The Hawaiian gazette., 1909-11-16
EVENING WORKING HOURS ARE
VERY UNPOPULAR WITH MANY
Advertiser Receives Protests From Many SoucesEmpOyers
and Employees Alike Fail to See Merit
In Suggestion.

just offhand, without any previous
thought on the subject, by soldiers any
more than civilians; and your soldier
having decided to buy something or
other, be it curio, apparel, kodak or
other article, he, like his civilian
friend, wants to see it by daylight. He
will come into town at night, take
in the shows, drink his Refreshments,
have good time, but any purchase
such as he would be likely to make
from any firm represented in the mer.
chants association, other than perhaps
Mr.. Smiths one line, drugs, he will de.
lay till some time when he wishes to
take daylight liberty.
But, returning to your editorial, clio
nolulu has to move with the spirit of
the times. The period when it was
quite safe to slam shop door in a
customers face and relying on him re.
turning the next day is past.' Was
it ever safe in Honolulu to slam a
door in customer g face and rely upon
him to return the next dayf Is there
any member of the merchants associ-
alton who ever tried iti Honolulu has
to move with the spirit Of the times,
and the spirit Of the times all over the
mainland is toward shorter hours and
no night opening for all classes of re-
tail stores California cities were pio-
neers in this movement, and today
cities and towns throughout the whole
United States are falling in line. Old
81 Plunkett that kept the village store
in your town or my town, Mr.. Editor,
where all the "boys" used to drop in
and swap yarns till ten O'Clock every
evening, while sitting on the sugar bar.
rel with feet on the cracker-box, Won
dered how the smart young city fell
low ever expected to make living
when he opened a new store, ran a
delivery wagon, and closed every even
ing at six o'clock But that smart
young city fellow is the man with the
, leading grocery business in that town
now, and the chances are 81 went bank
, rupt. It's not hours that's going to dc
, the business; good goods, proper prices
. and the right kind of clerks will sell
| the goods, regardless of the hours the
merchant has his shop opened.
! Do you mean to say, Mr.. Editor, tha
Honolulu and Honolulu's white mer
5 chants would be progressing if the,
should fall in line and "fx thei
hours" to jibe with those of their orr
! entail neighbors7 To my mind, such ;
step would be decidedly retrogressive
and a case of the tail wagging the dog
One other point that should be touch
ed on; that is the labor point. An.
firm which has to depend upon an oc
: casional recruit from the MAINLAND
knows the difficulties they have in get
ting first-class help who will come her
! with the idea of remaining longer tina
= year or so. If this is true under pres
|: emit conditions, how much more Difficult
. +. would it be if business hours were ex
! tended to take in the evening hours a
g well.
. The merchants association has to
q many other problems of value to them
a selves and the community to vast
4 time with this one. 1t is not prob
;. lem for general, but one for individ
ual, solution.
q Thanking you for space, ! remain
. yours truly, MERCHANT.