the best in town. It is not necessary to take the lowest figures submitted, either. Devise a medium between the lowest and highest and then ask these contractors if your prices are satisfactory. They have then made the prices themselves and cannot kick against them and you are likely to get satisfactory cooperation from them.

MR. SCHEEL (closure): I want to take exception to the statement made by the gentleman from Milwaukee on the matter of seeing at how low a price central stations can get contractors to do old-house wiring. It is our experience that if the central station succeeds in getting a contractor's price down to rock bottom, he becomes discouraged after he has taken several jobs and discovers that he has made very little money. Naturally he no longer remains enthusiastic about the house wiring proposition. We have endeavored to keep the price of house wiring on a plane where it always looks like good business. to the contractor.

As one way of encouraging the cooperation of the contractor, we have in the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois, made it a practice to allow the contractor to take oldhouse wiring work on the deferred payment plan, and have arranged to carry the accounts so taken without discounting him.

In developing this wiring of old residences in conjunction with contractors, we have fostered the enterprise and spirit of the different firms by giving them our work in proportion to the amount of business they secure. In other words, if one contractor in a town is signing up twice as much house wiring business for us as another, we give to him the same ratio of work secured by our salesmen that we may have to sublet. In territories where this scheme is in use we maintain no interior wiring department.

I wish to emphasize the point brought out by Mr. Seelman, that is the idea of making our scheme of estimating on wiring as simple as possible. A flat price per outlet has been found practicable and as simple as any. Such an arrangement facilitates advertising the proposition and thus allows a reader to make his own estimate and to know at exactly what price he can wire his house.

Probably the most important point in the securing of old

house wiring business, is concentration. We see the results of specialization in all other lines of sales endeavor, and I believe the success we have had in our Company i wiring old houses is due to our concentration at psychological times. On this class of business last year, contracts were taken by us for wiring 3300 old residences and during the past five years we have wired 11,000 such residences.

Today a great many lighting salesmen while working their territories will sell an iron to one customer, a vacuum cleaner to another, and possibly secure a house wiring contract from another. Let your salesman during certain periods concentrate on house wiring; make his whole showing depend upon his house-wiring results. Outline a sale talk and plan of attack for him, in other words put the whole sales organization on house wiring. The results secured will be parallel to those obtained through specialization in any other line.

REPORT OF SUB-COMMITTEE ON LIGHTING OF STORES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS

S B BURROWS, CHAIRMAN

DISCUSSION

MR. A. L. POWELL, Schenectady, N. Y.: It is fitting, in introducing a subject of this kind, to discuss features which have handicapped somewhat the development of this business and what should be done to eliminate these factors; next, to take up any general methods which will assist the men in securing new business in all of the classes; and lastly, to discuss the particular points to be given attention with reference to the individual classes, as store, office, etc.

Features to be Avoided

One particular matter has come to our attention, which does a great deal to prevent entire satisfaction; that is, the carrying of an insufficient stock of glassware and other lighting accessories, by either central station or contractor.

The salesman secures an order for a complete installation in a small store, the proprietor having made up his mind to reequip his building. It is only human on his part, when his decision has been reached, that he should want the changes carried out promptly. The salesman returns to the central station or contractor, and finds that one or two of the items are not in stock and must be ordered from the factory. This involves considerable delay, and the customer becomes irritated, all of which is productive of ill feeling.

I believe that a complete line of all the lighting accessories likely to be demanded should be kept in stock. The interest on the equipment and additional bookkeeping will be amply repaid by the good will secured by prompt service. If a standard line of material is chosen, the total amount necessary to stock is relatively small. If the central station does not handle lighting fixtures and glassware, the salesman or new business manager

(SEE REPORT, PAGE 713)

should see that the contractor or local supply house is fully stocked in this material, in order that his customer may be served promptly.

Another pont which bears on the proper development of the classes of lighting mentioned, is that of the average contractor acting in the capacity of illuminating and consulting engineer Although we must give all due credit to the man who has risen from the screw driver and phers to be contractor, he is not in a position to dictate the illumination requirements for a large auditorium, store, theatre or church The result of les doing so is often insufficient intensity, a disagreeable high tensity or the use of systems which are architecturally incor text, all of which tend to produce a dissatisfied customer In instances of this kind the lighting engineer of the central station hould be called in; he is formed on illumination m all its phases and devotes his entire time to laving out such installa tions The contractor or salesman not only saves himself from the worry and questioning of his own mind as to whether he 1 right, but he also gams a certam prestige with the customer in securing an expert's opinion in the matter By such com operation the best interests of both the company and customer are served.

My experience has been that the following methods will be generally applicable in securing commercial bessiness many of the classes of installations menti ned

Photographs

When you

The average endtoner wants to be shown introduce the sobrect of lighting his estal 29 ment t'e prospect Pemres where you have a spilar pistallation near his pla of bistress It von have one suhtle better, take him to see it It not, angit photograph of what you want to sha is the next best proposit on A few p Yes of

and fixtures have much we At in desig add

tore up to each central station to have

showing the Vattots tres climat latronis to have on their lines Some of their

they

terial pictures of excellent installations; they are always willing to supply their customers with copies of these photographs for such use as this. When you see an illustration in a technical magazine which particularly fits the case in hand, it is usually possible to get a print from the negative. It has been found practical in a number of cases to have a series of albums of a size suitable to be carried about, with pictures on any one class of installation grouped together. Then at the salesman goes out on some special job, such as a church, he can take with him the book containing the church pictures. This is much less expensive than to have a separate book for each salesman. The albums are, of course, returned to the office and left in charge of some one person.

Popular Lectures

As pointed out in the report these are an excellent means of educating the public at large in the principles of good illumination. They make a strong wedge in opening the way for the small consumer. The merchants in the town usually have a club with stated meetings. A speaker giving a short talk illuminated by lantern slides at one of these meetings is often the means of stirring up interest and securing valuable leads for this class of business. Often the subject of church lighting has to be taken up with a committee. If a small incandescent lantern is available and slides are at hand showing various churches properly lighted, these are quite convincing means of reaching all at one meeting. Various methods of using this service suggest themselves. If slides are not available locally, they can be borrowed from the larger organizations or manufacturers; in fact some manufacturers have a rather elaborate system of lecture bureau service, in which complete lectures with sets of slides are available and can be borrowed without charge. Store lighting, residence lighting, industrial lighting, church lighting and the like, are covered in these talks. If the central station representatives do not feel that they have time to go into this matter, a specialist can often be secured from the manufacturer to deliver such lectures. The local man, however, gets an inside track if he delivers these talks himself, and experience has shown that after delivering one of these lectures his opinions on the subject of lighting will have great weight in the community. Often cus