Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-03-04
An Old Merchants Recollections.

An Old Merchants Recollections.
Our great cities have new wonder
Of late years. l mean those immense
dry-goods stores which We see in Paris,
London, New York, Vienna, Boston,
Cincinnati, Chicago, in which are dis
played under one roof almost all the
things worn, or used for domestic pur-
poses, by man, woman or child.
What splendid and cheering spec.
tacle the interior presents on q fine,
bright dayl The counters tossing sea
OF brilliant fabrics; crowds of ladies'
moving in all directions; the clerks,
well-dreesed and polite, exhibiting
their goods; the cash boys flying about
with money in one hand and bundle
in the other; customers streaming in at
every door; and customers passing ont.
with the satisfied air of people who have
got what they want.
1t gives the visitor cheerful idea OF
abundance to see such q provision Of
comfortable and pleasant things,
brought from every quarter of the
globe. ..... n.I,4. ~
An old dry-goods merchant of Lon
don, now nearly ninety. end long ago
retired from business with large for
tune, has given his recollections of bust
ness in the good old times. There is a
periodical called the Draper's Magazine,
devoted to the dry-goods business, and
it is in this that some months ago he
told his story ',.. hne go.
When he was few months past thir.
teen, being stout and large for his age,
he was placed in o London dry-goods
store, as boy Of all work. No wages
were given him. At that tine the
clerks in stores usually boarded with
their employer.1i'.l1 ~
On, the first night Of his service,
when il was time to go to bed, no was
shown low, truckle bedstead, under
the counter, made to pull out and push
in. But he did not have even this bed
to himself, but shared it with another
boy from the store. ,g.oVr v' "''
On getting up in the morning, in
stead of washing and dressing for the
day, he was obliged to put on some old
clothes, take down the shutters of the
Store which were SO heavy he could
hardly carry them. then clean the brass
signs, and the outside Of the shop win
dows, leaving the ineide to be washed
by the older clerks. When he had
done this, he was allowed to 60 up
stairs, wash himself, dress for the day,
and to eat his breakfast. Then he took
his place behind the counter. I.
We think il wrong for boys usdsr
fourteen totwork ten hours day. But
In. the stores Of the nolden time, both
boys and men worked from fourteen to
sixteen hours . day, and nothing was
tho1ght OF it. The store, for example,
vas opened soon after eight in tho
morning, and the shutters were not put
up till ten ID the evening. -,
There was much work to do after the
store was closed; and the young men,
in fact, were usually released from labor
about quarter past eleven. csat,ed
On Saturday nights the store closed
at twelve O'Clock, and it was not un-
common for the young men to be en-
ployed in putting away the goods until
between two and three on Sunday morn
ing. | . IL -; I'm rs. No
"There used 10 be-" the old gentle
man records, - supper Of hot beef
steaks and onions. and porter, which We
boys used TO relish immensely, and eat
and drink . good deal more of both
than was good for u.s." "' nv,
After such weeks work, one would
think the clerks would have required
rest on Sunday. But they did not get
much. The store was open from eight
until church time, which was then
eleven O'Clock; and this was one OF the
most profitable mornings OF the week.
The old gentleman explains why it
was 90. Almost all factories, shops and
stores we're then kept open very late,
and the last thing done in them was to
pay wages, which was seldom accom-
plished until after midnight. Hence,
the apparent necessity for the Sunday
mornings business. a.t... :.
Another great evil mentioned by our
chronicler grew out OF this bad system
Of all work aud no play. Tue clerks,
released from business towards mid
night, were accustomed to 60 to q tav-
ern and spend part of the night in
drinking and carousing; reeling home
ct late hour, much the worse for drink,
and unfit for business in the morning
until they had taken another glass.
All day the clerks were in the habit
of slipping out without their hats to the
nearest tap-room for beer.
Nor was the system very different in
New York. An aged clerk to whom I
gave an outline of the old gentleman's
narrative, informs me that forty years
ago the clerks, as rule, were detained
till very late in the evening, and often
went from the store straight to drink
ing-house.
Now, let us see how it Jared with the
public who depended upon these stores
for their dry goods. From our old gen.
tenaan's account, it would seem that
every transaction was q sort Of battle
between the buyer and seller to see
which should cheat the other On the
FIRST day of his attendance he witnessed
specimen Of the mode in which ,lex-
ferrous clerk could cell an article to q
lady which ahe did not wait An un
skillful clerk lad displayed too sudden
Iy the entire stock OF the goods in
which she was in search; up'n which
she rose to leave. saying that there was
nothing she liked. 4 more expert
enced eAiesmsn then stepped ~.
"Walk this way, ma .au, If you
please. and | "ill show yon sul- e,hiDg