I knew but too
well that he was a "tough customer," my previous efforts to obtain
an interview with him--in New York as well as here, in St.
Louis--having proven futile. I was too small a fish for him. Nor,
indeed, was the Great Bazar the only large department store in the
country whose door was closed to me. Barring six or seven such
stores, in as many cities, with which I was in touch largely
through the good offices of Eaton, my business was almost
confined to small concerns. Eaton had given me letters to many
other large firms, but these had brought no result. For one thing,
my Russian name was against me. As I have said before, the
American business world had not yet learned to take our people
seriously
And so I had written Huntington, making a special plea for a few
minutes of his "most valuable time." All I asked for was an
opportunity "to point out some specific conditions that enable our
house to reduce the cost of production to an unheard-of level." If
he had only read that letter! I had bestowed so much effort on it,
and I gave myself credit for having made a fine job of it
Arriving at the big store, I made my way to the sample-rooms.
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