"Ha!" he jerked, putting his head on one side like a sparrow, "bad habit to get into, that, if I may say so without being rude. Man can't know how best to conduct his own business unless he has some idea of what other people are doing. Got to know that to keep even with the times. Come along with me." And then this little man, who I afterward found was one of the wealthiest hardware dealers in our State, took me by the arm, saying: "I am going to introduce you to a trade paper man you ought to know." He took me up to a group of men who were laughing at a story told by a big, raw-boned, loose-jointed man who seemed to be popular with the others. "Rob," said Minker, "come here!" And the big man good-naturedly came over, put his arm around the little man's shoulder, and asked: "Well, what is it this time?" "I want you to meet Mr. Dawson Black, who has only recently opened a store. Mr. Black," said he, "this is Mr. Robert Sirle, known to all his friends as Rob. He is the editor of _Hardware Times_." "I'm mighty glad to meet you, Mr. Black," said Mr. Sirle, giving me a hearty handshake, "You bought Jim Simpson's business, didn't you?" "Why, yes!" I replied. "How do you know?" He smiled. "I wish I had known you a few months ago, Mr. Black," he said. "I might have saved you a bit of money. Didn't you read in _Hardware Times_ some two years ago about the mess Simpson got into?" "Why, no," I returned, "I don't know as I--I--as a matter of fact, I don't subscribe to trade papers. I haven't time to read them." I would like to tell you what this big Westerner said. I am not sure whether it is what he said or the way he said it, but we sat down and we had a very serious talk, in which he told me how necessary it was for a business man to watch at all times the development of his trade; how the reading of trade papers kept him constantly posted, and continually gave him new ideas. He gave me some excellent pointers, and invited me to write to him any time he could be of help to me. I at once subscribed for two copies of his paper to be sent to the store--one for myself and one for the salesmen. The last was his suggestion. I felt it would be a good investment, for, as he said, when the clerks read the magazine they get interested in the bigger things about the business, they learn more about the goods, and get to appreciate some of the boss's responsibility and trouble. It certainly was a fine thing for me to meet this man, representing a paper whose sole object appeared to be to help the retail merchant. Some wonderfully interesting talks were given. One discussion which interested me greatly was about giving credits. Credit appeared to be the bane of the hardware man's life. Mr. Sirle had charge of a question box, and gave some fine suggestions which I decided I would try to adapt to my business.