GENERAL NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 127, 7 September 1910, Page 7

GENERAL NEWS.

Mr. I. \V. Raymond, of Invercargill, who is .at present on a trip abroad, in the course of a letter to a friend, remarks: —"Large parties of working men are being sent to Germany with a view of opening their eyes as to the condition of the working classes in that country. I was offered the opportunity of joining one of these parties for the purpose of seeing how these tours were conducted and what fruits they produced. I could not resist the offer, and joined a touring party last month, as the guest of Mr. Vogel, the person who conceived the idea of these party trips. On this occasion there were forty-eight in the party—the : majority Freetraders drawn fnom the I various labor organisations in and about London. We visited Antwerp, Brussels, Cologne, Essen,. Berlin, Dresden, Lepwick, Chemitz, Frankfort and Dusseldorf, travelling fully I'SOO miles, and I am safe in saying I did not see 1000 acres of indifferently-tilled land in that area. The splendid uniformity of the crops gave one the impression that each seed had been planted with a dibble, and the ground was as excellently worked as a well-kept kitchen garden, In this re-j spect the Germans are a quarter of a | century ahead of us, and the most of our party returned converted to Protec-1 tion. I saw just enough of Germany to whet my appetite for more, and look for-1 ward to a further run in that country." In an address to shopkeepers, an American business man says- that advertising is the only thing that stands between the trader and the public, provided always that his shop is equipped with good ( stock. "You can't evade that duty—for duty it is in the fullest sense of the word. No business can succeed without advertising—persistent, intelligent advertising. It is true that business _ deals with the necessities of life; obviously, therefore, it-is demanded in greater measure in a business that deals with life's luxuries. The retailer who doesn't advertise belongs to the days when the only advertising possible was by word of mouth. The man who does not advertise simply because his grandfather did not, should wear knee breeches and a queue. The shopkeeper who does not advertise simply because it costs money should quit paying, salaries for the same reason. The merchant, who does not advertise because somebody said it did not pay should not believe the world is round, because the ancients'said it was flat. The merchant who does not advertise (because he cannot know ahi solutely that it is going to pay should commit suicide to avoid being killed by an accident." Says an Auckland Star writer:—ln a certain suburb recently a motor car broke down. .While the chauffeur (and proprietor) was trying to put his machinery in order again the inevitable small boy appeared, and amused himself by scratching his name on the immaculate enamelling of the body of the car. He was caught in the act, and, as he justly deserved, was soundly cuffed. His wailing attracted a group of loafers of both sexes. Presently they were scattered by the boy's father, who was •exclaiming valiantly, "Who struck my boy? Show me the man who struck my boy 1" As he kept on making this request the chauffeur came from Under his machinehe was a few inches over six feet high, and well proportioned. "I did." he said. "Serve 'im right," said the man, in a different key; "and I'll give 'im another when I (get 'im 'ome!'