Page 3 Advertisements Column 2

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12600, 2 March 1903, Page 3

11 Mr r THE MM" m ADVERTISEMENT TO READ IN YOUR OFFICE OR ON YOUR WAY TO YOUR OFFICE. jlosfc of us talk and think about our offices as it office hours were brief and annoying interruptions of the regular current of life. As a, matter of fact, a man of business sleeps through most of the hours he spends at homo, and is never so wideawake as when lie is'-at his office. A huqr evening at home and a night's slumber restore bis exhausted brain cells, amd ho goes to 'his office in the morning full of vigour, to return at night as empty as an exhausted storage battery on its way to be rc-cliarged. Two or three hours of the morning, and five or six hours of the afternoon, take out of him all that he has to give. Yet, as a, rule, a man makes hi& homo comfortable and lets his office remain uncomfortable. Creature comforts would indeed be out of place on his daily .battleground—the place to which be goes to fight the hard fight that leaves so few of the fighters permanently victorious. He does not want capacious easy chairs and handsome.paintings on the walls. He goes to his offico in order that he may have such things in his homo, but in liis office he should have at hand everything that can tend to make his day's work easier.. Is such a book as THE CENTURY not a proper part of the equipment of a place of business? Is any man's office complete without it? Is lie giving himself a fair chance to get the best results out of his day's work if these helpful volumes are not at his elbow during his working hours? The modem business man MUST BE UT-TO-DATE, therefore he keep., a CENTURY set at his desk side. YOUR OWN; BUSINESS AND THE BUSINESS OF OTHER PEOPLE. The business man who possesses THE CENTURY lias the whole world at his elbow. He Jias where to turn to refresh Jiis memory, or to ]earn new points, not only about the particular enterprise which is his constant concern, but about allied activities, on which some clear knowledge is often desirable. Moreover, there is a satisfaction in knowing where you can find a clear and authoritative statement even about matters which are, it would seem, entirely removed from your particular world. For your world is part of the great world in which everyone shares, and you never can say for certain that this or. that subject will not practically concern yon. In these days of wide communication with'all the ends of the earth, when things move so quickly, and when the advantage among keen competitors so often goes to him that has an idea beyond the mere routine of his work—the man who would do the best for himself will not dismiss from his mind an offer which places at his disposal (lie knowledge of everybody else's concerns as well as his own. Practical information 011 all practical subjects is useful to him—and this is exactly what THE CENTURY offers him. TWO INSTANCES. Almost eveiy business man, to take a simple instance, advertises in one way or another. This means that he must deal with printers, and sometimes with paper merchants, and tho question is, whether he will deal intelligently or at'haphazard. To be sure it is quite unnecessary for hilfi to know all the technical terms connected with printing, or with paper-making, still less every process involved in either. But with the aid of THE CENTURY ho can master in a very brief time the principal terms and the most important matters as to grades and styles—enough to enable him to scrutinise his bills intelligently when they come in, instead of paying them blindly. In short, there is no more need for his carrying on this part of his business in the dark than any other part; and what applies to printing applies to a thousand and one other matters. Again, THE CENTURY is particularly rich in practical legal definitions that are especially useful to business men. Under the word "case," for instance, wilt be found brief accounts'of a number of celebrated cases. These decisions set forth many important rules of law—legal principles of which many business men havt perhaps a vague notion,, but which every business man would do well to know. Under "consideration" is an authoritative definition of the use of that word in law, with explanations of the phrases, " failure of consideration," " good consideration," "valuable consideration." THE CENTURY also explains the meaning of "common law,'.' a ''common'carrier," a "nuisance," "action," "cause," "suit," "act of God," to mention but a few entries. Where else can the business man find brief, clear definitions of such legal terms as these? As it happened, among the first dozen letters received from subscribers to THE CENTURY, two were from solicitors in commercial practice. One wrote:—."l hava found already it 6 definitions of legal terms in commercial cases of real assistance in my advice to clients." The other wrote:—"l think that if solicitors having a general business knew how useful it was they would all have the book in their offices." A PRACTICAL BOOK AND HOW IT WAS MADE.. THE CENTURY is throughout the work of specialists and experts; there were in all as many as five hundred persons engaged in building up a work which, thanks to the perfected plan on which it is constructed, forms a harmonious whole. Nothing but the collaboration of a great number of specialists could produce a work which was, on the one hand, to be "constructed throughout from the point of view of practical utility," and, on the other hand, to be irreproachably accurate and scholarly. The epithet has so often been used in a somewhat contemptible sense that to call a book "practical" is almost to suggest that it is narrow, uninteresting, and serviceable but to one man out of a thousand— and to him only on one or two points. THE CENTURY covers the whole world of Nature and man's activities, containing, as it does, every word used in our language, and if all tho> things for which these words stand were,to be explained so precisely "as to be of service to the specialist," and simply enough " to be intelligible to the layman," the only way was to engage the service of practical men—of specialists practically concerned in the pursuit of their various interests. UNANSWERED QUESTIONS. Everyone who holds a Responsible position in an office, who does any independent work in which he is allowed to think for himself—and it is probably his own fault if a man feels that he is not required to think—has experienced the uneasy sensation of allowing a question to pass which would have been better answered. What is the meaning of this trade term, or the technical expression for this or that manufacturer's process, or the chief ingredient of some certain product? How is it sold, where does it come from, is it being superseded by another product? The question is unexpected, lies somewhat outside tho routine of work perhaps; if it comas at a moment when one's sense of curiosity is lively, one starts on a voyage round the office (someone may know the answer), and returns deeply impressed with othpr people's ignorance, or their incapacity for making a clear statement. One promises to ask So-and-So at lunch; one forgets. The question grows less and less important as others.;irise; as a matter of fact one may do fairly well without the answer; only how much better might one have done with it? If such question occurs to you to-day, another will occur to the man in the next room to-morrow, and a third to someone else in tile office the day after, and in the course of a; single week a very considerable number of questions pass unanswered in your office, and all because, among your particular reference books, you have not the universal reference book, which .offers you expert opinion on every subject. An unanswered question may mean a definite loss of profit; an answered question is always a gain—if only for a man's intelligent interest in the work which occupies the larger portion of his waking hours. THE WRITING OF A DIFFICULT LETTER. One of the main objects of those who planned THE CENTURY was to make " a more complete collection of the technical terms of the various sciences, arts, trades, and professions than has yet been attempted," and it is probably as a cyclopedia of trade and manufacture that THE CENTURY first recommends itself to business men. But the extreme care with which it performs the functions of a dictionary, as apart from a' cyclopedia and atlas, and traces the proper meaning of current words, is often of advantage in an office. 1 An important letter has to be written; much depends upon the correct and skilful wording of the letter. The accustomed commercial style would be out of place in this instance, and a discussion arises as to whether a certain epithet could not be replaced by another, by a word just as precise but sounding, perhaps, rather more .gracious. Now, besides being the most comprehensive, the most recent, the most beautifully illustrated cyclopedia ever published, THE 'CENTURY also contains the most perfect treatment of every word in the language. Not only, therefore, is the word in question thoroughly discussed, so that the ' inquirer may learn all that there is to learn about the word, and see how the best writers have employed it, but also THE CENTURY proceeds to compare the word with other words of a similar meaning, so that the inquirer is shown the right word for his purpose, and the important letter can be written in exactly the right tone. MATERIAL FROM WHICH TO FORM YOUR OWN JUDGMENT. Questions of finance and banking and insurance and commercial law, as well as the technical terms and processes of every sort of manufacture, are fully treated in THE CENTURY. How admirable the treatment is may be judged from a" single instance—that of insurance. In the illustrated book which "The Times" has prepared in order to givo as complete a description as is possible of THE CENTURY'S contents the great subject of insurance is taken up, and it is shown how THE CENTURY treats all the branches of this single subject. "The Times" offers THE CENTUR Yon the easy monthly payment plan. On receipt of an order with first payment the full set of ten royal quarto volumes is sent to tho booked address of the subscriber, who makes the subsequent small payments at the rate of less than five shillings per week. He thus has tho use of all the volumes while he is paying for them. The object of this offer is to bring THE CENTURY within the reach of those who might find it inconvenient to pay for the work in one sum, even though that sum be reduced by over 40 per cent, from the regular prices. THE TIME TO MAKE A BARGAIN. ' THE CENTURY is a necessity in every office. You will realise the fact and want tho book sooner or later. Why not secure a copy now, when the arrangements made by " The Times" enable you to become the possessor of THE CENTURY (handsomely bound in ten royal quarto volumes) at a great reduction 111 price and upon terms that make the payment of the reduced price so easy a matter? The plan adopted by " The Times " for the distribution of THE CENTURY offers for the moment an advantage to prompt applicants— the business ma,n will not lose the advantage by delay. THE CENTURY is now to be secured at a reduction of over 40 per cent, from the published price; but the offer is not for long—indeed, the reduction in price and the shortness of the period during which tho reduced offer can hold good are correlative, are inseparable factors in the bargain—the one depends upon the other. The advantage cannot be offered without imposing on those who delay a corresponding disadvantage. In the belief that THE CENTURY, both as a complete record—the one complete record—of our language and also as a cyclopedia of facts, was peculiarly fitted to meet the needs of the day, "The Times" undertook to put it within the reach of a large public by reducing its price, counting upon a very large sale in a very short time. ■ The limit of time, therefore, is a necessary condition to so considerable a reduction in price. But while a limit Ims necessarily been placed to the time durin" which the present offer of THE CENTURY can hold good, everything has been done to make the question of decision as easy as possible. He wlio is prompt is sure: therefore be sure to be prompt. THE INITIAL PAYMENT OP TEN SHILLINGS SECURES THE DELIVERY OP THE COMPLETE WORK. "THE oEErTirair." TEN HANDSOME VOLUMES, 12 inches high, 9| inches wide, 2{- inches thick, CONTAINS 7000 large quarto pages; 500,000 definitions; 7500 illustrations; 100,000 encyclopedic articles.; 300,000 quotations; 1 Over 300 full-page coloured maps. A NEW WORK ON A NEW PLAN. (Copyrighted 1902.) EVERY WORD DEFINED AND TRACED TO ITS SOURCE, AND EVERYTHING DESCRIBED. Specimen Volumes, Bindings, and .the Bookcase mat be Inspected, < and Orders Booked, at Messrs R. J. STARK & Co.; DRESDEN PIANO COMPANY; Mb , W. J. PRICTOR; and Mr J. BRAITHWAITE, Dunedin. THE CENTURY DICTIONARY & CYCLOPEDIA & ATLAS, aptly named " The Great Question Answerer,"is, we believe, the shortest path in the whole realm of knowledge, It is the best of all reference works, is much more usable than all others combined, and is acknowledged to be a practical necessity to every one who reads, writes or thinks. "THE TIMES" (London), NEW ZB&AND OFFICE: P-0. BOX 285, WELLINGTON. '