a standing commission on all goods bought by firms whose custom was
secured through his influence. As the commission continues as long as
the customer continues the trade at that house, some agents, after a few
years of active work are enabled to retire on incomes of $2,000, $3,000,
and in some cases of $5,000 a year. The business done by drummers is
immense. Three hundred million tons of goods are shipped by them yearly,
and the business amounts to nearly $2,000,000 a day.