Milford chronicle., 1905-09-01
ALL NIGHT SHOPPING.
rbe Latest Way In which Big stores
Use the Telephone.

rbe Latest Way In which Big stores
Use the Telephone.
The Boston fishermen, whose feet is
Ehe largest that sails to any fishing
ground from an American port,
laughed when they read the recent
report that a Norwegian has invented
a telephone by means Of which the
noise made by fish in the depths Of
the sea can be heard. Still some of
these fishermen have learned the truth
of the saying that wonders never
cease, and they will not go so far as
TO scoff at the idea that the telephone
may yet be a fixed feature Of the fish
ing industry. They have received with
equanimity the decision of one big mer-
chant to furnish his ships with steam
travis. and as for the telephone they
must have read lately by the light of
the forecastle lamp the news that
people in Boston are shopping at night
by telephone.
The night telephone shopper was first
heard of in Boston last year, but it
was not until this year that all the
big department stores found it advis-
able to adopt the novelty. Nowadays
the big Boston merchants print as a
feature of their daily advertisements
the announcement that their patrons
would do well to take advantage of the
night telephone service, which is in
tended not only to meet emergencies,
but to facilitate the correction Of mis-
takes.
Generally an emergency that arises
at night is of a most serious nature.
For example there is the demand for
doctor, for a clergyman. for the police,
for fremen, and these demands the
telephone has served so long that the
public in general thinks nothing about
il. But sometimes death comes into
a house late at night aud the mourn
ers find themselves without proper
apparel Here is an emergency in
which the telephone has not been of
service heretofore, but it is one that
the night telephone in the department
store can serve A call sent to one of
the big stores is attended to the first
thing in the morning, and in this sim
pie manner the mourners dispose Of a
matter that ordinarily is the cause Of
considerable confusion and delay
One Of the managers Of Boston de-
partment store says that the night tele-
phone clerk has some queer expert
ences. In the first place, upon him
falls the burden of complaints from
people who had expected their pur-
chases to be delivered during the after
noon or evening and who, through
some unavoidable combination Of cir
cumstances. were forced to retire for
the night without having the pleasure !
of unwrapping the bundles and exhibit !
ing their contents. Sometimes, too. a
woman who is going out of town early |
in the morning sees the night before in |
her paper an advertisement of some |
Thing she wants very much and which |
will be sold at special sale, say in the |
morning. In days gone by she would |
either have had to put herself under |
obligations to some friend to make the |
purchase for her or she would have had |
to lose the opportunity altogether. Now
she neither loses the opportunity nor ]
embarrasses n friend, for, calling up |
the night telephone clerk, she leaves |
her order with the assurance that it |
will have special attention as soon as |
the store opens.
Frequently people who have left |
town in the afternoon, after having |
forgotten to buy some needed article, |
telephone in to have it sent to them
the first thing in the morning In |
dozen other ways the night telephone
service in the department store is prov
ing its usefulness and the managers Of |
the stores expect that as soon as the |
public more fully understands the new
arrangement calls will come thick and |
fast during the still watches of the |
night.