Bulletin—1928

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SPECIAL COLPORTEUR BULLETIN

WINTER EDITION

TO ALL MESSENGERS OF THE KINGDOM!

THE grandest job on the face of the earth at this time is that of being one of God's witnesses. It is the most glorious privilege ever offered to any creature! Only the remnant, however, recognize this; and because they do and are really taking seriously their covenant with the Lord, they are happy in the ‘joy of their Lord'. Since the Lord came to his temple all the faithful ones have been experiencing the ‘joy of their Lord'; that is, their only source of real joy and delight is in assisting in the vindication of the great Creator's name.

We want every one of these faithful ones in the field to know that we at Brooklyn appreciate very much the privilege and honor which the Lord has given us of cooperating with them in every way possible. Your joys are our joys, your difficulties we consider our own, arid it is because of our desire to assist and encourage that we are sending you. the special Bulletin. We trust that in it you will find some helpful suggestions. All of them come from colporteurs who have been actively engaged in the field for years and who write from experience only.

Your zeal in the Lord’s service last year gave us a great thrill. Though at times you had us pushed pretty hard to keep you supplied, we were very, very happy; glad to be working shoulder to shoulder with you.

May the Lord's choicest blessings be your portion this year as you continue in this great campaign for the new government, God’s kingdom on earth.

Your brethren in the King's business,

Special Colporteur Bulletin

Winter Edition

Dear Brethren:

Again it is our pleasure to pass on to you some timely and excellent suggestions which we have recently gathered from letters and reports sent to us by the colporteurs.

Of all the Lord’s little army on earth, the colporteurs command our admiration and interest us most. And why shouldn’t they? They have separated themselves completely from the world, that is, from the Devil and his organization, have taken the Lord at his word when he said he would supply all the clothing and food necessary to those who would seek first the kingdom of heaven, and, as they testify to us in their letters, are having the best time of their lives. Like Jesus, they have left mothers, sisters, brothers, houses and lands (Matt. 13:55,56) and are going ‘Throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God”. They are really taking their covenant with Jehovah in dead earnest, as every one must who hopes to be pleasing to God and make sure his calling and election.

Success in the colporteur work, of course, rests on the basis of unreserved consecration to do God’s will and a thorough devotion to him. Next essential is to really work at it. It is not at all surprising to us to find, when once in a while a colporteur writes us of his difficulty to make a go of it, that the chief reason is, He doesn’t keep on the job. Two or three hours a day or three or four days a week would never make much of a success of anything. Of course the Lord expects us to do our part toward the fulfilment of his promises, and at this time we want to stress particularly, especially to those who have entered the service recently, the importance of keeping faith with the Lord in the matter of time and effort spent in the work. “Be sure you are right and then hammer away” is good advice to all colporteurs. Success in the field is not so much a matter of salesmanship, nor of glibness of tongue or natural ability. Such things help, but they are not necessarily essential.

Of course salesmanship comes from experience, but wre have found that the most successful colporteurs are those who are so dead sure they have the truth that they inspire those to whom they talk with confidence in their message. Why, some of our top-notch colporteurs can not say two or three sentences without stammering; but they have the spirit of the Lord, and that’s the big thing. It shines out of their faces; they themselves are so filled with enthusiasm it just overflows to any one hearing them talk. We have a cross-eyed brother here who, despite his foreign accent, almost always places more books than any one else. The secret of his success is his enthusiasm about the divine plan and his consistent plugging away in the field. We simply mention this for the encouragement of those who might overestimate the value of pulchritude in our work.

There is no greater honor or privilege in the whole world than that of representing the present King and announcing his kingdom to the poor, benighted people. They are yearning for deliverance from the thraldom of sorrow, sickness, oppression and death. They want just the information you have for them—if they only knew. More eloquently than any spoken words will the earnestness, zeal and boldness of the colporteur impress the people that he has exactly what they need. Of the first witnesses of the kingdom, it is written that “when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus”.-Acts 4:13.

So it is now, dear brethren. You can speak with authority and boldness because you have the word of the great Creator back of you. No need for being timid when you go forth as the witness of Almighty God. Let them see that you yourself really believe what you tell them, and we know the Lord will abundantly bless your efforts. You will be doing with all your might what the Lord has given you to do. And, after all, that’s the only way to do anything successfully.

Here Are the Suggestions

IF ONE hopes to be able to continue permanently in the colporteur work, the first essential is regularity. If one does not enter this branch of the service with the determination to put forth as great an effort to magnify the name of Jehovah as he would in some secular employment, his life as a colporteur is likely to be of short duration. His service to the Lord is a voluntary proposition; but to one who is in real earnest about the King's business the Lord has promised to provide the necessary things of life. “But,” as one colporteur says, who in the work is supporting a wife and three children, “sometimes the Lord makes one sweat to keep going. Jesus sweat, and sweat hard, in the garden of Gethsemane; so why shouldn't we expect to have to do the same"?”

We have asked some of the colporteurs in the northern states how they keep going in the winter time, and in most instances we find that it is because they are regular in the work. One sister writes, “Last winter I missed only two or three days on account of the weather, and the winter before only a day or so.” She has been working territory in such states as Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York during this period. Another states, “Any one who is physically able to canvass in the summer time should be able to do the same in the winter. You simply pack your books the night before and go at it again in the morning. Burrowing up for the cold weather is a woodchuck idea; it should not be thought of by the remnant, the Lord’s army. It is more from habit than from anything else, I think.”

Regularity in the work hardens one to endure the cold snaps, as another colporteur writes us: “Going out in the cold every day, you get so you can stand a lot of cold. It is like walking. For a week or so you get mighty tired and your feet get good and sore; but in a little while you will be able to walk eight or ten miles a day and not get any more tired then you used to get walking a mile or two. Before I walked much in the winter my feet would get cold just walking two or three blocks; but now I can walk miles and my feet do not get cold.”

It is easy to lie off a few days from the work; but in so doing one’s ability to meet expenses is decreased. If each colporteur sets for himself a personal quota and keeps a record of the amount of time he spends in the work, this will help him in judging whether or not he can afford to take time off. As an illustration of this, one sister writes us as follows:

“I set my quota at the beginning of the year at 3,000 bound books besides whatever booklets I would sell. I missed it by 736 bound books. But reviewing my time record, I am astonished to find that I have worked only 203 days. That means that I have lost 23 full weeks, or over five months. I had no idea that I was losing so much time as that during the year. I find that if I had worked six days in every week of the year and had taken a month of vacation, as I was accustomed to doing when working for the government, I would have placed 3,211 bound books, selling at the average per day that I sold during the year. This has surely stimulated me to greater effort during the coming year. So I am going to set my quota for the year 1929 at 3,200 bound books, which I have every reason to believe can be reached without any trouble, and I am even going to hope to exceed my quota. I see that it is regularity in the work that must be watched.”

Another old-time colporteur gives us his valuable experience in these words:

“The Society has asked us to keep certain records in order to make certain reports. This is another factor in the success which the Lord has given. By watching where the time got away last year one is able to find and stop the leaks. By setting down every day in the record, along with the number of each publication sold, it is a very small thing to set down also the number of hours worked. At the end of the week it is easy to set down the total hours for the week and also the total number of days worked to date and the total number of hours worked to date. With a record like this for last year, one can constantly keep tab on where his time leaks occurred last year, and can intelligently plan to stop those leaks this year. To assist others in taking advantage of this factor in the success we all desire, I suggest the following slogan:

He who time for service seeks

Must watch the time and stop the leaks; He to this end a record keeps,

Adds hours to days, and days to weeks. And if that’s too long for a slogan, just use the first two lines. I find that it pays to keep a close watch upon daily leaks, weekly leaks, monthly leaks and yearly leaks. The same records also yield at a glance the total results of last year in volumes, booklets and money to any given time, for comparison with the same period in the current year. Such comparison of records yields much of the encouragement and incentive, as well as the information, which is necessary to the greatest success. •

“The proper exercise of the virtue of Procrastination is another important factor of success as witness for Jehovah. What? Rank heresy!!! you say? The child of God consent with that old thief of time ? Why certainly!!! With proper bit and bridle old Procrastination is a fine war steed for the service. But says one, ‘Has not Procrastination been the great enemy of Service?’ Yes, that is very true; but that was before he was properly ‘broken in’. Now since we have him properly broken in, he puts off EVERYTHING BUT SERVICE till the last moment. He habitually waits for a ‘more convenient season’ to do everything EXCEPT SERVICE. He is a ready inventor of excuses for putting off everything EXCEPT SERVICE. He glances at the floor and then at the broom, and asks, What’s the use?’ and hurries on to his territory. He pleads, ‘I haven’t time now,’ and speeds away when gossipers come, or even when a new Tower comes. When the car needs washing he says, Wait till next week.’ (I usually let next week’s rain wash off last week’s mud—if it wants to—and it does not hurt the service in the slightest.) To the necessary shopping Procrastination says, Wait till Saturday night.’ If the shopping ‘rears’ at that, he compromises, Wait till the next time I have to go down town.’ When you have him properly broken in so that he NEVER sees SERVICE, but sees red and goes into a panic of excuses at the broach of every other subject, you can trust him to greatly assist in carrying you over the top in the service.”

Planning the Work

In entering a new assignment for the winter, colporteurs tell us, it is well to plan the work ahead of time. Some who have entered their territory and started working their largest towns at once, even though the weather was favorable, have found that they were forced to remain idle when bad weather and muddy roads prevailed, having finished their towns in good weather. It is for this reason that most of the successful colporteurs have followed the general practice as outlined in the following:

“In going into a new county I first secured a room in the largest town in the county, or the one with the best railroad facilities, and made that my headquarters and had my books there. Then I worked other towns from there. I tried to work the small towns and the suburbs of the headquarter’s town during the good weather, leaving the business section and the nearby portions of that town for more inclement weather. It did not always work out that way, but that was what I tried to do.

“If one of the small towns was large enough to keep me several days or a week, and while there a bad storm would come, especially a snow-storm, so that I could not work, of course I would go back ‘home’, and try again another time; but that, of course, necessitated an extra train-fare to work the small town, and I tried to avoid that. In a small town I would push the work as hard as I could, even to the extent of working eight or nine hours in a day, sometimes, because while there I was paying double, i. e., room rent in the ‘home’ town and hotel bill in the other. Then I would rest a little more when I got ‘home’, if necessary.”

Working Rural Territory

In time past some have considered the working of rural territory as an impossibility during the winter; but many colporteurs in the North are now finding that they are able to do some work in these districts with good results. In fact, one brother writes that he really prefers working rural territory in the winter time. He says:

“I have planned my winter canvassing about the same as in summer. In all seasons of the year and in all kinds of weather I canvass about the same way. I am more ready to take to ru-rals in winter weather than in summer. In the latter case I shrink at rural canvassing owing to the fact that I can more often stand the cold than extreme heat. So I have often canvassed in the rural during cold weather. Yes, have even canvassed farm roads in snow-storms. It was while located at Greensburg, Indiana, that I canvassed a six-mile farm road while a heavy snow-storm was raging. At that time I had no car and traveled on foot. I started out with the wind cutting deep into my face. An autoist gave me a ride up. I left him at a farm and worked my way back with the wind at my back. Here I will say that it is better to work farmers than cities. The farmers will, in most cases, throw their doors wide open and invite one in to warm up. That gives one a good opportunity to witness. In the case mentioned I canvassed about thirty farms that day and was invited in in all but about three homes. The following day in the city of Greensburg I was asked in only a few times. The day I worked the farms in the snow-storm I sold about fifty books and booklets, while in the city the following day I sold only about half that many.”

Another brother who has had considerable experience writes us: “I have found that rural territory is good until about December 23, and some years I have been able to continue canvassing rurals, using a bicycle, until that day; and now that I have an auto it is no trouble to do so at all, and mud roads and deep snows are almost a thing of the past. I have not seen any mud roads in this state. Rurals can be worked in the winter months better than in the summer months, if they have the money to buy the books, as the people have time to listen then.” In some rural territory, such as in communities where there is considerable dairy business, the farmers are more likely to have money all the year around. In sections where the crops are marketed in the winter time work can also be done to advantage. Such crops as cotton and tobacco are frequently sold during these winter months.

The same brother continues, ‘Tn such territory as coal mining, steel industry and cottonmill territory, canvassing can be done with good success during January. Much depends upon the factories, whether or not they are running full time. If worked rightly, it is more comfortable to canvass in the winter months than in the hot summer months. The only discomfort may be in getting to one’s territory. Once in the territory, one is in the warm rooms most of the day.”

Getting into the Houses

In order to canvass in comfort during the winter time it is necessary to be invited into the homes. For the benefit of those who have difficulty in getting such invitations we are giving a few suggestions made by those who have been successful along this line. The brother last quoted gives us the following:

“One should always, if possible, go to the living-room door and, especially if a brother, say, ‘Good morning. I am engaged in Christian work. I suppose you folks are interested in the Bible and read it some.’ ‘Yes, we read it once in a while.’ Take off your hat and say, ‘May I step in a minute?’ Always stand three or four feet from the door. Of course, they do not want the living room to get cold, and the door has been open too long already; so you smilingly bow yourself into the room, and they are glad to have the door shut. So from house to house you are in the warm rooms, and what better could one ask for.”

Another stresses the same point, saying, “Always recede from the door, rather than intrude. This causes people to open the door wider and automatically receive you. Smile, and say some-, thing cheerful. People have trouble enough.” Still another colporteur suggests what should : be said in case entrance is refused. He says, “One lady refused an entrance to me. I put the matter in this way: ‘I feel a responsibility in this work and would feel guilty if I could not show it to you. I will not coax you to buy, because most agents make it worth the price of their goods to get rid of them.’ This got me into the house and I opened my case, when she said, ‘My sister bought a set of those books out in the country and she is just crazy about them.’ I did not even have to give my canvass.”

Not only does one’s getting into the houses help him to keep warm, but it oftentimes aids in making the sales, as this colporteur writes:

“Many sales are lost by canvassing at the door, or the party buys a booklet or two only. Canvassing at the door should be discouraged. Why? In the first place, we are ambassadors for Christ, and certain respect is due an ambassador, and there is a certain amount of dignity attached to such an office and we should have respect to our Lord and Head. Then, secondly, when one is at the door, and often the screen is between, the customer is at an advantage, and the colporteur is at a disadvantage and can be dismissed at any point. But, once in the house, he has command of the situation. Then, sometimes other members of the family are in the room, or an old mother or father, and they become interested, and a sale is made that would not have been made at the door. Then, also, it is not possible to display five books to good advantage at the door. In nearly every instance I am well received and welcomed in. Always smile, as though you would say, ‘I know you do not know me. I am sure you would not mind three minutes in the interest of the Lord’s work.’ That lets one in.

Another colporteur writes us in this connection :

“We had rural work all last winter and people were both astonished and grateful. In the country the people almost always invite us in. In the city, on bad days, we just dress according to the territory and strike out for the very poorest class. They never fuss about snow or wet, and we go around to the back door. They are always around their own fire in the kitchen stove. We go up on the steps just as if we were the neighbors and stamp the snow off. They look out to see who has come, and we smile and they smile and then usually we are inside.” Another suggestion is made by this sister: “Usually people receive me friendly on cold days and invite me in. I used to tell them I had good news for them. As many now recognize me, I mention the LB.S.A. radio. Sometimes I ask them if I may come in to get warm or get a drink. Few refuse?'’

Protecting the Books

We have received some helpful hints as to various means of protecting the books in bad weather. One sister writes us:

“I cover over my books with newspapers and an oil-cloth cover that I generally take and then I carry a parasol. I find that not many books are ruined.” Another suggestion: “I carry my books in a Boston or common bag. I prefer the latter with a cover of some material sewed to one side of it which falls over the books.” Another suggestion is made for brothers who are in the work: "Aly books are carried under my coat in pockets the same as Brother Woodworth uses. The straps that go over the shoulders should be padded with a hand-breadth-wide pad to prevent cutting in and shutting of the circulation. Thus, from a front view it looks as though I had nothing, and as I pull out book after book it is amusing to the customer. So no one sees me go into the house with the books and no one sees me come out with any, and no one knows I left any there unless I tell them. Thus, so far, I’ve not been stopped by an official.”

Still another suggestion is given by this colporteur: “In rainy weather I usually carry a satchel. I find one can protect his books better. It is easier to close, and even snaps closed of itself. In dry weather I usually carry a sample case built along the lines of a small suitcase. Such a case is often unhandy in wet weather, as water or melting snow is likely to leak through at the edges of the cover and spoil the books. In using a satchel I spread a newspaper over the top of the books to protect them. On extremely cold days or on days when there is a steady downpour of rain I usually take to the business districts of large towns.”

Business Districts

Business districts are particularly good territory to work during the winter, and more and more colporteurs are entering this part of the field with good success. Note the following:

“I think your new arrangement of giving pioneer colporteurs the business sections of all cities not being worked by classes is a fine one. It opens a comparatively new and, I believe, profitable field for the work. I have been working in the business section of Pocatello while I am here for a short time, and have found it as good as, if not better than, any other territory that I have worked. One day I sold over sixteen dollar combinations in less than five hours, eight of which were in one office. The manager bought the books and approved the work and gave me permission to go through the entire office, assenting to my request that if any one did not have a dollar he would advance them that amount. Every one in the office whom I canvassed bought the books, except one.”

At the Detroit convention one of the colporteur meetings was devoted to a consideration of this feature of the work, and for your benefit we are giving you a synopsis of three of the talks that were given at that time.

Selling to Big Business Men

“Since the first of the year it has been my privilege to canvass the big business men of New York. They don’t have any trouble about having a dime. Business is a very fruitful field. The best way to enter these buildings is to enter through the door. Go in the usual way, just as if you were Mr. Rockefeller, without any timidity. Without taking any exception, just walk in naturally. Take down the names and numbers of two or three firms. Enter the elevator and say ‘Fourteenth’,.or the number of the top floor. The fellow in charge of the elevator will be very helpful in assisting you to find the firm you are wanting to find. When arriving on the fourteenth floor proceed to the office you have in mind. Upon entering the office it is well to look at the name on the door. The way to obtain an interview is to step quietly up to the one in charge at the information desk. Give your personal card to the manager, but if he should say, ‘What is the nature of your business?’ say, ‘I am from Judge Rutherford; I have important business.’ Don’t tell him you are a Bible Student or a missionary. Don’t tell him you have Judge Rutherford’s books to sell. I say, ‘Judge Rutherford who broadcasts from the Watchtower is the one whom I am representing,’ and give them the card. When invited in say, ‘I should like a minute or two of your time.’ Big business men like brevity. Continue, ‘We understand scriptural prophecy to show that the great turning-point in the world’s history is present on earth.’ Don’t show the books until the psychological moment. Prove that deliverance is at hand. Don’t be afraid of the man. He is afraid of you. Offer Creation, Reconciliation or one of the other books.

“Jews like to hear, about the time when man will live as happy men on earth. Don't be too persistent. Don't waste time. “Take the books; they explain better than I can? Ask him whether he is interested or not. Ask permission to see others in the office who might be interested. You may call in one or two instances where you will not be permitted to see others of the office, but in the majority of cases you will see others who are interested."

How Business Districts Can Be Worked by Women

“As we can never go about the Lord’s business without His help, I always like to start the day with the text, the song, and a prayer for His help that I may honor His name. I am always careful how I look, usually wearing a neat little business dress and trim hat. It takes a woman too long to get a card out of a holder as a brother might do, so I carry my card in my hand and my books in the brief case. I ask for the manager. Usually I am directed to him. Sometimes I am told he is out. Then I ask for the one next in charge. Sometimes I hear, ‘Won’t some one else do!’ Then I say, ‘It’s quite important that I see the manager. Will you please take my card in!’ Most business men feel that they have no time to spare, so I smile and talk quickly, saying that ‘I represent Judge Rutherford, of New York. You probably remember hearing him in the world-wide hook-up last July, when he gave the lecture “Freedom for the People’’. His books are published in more than thirty different languages’. Remember to give a very brief canvass.

“Sometimes it is not easy. They say very often, ‘Now just what do you want! I’m not in the market for any books. Are you selling radios or books!’ Then I tell them quickly that ‘I have Judge Rutherford’s Bible helps. They are always sold at cost, $1.98 for the five books. I am telling you this so that you can see it is no money-making scheme, but an effort to show the people what is coming upon the earth. We are getting information to you in the cheapest possible form’. I start my canvass with the Deliverance.

“Often I hear, ‘I am absolutely not interested, and if you have anything to sell, you are just wasting your time.’ I answer, ‘My business is to give you the message contained in them.’ The importance of a short canvass in the business sections can not be overestimated. Business men are busy and can not spare much time. Make the message businesslike, and they think the books are that way and will want them.

“Some things that appeal to business men: They realize the tightness of money, that many people are out of work. Show that these things are fulfilment of Bible prophecy. Interest them in the books and make the sale. Most business men are interested in the welfare of their children and buy the books for them. Of course they usually read the books before the wife or children see them or before they take them home.’’

Canvassing Stores and Small Business Centers

“In canvassing the small business man, do just about as you would in canvassing the big business man. Don’t look around scared or suspicious. Ask for the manager. He generally shows himself by walking up to you in an important manner. Shake hands with him. Learn his name, and speak plainly. They like to feel that you would like to know them. Be bold and do not feel shaky.

“The personal card is important. Tell him that you will take only a minute or two of his time. Sometimes you have a customer come in while you are there. Let him be waited on. Sometimes the opportunity results in a sale to the customer also. Now a good way to hold the interest of several together is to approach the ones who are more interested and pay more attention to them. Stand up close to them. If one goes out do not try to talk to him any more. Avoid arguments. Some are inclined to argue, but hear only what you want to hear. Never go in unless you know what you are going to say.

“Some men do not read the Bible and often do not like to acknowledge this fact. Make excuses for them. Appeal to them by suggesting that the books will be helpful to the wife and children. The books are nearly always read before they reach home. Do not give up if you do not make a sale at the first ten calls. Stick to your territory. Some colporteurs have a tendency to discourage others. Do not discourage others by saying that a territory is hard or that the people there will not hear him. Get up early in the morning and work it. The fact that others have been kept out should not keep you from working it.

“Always put your trust in the Lord. Do not trust yourself. Work for the Lord. He will never leave you nor forsake you.

“Do not let the ‘no money’ excuse discourage you. Keep on going. Lots of people have ‘no money’. Some borrow money to get the books. Make them feel that they need the books.’’

Winter Work in the South

Many of the colporteurs go south for the winter and work there. Other problems must there be considered. The first is, “Shall I work enroute to my new territory?” A brother who has been in the colporteur work for many years advises against this practice. This is what he says:

“One of the best snares that I know of, and into which many fall in trying to save time for the service, is ‘canvassing their way’ on a long trip between territories. My experience leads me to strongly advise that when one canvasses he should do the territory thoroughly. Then when you are ready to go somewhere else, bend all your energy to getting to that new territory and to work in it, confining all efforts at witnessing meantime to the gas man, the roominghouse lady where you stop overnight, and the man of whom you have to inquire your way. Among the big reasons for this advice are these: (1) It saves time. (2) It avoids mixing up the territory for some one else. (3) You seldom have all the necessary books with you on a long trip. (4) AVhile you work, all the rest of the party wait and waste time; you are more or less flurried and can not do good work; you have no opportunity to get the propel* swing and adjustment to the particular community in which you are as you dab here and there. (5) The very poorest territory is located on the main highways.

Do not go joy-riding about here and there enroute to see somebody or something; pick out a bee-line route and make tracks!!! It is cheaper in money for two or more persons to migrate by auto. It is far cheaper in time and physical energy (the two golden treasures of Jehovah’s witness) to travel by de luxe train. We have traveled a great deal both ways. The ideal plan is to have a car at both ends of the line, and travel back and forth by Pullman. We follow this plan as much as we can. A colporteur, like every one else, should accept the old advice, TAY AS YOU GO; AND IF YOU CAN'T PAY, DON’T GO.’ Don’t be ashamed to ride in an old and rattly Ford that is paid for; but be both ashamed and afraid to ride in a limousine on the installment plan. Remember the divine instruction, ‘Owe no man anything but to love one another,’ and be happy with us!! And don’t beg your way from the friends by innuendo or otherwise.”

Planning the Work

As in the North, so in the South, it is advisable to save working the large towns for days when the weather is bad. On this point the same brother states:

“We have worked Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, as well as Florida, successfully in the winter. We find it most advantageous to have a town or two reserved, such as a county seat of 8,000 to 10,000 population for working in the worst weather and when roads are bad, namely, in January, February and March. Much rural work can, of course, be done in these months; but there are bad spells when it is good to have towns to work. The weather is never too bad for ‘raincoat saints’ to work towns in the Gulf States.”

In some sections of the South rurals can be worked to good advantage at any time; but in other sections, due to the rainy season, during the months of January, February and March in particular, the roads are practically impassable. Therefore, as the following extract suggests, it is well to survey the territory in order to ascertain just what is the best time for working such districts.

“Roads are factors of vital importance in rurals; that goes without saying. Maps—land maps—may be had from Washington, D. C. These in a general way show bad clays, but territory by counties does not always follow land contour exactly, and sometimes portions of counties must be left; or perhaps weather will allow working light-soil areas in days succeeding rains, and clay after a week of dry weather, or even less than a week, depending on the amount of rain. A knowledge of land is a mere matter of observation and inquiry in advance from the right people—drummers, for instance.”

All the colporteurs recommend that the colored people be not overlooked. On this point the brother last quoted has a few very valuable suggestions.

“If I find colored people in my work, I canvass them as they come. I usually inquire of them on the subject of employment. They are not the best territory, by any means, and some colporteurs who sell well skip the colored people as a rule. Inquiry as to employment will reveal that the colored people have employment somewhere the whole year round. All states have seasons of unemployment, and . counties are still more affected. For instance, as a state, North Carolina is good in cotton-picking time (in the fall). There are counties good in April and May (berries), June and July (cabbage and Irish potatoes), August (peaches), September, October and November (cotton and tobacco). The latter crop is marketed until March of the following year. Some southern states have patches of diversified farming, cash coming from dairy products, such being good any time of the year and always best off financially as to freedom from various common forms of public and private debt.’"

Another brother, who has worked the year around in the South for many years now, writes us that there has been a great deal of improvement in the roads for the past few years. He says, “We have a few spells each winter that nearly knock us out for a few days at the time, but some winters we have hardly any such spells. In the worst of these we try to be in the towns, where we can have a room. We find that January and February are usually the worst months.” Another writes, “Constant road improvements are going on in the South. This will greatly facilitate not only colporteur migration but also rural work itself. However, the best territory I have ever found, either in the North or in the South, has been on the isolated back roads, Tar from the madding crowd.’ Again I say, ‘—mud-chains, raincoats, big shoes, well waterproofed,’ and go to it!! But don’t get the idea that it is all mud in the South. Proverbially it is The sunny South’, and while in midwinter there is some mud, yet long after the North is frozen solid the weather and roads are good in the South, and at worst they are ’way ahead of the winter roads in the North. They get good again in the spring while it is still awful in the North.”

Maps

In order to work a county thoroughly, rural maps should be obtained. A brother suggests the following: “I observed at the convention that the majority of the pioneer colporteurs are working their territory without maps. Some of them ask the question, 'How do you manage to canvass the cross roads?’ With the aid of a map this work can be planned the night before, thereby carrying on a systematic witness in the district.” As stated in the January 1 Bulletin, rural route maps of many counties in various states can be obtained from the Disbursing Clerk, Post Office Department, Washington, D. C. If they are not obtainable for the county in which you are working, we would suggest that you write the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., from whom you may be able to obtain for fifteen cents a copy of the soil survey report of your county. These maps, we understand, are land-marked with the names of schools, churches, etc. The Bureau of Public Roads of the IL S. Department of Agriculture has recently announced that it has now completed a series of uniform scale maps showing the status of improvements of the roads in the various states, with the exception of California and Texas. These maps indicate the type of improvement of all the roads, and whether the work was done with or without the assistance of the federal government. In other places maps can be obtained from the local chambers of commerce, stationery stores, etc.

Trading, etc. .,

Many of the colporteurs have been able to keep going in the work by trading books for produce. Some of the old-timers are in favor of this, whereas others resort to it only in case of necessity. We are going to give you their opinions on the matter and let you come to your own conclusion.

“Trading books for produce is a resort for those working territory out of season, when cash is not circulating. All territory contains some who persist in one-crop farming, and these can not possibly be traded with successfully except in the fall. A colporteur should be able to see the situation of his prospect by looking at his field and noticing what he is working at. He can then be prepared with suggestions as to what produce would buy the books. Of course, markets must be arranged for in advance.

“I find that A&P and similar stores buy eggs, peanuts, sweet potatoes and things in their line, even chickens, at market price. Gin-mills take cotton. Grist-mills take any grain.

“As a specialty, trading is not sound for a colporteur, as it takes time and involves risk. Some can not move nor leave their territory and can keep working by trading. Preferably the territory should be left and revisited at a time more suitable to the farmer, and more sales will result. Watch the other fellow. He follows the cash like water going down hill. No agents canvass out of season except on promise of later delivery, say, in the fall.”

Another one writes, “The advisability of trading for produce, except meals and other personal needs, I would say depends upon a number of factors. If you can trade for cash, by all means do so, as it makes a great saving in time. If the people have no money and do have chickens, eggs and syrup, and if you can find markets and are informed as to these and the prices you can get, there is many a book to be placed in that way. Spring chickens are particularly easy to market, easy to catch, easy to carry without over-crowding. Eggs are still more ideal, if you have a good egg crate of some kind in which to carry them. Syrup in bright tin buckets also is 0. K., if you have a market and if you pack it in the car so that it does not spill. I speak with the wisdom of experience on this latter matter. If you spill some in your car of things once, you will learn what ‘omnipresent stickiness" means.

“In trading for produce remember that people have a very high opinion of the value of their things, and you will have to learn to be crafty, or you will come out in the hole financially, besides the loss of time and extra car mileage. The best thing I ever learned in this matter was to include in the price of the combination in hand the price of The Golden Age, habitually, constantly and every time. If a trade for produce seems to be just around the corner, I never mention the G. A. till after the trade is consummated. If they have given me a good square deal, and I think I can come out on it, I then mention The Golden Age, and tell them I may be able to send it also. One ought to keep enough profit on the transaction to help defray the additional expense of time and mileage. If they have given you a skin deal, you just forget the G. A. and go on, and come out whole, and no one is cheated or the wiser. They think they drove a good bargain—and they DID?"

Still another brother who has had remarkable success in trading books for chickens, tells us, “The first thing is to have crates to hold ten to thirty chickens. Next, be ready to start to work at 6:30, or not later than 7:00 o’clock. After canvassing the first house I get a line on the next four or five places, inquiring as to nationality and denomination and whether they believe in anything or not. This saves me fifty percent of my time at the houses.

“On driving into the yard I take notice of the number and kind of chickens they have, as I never ask money in pay if they have chickens. Then I try to see the women folks first, if the men are not there or getting ready to leave. I then approach them with the intention of proving from the book that I have life for them. I try to give them proof that they can know the truth if they will investigate what I have.

“If they will not take the ten books, I drop to what I think they will buy, making the price three, two or one chicken. If they do not have chickens (one out of ten will not give chickens), I ask them if they will pay the expenses in cash.""

“I bring my chickens in and take them to a poultry house. I have been asked whether I had a license for buying chickens. I said, ‘No, I have no license for buying chickens." They said, ‘This state requires a license." . I said, ‘Really, we are not buying chickens, but we put Bible helps into the homes, and finding that the farmers do not have the money, we accommodate them by taking chickens for Bible helps. We make no profit on them and we bring them to you people to sell? They say, ‘You needn’t have any license if that is the case? That seems to overcome any difficulty with regard to having a license?"

This colporteur, however, prefers the cash basis.

“We trade only for things we need or that we can use on the trip. We used to take chickens, syrup, eggs, and almost anything, but we found we lost more on the time of disposing of them than we made and that if you go out to trade you will trade. We have done better since we forgot about the trading business, and have saved ourselves lots of effort, using it to better advantage. However, there are some sections where one can do well by taking chickens and eggs?"

Getting the Southerner's Point of View

Some of the Northern colporteurs who have gone south for the winter have not succeeded because of their not understanding the Southerners point of view. Two brethren give some helpful suggestions along this line which are worthy of consideration:

“I have never found any special disadvantage in the fact that many in the South have said, in words or otherwise, ‘Thy speech betray-eth thee? However, let me give this word of warning to every prospective migrator: Forget the words and ideas ‘North, South, Yankee, Mason & Dixon’s Line". Never mention or discuss or even allude to the prejudice between North and South. If asked where you are from it is best to say, ‘From the West,’ or ‘From the East’, or ‘From Chicago", but never ‘From the North". And they will ask you this question at nearly every house. Get rid of the subject in-stanter and without discussion. And above all things, don't criticize anything by way of comparing the people, the conditions or the ideals of the South with those of the North. Here is a sore spot which must be absolutely avoided. You see, the South is a fine place. Don’t try to imitate the Southern brogue, nor ever call it that either. Call yours a brogue, but never theirs. However, one can safely pick up and use their idioms.

“Let the Northern colporteur who invades the South for the first time fully realize that he is an ignoramus absolutely as to Southern etiquette toward the colored people. Let him further realize that he has no commission from God to try to change that etiquette, nor even to criticize it. Be all eyes and ears, and learn a lot, and learn it as quickly as possible. Adopt the Southern etiquette absolutely toward the colored people, if you want their respect. To gain the confidence of the colored people is a deep study. To openly discuss or criticize the Southern etiquette toward them is of all things not the way to gain them. Tell them of the Kingdom!!! Tell them, ‘The oppressors shall be broken in pieces/ and look wise, and perhaps add, ‘God is not ignorant of what is going on, etc.’ But don’t say too much. They are very sharp and will see that you are really their friend, if you TALK THE KINGDOM, and tell them what God is going to do for the common people—never say ‘what God is going to do for the colored people". Study their faces! Behind those fixed, stoical and expressionless features is a lot of the most keen appreciation, thought and ability to see you and your motive through and through. There is also the ability to frame and pull over in the most plausible way a myriad of petty and crafty lies. By your honest to goodness witness to them of the Kingdom and of the fact that you are not after their money but that you really love the common people (never the colored people) and have a real desire to do them good, you must learn to penetrate beyond their veneer of craftiness and get to their real heart. This done, the money which -they said they did not have will come as easily Ms anything you ever saw, and without the slightest embarrassment.

“If you are gcltrag to mention color, bring it in so as to say ‘white and black alike’ or ‘white and colored, old and young, great and small —they will all have to get in line with the Lord’s kingdom, etc.,’ showing that God is no respecter of persons.

“Southern people are not averse to giving audience to Bible matters, and I have found the majority respectful and courteous in every way. They are just as astute as Northerners and, if anything, possess minds better fitted to see the Truth, because unhurried and not deceived by the ‘show’ or ‘splurge’ of the city worker, whose luxury he considers as being of no real advantage. They live plainly and exist by hard manual work. Such people as have money buy books in proportion to their standard of living, and the dollar combination is my usual proposition.”

Some have hesitated to canvass the colored people because of not fully understanding them. However, they should not be overlooked; for, although they are likely to be found with little money, they are usually ready to listen to the message. The colporteur can sometimes get them to take the book for doing some washing, as suggested by the following colporteur:

“The Southerners, like the Northerners, especially the colored people, will always buy if we find them with money or the equivalent. If the colored family is neat and clean and they lack the funds, we have them do washing and ironing to pay for the books. When we were selling the three-dollar set we had them do three washings and ironings for the set. The washing consisted of our personal effects only, and not bed or table linen. There wer.. two of us. Our washing and ironing is always done as payment for books, whether North or South. Sometimes a person wishes to do it just for the one time, to get two or three books (according to the size of the wash), while others, wishing all the books they can get and subscription to The Golden Age and The Watch Tower as well, want to do it as many times as would be required to pav for all.”

Still another suggestion: “Yes, by all means canvass every colored person you can find!! Let no sister fear to go alone to the colored quarters and canvass everywhere. Sister ----

has yet to run across the first flip negro in the South, even when drunk. She can not say this concerning some Northern white men. On this one point don’t listen to the contrary opinion of any one, for it is purely bosh and from the Devil, to discourage the sisters from the service.

“As to whether the colored people can buy books during the winter time, would say that they are kept in poverty as far as possible, the same as the common white people. . . My banner week of sales for the nine years prior to 1928 was in the month of April, when there was absolutely no produce to be sold except last year’s cotton. The territory was perhaps ninety-five percent or more colored. It is often the case that a colored man can get work and cash money for pay when a white man can not. Then,

too, a colored woman can do washing and get money when the white woman is stranded.”

Working Rurals in Parties

Some colporteurs who are traveling in parties of three, four and five, sometimes in one or two caifS, have asked us as to the most effective ways of working rural sections. We have asked for some suggestions along this line and give you herewith two that seem to be most efficient.

“We use two cars, in which we can accommodate six workers. We will designate them A, B, C, D, E and F. Worker A is the driver of Car No. 1 and makes the first call on the territory. Worker F is the driver of Car No. 2 and carries workers B, C, D and E, and proceeds to drop them off as they come to the different places and worker F then makes the next call himself. By this time worker A is through with his call and comes along and picks them up and repeats the process of worker F. '

“How does A know where F has placed the workers and where F has turned a corner1? Buy one yard of red cloth and cut this in small pieces, large enough to use as signal flags. Supply each worker with one and each driver with two or three. Let each worker place this flag at the gate of the house he is canvassing. The driver immediately recognizes if a call is being made or not. Now if A turns a corner to the right, he places a flag at the right hand side of the. road he turns on, and F comes along and picks up these flags and follows. .

“All that is necessary is that the workers cooperate in making their calls of equal length, and no time is wasted. Drivers also can work, and a great deal of territory is covered in a short time.”

“It was a bit more difficult to devise a scheme with just one car than it was with two. We are three workers and will designate them A, B and C. Our calls will be numbered 1, 2 and 3. C will be the driver of the car. A is left to make call No. 1 and B is left to make call No. 2, while C proceeds to call on No. 3. A completes his call first and starts to walk to call No. 2 made by B. By the time A gets there C (the driver) should have his call completed and be there with the car to go on and repeat the process.

“This arrangement will, of course, necessitate a little walking on the part of one or two of the workers (A and B can alternate in making the first call), <but when accustomed to that it furnishes a bit of good exercise and keeps an extra worker in the field. It is also necessary in this method to have cooperation on the part of all workers in making a limit to the length of their calls and keeping them of equal length.”

Canvass for the Five Books

We have received a number of requests for some suggestions for a canvass for the five-book combination. One of the regional service directors has been having considerable success in helping the workers to make sales of this combination. Therefore we have asked him to tell us how it is done. In response he has written out the following canvass, and it is being used with remarkable success by many of the colporteurs and class workers. We therefore give the canvass here in full.

“Good morning. May I ask if the gentleman\ of the house is in? (or husband, if lady comes to^ the door) Well, we should like to see both husband and wife, but often find the men out. However, you may mention to him my visit andi I will try to see him later. / Now you have per^ haps not heard of the world-wide movement, calling for volunteers to set up a wo rid-wide investigation to determine, if possible, the cause & of the indifference toward Bible reading in the, homes. It seems that for two years or momj this has been almost forgotten. We have called^ upon more than nine millionTiomes already this£ year, and the vast majority express themselves| as having become discouraged? Inquiring as to ( the cause, they tell us in the large cities that the » gospel is rarely if ever preached there any more, and in the smaller places they inform us that they hear less gospel preached every yeaj. However, even more discouraging are the many CONFLICTING, PUZZLING PROBLEMS IN\ THEIR BIBLES, the many questions that arise in neighborhood and community that have? never been explained to the people. Often very! vital questions arise in the homes and no at-! tempt is made to explain them. Surely that is) discouraging indeed.

“Now notice 1 have jotted down a few ques tions here to which you have never had satis-', factory answers. (Read questions.) Now these^ are just a few, but suppose you had hundreds f of questions of this kind which you could an- ; swer in a moment’s time, would it not remove i in a great measure the mystery from the Bible Xj Now here is the agreement on the part of tha volunteers. We call upon so many homes each! week and show the people how their questions^ may be answered, and how the new method is I arranged, as well as how to use it. There is no I profit in the work, nor is any one urged to ‘ buy. But we want the vohxniafirs and others to create the demand for this method by informing ^people about it.\ I have with me a sample and wish to have you see it in a moment or so. (Here reach for Deliverance and work your way in if there seems to be no objection.) Here is a great surprise to all. Notice the globe of the earth with a band around it. A flash of lightning has broken the band. What is the meaning of the picture? It represents the world of mankind held in restraint by a band of error, doubt and fear, and the advance Bible light has broken the band and is delivering the people. The prophet says that in the last days knowledge shall be greatly increased, and we are in that time now. Knowledge is increasing every year. Going through this, in a few days you reach these questions, thirty pages of them, giving page and paragraph answering each question. It requires 700 scriptures to answer them. These are given in the proper order. Notice that chapter and verse are given at the left, and the page treating the subject is indicated at the right. Surely here is THE MOST WONDERFUL, THE MOST PRACTICAL THING EVER GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE.

"Now here is Creation, coming out later and taking up the creation of the earth and all things therein. Then the creation of man, his being placed on trial and his transgression of God’s law. He was expelled from the garden and has been Undergoing his penalty for all these years, finally to be redeemed by the Lord Jesus. (Here show Jesus’ picture.) The thought is to aid the mind through the eye. The publishers went to foreign lands and bought the finest scenes procurable to drive home great truths. Notice here (page 205) we have the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. It is impressive. But what is the greater picture back of it all? It represents God giving His Son for the Life of the world. It tells a great truth. Next is the manger scene—the birth of Jesus. When he grew to manhood he started his life work by performing the first miracle. The next one is a greater one indeed. It is the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter. (Show all pictures up to the War Widow.) Now here is a very sad picture— a war widow. here are millions of them throughout the earth. Through Adam’s transgression and Satan’s long rule of sin the earth has been filled with orphans and widows; surely it has been a dark night for suffering humanity. Suffering, sickness, death, war, etc., have been their experience. But soon all this will be supplanted by the righteous reign of Jesus for the blessing of all the families of the earth. (Quote Isaiah 2: 4, if you wish.) Now here is David, a prominent Bible character, playing a ten-string harp. We now see why the harp had ten strings. It represented the ten great fundamental truths of the Bible. To leave out any of the strings would make discord, as you know. I think you will acknowledge, when I show you the strings, that there has been much discord preached from the pulpits all over because of not using the strings on God’s Harp. (Read over the strings' and comment on a few.)

“Now, in putting this out the publishers have said, ‘The people must learn the fundamentals!’ Hence they have numbered all the paragraphs, and at the end of each chapter you have a question on each paragraph, in this way: (Turn to page 31, read eight questions concluding slowly on the question) ‘By obeying God’s law, how long could Adam and Eve have lived in Eden?’ Then ask them, ‘If they had never sinned, would they ever have died? And if they had never died, how would they have got to heaven?’ Never answered. Now there are over 1800 of similar questions that have never been answered. Here is the greatest surprise the reading world has ever had. It is the most simple arrangement ever given to the people. A child ten years old can in a little while become perfectly familiar with the fundamentals, to everybody’s surprise. There is nothing like it. Now the publishers completed the series of five volumes a little while ago. Here is something unusual. Here you have a man on his knees in his nudeness. What does he need? Reconciliation. Here you have Government, Christ’s perfect Government. Here there is no more sickness, no suffering, no death. No more wars, no more war widows, and, thank God, no more devils. All these things have been removed, and the man formerly on his knees is standing upright. Now he sees the light. He sees the hope of a better home and a better Government. All this is man entitled to.

“Now I wish to say that this is by no denomination. It advocates no theory. The books are supplied without profit to any one. It is not a thing to me whether you buy or not, but I am anxious that every home have it, for I know the great blessing it will bring to any home. However, you must decide the matter for yourself. Never has so much been given for $1.98.

“And now I am glad that you know what the work is. Talk to your husband about it. We will call back from time to time and you can take it any time you should wish to have it.

(Here have your goods packed up, and then, as an afterthought, say) By the way, should you like to start in the set you can have the fundamentals to start on, and you are out only thirty-five cents. You can take them one at a time, and when you get them all paid for you are out only $1.98. (Never press them, but talk salesmanship till they have the desire to have the books.) (Be kind to the people. Some one will ' call again later.)”

And now be assured, dear colporteur brethren, that we here at Brooklyn are 100% with you. Brother Rutherford has repeatedly reminded us to give you our very best attention, and that we always try to do. Please feel free to write us at any time you have any suggestions or criticisms, good or bad. We appreciate them and are always glad to pass to the other colporteurs anything you may suggest that will be of encouragement and assistance. -

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