TRADE  MARKS

285

vicinity  of  the  salmon’s  habitat.  So  the  label
was  reconstructed  and  made  a  work  of  art,
scientifically  and  piscatorially  correct,  and  not
a  mere  illegitimate  combination  of  wrong  details. ­
  Then  goods  with  the  new  and  authentic
label  were  shipped.  When  they  got  to  China
no  Chinaman  could  be  induced  to  buy  them.
They  became  dubious  at  once  of  the  changed
label.  Living  in  a  land  of  suspicion  they
knew  intuitively  that  some  designing  schemer
was  falsifying  their  favorite  trade  mark.
“No  samee  chop”  was  the  laconic  reply  when
told  that  these  were  the  old  and  well  known
goods  in  a  new  dress.  Argument  was  useless.
The  brand  was  completely  lost  to  the  market.
I  know  one  merchant  in  Hong-Kong  who  was
forced  to  throw  two  car-loads  of  this  salmon
into  the  sea,  because  space  in  his  “go-down”
or  warehouse  was  worth  more  than  that  occupied ­
  by  unsaleable  stock.
Should  you  for  some  reason  contemplate  altering ­
  your  trade  mark  or  the  color  or  shape  or
size  of  your  container,  always  take  the  wise
precaution  of  consulting  the  merchant  hand ­