every move he made, after arriving in the city,
reminded me of myself on my first trip to New York. In fact, with the
exception of the difference in ages, he was a regular Joshua Whitcomb. I
felt almost obliged to lasso him to prevent him from following off band
wagons and chasing fire engines around town. He was particularly fond of
dime museums and the "knock-'em-down and drag-'em-out" Wild-western
plays; and I saw the necessity of getting him started on the road as
soon as possible, before he should become stage-struck. I had two
sample-cases made, and took him on the road with me through Michigan. I
took particular pains to impress upon his mind the necessity of
curtailing expenses, and often reminded him that the occasional saving
of 'bus and carriage fares from the hotel to the depot, when he had
plenty of time to walk, would be no disgrace to him or his House. I
also pointed out the foolishness of spending money with merchants in
treating, or in other words, attempting to bribe them by treating, as
that was something I had never yet done myself, and would not be
responsible for any such expense. I fully believed that the average
salesman lost as often as he gained by this practice. (I still believe
it.)

He was rather inclined to rebel against this, and said he was certain
that it would often become almost necessary to spend a little money in
that way in order to hold trade. I persisted that business should be
conducted on business principles only, and not socially or on the
strength of friendship; and it would only be necessary to call on a
merchant, introduce his business at the very earliest possible moment,
get through as soon as possible, and immediately take his departure; and
if he had any loafing to do, do it at the hotel; and above all, to spend
very little time in trying to become better acquainted. By these
methods, if he didn't make a good impression he would be quite certain
not to make a bad one.

His _penchant_ for telling funny stories made him known to those with
whom he came in contact as "the man of infinite but unpointed jest," so
as a matter of precaution I requested him to always defer telling
stories till his next trip.

I convinced him that all successful salesmen worked from early morning
till late at night, and that a dollar-a-day hotel, in a small country
town, would not be a disgraceful place to spend a Sunday. The result
was, he traveled the first year at a wonderfully light expens