Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-02-20
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
IN IOWA

/ &4@S@s@-S9sS&s@e @@Sse9@@aA@as
/ Eldora, Feb. 19--1t is only few
years ago that n general practice Of
keeping open the stores in all of our
Iowa towns till or 10 at night. WIS
common and prevalent. Then the large
cities established an early closing
movement. which has gradually work
ed out into towns of 5000 or 5.0D1
people Generally the hour of closing
lis 7:So p. H. this hour being establish
/ ed on the theory that the mechanics
and laboring men necessarily do 80
much of their trading after supper.
! Exceptions have always been ma lie
| in favor of holiday week and Satur-
days. 1t has remained, however. for
/ GrinneIl, town Of 1000 inhabitants, 10
try still another early closing moy.-
ment. Now the stores OF that city close
IS y. M. excepting Tuesday and Satnr-
! days evenings. this later move result
ing from the little trade these stores
had from 6 p. M. to 7:50 the former.
early closing hour The writer WAS
/ interested in knowing how this limo
walton was appreciated by the genera!
! public and finds as a rule 1t produces
little or no inconvenience. II goes
without saying that the clerks are a
unit in favor of the 6 O'Clock closing
hour. Then to get the owner of the
store, the employers side of the ques-
ton. the writer interviewed Andy
Mcintosh. owner of one of the big de-
partment stores of that city. Mr.,
Mcintosh ranks as one of the old
est merchants in town (posslbly Sam.
~ ~.
record) and Mr. Mcintosh says It is
the best thing the Grinnell merchants
ever took hold of. Not only do tn.
sales hold up as usual. but the public
now feel that the gain to the employers
in the way of social enjoyment and
recreation Is worth much to the COM
munity He says it is only ques-
ton of a short time. when the stores
in all OF our Iowa towns will close at
+ 2 p. m. on Saturdays and also have
a half holiday on Wednesdays. Andy"
forgot to mention the serious inconven-
fence this early closing movement is
to the man who found his recreation in
loafing N the stores every week day
night, and also the quiet of the streets.
giving Cir!nneil after 6 p. m, the ap
pearancv OF "a deserted village
go
Coming from Grinnell to this town
one strikes the same kind of people.
Eoth figure out that q saloon is not
necessary for the business prosperity
oil town. Both have big churches
and big school houses. Both show re-
markedly few failures in business cir
cles in succeeding years. And not to
introduce politics. both have tre-
inendous republican majorities. ex-
cepting when an independent" feeling
strikes them. Grinneli once helped
to elect 4 populist county treasurer.
and II Isl intimated that Eldora helped
elect an independent ticket in Hardin
county last fall.
But the writer started out TO use
T.ldora as an object lesson for those
OF our citizens who think rural free
delivery kills town. Hardin county
has what is known as the universal
free delivery system. That is. any
farmer ii, the county can have his mail
brought to him II he lives on we'll
kept and n-traveled road. and will
put up Il mail box. So that il the
killing process is going on. Eldorn
ought 10 be dead and buried by this
time On the contrary. each year
brings more business to the town. Each
year finds more business firms in town
and vacant store building. even on
the undo sirable side of the square. Is
not to be seen. It's the men that make
the towr.. The county fair n success
every year at Eldora, welcomed the
rural free delivery system as posss-
BILE gain to the trade of the town. and
used 1t L, that end. Iowa Fails,another
enterp-lsing town in Hardin county,
also has large number of rural free
delivery systems. and when any one
intimates that rural free delivery
system or any other system can kill
Iowa Falls 1t shows a lack of knowl-
edge of the business conditions of one
of the best towns in Iowa.
Sneaking of free delivery systems a
standing argument against them is
that the mail order houses of Chicago
do a big business by using them, the
inference being that the Iowa towns
lose just so much trade. In Manly
Junction there is a merchant by the
name of McKircher. who on the day
of the writer's last visit to the town
was engaged in preparing an adver-
tisement, naming prices. arranged as
follows:
Articles-McKircher Price = Mall
Order House Prices"
He thus invited the farmers to look
over the mail order houses catalog,
verify the quotation and then see the
price McKircher would sell that ar
ticle for. There is no question but
what IL other merchants in our Iowa
towns "affiicted" with the free delivery
system would use printers ink and the
columns of our county weeklies. fol-