fourth day the cashier banked over $22,000; within ten days $68,000
had come in, several merchants paying up accounts that were not yet
due; a few even offered to "help out the firm."

The business was saved--by postage stamps.

Formality to the winds; stereotyped phrases were forgotten;
traditional appeals were discarded and a plain talk, man-to-man,
just as if the two were closeted together in an office brought
hundreds of customers rushing to the assistance of the house with
which they had been dealing.

Sixty-eight thousand dollars collected within two weeks when money
was almost invisible--and by letter. Truly there is romance in the
postage stamp.

Twenty-five years ago a station agent wrote to other agents along
the line about a watch that he could sell them at a low price. When
an order came in he bought a watch, sent it to the customer and used
his profit to buy stamps for more letters. After a while he put in
each letter a folder advertising charms, fobs and chains; then
rings, cuff buttons and a general line of jewelry was added. It soon
became necessary to give up his position on the railroad and devote
all his time to the business and one line after another was added to
the stock he carried.

Today the house that started in this way has customers in the
farthermost parts of civilization; it sells every conceivable
product from toothpicks to automobiles and knockdown houses. Two
thousand people do nothing but handle mail; over 22,000 orders are