596 



The Review of Reviews, 



THE STORY OF ADVERTISING. 



It is a most romantic story tliat Herbert N. C'as- 

 bon unfolds in T/ic Miiiisev, a storv of brilliant en- 

 ter])rist^, of great " scoops." As he s.a\s. what ad- 

 Ncrtising has done for commerce and ])ros])eritv is a 

 storv that would fill volumes. It has created cities 

 as well as trades. It has giwii us big sales with 

 small i)rofits, instead of small sales with ])ig ])rohts. 

 It has helped the bu\er and the seller alike. It 

 lias tensed the whole nation uj) to a finer sense of 

 comfort and a higher concejjtion of success. 



Uf the lirst-class ad\-ertisement it is laid down 

 that the bait 



innst 1)9 in tlie upper piii't of the advertisement, for the 

 reason that the eye sees the top of a page first. And the 

 booli, if you please, must . be at the bottom of the 

 page. A:ttention above; aotioji below. 



It is known, too, that an advertisement is effective in 

 so far as it can represent the reader's point of view. It 

 is better to say, " Cut down .vour soap bill '" than to say, 

 " Buy .vour soap from me." It is better to converse with 

 a man about his own needs than to shout at him about 

 your own ■commodities. Talk to the people about wha.t they 

 want, aTid about what you will be well pleased to sell them 

 at a fair price — ^tha.t is the motif of the modern advertiser 

 who succeeds. 



In every series of advertisements there must als<j be the 

 two elements of novelty and repetition. There must l)e 

 novelty, to attract attention; and there must be repetition, 

 so that the reader will not forget. That advertisentent is 

 best, perhaps, which caii t-ombiue most happily the old and 

 the new, so that it a.ttra<'ts and pleases everybody, like 

 " Home, Sweet Home." witli variations. 



THE FRENCH PORTS IN THE 

 PACIFIC. 



This is the subject of an article bv L. (1. .\umile 

 in the No/rc'tiii' Rcv//c of Septeml)er 15. 



At the end of 191 i tlie French Colonial Minister 

 sent a mission to the .Antilles and to the Pacific tv 

 report ujjon the works it would 'be necessary to carry 

 out to jnit France's distant ports into a condition to 

 iecei\-e the traffic consequent iijx>n the opening of the 

 Panama Canal. The chief object of the mission, 

 howexer, was the examination of the ]>orts in the 

 Pacific. The substitution of oil for coal may 

 increa.se the period of action of ships, but the time 

 required for crossing the Pacific is too long for ships 

 to accomplish the A'oyage without break. Ports and 

 coal are still necessary and a country comparativelv 

 improductive may attain wonderful i)rosperitv if it 

 happens to be situated on an important maritime 

 route. As it is doubtful whether the P'rench Cham- 

 ber would gi\e the millions to create a modern port 

 in the Pacific, the writer suggests that a comjxany 

 should be farmed, guaranteed by the State, to carry 

 <iut such a scheme. Port Phaeton, on the south coast 

 of Tahiti, is suggested as the best jwsition in Tahiti, 

 and the island of Rapa, in the south of the Aj-chi- 

 pelago, is considered the most suitable for another 

 port. 



