HOW TO WORD AN ADVERTISEMENT.

Evening Star, Issue 6259, 7 April 1883, Page 2

HOW TO WORD AN ADVERTISEMENT.

A man was denouncing newspaper advertising to a crowd of listeners. “Last week,” said he, “I bad an umbrella stolen from the vestibule of the church. It was a gift, and valuing it very highly, I spent double the worth in advertising, but I have not recovered it.” “ How did you word the advertisement?” asked a merchant. “Here it is,” said the man, producing a slip cut from a newspaper. The merchant took it and read : “Lost, from the vestibule of the——— church, last Sunday evening, a black silk umbrella. The gentleman who took it will be handsomely rewarded by leaving it at No. High street.” “Now,” said the merchant, “I am a liberal advertiser, and have always found it paid me well. A great deal depends on the manner in which an advertisement is put. Let us try for your umbrella again, and if you do not then acknowledge that advertising pays, I will purchase you a new one.” The merchant took a slip of paper from his pocket and wrote: - “If the man who was seen to take the umbrella from the vestibule of the church last Sunday does not wish to get into trouble, and have a stain cast upon the Christian character which he values so highly, he will return it at once to No. High street. He is well known.” This duly appeared in the paper, and the following morning the man was astonished when he opened the front door of his residence. On the porch lay at least a dozen umbrellas of all shades and sizes that had been thrown in, while the front yard was! literally paved with umbrellas. Many of them had notes attached to them saying that had been taken by mistake, and begging the loser to keep the little affair quiet. Faure, the great French baritone, was recently paid 4,000 francs for singing three pieces at a Paris wedding. Emmet is having written for him a play that will bear the title of “ Fritz Among the Mormons,” “Mankind,” which is greatly aided by George Gordon’s splendid scenery, is coining money for Bland Holt at the Melbourne Royal.