I immediately opened up conversation with him, and learned he was from a small town in Illinois, whence he had started as a canvasser, selling nutmeg-graters.
I asked how he was doing. He said he had been out three days, and hadn't sold a grater.
I asked if he had worked hard, and he said yes, but he hadn't "nerve" enough for that business.
I asked him to show me one, which he did.
They were a very novel, ingenious thing, and I asked him about the price.
He said he could sell them for twenty-five cents, and make money. I told him he could sell more at fifty cents each, than he could at twenty-five.
He said he couldn't see how that could be, and I reminded him of what Barnum said about the American people.
To this he replied: "By gol, I'll be gosh durn glad to sell all I have fer just what they cost me."
"How much would that be?"
"One dollar and fifty cents per dozen," he answered.