Thur» , Jan 29 1981 (Sec 1) S A N D Y (O re ) P O S T —3
Book lists famous, anonymous heroes
by BARBARA
WATERHOUSE
For The Post
Stuff photo
Sandy optometrist Robert Schouten is president and own-r of a Barter Systems Ine. Portland-area franchise, headquartered
in Tigard.
Local man works to revive bartering
Remember trading as a
child? Remember swaping
marbles for baseball cards
or comics for doll clothes?
Or perhaps you remember
grandma trading eggs for
milk.
Well, a Sandy man wants
to bring back the age-old
practice of bartering by
polishing it to meet today’s
business needs
Sandy optometrist Robert
Schouten *8 Barter Systems
Inc.,
a
Portland-area
franchise of a national ex
change, acts as modern-day
clearing house for cashless
transactions.
For $300 annual mem
bership fee and $50 initial set
up fee, a business person can
become a subscriber and
participate in a broader
Fire alarms
down during
last 2 weeks
Alarms have been slow
during the past two weeks at
the Sandy Fire district and
that seems to suit everyone
just fine.
“Chimney fires are looking
really good.” according to
Jim Gallagher, fire marshal.
“It’s hit us kind of spotty. We
haven’t had any major
problems with it."
During the two-week
period the district did
respond to three chimney
fires, but none created more
than minor damage That is
significantly improved over
lust year when the district
responded to about 20 during
the year And that figure was
considered a major im
provement over 1979
Gallagher credits a better
awareness among the
residents concerning the
problems and dangers of
unchecked woodstove in
stallations and caked-up
chimneys for the decrease in
the number of woodburning-
related incidents.
market place where others
with goods and services are
willing to trade.
Dr Schouten says it opens
new doors for many
business.
Examples include a
subscriber who wanted a
special belt phone and found
one in trade through the
service.
S c h o u te n ,
h im s e lf,
markets special insignia
glasses as far as South
Carolina through the com
puterized exchange service.
A subscribing business
barters its goods at fair
market value (retail price)
for trade credits that may be
spent with any other
member
So far nearly 200 sub
scribers have joined the
year-old Portland franchise
of Barter Systems.
Dr. Schouten, one of the
first local members, pur
chased the Portland fran
chise six months ago.
Since then he has solicited
a dozen new members in his
hometown of Sandy. Local
subscribers include a dentist,
a departm ent store, a
photographer, an accountant
ami an auto repair shop.
New members list their
goods or services for trade
through a national com
puterized listing service.
When another member
desires this product, the
exchange service links the
two barterers.
When goods are delivered,
the exchange service credits
the senders account with
“ trade
units"
that
correspond to cash.
When a purchase is made,
the exchange service acts as
a bank and debits the
recipient’s account.
In fact, Barter Systems
works much like a bank in
providing control, record-
keeping and administration
for barter activities. It
serves as a personal broker
to buy and sell nationwide or
even internationally.
It provides subscribers
with regular statements for
tax purposes.
As middle man to the
t r a n s a c tio n s ,
B a r te r
Systems earns a 10 percent
fee for all transactions. That
also is paid in trade units.
Dr. Schouten sees the
future for modern bartering
as bright.
“Inflationary times has
helped this business. It
doesn’t disturb a business'
cash flow."
Indeed, bartering seems to
be growing in popularity. A
Ixis Angeles-based barter
club has 4,700 subscribers. In
all, an estimated $250 billion
in goods and services is
traded each year by
Americans.
Dr. Schouten, says he can
make that trading easier and
more profitable.
For instance, he recently
located a 911 Porsche that a
Portland-area tire shop
owner wanted in trade for
tires. Schouten said the deal
can be consummated, just as
soon as he finds a place to
store all those tires.
“Famous Americans You
Never Knew Existed," by
Bruce Felton and Mark
Fowler, is a fascinating book
full of cranks, quacks,
fanatics,
heroes
and
dreamers.
Here is a book to read
during commercials. There
are short stories tand true)
for every taste.
One was General John
Sedgwick. While supervising
the emplacement of Union
artillery during the battle of
Spottsylvania, Sedgwick
rebuked some men who were
cowering to avoid enemy
fire.
“Come. Come," he said,
“Why, they couldn’t hit an
elephant at this dist...”
In 1914, Mary Phelps Jacob
(later known as Caresse
Crosby) was a dazzling and
unconventional debutante of
19 — the star of the New York
social season like so many
well-endowed young women,
she yearned for freedom —
freedom from the tight laces
of her whalebone corset.
While dressing for a swank
dance, she committed an act
of dainty rebellion. With the
connivance of her French
maid, she stitched together
two lace handkerchiefs and a
saucy pink ribbon creating a
garment that was to play a
major supporting role in the
20th century: the first
modern brassiere.
She disturbed the young
men from Yale and Prince
ton with her god-given
shape, and soon her friends
were begging her to sew bras
for them. When a total
stranger wrote to ask for a
sample of her “contraption,"
enclosing a dollar, she
realized the potential for her
design and applied for a
patent.
After an unsuccessful
attempt to produce and
market the “ Backless
Brassiere,” she sold her
patent to the Warner
Brothers Corset Company
for $15,000 She was gypped
Over the next two decades,
Mary Jacobs bra earned
Warner Brothers more than
$20 million.
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GUARAN
TEE.
3 positions
open on board
'I’hree positions on the
Sandy Fire District Board of
Directors will be up for
election at the March 31
election, according to Fire
Chief Bob Rathke.
Prospective
candidates
must file for the positions by
Feb 24, he said. Petitions are
available at the main fire
station in Sandy Twenty-five
valid
signatures
are
necessary for a name to be
placed on the ballot by the
petition route. Otherwise',
filing fee is$10.
The
three
at-large
positions will consist of two
four-year terms and one two-
year term.
Illegal use
of utility
investigated
The city is investigating
complaints that someone has
been dumping sewage down
manholes in Sandy streets
and local officials are asking
the public’s help to stop the
activity
If any resident witnesses
another person dumping
anything
down
city
manholes, they are asked to
notify the Sandy police and
take down the license
number of the vehicle.
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