The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-24
ITO MODIFY SUNDAY LAW
FISH AND MEET DEALERS MEET
 WITH ALDERMEN.
Four Citizens Make Suggestions to Councils Judiciary Committee to Relieve CondftionsImpOsed
 Nv m Ordinance.

Four fresh meat and fish dealers or
 Montgomery last night appeared before
 the Judiciary Committee Of the City
 Council at a meeting held in the Coun-
 ell chamber for the purpose or giVins
 the views of this class Of mercnahts
 upon the question of closing tneir
 places on Sunday.
 The meeting lasted barely thirty
 minutes and, with the exception of W.
 B. Holmes. the dealers asked to be al-
 lowed to keep open sheir shops for
 brief time on Sunday morning Tor oe-
 livery purposes.
 The meeting was called to order al 8 o'clock by Chairman J. l.. Holloway. Other members of the Committee pres ent were Aldermen Gunter and A. l.. Tyson. Mayor Teague and City At torney Mcintyre were also in attend ance
 W. B. Holmes, a grocer and meat dealer of Mobile Street, vas the hrst citizen to speak. He openly expressed himself as being opposed to allowing any place of business to keep open on
 Sunday. He argued for several nm utes with the committeeman to con vince them that 1t was not right to allow fresh meat dealers to keep open their places of business which, in great many cases. are attached to grocery stores and as consequence groceries are sold on Sunday to the disadvantage of the grocers who are
 not allowed to keep open. He warmly urged the committee to have every store of this nature closed on Sunday However. if the Committee was bent upon allowing fresh meat dealers to remain open. he insisted that the Com mittee stipulate that the grocery de- partments be separate and distinct. The second dealer before the Com , f~h hA O ya- peared in behalf of the fish and oyster dealers of Montgomery. In the course of his informal talk he said that he had been informed that the business of the fresh meat dealers had already increased materially on account Of the fish and oyster dealers and tho meat dealers being prevented from deliver ing goods on Sunday. He said 1t was well known that fish could not be kept over night in an ordinary refrigerator without absorbing the taste of butter. milk or other eatables in the cooler, but that meat could be kept over with out its being damaged. Hence, great many of his customers were now buy ing meat on Saturday night for Sun day instead of fish and oysters. He said that the fish and oyster dealers had only three or four months in which to do their business and he asked for a little while on Sunday morning for
 delivery of his goods. He recommend ed to the Committee that 10 o'clock would be a suitable hour to require the
 fish and oyster dealers to close on Sum-
 day. As to the hours for the fresh
 meat dealers he had nothing to say.
 R. T. Lee, a grocer and fresh meat
 dealer of West End, spoke along the same lines as Mir. Sandwich. He was in favor of allowing fresh meat deal-
 CTS to keep open Sunday morning for
 the benefit of the poorer class of peo-
 pde who have no means of preserving their meats over night, especially in
 the summer months. Personally, from
 business standpoint, he held the same
 views as Mir. Holmes. but he was will ing to keep open to accommodate the poorer class. J. W. Jones, a fresh meat dealer of
 West End, briefly expressed himself in
 accord with the views of Mir. Lee.
 The Committee took the matter un-
 der consideration to submit a report at
 special meeting of the City Council at 7:30 o'clock tonight. At the adjournment of the open ses-
 sion, the committee went into execu- tive session to transact other business.