ENERGY

 1. Sun Tzu said: The control of a large force
  is the same principle as the control of a few men: 
  it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.

 2. Fighting with a large army under your command
  is nowise different from fighting with a small one: 
  it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.

 3. To ensure that your whole host may withstand
  the brunt of the enemy's attack and remain unshaken--
  this is effected by maneuvers direct and indirect.

 4. That the impact of your army may be like a grindstone
  dashed against an egg--this is effected by the science
  of weak points and strong.

 5. In all fighting, the direct method may be used
  for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed
  in order to secure victory.

Armies in the Fire

The lamps now glitter down the street;
Faintly sound the falling feet;
And the blue even slowly falls
About the garden trees and walls.

Now in the falling of the gloom
The red fire paints the empty room:
And warmly on the roof it looks,
And flickers on the back of books.

Armies march by tower and spire
Of cities blazing, in the fire;--
Till as I gaze with staring eyes,
The armies fall, the lustre dies.

Then once again the glow returns;
Again the phantom city burns;
And down the red-hot valley, lo!
The phantom armies marching go!

Blinking embers, tell me true
Where are those armies marching to,
And what the burning city is
That crumbles in your furnaces!

Auntie's Skirts

Whenever Auntie moves around,
Her dresses make a curious sound,
They trail behind her up the floor,
And trundle after through the door.

CUSTOMER SERVICE TIPS FOR MAIL ORDER BUSINESS

Can we be too good to our customers? No way! Our customers are the backbone 
of our business! They're right no matter what!
But I'm sorry to disagree with you. As small, honest and legitimate 
businesses _ we have a tendency to place our product quality above money. 
While this is the "right" way of building a strong, solid business; there 
are customers that will try to take advantage of you. You have to learn how 
to notice this possibility coming and "bow out gracefully" without losing the 
customer.
   Remember that most newcomers to the world of mail order think that they are 
ordering from BIG companies just because we have a company name! They cannot 
conceive how poor and struggling a lot of us really are. They think we can 
absorb costs and because they are poor themselves, will often try and take 
advantage of people like us. (If they only knew the many times I have 
personally had to hold an order up for mailing because I couldn't afford 
the 52c to mail it back, or the guy who bounced a $2 check and caused a 
close friend of mine to go "in the hole" $15 in bad check charges.)
But because we are honest people who place our product ABOVE money we 
sometimes let people walk all over us. In fact _ a mail order buddie of mine 
(who distributes shareware computer disks) is normally so happy when she gets 
an order that she gives the customer almost 10 times more than what they pay 
for. She is so excited about keeping a customer that she goes overboard to 
make them happy.

The Man and the Satyr

A Man had lost his way in a wood one bitter winter's night.
As he was roaming about, a Satyr came up to him, and finding that
he had lost his way, promised to give him a lodging for the night,
and guide him out of the forest in the morning. As he went along
to the Satyr's cell, the Man raised both his hands to his mouth
and kept on blowing at them. "What do you do that for?" said the
Satyr.

"My hands are numb with the cold," said the Man, "and my
breath warms them."

After this they arrived at the Satyr's home, and soon the
Satyr put a smoking dish of porridge before him. But when the Man
raised his spoon to his mouth he began blowing upon it. "And what
do you do that for?" said the Satyr.

"The porridge is too hot, and my breath will cool it."

"Out you go," said the Satyr. "I will have nought to do with
a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath."

The Fox and the Stork

At one time the Fox and the Stork were on visiting terms and
seemed very good friends. So the Fox invited the Stork to dinner,
and for a joke put nothing before her but some soup in a very
shallow dish. This the Fox could easily lap up, but the Stork
could only wet the end of her long bill in it, and left the meal
as hungry as when she began. "I am sorry," said the Fox, "the
soup is not to your liking."

"Pray do not apologise," said the Stork. "I hope you will
return this visit, and come and dine with me soon." So a day was
appointed when the Fox should visit the Stork; but when they were
seated at table all that was for their dinner was contained in a
very long-necked jar with a narrow mouth, in which the Fox could
not insert his snout, so all he could manage to do was to lick the
outside of the jar.

"I will not apologise for the dinner," said the Stork:

"One bad turn deserves another."

(84 Fables)

 
  The Cock and the Pearl The Frog and the Ox
  The Wolf and the Lamb Androcles
  The Dog and the Shadow The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts
  The Lion's Share The Hart and the Hunter
  The Wolf and the Crane The Serpent and the File
  The Man and the Serpent The Man and the Wood
  The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse The Dog and the Wolf
  The Fox and the Crow The Belly and the Members
  The Sick Lion The Hart in the Ox-Stall
  The Ass and the Lapdog The Fox and the Grapes
  The Lion and the Mouse The Horse, Hunter, and Stag
  The Swallow and the Other Birds The Peacock and Juno
  The Frogs Desiring a King The Fox and the Lion
  The Mountains in Labour The Lion and the Statue
  The Hares and the Frogs The Ant and the Grasshopper
  The Wolf and the Kid The Tree and the Reed
  The Woodman and the Serpent The Fox and the Cat
  The Bald Man and the Fly The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
  The Fox and the Stork The Dog in the Manger
  The Fox and the Mask The Man and the Wooden God
  The Jay and the Peacock The Fisher
  The Shepherd's Boy The Miser and His Gold
  The Young Thief and His Mother The Fox and the Mosquitoes
  The Man and His Two Wives The Fox Without a Tail
  The Nurse and the Wolf The One-Eyed Doe
  The Tortoise and the Birds Belling the Cat
  The Two Crabs The Hare and the Tortoise
  The Ass in the Lion's Skin The Old Man and Death
  The Two Fellows and the Bear The Hare With Many Friends
  The Two Pots The Lion in Love
  The Four Oxen and the Lion The Bundle of Sticks
  The Fisher and the Little Fish The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts
  Avaricious and Envious The Ass's Brains
  The Crow and the Pitcher The Eagle and the Arrow
  The Man and the Satyr The Milkmaid and Her Pail
  The Goose With the Golden Eggs The Cat-Maiden
  The Labourer and the Nightingale The Horse and the Ass
  The Fox, the Cock, and the Dog The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner
  The Wind and the Sun The Buffoon and the Countryman
  Hercules and the Waggoner The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar
  The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey The Fox and the Goat



Aesop's Fables


  The Cock and the Pearl


A cock was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the
hens when suddenly he espied something shinning amid the straw.
"Ho! ho!" quoth he, "that's for me," and soon rooted it out from
beneath the straw. What did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by
some chance had been lost in the yard? "You may be a treasure,"
quoth Master Cock, "to men that prize you, but for me I would
rather have a single barley-corn than a peck of pearls."

Precious things are for those that can prize them.



  The Wolf and the Lamb


Once upon a time a Wolf was lapping at a spring on a hillside,
when, looking up, what should he see but a Lamb just beginning to
drink a little lower down. "There's my supper," thought he, "if
only I can find some excuse to seize it." Then he called out to
the Lamb, "How dare you muddle the water from which I am
drinking?"

"Nay, master, nay," said Lambikin; "if the water be muddy up
there, I cannot be the cause of it, for it runs down from you to
me."

"Well, then," said the Wolf, "why did you call me bad names
this time last year?"

"That cannot be," said the Lamb; "I am only six months old."

"I don't care," snarled the Wolf; "if it was not you it was
your father;" and with that he rushed upon the poor little Lamb
and
 .WARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA
 .ate her all up. But before she died she gasped out
 ."Any excuse will serve a tyrant."



  The Dog and the Shadow


It happened that a Dog had got a piece of meat and was
carrying it home in his mouth to eat it in peace. Now on his way
home he had to cross a plank lying across a running brook. As he
crossed, he looked down and saw his own shadow reflected in the
water beneath. Thinking it was another dog with another piece of
meat, he made up his mind to have that also. So he made a snap at
the shadow in the water, but as he opened his mouth the piece of
meat fell out, dropped into the water and was never seen more.

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.



  The Lion's Share


The Lion went once a-hunting along with the Fox, the Jackal,
and the Wolf. They hunted and they hunted till at last they
surprised a Stag, and soon took its life. Then came the question
how the spoil should be divided. "Quarter me this Stag," roared
the Lion; so the other animals skinned it and cut it into four
parts. Then the Lion took his stand in front of the carcass and
pronounced judgment: The first quarter is for me in my capacity
as King of Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter; another share
comes to me for my part in the chase; and as for the fourth
quarter, well, as for that, I should like to see which of you will
dare to lay a paw upon it."

"Humph," grumbled the Fox as he walked away with his tail
between his legs; but he spoke in a low growl
 ."You may share the labours of the great,
but you will not share the spoil."



  The Wolf and the Crane


A Wolf had been gorging on an animal he had killed, when
suddenly a small bone in the meat stuck in his throat and he could
not swallow it. He soon felt terrible pain in his throat, and ran
up and down groaning and groaning and seeking for something to
relieve the pain. He tried to induce every one he met to remove
the bone. "I would give anything," said he, "if you would take it
out." At last the Crane agreed to try, and told the Wolf to lie
on his side and open his jaws as wide as he could. Then the Crane
put its long neck down the Wolf's throat, and with its beak
loosened the bone, till at last it got it out.

"Will you kindly give me the reward you promised?" said the
Crane.

The Wolf grinned and showed his teeth and said: "Be content.
You have put your head inside a Wolf's mouth and taken it out
again in safety; that ought to be reward enough for you."

Gratitude and greed go not together.



  The Man and the Serpent


A Countryman's son by accident trod upon a Serpent's tail,
which turned and bit him so that he died. The father in a rage
got his axe, and pursuing the Serpent, cut off part of its tail.
So the Serpent in revenge began stinging several of the Farmer's
cattle and caused him severe loss. Well, the Farmer thought it
best to make it up with the Serpent, and brought food and honey to
the mouth of its lair, and said to it: "Let's forget and forgive;
perhaps you were right to punish my son, and take vengeance on my
cattle, but surely I was right in trying to revenge him; now that
we are both satisfied why should not we be friends again?"

"No, no," said the Serpent; "take away your gifts; you can
never forget the death of your son, nor I the loss of my tail."

Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten.



  The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse


Now you must know that a Town Mouse once upon a time went on a
visit to his cousin in the country. He was rough and ready, this
cousin, but he loved his town friend and made him heartily
welcome. Beans and bacon, cheese and bread, were all he had to
offer, but he offered them freely. The Town Mouse rather turned
up his long nose at this country fare, and said: "I cannot
understand, Cousin, how you can put up with such poor food as
this, but of course you cannot expect anything better in the
country; come you with me and I will show you how to live. When
you have been in town a week you will wonder how you could ever
have stood a country life." No sooner said than done: the two
mice set off for the town and arrived at the Town Mouse's
residence late at night. "You will want some refreshment after
our long journey," said the polite Town Mouse, and took his friend
into the grand dining-room. There they found the remains of a
fine feast, and soon the two mice were eating up jellies and cakes
and all that was nice. Suddenly they heard growling and barking.
"What is that?" said the Country Mouse. "It is only the dogs of
the house," answered the other. "Only!" said the Country Mouse.
"I do not like that music at my dinner." Just at that moment the
door flew open, in came two huge mastiffs, and the two mice had to
scamper down and run off. "Good-bye, Cousin," said the Country
Mouse, "What! going so soon?" said the other. "Yes," he replied;

A SHIFTING REEF

CHAPTER I
Che year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious
and puzzling phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.
Not to mention rumours which agitated the maritime population
and excited the public mind, even in the interior of continents,
seafaring men were particularly excited. Merchants, common sailors,
captains of vessels, skippers, both of Europe and America,
naval officers of all countries, and the Governments of several States
on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.

For some time past vessels had been met by "an enormous thing,"
a long object, spindle-shaped, occasionally phosphorescent,
and infinitely larger and more rapid in its movements than a whale.

The facts relating to this apparition (entered in various log-books)
agreed in most respects as to the shape of the object or creature in question,
the untiring rapidity of its movements, its surprising power of locomotion,
and the peculiar life with which it seemed endowed. If it was a whale,
it surpassed in size all those hitherto classified in science.
Taking into consideration the mean of observations made at divers times--
rejecting the timid estimate of those who assigned to this object
a length of two hundred feet, equally with the exaggerated opinions
which set it down as a mile in width and three in length--we might fairly
conclude that this mysterious being surpassed greatly all dimensions
admitted by the learned ones of the day, if it existed at all.
And that it DID exist was an undeniable fact; and, with that tendency
which disposes the human mind in favour of the marvellous, we can understand
the excitement produced in the entire world by this supernatural apparition.
As to classing it in the list of fables, the idea was out of the question.

On the 20th of July, 1866, the steamer Governor Higginson,
of the Calcutta and Burnach Steam Navigation Company, had met
this moving mass five miles off the east coast of Australia.
Captain Baker thought at first that he was in the presence of an
unknown sandbank; he even prepared to determine its exact position
when two columns of water, projected by the mysterious object,
shot with a hissing noise a hundred and fifty feet up into the air.
Now, unless the sandbank had been submitted to the intermittent
eruption of a geyser, the Governor Higginson had to do neither
more nor less than with an aquatic mammal, unknown till then,
which threw up from its blow-holes columns of water mixed with
air and vapour.

Similar facts were observed on the 23rd of July in the same year,
in the Pacific Ocean, by the Columbus, of the West India
and Pacific Steam Navigation Company. But this extraordinary
creature could transport itself from one place to another
with surprising velocity; as, in an interval of three days,
the Governor Higginson and the Columbus had observed it at
two different points of the chart, separated by a distance
of more than seven hundred nautical leagues.

Fifteen days later, two thousand miles farther off, the Helvetia,
of the Compagnie-Nationale, and the Shannon, of the Royal
Mail Steamship Company, sailing to windward in that portion
of the Atlantic lying between the United States and Europe,
respectively signalled the monster to each other in 42@ 15' N. lat.
and 60@ 35' W. long. In these simultaneous observations they
thought themselves justified in estimating the minimum length
of the mammal at more than three hundred and fifty feet,
as the Shannon and Helvetia were of smaller dimensions than it,
though they measured three hundred feet over all.

IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT IS CONVINCED THAT HE HAS AT LAST FOUND HIS IDEAL

Chapter II
"Faith," muttered Passepartout, somewhat flurried, "I've seen people
at Madame Tussaud's as lively as my new master!"

Madame Tussaud's "people," let it be said, are of wax, and are much
visited in London; speech is all that is wanting to make them human.

During his brief interview with Mr. Fogg, Passepartout had been
carefully observing him. He appeared to be a man about forty years of age,
with fine, handsome features, and a tall, well-shaped figure;
his hair and whiskers were light, his forehead compact and unwrinkled,
his face rather pale, his teeth magnificent. His countenance possessed
in the highest degree what physiognomists call "repose in action,"
a quality of those who act rather than talk. Calm and phlegmatic,
with a clear eye, Mr. Fogg seemed a perfect type of that English
composure which Angelica Kauffmann has so skilfully represented on canvas.
Seen in the various phases of his daily life, he gave the idea of being
perfectly well-balanced, as exactly regulated as a Leroy chronometer.
Phileas Fogg was, indeed, exactitude personified, and this was betrayed
even in the expression of his very hands and feet; for in men, as well as
in animals, the limbs themselves are expressive of the passions.

He was so exact that he was never in a hurry, was always ready,
and was economical alike of his steps and his motions. He never took
one step too many, and always went to his destination by the shortest cut;
he made no superfluous gestures, and was never seen to be moved or agitated.
He was the most deliberate person in the world, yet always reached his
destination at the exact moment.

He lived alone, and, so to speak, outside of every social relation;
and as he knew that in this world account must be taken of friction,
and that friction retards, he never rubbed against anybody.

As for Passepartout, he was a true Parisian of Paris. Since he
had abandoned his own country for England, taking service as a valet,
he had in vain searched for a master after his own heart.
Passepartout was by no means one of those pert dunces depicted by
Moliere with a bold gaze and a nose held high in the air; he was
an honest fellow, with a pleasant face, lips a trifle protruding,
soft-mannered and serviceable, with a good round head, such as one
likes to see on the shoulders of a friend. His eyes were blue,
his complexion rubicund, his figure almost portly and well-built,
his body muscular, and his physical powers fully developed by the
exercises of his younger days. His brown hair was somewhat tumbled;
for, while the ancient sculptors are said to have known eighteen methods
of arranging Minerva's tresses, Passepartout was familiar with but one of
dressing his own: three strokes of a large-tooth comb completed his toilet.

It would be rash to predict how Passepartout's lively nature would agree
with Mr. Fogg. It was impossible to tell whether the new servant
would turn out as absolutely methodical as his master required;
experience alone could solve the question. Passepartout had been
a sort of vagrant in his early years, and now yearned for repose;
but so far he had failed to find it, though he had already served
in ten English houses. But he could not take root in any of these;
with chagrin, he found his masters invariably whimsical and irregular,
constantly running about the country, or on the look-out for adventure.
His last master, young Lord Longferry, Member of Parliament,
after passing his nights in the Haymarket taverns, was too often
brought home in the morning on policemen's shoulders. Passepartout,
desirous of respecting the gentleman whom he served, ventured a mild
remonstrance on such conduct; which, being ill-received, he took his leave.
Hearing that Mr. Phileas Fogg was looking for a servant, and that his life
was one of unbroken regularity, that he neither travelled nor stayed
from home overnight, he felt sure that this would be the place he was after.
He presented himself, and was accepted, as has been seen.

At half-past eleven, then, Passepartout found himself alone in
the house in Saville Row. He begun its inspection without delay,
scouring it from cellar to garret. So clean, well-arranged,
solemn a mansion pleased him; it seemed to him like a snail's shell,
lighted and warmed by gas, which sufficed for both these purposes.
When Passepartout reached the second story he recognised at once
the room which he was to inhabit, and he was well satisfied with it.
Electric bells and speaking-tubes afforded communication with
the lower stories; while on the mantel stood an electric clock,
precisely like that in Mr. Fogg's bedchamber, both beating
the same second at the same instant. "That's good, that'll do,"
said Passepartout to himself.

He suddenly observed, hung over the clock, a card which, upon inspection,
proved to be a programme of the daily routine of the house.
It comprised all that was required of the servant, from eight in the morning,
exactly at which hour Phileas Fogg rose, till half-past eleven,
when he left the house for the Reform Club--all the details of service,
the tea and toast at twenty-three minutes past eight, the shaving-water
at thirty-seven minutes past nine, and the toilet at twenty minutes before ten.
Everything was regulated and foreseen that was to be done from
half-past eleven a.m. till midnight, the hour at which the
methodical gentleman retired.

Mr. Fogg's wardrobe was amply supplied and in the best taste.
Each pair of trousers, coat, and vest bore a number,
indicating the time of year and season at which they were
in turn to be laid out for wearing; and the same system
was applied to the master's shoes. In short, the house
in Saville Row, which must have been a very temple of disorder
and unrest under the illustrious but dissipated Sheridan, was cosiness,
comfort, and method idealised. There was no study, nor were there books,
which would have been quite useless to Mr. Fogg; for at the Reform
two libraries, one of general literature and the other of law and politics,
were at his service. A moderate-sized safe stood in his bedroom,
constructed so as to defy fire as well as burglars; but Passepartout
found neither arms nor hunting weapons anywhere; everything betrayed
the most tranquil and peaceable habits.

Having scrutinised the house from top to bottom, he rubbed his hands,
a broad smile overspread his features, and he said joyfully,
"This is just what I wanted! Ah, we shall get on together,
Mr. Fogg and I! What a domestic and regular gentleman!
A real machine; well, I don't mind serving a machine."

AEROBICS CLASSES Dancing For Profit

Although the national obsession for group exercise has begun to level off, 
estimates claim 23 million Americans participate in aerobics in health clubs 
and exercise gyms.
This includes people enrolled in programs run from community facilities, 
YMCAs, and gyms, to dance studios in shopping malls.
This figure represents 10% of the US population who exercise occasionally, 
definitely a fraction of what it used to be 10 years ago when the craze was 
at its peak and America was waking up to the urgent message of the importance 
of exercise.
NEW MARKETS 
The decline of enrollment-based fitness programs have forced many studios 
to expand their services.
For example, some jazz exercise studios now offer skin care and nutritional 
counseling. Some offer shiatsu classes.
The biggest problems for any stationary fitness program is being able to 
organize classes that work around the schedule of its potential clients.
The interest in fitness remains. The market did not dwindle as the figures 
suggest. The biggest challenge in this industry to identify new ways to 
deliver its services to the market.
BUNS OF STEEL 
If you are an aspiring exercise entrepreneur, here are three avenues by 
which you can deliver and sell your services to your market:
CORPORATE CONTRACTS. 
Many businesses recognize that healthy employees are productive employees, 
something the Japanese realized decades ago.
You can send instructors to a business location to conduct exercise classes 
that are subsidized by the employer.
SATELLITE CLASSES. 
You can lease community or church facilities, recreational centers or school 
gymnasiums and hold classes for people in that community. Some very large 
apartment complexes have halls or functionareas where classes can be held.
VIDEOS. 
Students who attend your class once can continue the routine on their own 
time. That's the convenience video can offer. Instead of coming to an 
organized exercise class, piople will attend an exercise class in front of 
their VCRs. In fact, a video tape can be an excxellent add-on product 
to corporate contracts, satellite classes, or studio classes. 

HIGHLY PROFITABLE SHOPPING CENTER PAPERS

One of the easiest of all businesses to establish, publishing shopping center papers - can make you very rich - almost as fast as finding gold, or inheriting an oil well.

 Revenue and profits come from two main sources: The businesses in the shopping center your paper serves, and the people reading your paper. It doesn't matter that there's already a "Shopper's Paper" in your area, or that you know nothing about the publishing business and don't own a printing press.

 The first thing is to understand the specific needs of your market. The stores, shops and businesses in the downtown area advertise to reach all the people, and thus, they're hurting from the competition of similar stores, shops and businesses in the neighborhood shopping centers closer to where the people actually live. Yet, these shop ping center stores, shops and businesses ONLY SERVE CUSTOMERS LIVING WITHIN A 5-MILE RADIUS OF THEIR BUSINESS LOCATION!

 So, the thing to do is organize a plan, and then work that plan. Contact the store owners or managers of the stores in each shopping center in your area. You can include stores or shops and businesses not in the shopping center itself, but clustered within the same immediate area. However, it's important that your emphasis be placed on the individuality of each shopping center.

 Explain to each of these business people that you're starting a "shoppers paper" that will carry advertising only for businesses in that particular shopping center. With this kind of "local advertising media," the stores, shops and other businesses need not worry about competition, nor have to bear the advertising costs of city-wide circulation.

 The second selling point is your distribution or circulation system. Take a section of your city street map; draw a 5-mile circle around each shopping center; then take it to your local quick print shop, and have him give you several printed copies blown up to twice the original size.

 Then as you+re selling each business owner, show him the shopping center location on your map with the 5-mile circle around it. Explain that your door-to-door distributors leave a copy at each home or apartment within that circle only. This means you'll have to estimate how many homes or apartments there are within each shopping center's customer circle.

 Getting your papers out to all of these homes and apartments needn't be that big a problem. Simply talk with the 7th and 8th grade counselors at the schools with-in the service circle. Arrange to pay the counselors $15 per thousand papers delivered
for you. The idea is to get the counselors to line up the students to do the delivering for you, and pay them a percentage of the total you give him. The same plan can be worked with boy scout and/or girl scout troops. You might even contact the youth organizations at the churches within the service circle, and propose your delivery operation as a fund-raising project.

 At the bottom line, the businesses gathered in or near each shopping center will buy advertising space in your paper because your rates will be cheaper; you'll be carrying advertising for a specific location only; and your distribution will be direct to their customers only.

 You can begin, and handle all phases of your business operation single-handedly, but after the first couple of editions, you'll make much more money by hiring others to do the selling for you. Simply run an ad in your weekend newspapers, promising big in comes to commission type advertising sales people. Word your ad so that those interested call you on the phone.

 When they call - get their name, address and phone number. Then explain that you're looking for just a few top-notch go- getters who can handle several thousand dollars a week in advertising commissions from individual merchants located in neighborhood shopping centers. Ask them to tell you a little bit about themselves, and then invite them to a get-acquainted meeting in the banquet or meeting room you've reserved in a local restaurant or motel. Give them the time, and date, then tell them you'll see them at the meeting.

 At the meeting, show them a prototype or dummy of one of your papers. Tell them they'll each be assigned a territory that includes theee shopping centers. You then explain/teach them the reasons why there's big money in shopping center papers just as
I've explained to you.

FIREWOOD SUPPLY BUSINESS

Unpredictable fuel costs and the necessity of keeping warm in the winter have resulted in "boom sales" for manufacturers of wood-burning stoves. There has also been a return to the use of the fireplace as a form of supplementary heat and as a luxury that promotes the "cozy" atmosphere sought after by both middle class and affluent families. This renaissance in the popularity of wood heat, and upward spiraling sales of associated equipment, has created a demand for firewood that's almost impossible to fulfill!

 A very important element: This demand has caused the price of firewood to almost double over the past several years. Whatever the "going price" for a cord of firewood in your area, you can expect it to increase by 20 to 30 percent each year for the next ten years or so.

 Your potential market is a varied as the weather; it is also somewhat dependent on the weather. You'll find buyers among apartment dwellers as well as home owners. The rich are buying firewood perhaps more than the poor; those concerned with the purity of the environment and the so-called "voluntary-simplicity' folk seeking a return to the "pioneering" life are all part of your market.

 And don't think for a minute that firewood sales are limited to the colder northern states. People living in Sunny Southern California and along the Gulf of Mexico buy and burn firewood for the same reasons as people living in Minnesota or Montana.

 One of the secrets of success in this business is understanding why the people in your area burn firewood. Then it's a matter of learning when and how often they need it, and positioning yourself to fill those needs.

 It doesn't take special education or training to become a successful firewood supplier. Just for the record, the backgrounds of people operating businesses of this kind range from farmers to unemployed factory workers to doctors, lawyers, real estate salesmen and even university professors.

 The kind of equipment you'll need varies according to the type of business you want to establish, and the kind of wood you will be supplying.

 The first prerequisite to the establishment of your business is to decide what kind of business - wholesale to retail outlets, or retail to the general public - you want to operate.

 Next, you'll have to decide on the type of firewood you will sell. There are three major categories: l) mill ends or sawed up scrap lumber and kindling, 2) whole logs for the buyer to cut according to his own specifications, 3) fireplace and stove wood, cut and split according to the general requirements of your market area.

 Your next step is to line up a source of supply. Actually, it's best to "lock in" a number of sources of supply. Later on, as your business develops and grows, you may want to offer several different kinds of firewood, that is, become a full-service dealer offering firewood to meet everyone's needs and fancies for your area. We'll discuss different categories of wood in demand, so that you can explore sources of supply and costs.

 MILL ENDS: Your best source of supply for this type of wood is the sawmills in your area. If you live in a metropolitan area, take a few weekend trips to the small towns in the wooded areas of your state. With a little bit of initiative on our part, you should be able to discover any number of small sawmill operations within a 200-mile radius of most metropolitan areas in this country. What you'll want to do is buy a truckload of mill ends,
take them home and package them into sacks of firewood. Thus, a load of mill ends that you might buy for $50 would be broken down into perhaps 200 sackfuls that you sell for $5 per sack. Multiply these 200 sacks of firewood times $5 each, and you have a gross
income of $1,000 for a load of wood costing you only $50. You wouldn't have to be very smart to realize that's pretty good, providing your sources of supply can keep up with the demand.

 The beauty of mill ends is that they are clean, burn easily and fast, put out a lot of heat, and when broken down into sackfuls are ideal for apartment dwellers, as well as people in warmer climates needing firewood for just a few cold spells each winter. Until you have a large full-service firewood supply operation, it's suggested that you leave the sale of truckload supplies of mill ends to the larger, more established fire wood suppliers. My advice here is that you should stay within your capabilities of supplying the buying demands of your market, and further concentrate on selling what brings you the greatest
profit. However, as your operation grows, the supply of truck loads of mill end firewood is definitely worth considering.

 Other sources of supply for mill end lumber will be your local lumber yards, wood working or furniture manufacturing firms, and home building or remodeling contractors. In many instances, you can offer to stop by these places about once a week and clean up the worksite by hauling away the scrap lumber, and they'll let you have it without cost. It is possible to even get paid for doing this. The only drawback will be that you'll have to sort this wood, and then saw it up into the size s you want for your bundles or sacks. This is no big deal, because you can handle a pickup or trailer load with a power saw in just a couple of hours.

 When you have the wood ready to package into sacks, you'll save time and in crease your profits by hiring a couple of high school students. Contact the counselors at one of the local high schools, explain that you need a couple of students for part time work sacking firewood, and you'll have all the help you need.

 As for how much to pay them, establish a pay rate for 100 full sacks. Of two high school students, one would hold open a sack while the other uses a scoop shovel to pick up the wood and dump it into the sack. Between them, they can gather the top of the
sack and tie it with twine. The full sacks, of course, must be stacked on a pallet or in an area ready for selling. Check the time it takes two good students, working at a reasonably fast clip, to load 100 sacks. Knowing the current minimum hourly wage rate, you can then determine the labor value of 100 loaded sacks.

 For a supply of burlap bags for use in sacking your wood, check with a farmers' feed store. If you buy in quantity, you can get them at a very reasonable price. You can purchase twine for tying the sacks at the same place.

 WHOLE LOGS: Many people have chain saws and fancy themselves as "do-it-yourselfers," but they don't have the time to go out into the woods and bring back firewood. If you can supply these people with a location not too far from home, where they can saw and split their own firewood, you'll have a steady stream of customers. You'll need a large vacant lot - about a half acre to a full acre - and preferably on the outskirts of town. The first thing will be to put up a 6-foot cyclone fence around your lot,
and then a small garden shed type building to serve as your office.

 Contact a sawmill or logging operation not too far from where you want to open your business. Arrange with them to deliver whole logs (lumber rejects) to your wood lot. Your costs shouldn't run much more than $10 per log, even for premium wood, but will depend upon the size and number delivered in each load.

 If you have the vehicle and the energy, you can also contact the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management in your area for a permit to Cut firewood in government preservation areas. Then you go out into the woods, saw up downed tree s into eight-
foot lengths, load them into your vehicle and haul them to your woodlot.

 Still another source of supply is the farmers in your area. Talk with them and offer to "thin out" areas of standing timber, and the downed trees. Oftentimes, you can get this wood at no cost other than offering the land owner a share of the timber you take out. He may even consider your "thinning" and hauling an even exchange for the logs.

 Don't forget about the road building construction companies, and commercial and residential developers as sources of supply. Actually, once you get into this business, you'll find sources of supply virtually unlimited, and restricted only by your own initiative in making contact with the property owners.

 Once you have a supply of logs within your wood lot, there are many things you can do to attract customers. Run an advertisement in your local paper inviting "do-it-yourselfers" to come out and Cut their own firewood. You charge them twice as much per log as your cost, and they do the sawing, the splitting, the loading and provide their own car or truck to take them home. You are there only to supervise and receive payment.

 You could also rent chain saws, axes, and the use of your power splitter. Allow the customer to select the log of his choice, and then have the hired help - high school students, perhaps - who would saw, split and load this wood into the buyer's vehicle. The ultimate, of course, would be to include delivery and stacking of this wood at the customer's residence.

 Once the customer has selected his log - at twice your cost and pays you $5 for sawing it into the lengths he wants, plus $10 for splitting it for him and another $10 for loading it onto his vehicle, you're talking about $150 to $200 per cord of wood. The secret here is to have your helpers working in teams, with the kind of efficiency that means $l00 per hour for you.