Evening star., 1895-06-07
Merchants Fully in Line on Early
Closing Question.
BUYERS AND CLERKS In ACTOR!
One Line Where 1t VIII Not Work
Practically.
THE JEWELERS. POSITION

place of business. Customers like it. for
they realize that the place Is one where the
employees are treated with proper and
kindly consideration, and where the
employers are good people to have dealings
with. The employers themselves like 1t.
for they know that the people who work
for them appreciate their treatment, and
that their services are all the more val
liable for the brief seasons of rest and rec
reation, which send them back refreshed
| and ready for the labors of another day.
When a rule works three ways equally
well it is hard to see why any one should
| refrain from adopting it. In point of fact,
the rule will be far more generally followed
this summer than ever before.
The publica ton in The Star last evening
Of the statements Of several OF Washlng-
tons leading firms to the effect that tney
favored early closing and would DO al IN
their power to forward the movement was
received with considerable satisfaction on
all sides. The people who are inconve-
nienced by early closing are so rev as com
pared with the many who reap lnestlnlaoie
benefits from 1t that the few are naturally
tempted to waive any objection they may
feel and join in the general refrain OF pop
uiar commentator. 1t Is the old rule OF
the greatest good to the greatest numper.
Falling in Line.
A number of firms that at first were in
doubt as to whether to. join the procession
were convinced by the statements of such
conservative but progressive business peo-
Pile as were quoted yesterday, and are get
ting in close up to the band wagon.
Who will be the next to come out In favor
of shorter hours during the heated term
when business is slack anyway?
A movement such as this frequently
needs cooperation to make 1t success
A man does not care to shut up shop when
his rivals on the same block are open ana
on the lookout for any of his customers
that may drift along. 1t is curious, though
and interesting to know how little 1t takes
to get the two together il one goes about
it right. A case in point may be cited
without doing any HARM On one of Wash
ington's chief thoroughfares are two big
stores which handle the same line of goods.
Each is the others chief rival. For OBJ
viouS reasons they Will not be named, but
may as well be designated as y and Y, the
terms used in algebra to express the un-
known quantities.
A Star reporter called upon both today.
and the conversations that followed were
something like to this:
'Mr. X, are you going to adopt early clos
ing this summer"
'Well, 1 would like to, but am not sure
whether can make it go or not this year
You see, we adopted it two years ago, but
last year we failed to get concerted action
and the thing fell through. I have half
mind to try II, but l hate the idea of Y,
up the street there, keeping open when my
front doors are closed. Now, il he would
only agree to it We would be only too glad
to follow suit
Then few minutes later, and block or
two away:
Mr.. Y. are you going to adopt early
closing this SUMMER
Il want to very much. and the only thing
that stands in the way Is ks store. I
don't care for any one else. but IL he would
l would, too
But he says he is going to. II you will"
Then that settles it. You can put me
dowE in the list
From which it can be seen what an easy
thing it is to get shorter hours during a
lcng summer for several hundred clerks.
One Line.
One of the very few lines of business
here early closing is not looked upon with
much favor is retail clothing. The Gus
toners at these stores are, for the most
part, men, and many of them are not at
leisure until after o'clock. Saturday be-
ing SO often pay day" makes Saturday
evening the busiest time of the week in
readymade clothing stores, and there is
undoubtedly justice in the claim of the
proprietors that to shut up early on Sat
urday. would work a positive hardship on
4 large class of people, as well as shutting
ont the stores from big section of their
trade.
saks & Company said that they would
like to on principle, but that in practice it
would not work. They close at + every
day but Saturday. when they are COM
PEELED to keep open considerably later. If
their customers We're women, as is the case
with the dry goods stores. they would
willingly join the ranks of the early closers
Robinson. Cherry & Company expressed
practically the same view of the situation
as it affected them.
The jewelers..
The rule that applies to necessities does
not necessarily apply to the luxuries of
the city all seem to think that there is no
good reason why they should keep open
until a late hour every evening, when the
chances are all against their doing enough
business to make it worth while. People
who are in quest of gold watches and large
diamonds can just as well buy them before
o'clock as after that hour. and six and a
half days a week are enough for any one
to devote to the purchase. 1t is foolish
anyhow, to buy precious stones by gas
light.
Gait & Brother said that they were going
to live up to the early closing movement
this year as they had in past years. 1t
had proved so thoroughly satisfactory in
every way that they were going to close at
a reasonable time whether their competi-
tors keep open or not Five in the after
noon is late enough for them, and l o'clock
on Saturdays, after July 1.
Harris & Shafer will follow suit in all
but the half holiday on Saturday. They
on large section of their customers, es-
pecial1y those who are employed in the
departments, who would thus be dcbarred
from the privilege of spending their sur
plus wealth in jewelry.
Other Gases.
W. B. Moses Sons: I'VE have always
found it pays to close early during the
heated term. I doubt II we ever lose much
by it, for, it is easy enough for the public
to accommodate itself to the new hours
We shall close at this summer. with a
half holiday on Saturday, during July and
August"
Craig & Harding said that they would
certainly close at 8, but have not yet de-
cided as to the advisability of still earlier
hours on Saturday.
Similar stories come from all sides and in
all lines of business.
Last year there was an efcrt made to
have the dealers in paints, oil and glass
agree to the early closing system. 1t failed
because two of the dozen or more firms in
the city refused to accede to the wishes of
the others. Mr.. Charles e. Hodgisin, has
started the ball to rolling again this year.
and there is every reason to think that his