Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-07-09
THE BUSINESS HOURS OF BUSINESS



A leading English periodical comes to us
with puncent ESSAY BY some acute observer |
on the every day hab IS of Paris business
men, showing how much effective work |
they eOnlrive 10 perform in a marvellousiy |
short space of time. compared with the |
corresponding class in most other countries. i
The subject is a suggestive one, and not |
without personal interest to us on this side |
of the Aslantice where all work and no |
play is oftener the rule than the exception, |
and so we quote:
Business commences at a much carrier |
hour in Paris. BY seven o'clock IN summer
and eight o'clock in winter, business mel
who want to see business men, stockholders
who want to see their clients, or merchants
who want to conclude bargains, are up and
on foot. The banks, it is true, do not open
until nine IN the morning, but in all the
great financial establishments the heads OF
Offices are at their posts, the letters are
opened and the campaign of the day decided
upon an hour earlier than this. From eight
O'Clock in the morning to noon Is
the busiest time Of the day. AT the latter
hour, all who have not to be present at the
BOurse 90 to breakfast, and consider that
their hardest work is over. With business
men in Paris, breakfast is the heartiest
meal inthe day, and the time spent at II per-
haps the most enjoyable of the twenty-iour
hours. They do not hurry themselves. HAY
ing been up since seven or eight, and taking
nothing more substantial than cup OF
coffee and a roll. they are hungry enough
by noon to do full justice TO what IS set be-
| fore them. With hats and oyercoats hung
! up, napkins deliberately spread on knee
/ and general take-it-easy appearance, they
show a marked contrast to the London city
man, eating his luncheon against time and
| injury TO health, if not shortening his days
by the manner in which he gulps down his
food. In Paris the dejelmer Is rest to
the DAVIS labor. The worst Of the work Is
then over; what follows Is merely child 5
! play TO what has gone before. Letters have
to be written and signed; the result OF the
DAVIS BOuIse will have to be discussed, and
| plans for the next day have to bemade. But
| the real hard woTk-the talk by which
| man makes this bargain; concillates this
| c!eJitOT, or gets substantial security out OF
that debtor-is over, and the Partisan work
| inc brain is relaxed and released from It's
worry for the day."
| Ifthe c0mparisOn were extended to New
York, it could probably be shown that the
/ mercantile and general business routine
1
| the Parisian fashion. The reason Why the
Frenchman can dispose Of so much bust
ness. and vet have so much time, as IL were,
| to play is. doubtless, to be found in the
statement that he begins WORK a couple Of
hours sooner than other people do. The
| early hours. it must be admitted, are the
| freshest and best of the day, and in most
| cases man will do more work, and do II
better too. at that time than at any other
| time. In point of fact, business can hardly
De said to be under way in New Ork, III
summer or winter, much before ten O'Clock;
50 that il is well on to noon before bankers,
| brokers and merchants can be brought IN
| contact with their customers. Luncheon
| then intersenes; and into the fewremaininS
hours, therefore, pretty much all Of the
| heavy business Of the day has TO be crowded.
| The Partisan business man ''dOes not hurry
| himself" Ours does. In fact, we live IN
| an atmosphere of huTy-and whether II IS
the dejetmer. the making of bargain or
the closing Of a contract, it all proceeds
upon the serious conviction that as "busl-
| ness is business" the more you cram II into
| = given space Of time the reader VIII be
the acknowledgment of your enterprise and
push If we could change our habits, pos
| sibly we might lengthen our lives. The
| Frenchman proceeds by system; We trust
| too much 70 accident and chance. If We
! would CODY whatever is excellent in
| French fashions in this respect, probably
| We should encounter in the business world
more men than we do now, that are past
| the meridian OF life, and our eyes would
| not be 50 often saddened by the spectacle
Of the flag at haifTNst on the Exchanges,
to give notice that some active business
man has fallen at his post. Il IS not hard
work that Kills, but the uneven distribution
of the work The Partisan, 1t Is seen, does
as much thinking and makes as many bar
gains as other people, but the two hours
start he gets in the day gives him an i'm
mense advantage over Others whose habits
are not those Of the lark. The Stock EX-
change is composed in good part Of young
men. OF men in the meridian of life, with
but few among them too old to change their
habits. How would it be to open
the Board. say, al 5 o'clock A. NJ, and
adjourn at =. NJ? In that case, We are
inclined to think, "bullSr and "bears"
alike would be astonished TO find how much
time they would have on their hands for
recreation and rest in the after part Of the
dav. and how, as a result. the pale faces
the weary gait. the languor and the laSsi-
tuda. which are the sure products CT fever
ish Ilabitudes, would become less cOuSpic-
nous characteristics Of the men whom we
daily encounter, especially in and about
that ever-sUrging whirpOul-''the street.
|