? —Perplexed. I think it is most unkind and rude /to make fun or hurt any one’s feelings and a girl is by no, means an old maid. The position of stenographer is often a very desirable one. Both large and small hats are worn, depends upon which is most becoming, and on which occasion ib is to be worn. ————— Card Etiquette. Please tell me how many of one’s own and their husband’s cards should be left when calling. Can you recommend a book on such matters? — E. M. F. When calling upon a husband and wife, leave one of yours and two of j your husband’s cards; when paying a visit upon a widow or an unmarried person just leave one of yours and one of your husband’s. For each unmarried person in society one card is left. For name of a small up-to-date book of Etiquette send me a self-adddressed, stamped envelope in care of the paper. MADAME MERRI. $ e a Flame Color in Vogue. A positive furore is noticeable now for flame colors. The glowing red tones that are seen in the feather decked hats of the winter season are repeated in the ballroom, where flame, j carnation, rhododendron, cerise and i currant shades make vivid splashes of | color. ( In simple lustrous velvet softened about the bodice by silver lace or cream net these red frocks are especially effective for midwinter entertainments, and while the dowagers and young married women choose this fabric and satin the debutantes appear in chiffon and mouseline de sole that are equally bright, in some cases made up over white and usually touched with silver, crystal or cut steel embellishments. Fur Covered Buttons. If the odds and ends of fur are in too small bits to use in another way, they may sometimes be introduced into a costume by covering big buttoms with them for use on the waist and skirt.

on the right-hand side, and to complete it, the paint-box may be called into requisition, and it can be colored. The dotted lines in the diagram in dicate the points at which the cardboard should be bent, and it is a good plan to score across the cardboard at these places with the point of a penknife, in order that it may bend freely. For making other pieces of furniture a rough diagram should be drawn upon the cardboard in pencil and then cut out, and after you have made one or two articles in this way you will find it quite easy to invent and com struct all kinds of things. For Children’s Clothes. Handwork will be much seen this summer on the children’s clothes, it will appear on everything, from the wee baby’s first dress to little daughter’s dancing frock. Eyelet work is easy and most effective, and gives a decidedly French touch to a dainty little batiste or nainsook frock. It is interesting work ta be picked up when mother has a few spare moments. Hemstitching is another pretty hand touch for the children’s dresses, and can be used for hems, collars and turn-back cuffs, also belts. And not? that so many deep knife-plaited ruffles are being used around neck and sleeves nothing could be more simple or stylish than to have these hemstitched. A very dainty way to finish the new one-piece frocks for the small child is to scallop it around neck and short sleeves, embroidering large or small dots in every other scallop.

jrn~- irAdvertising | n Talks n (o 0000000000000 T| ADVERTISING IS INVESTMENT ' Experience, Tact and Special Knowledge Necessary to Make the Profits Certain. There are certain laws that govern all advertising and they are suggested In the following questions, to which every advertiser should have an answer before investing his money. 1. Is there any merit in the article i to be advertised? 2. Am I willing to tell the truth about it? 3. Who are the people to be interj ested? 4. What mediums or channels will ! reach those people? 5. What are the “talking points?” 6. What is the best way to tell my story? 7. How much will it cost to do it properly ? Having answers to these questions does not finish the work. Tc select what seems the best mediums and fill the space with the “talking points” is not sufficient for good advertising. With the best of care advertising is largely an experiment, and it is only by watching and testing eVen the best mediums that the most profit can be made from the investment The enormous sums spent in advertising each year show plainly that It pays or it would not continue, and the fact that our competitors advertise more and more each year necessitates our advertising judiciously—if we wish to keep in the race. The man who wishes to invest mon- ! ey in stocks will go to a broker for : tips, and the man who wishes to invest money in advertising should follow the same line of reasoning. He should go to a reliable agent, or employ a competent man to take entire charge of it Advertising today is an art, and requires experience, tact and a special knowledge of the art, and there are men thoioughly trained who are capable of making the advertisement a good Investment—Publicity. Advertising is like felling a tree. It Is not the final blow of the, axe that does all the work. Every blow that went before contributed Its share. . SOME FORMS OF ADVERTISING Paper That Holds Affections of Family Circle Is the Highest Class Medium. | Every once in a while you find that , somebody has said something you wanted to say—only better. The man who has got ahead of me this time is Charles H. Grasty, editor of the Baltimore Sun. "If you have something to sell," he says, “you can go to a job printer and have a lot of bills struck off and distribute them around town. That is advertising in the crude state. “Put the. same matter in any kind of a newspaper and that is advertising In a more advanced and effective form. “Insert the same copy in a paper that goes into the home, with a hold upon the affections of the family circle, and that is advertising in the highest state. As time goes on and the confidence and esteem of the readers attach themselves to the paper, the habit of reading the advertisements in that paper becomes fixed and an advertising medium is established."—E. C.T’atterson, in Collier’s. What Advertising Does. First, it saves time, and time is /noney. Shopping, especially with men, takes time that real business men or artisans can ill afford to spend. The modern method is to decide from reliable information, previously obtained, what you want to buy before going to the street or sending for goods by mail. The economical method for obtaining this information is by reading advertisements. True, some are false statements, but the public is getting more and more wisdom every day, and the advertisers more honest. More credence is given to advertising now than ever before, and this condition is bound to Increase, because it is the experience of business men that truthful advertising Is the only kind that is permanently profitable.—Seth Brown in “Library of Advertising.” As It Always Does. An advertisement for a wife in the Boston Post by John Farrell, a Boston railway man, brought him nearly 1,000 replies, or, to be exact, 946, and many from far distant cities. He found his soul-mate among them, too, and was married last week. Bold. “Miss Peech,” stammered the bashful young man at the other end of the sofa, “would you—er—consider me bold if I were to—er —throw a kiss to you?” “Bold!” quoth she. “I'd consider tt the qulntescence of lasinesii.”

I GOOD SERVICE IS GOOD ADVERTISING - t By William C. Freeman. “ An unusual incident happened in a specialty store recently. A gentleman bought a pair of gloves from this store and lost one of them. He had heard a lot about the business methods of the store and had been told that any reasonable request made of the management would be instantly complied with. He thought he would make a sup#me test. He walked into the store and said he wanted to buy one glove, explaining that he had lost one of the pair of gloves he had bought. His request was so unusual that the clerk did not know how to answer. She called the manager, who in turn ! was somewhat flabbergasted, but he , saw the owner of the business, ex- i plained the matter and asked for instructions. The owner, right off the reel, said: “Certainly, sell the gentleman one glove.” "But what shall we charge him?" asked the manager. “Just half the price of a pair,” answered the owner. “What shall we do with the remaining glove?” asked the manager. “Charge It up to service account,* replied the owner. The owner of the business, who is a student of human nature, instantly divined that the gentleman who wanted to bqy one glove was making a test of the store; he knew that no man was mean enough to really want a store to sell him one glove, so he complied with the gentleman’s request. All of the incidents described here happened in less time than it takes to tell the story. Was it good advertising? Here’s the sequel: The gentleman, a prominent man, told this Incident at his clubs, his place of business, etc. It became a general story and it added to the good impression the store had made by its advertising and its service. There are many ways of advertising. This is one of them—and a good way, too. WHY ADVERTISING IS READ Saves the Public an Immense Amount of Time in These Days of Hustle. , One great reason for the tremendous modern vogue of advertising, is the amount of time it saves the public in these days of hustle. When a person starts out to find a certain article without any previous notion of where it can be bought to best advantage, a wearisome round of shopping usually becomes necessary. With all the calls upon one’s time, people are little inclined to start out in this aimless way. The merchant that gives the public a good Idea of his stock through the newspaper catches a crowd of people who dislike to waste their time on indefinite shopping expeditions. Furthermore, many people dislike to go into a store and take the time of clerks or the proprietor to look over a stock unless they are fairly sure of buying. If they can satisfy themselves in advance they can probably get what they want at a certain place, they feel that by going there they have saved their own time and energy, and have escaped the embarassment of looking over a stock without buying anything. John Wanamaker says: “Advertising doesn't jerk; it pulls. It begins very gently at first, but the pull is steady. It Increases day by day and year by year, until it exerts an irresistible power.” An Immortal Writes Ads. Jean Richepin, a member of the French Academy, one of the “forty immortals,’-’ is still receiving congratulations on finding a new outlet for his versatile literary talents. He is a poet, a romancer and a playwright but cully of late has he turned writer of advertisements on a large scale. It was Richepin who wrote the wonderful preliminary description of Abdul Hamid‘s jewels before they were put up at auction here recently. Richepin’s word pictures were so enticing that the proipoters of the sale who him to write the article printed Wc as a preface to their catalogue with the result that the sale more than doubled expectations. The sale netted more than a million dollars. Probably no other “ad” writer ever wrote an “ad” for such a large sale. Sound Sense. Do not advertise for the sake of advertising, but as a means of attaining some definite end. Do not advertise along certain set lines, » just because that is the way that concerns in your trade or profession have always advertised. Those who first till the soil reap the largest crops, provided they till Intelligently. Thought, study and competent advice may discover new fields for you to cultivate. —Eldridge Shop Talk. Original. "Bilfurst is a man of very strong individuality.” “Please explain.” “He has just returned from Milwaukee without having anything facetious to say about the breweries there."

THE TRUTH ABOUT BLUING. Talk No. 11. The well often runs dry where they make bottle blue. It's easy to see. Only a little quantity, say half a cent or a trifle more, in the double strength kind and a large bottle of water and the delusion is completed. Buy RED CROSS BALL BLUE. Get a pure blue. Makes clothes snowy white. ASK YOUR GROCER. WHAT HE WAS DOING. v r — —f A- — • ~~ -r ' "Did you fall, my son?” “Naw! ’Course I didn’t! I’m jest takin' a mud bath by me doctor** or ders!" Subject for the Minister. According to reports gathered by the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, praotlcally 10 per cent, of all deaths in church congregation* are caused by tuberculosis. In a study of 312,000 communicants of ”725 churches in which there were 7,000 deaths in 1910, the death rate amons, these church, members was founerto be 2.24 for every thousand coihniunicants. This is higher than the rate for the registration area of the United State*, which was 1.60 in 1910. “While these statistics,” says th* national association, “are not comparable from the point Os view of accuracy with thoses of the bureau of census, sufficient credence may be I given to them to indicate that one of the most serious problems the ordinary church has to consider is that of the devastation of its membership by tuberculosis. Every minister in th* United States should give this subject some attention during the week preceding or that following April 28, Tuberculosis day.” Always Leap Year. « “It’s leap year every year in Papua," ■aid an enthnologist. “The reason isn’t that the women are the bosses ther*. No, quite the contrary. The reason 1* that love-making is supposed to be a thing beneath the notice of the Papuan male. 1 - ~ “All women look alike to him. So the matrimonial pour parlors all fall on the female sex. “If a man accepts a girl’s proposal, the fact that he Is engaged is chalked on his back. But on the girl’s back the engagement is branded with a redhot Iron." But Mamma Didn’t. Little Mabel was always tumbling down and getting hurt, but as soon as her mother klsseji the bumped forehead Mabel would believe it cured and cease crying. One day she accompanied her mother to the Union depot, and while they were seated in th* crowded waiting room an intoxicated man entered the door, tripped over a suitcase, and fell sprawling on th* floor. The attention of every one wa* attracted to and in th* sudden sllenceVfollowing the fall Mabel called out: r “Don’t cry, man. Mamma ’ll kls* 00, and ’en oo ’ll be all right.”—Lippincott’s Magazine. Many a woman encourage* * maa by trying to discourage hiDßs

I ~ '""“r Our Ovens To Your Table Untouched by human hands — ] Post Toasties —the aristocrat of Ready-to-Serve food*. A table dainty, made of white Indian corn—presenting delicious flavour and wholesome nourishment in new and appetizing form. The steadily increasing sale of this food speaks volumes in behalf of its excellence. An order for a package of Post Toasties from your grocer will provide a treat for the whole family. ••The Memory Lingers" - Fortum Cereal Company, Limited Bottle Crert, Michigan