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THE PRINCIPLES OF PRACTICAL PUBLICITY, being a treatise on "The Art of Advertising," by Truman A. De Weese, Director of Publicity for the Natural Food Company. The Matthews-Northrup Works, Buffalo, N, Y., 1906. Price $2.00.

The purpose of this two-hundred-forty-four page work on advertising may be stated best in the author's own words, which will convey at the same time a good idea of the striking and interesting style in which the subject is presented. The author prefaces his book as follows:

"This is not a primer on ad-writing; nor is it an elementary treatise on the profession of publicity. It is not a history of advertising. It is not a brief' for the publisher or advertising agency. It is not written to advocate any particular form or kind of publicity, nor to induce individuals or firms to make larger appropriations for advertising. It is not a work on psychology. Practical experience in advertising will kick to death all the psychology' ever evolved from the most imaginative brain. It is written by a man who has had wide experience in writing 'copy,' originating designs, and planning advertising campaigns, who has expended a quarter of a million dollars a year in advertising the product of the largest cereal food manufacturing concern in the world. It is a work for the advertiser-the man who buys advertising and the man who has advertising to sell the man who has to solve the problem of making advertising space yield the largest returns, whether he is manufacturer, merchant, copy-writer, advertising manager, publisher, or advertising agent. It is intended to be helpful to every man who has anything to sell and who is ambitious to enlarge the market for his product."

Notwithstanding the author's statement that his book is not a work on psychology, every paragraph in the book shows that a knowledge of practical psychology is a part of the ad-writer's stock-in-trade. For instance, we learn that the style of the newspaper advertisement must be different from that of the magazine. Why? "The mental attitude of the man who is reading his newspaper is different from the mental attitude of the man who is reading a magazine. If you catch the eye or the thought of the newspaper reader you must catch it quickly. You must catch it in a newspaper way and in a newspaper style. You cannot hope to make more than one or two impressions in one advertisement. Neither can you hope to interest him in arguments that require much serious thought. His mind is engrossed in business or the affairs of the day. It is sometimes best, therefore, to try to reach him through the channels of his daily interest and thought." The author advocates the "bull's-eye" method of advertising a product; that is, the concentration of an advertisement upon one or two of the many good points of the article, leaving the other good points for separate advertisements. Why? The bull's-eye advertisement makes a strong impression upon the reader; but to mention all the good points about the article in one advertisement is like trying to hit a bull's-eye with bird shot which scatters all around the target. Is this not psychology, and may we not say that the author, unconscious of the fact perhaps, is applying psychological principles in writing his "copy"?

Advertising is defined as the art of acquainting the public with the name, nature, and uses of a commodity. It is the art of creating a new want. An automobile advertisement must not only appeal to the man who is already an automobile enthusiast, but must interest others in automobilesit must create automobile enthusiasm.

The soul of advertising is the copy. The advertiser must compete with the story writer, and therefore must write more interestingly. The adver

tisement must attract, so that much attention must be given to headlines and illustrations; it must interest, and, therefore, be written in a striking style; it must convince, make a lasting impression, and create a desire for the particular article being advertised, and therefore must not only be logical and sensible, but must concentrate upon one or two of the important qualities of the product. Every advertisement should contain "reasonwhy copy"; that is, it should present to the reader some good reason why he should purchase the particular article in question.

The author discusses the value of pictorial advertising. Many instances are given in which the use of "strong copy" without illustration is more effective than the illustrated advertisements. Many products, such as automobiles and shoes, however, can be advertised best with the aid of pictorial illustrations. A practical discussion is given to the question as to whether these illustrations should relate to the product being advertised or merely be any artistically beautiful pictures which will attract attention. The author strongly favors the former.

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Among the advertising media, the newspaper and magazine occupy the first rank. Each calls for a different kind of copy and a different plan of campaign. A magazine is read during leisure hours, and its life is thirty to ninety days, hence the copy may be of the expositional and argumentative kind. The magazine, therefore, is the medium through which to carry on an educational" campaign. Since the newspaper advertisement comes to a man when his mind is engrossed in business, it should not present argument which requires much serious thought; newspaper advertising should be designed merely to keep an article before a man's attention after he has been educated" concerning it by the magazine advertising. The two should co-operate in this way.

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The author believes that in local advertising great prominence should be given to the prices of articles. Price is the loadstone which draws prospective customers into the stores. A discussion is given of mail order" advertising, and in connection therewith of "follow-up" systems, for the purpose of keeping up and stimulating an inquirer's interest, and of the booklet to be sent to the inquirers. The author is not favorably disposed toward "keyed" advertising.

Several sections of the book are devoted to such special topics as the advertising of food and drink products, banks, railways and steamships, while the values as advertising media of street cars and out-door bill boards are also discussed. A section is devoted to the subject of "Planning an Advertising Campaign," and the final section of the work contains a discussion of the function and value of the advertising agency.

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This book on "Practical Publicity" is printed in large and easily legible type; is replete with attractive and interesting illustrations, many of which, such as Gold Dust Twins," "O'Sullivan's Heels of New Rubber," and the like, will be familiar to every reader. The style is of that quality which keeps up the reader's interest, and leads him on so that, before he is aware of the fact, he has read the book half through.

RAILWAY ORGANIZATION AND WORKING. A series of lectures delivered before the Railway Classes of the University of Chicago. Edited by Ernest Ritson Dewsnup. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1906. Pp. xi. + 498.

There are twenty-five lectures on various phases of railroad working included in this volume, each one written by a specialist. The titles following give an idea of the scope of the book: "Car Distribution and the Supervision of Fast Freight," by John M. Daly, Car Accountant, Illinois Central Railroad; Freight Claims," by Ralph C. Richards, General Claim Agent, Chicago and Northwestern Railway; "The Pur

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chasing Agent," by E. V. Dexter, Purchasing Agent, Chicago and Alton Railroad; Railway Terminal Facilities," by L. C. Fritch, Assistant to the General Manager, Illinois Central Railroad; "The Compound Locomotive," by W. R. McKeen, Jr., Superintendent of Motive Power and Machinery, Union Pacific Railroad; "The Work of the Freight Auditor," by W. F. Dudley, Assistant General Auditor, Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway.

The papers, as might be expected, are of uneven merit and value. A few are merely general discussions, which will add little to the knowledge of any man who is reasonably familiar with railway affairs; but others contain much information that is of genuine interest even to experts and that will be especially helpful to outsiders who are anxious to understand railroad methods. Careful editing has evidently done much to remove inconsistencies and duplications, which must have existed in the original lectures, and to weld the disjointed contributions into a fairly well-rounded volume.

One of the most interesting papers is that on "Vitalized Statistics," by James Peabody, Statistician, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé Railway System. The very title promises well and the promise is borne out by Mr. Peabody's able plea for figures that really show results and by his indictment of the superficial compilations which sometimes pass for statistics. The paper ought to be read by every railroad accountant and, for that matter, by every believer in intelligent statistics.

It is disappointing to find so general and inadequate a treatment of traffic questions. We have all heard enough and to spare, in the last year or two, about rate-making principles and Professor Dewsnup's paper, called "Some Notes on Freight Rates," adds nothing new. What is most needed is a clear and fairly complete statement of facts, not of theories, about our present rates and their influence on industry. It is a pity that some one of the many able traffic officials in Chicago was not induced to discuss some concrete subject, such as grain rates in the Northwest or comparative rates east and west of the Mississippi River.

If there were a scientific literature of railroad work in existence, there would be little place for a fragmentary volume of this kind. As it is, however, the book fills an aching void and deserves a warm welcome. We commend it especially to accountants who are called upon to handle railroad accounts and to deal with railroad officials.

Annual Meeting of the American Association of Public Accountants.

The annual meeting of the American Association of Public Accountants was held at the Hotel Hartman, Columbus, Ohio, on October 23, 24, and 25, 1906.

Tuesday, October 23d.

In the absence of Mr. John R. Loomis, president, who under authority of the by-laws had delegated the duty of presiding to Mr. J. S. M. Goodloe, the president of the Ohio State Society of Public Accountants, the preliminary meeting was called to order by Mr. Goodloe in the convention hall of the Hotel Hartman at 11.30 A. M.

Addresses of welcome were delivered by Hon. Lewis C. Laylin, Secretary of State of Ohio, representing Governor Andrew L. Harris, who was unable to be present, and by Hon. DeWitt C. Badger, Mayor of the city of Columbus. Hon. William Harman Black, ex-Commissioner of Accounts of the city of New York, responded, as follows,-after which suspension of rules and adjournment of regular business was taken until 10 A. M. Wednesday:

Mr. Chairman and Ladies and Gentlemen: This life is one of many surprises. I left New York to get out of what I regarded as a heated political campaign; I come here to Columbus, Ohio, and find myself in the midst of another presidential election. As both candidates are my friends, I have resolved myself into an "Independence League."

In regard to all the pleasant things the Mayor has said about you, gentlemen, I will admit they are all true. He didn't say quite enough, and probably if he had known you better he might have said more.

The American Association of Public Accountants, as you know, is the national body of accountants in America. I said to one of them on the train this morning that they were the evangels of morality, and he smiled so pleasantly that I corrected the statement. I said: "I don't mean personally, but professionally." And I am serious when I say that bookkeeping is at the very foundation of honesty in the United States. If we had had honest bookkeeping, there would have been no "yellow dog" fund in the insurance case; if we had honest bookkeeping, public officials would see that corporations toe the mark.

As soon as we came to Columbus and looked out we saw that it was a city of thrift, prosperity and aggressiveness. We noticed your magnificent buildings, your well-paved streets, your well-groomed women, your well-dressed men, and I said to myself: "This is a modern, progressive city, this city of Columbus," and I looked around for some evidence of sentiment in addition to the commercial idea. And as we approached your magnificent capitol I noticed a monument. I barely caught a glimpse of the two figures at the bottom, but at the top I saw the majestic figure of William McKinley (loud applause); and I said to myself if the citizens of Columbus, Ohio, have William McKinley as their model, then Columbus is indeed a model city, and the American Association of Public Accountants have done well to select the city as the place for their annual meeting.

We thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, for your kind words; we will attempt to deserve them, and we thank you especially for the blue badge of immunity; the blue badge of immunity and the red badge of courage we will have constantly before our eyes. (Laughter.)

Wednesday, October 24th.

The annual meeting reconvened at 10 A. M. in the convention hall of the Hotel Hartman, Mr. J. S. M. Goodloe presiding.

The secretary called the roll by individual members at large, grouped members at large (elected since January 10, 1905) and society members, and found it to be in agreement with the report of the credentials committee appointed by the chair, consisting of W. Sanders Davies, chairman; Robert H. Montgomery, John A. Cooper, Leon O. Fisher and Duncan Mac Innes. This committee retired and examined the credentials of the members at large and society members and submitted the following report, which was accepted with thanks and ordered to be recorded on the minutes. A supplemental report of this committee was subsequently submitted, reporting one proxy in favor of A. Lowes Dickinson.

Report of Committee on Credentials.

The committee on credentials, having concluded its work, begs to report as follows:

Credentials were produced by the Societies of the following States: Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Tennessee, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Maryland, Ohio, and were all found in order with the exception of that of the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants, which had not complied with the constitution and by-laws and filed with the secretary a certified copy of the election of delegates or alternates to this meeting.

With regard to the credentials of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, your committee decided as follows:

"That the credentials from the California State Society of Certified Public Accountants are in order with 20 votes, and that they be so recorded subject to the action of the general meeting on the protest filed against their organization."

In addition to credentials of the societies, your committee had presented to it credentials from the fellows at large who had been elected after the adoption of the new constitution and by-laws, also various proxies, and begs to report as follows:

The regularly appointed delegates of the following societies are entitled to cast the vote of their membership and are entitled to vote as follows:-Pennsylvania, 34; New Jersey, 43; Massachusetts, 23; Tennessee, 10; California, 20; Colorado, 14; Georgia, 9; Illinois, 46; Michigan, Io; Minnesota, 5; Missouri, 21; New York, 124; Maryland, 22; Ohio, 37; C. J. Nasmyth, 25 votes as delegate for the fellows at large elected since the adoption of the new constitution and by-laws.

The following members hold proxies and are entitled to vote as follows: Leon O. Fisher, 14 proxies; Henry R. M. Cook, 17 proxies; George Wilkinson, 13 proxies; J. Porter Joplin, 2 proxies; Robert H. Montgomery, I proxy; George R. Allen, I proxy; Frank G. Du Bois, I proxy; E. W. Sells, 1 proxy; Duncan MacInnes, 3 proxies; N. A. Hawkins, I proxy; A. Lowes Dickinson, 55 proxies.

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