IN THE CITY SHOPS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2420, 27 March 1915, Page 13

IN THE CITY SHOPS

BRITISH GOODS TO THE FRONT

WHAT BUSINESS PEOPLE SAY

. Gathering opinions, as to the prevail- « ing sentiments of those business peoplei who liave sold English and other goods indiscriminately prior to last'year, the' head of a big plate and jewellery establishment- stated that the cutting out of Germany did not affect them in', the * least. There was at present, and neverhad been, any equal to British plate, which, was far and away superior to tho! product- of Wurtemberg, end the great■ majority of the stuff kept in stock' was ■British made. The position was the same as regards solid silver goods and: jewellery—England was easily on top. In watchmaking} Switzerland! had taken the lead with America; still there was no better watch in the world than the' nign-grade English-built watch, but the pnco was not within "the reach of every-, one. Where Germany got well in was in. the manufacture of brass, and copper. - ornamental ware, but even that wa-s now to be turned out in England. A big firm named Sankeys were about to produce such ware, based' on German' models, and the English manufacturer - was also, waking up in regard to the;, manufacture of those pretty woodencased clocks that were formerly "made in Germany." On.the whole, however, very' little foreign stuff was stocked in. the best shops. Jn. his own there,was . not more than 2 per cent, made outside! ■ the Empire.. . : } ' ' ' Woollens Par Excellence., "In woollen underwear no ethemji* country can approach' the "British gcoda 1 I represent," said a general agent and merchant. "Our trouble has been in ' the : past that our prices were high— ' that we made only for princes, but now 1 • we are turning out goods at prices ; within the reach of everyone, ana the , quality is beautiful. There is, in point V of fact, no necessity for anyone to gojl. ' outside the British Empire - for such goods. There have been lines in which' Germany has be&n able, through cheep, ' labour, to compete, -but our manufacturers have found out that-'they can, [ make such goods just as cheaply and of . better quality. : My. woollen goods ' are] ' the .well-known 'Jaegar' brand,-a name; 'of ' Norwegian origin, but which.-is a'j | wholly _ British '.- firm, • manufacturing. wholly in England from British-grown wool. .Their quality is their recommendation.''- \ On Pianos, . _ . f Perhaps there is no one line—except i it he toys—in which Germany has so successfully competed with other coiin-ij tries as in the manufacture of pianos., They have been able to put fairly good! instruments on tho market at reason-j ■ able prices, but the German instrument that is of high quality, is just as ox-v' pensive as the best British-made instrument. At' the present time there is. no excuse for people who buy Gorman) pianos, as in all classes of instrtfmento the English' manufacturers are turning' out better value pianofortes.; -Juet as it was fashionable at one time for-singers to assume Italian or German names,' as instance Foli, Albani, D'Argel,' Alda, and many others, it was the vogue to buy an instrument of German mahufaoture. But with such piaiios as those turned out by Brinsmead,. Brosfdwood, Collard and Collard, and other high-, standard English firms, there is no need to go abroad. ludeed, the pianoforte. ' mechanic will tell yon that tho work-' liianship in the best of English pianos is unsurpassed,' but the enterprising ( foreiguor has taught many to believe in. the Gorman instrument by subsidising' solo pianists in rotuni for their undertaking world tours with pianofortes of . thoir manufacture'. Paints, Paper, and Brushware, ' "Thore is very little German wallpaper used in New Zealand," said tho, manager of one City firm, in reply toft question. "We used to stock a fewi .lines of Gorman paper, and like everything else German, it was a bit cheaper? than the English paper. Wo' found,' however,: that the colours were , not so fastr-it used to fade quicker than the English papers. _ Our paint, too, i ß \ wholly of English manufacture,- and there is no better in the world. Curiously enough, the chemical colours'were obtained from Germany, yet the English paint has always been regarded as a bit better than the Gorman. Jn brtisliwaro—yes, we havb German ' brushes. We daro not tell some of our customers that just now, but we still have somo loft from the stock we held before war broke nut. What wonderful imitators they are! Hero is one brush at Bd., and apparently tho same brush at Is. Any ordinary person would at once take, the brush at i?d. (the German article). He would be makhi"- a mistake all the same, as the En4ish brush has twice the life. A inaa°can never go far wrong in buying anything from an established English firm—it is quality all the time with them—and if you could get the public to believe that ! the ■ cheap art-iclo ,is always dearest in the long run, you would be doing some Jft Efililh trade,"..