Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1901-06-27
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Audubon. Iowa. June, 20. 1901.

Audubon, O June, 20, 1907.
We close July 4th. at Ten o'clock
! a. m. for the balance of the day.
] Beginning July 5th and continuing during the
! heated term, we will close at 6 o'clock each
I day, Saturday excepted. :
j We have frequently been asked if we found it paid to close our
s store at6 o'clock when none of the other stores do,and if we did not
s think we lost considerable trade by doing SO.
We do not close ats o'clock because we think it does or does not
! pay. and no doubt, in fact We know. we lose some trade by it.
We close because we desire to give our clerks a little chance to
Z get out of the store during the most depressing season of the
7 Merchants and clerks put in more hours, the year around, than
$ any other class of workman we know anything about. They have
I fewer opportunities for vacation, for a rule the days that most
everyone else is having a holiday, is the day they must work the
= hardest. They work day after day and every day in the year, ex
cept Sunday,-and some proprietors even try to include Sunday i
from early morning to at least eight o nine o'clock at night.
: Some years ago, an effort was made by us 1--WE was then a clerk
and some other clerks, to regulate the hours of closing, which was
i at that time from 10 o'clock to any old time; we circulated a petit
ton among the merchants, which all, except one "store keeper !
q signed, agreeing to close at s o'clock.
For a year we had pretty hard work holding some of the over
Jealous nickel chasers in line, but the s o'clock rule finally become !
- ~ uuGu lHe CUSTOM Oh lue tOWu, tuaU III n dQ any business I've
: if they kept open.
4 This condition continued satisfactorily up to within a few years
= ago. when some of the merchants who We're in the original move
ment quit business. others came in to take their places, and some
: of the newcomers, not following the s o'clock custom, have grad
uaNy caused the once rigid s O'Clock rule to stretch out to $50
: then 900 and now with the majority of the merchants and all the
"store keepers" it is any time the proprietor happens to feel like
quitting.
In justice to some Of the merchants who keep open. we Wis to
say that they do not compel the clerks to remain after 8 O'Clock,
~ and would agree to close their store If their competitors would.
We have always believed that merchants and clerks are compen-
ed to put in too many hours for the amount of business done, and
: while it is sometimes convenient to customers to be able to buy
goods at all hours, the convenience to the few does not compensate
for the extra hours caused to the many clerks who re compelled
: to work late in order to serve them.
While closing at 8 o'clock was a great improvement it did not
go as far as it should, 50 we have for several years closed at 6
o'clock during the extreme hot weather when working indoors is
! especially tresome.
= We believe there is no good OF just reason why all the stores in
Audubon could not close at 6 O'Clock as we'll as sal s or 10 o'clock,
withEpossibly Drug store excepted, and Grocery store closing at Z
y instead of 6 o'clock.
We do not, however, expect to see the emancipation of pro-
prietors from their own eagerness after trade, or the clerks from
~ the demands of their employer; at least not as long as there are
r. "store keepers" in business.
We have said much more than we intended when we started, but
q we trust we have made it clear to all WHY we close at six and we
: hope our customers will cooperate with US in our endeavor to give
our clerks the chance for a breathing spell" and will, SO far as
possible, do their trading before six.
during july ana august Is the cleaning up
= time for us and bargains are the rule.
Last week we mentioned some of the bar
& gains we bought while in Chicago recently,
2 and after the Fourth we will bring forth all
y remnants, broken lines and seasonable goods
and sell them at bargain prices.
/ &4aii:VlE3Y!:3:!Iq
Valentine Leonard of Dougler town Ed Frick IT. ume :, Mac ,,o;aoa
ship has bought Joe Sweeney farm out connie IT. DAYS ihe first of e ma es