The Leader, enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1915-1921, 1918-04-12
ARE OUR WOMEN
AT FAULT?
CIV Mrs. Lon Dickey.)

<By Mrs. Lon Dlckey.)
T." Tell us why it is that Fitzgerald's
stores close one hour later than those
OF other towns" committee asked
one of Fitzgerald's progressive mer-
| chants.
Because you women will it so" he
! quickly replied "We merchants held
a meeting to decide what changes to
make when the "Daylight-Saving'
law went into effect, and it was
brought out at this meeting that more
women came into our stores after six
o'clock than at any other hour of the
day. If you ladies wish to have US
| close at o'clock, it is up to you to
re-arrange your shopping hours, then
we will do our part"
| Here was another merchants view
of the situation. You ladies will take
notice." he said, that whenever you
are snapped up as you say, by
clerk, it is always near the close of
day, when bodily fatigue has put in
its work amounting sometimes to
great physical discomfort You dress
up in your pretty fresh clothes, come
sailing in at the eleventh hour, (and
it is the eleventh hour, exactly End
Eexpect a tired, WORKOUT young wo-
man, who has had no fresh clothes
since early. morning, and who, unlike
yourself, has had not one minute to
! lie down and rest in the heat of the
day, to smile and look pleasant and
I be patient with you. If you are un-
Eableoto come in before this, hour of
the day, our phone and our delivery
man is at your service. Yes, we'll CO.
: operate with you if you will do your
part"
Ladies, we have all been doing that
very thing, yet it took our merchants,
whom we thought were at fault, to
show us our thoughtfulness. Cannot
we do hits for our business men and
women, and our towns good name,
for our reputation has gone out over
the country and our neighbours eyes
are focused upon us to see what we
are going to do.
| In the beginning, let US make /.
clear, that it is not the desire of any
woman's organization to force early
hours upon business houses. We were
already keeping open one hour longer
than the business houses of our sur
rounding towns, opening half-hour
earlier and closing half-hour later.
The days will be growing longer soon
and the matter of opening in no way
concerns the shoppers, the question
lis entirely concerning the hour of
closing.
1--WE have the right to shop when
ever we please" you say. The ques-
ton is not Have we not the right
to do thus and so if we wish" the
question is, rs it right?"
| Al. ~
open one-half earlier, thereby gaining
the full hour named in the Calder
bill, which distinctly says, That
working people might arrive home
one hour earlier for the purpose of
cultivating their garden spot, or to
participate in tennis or baseball"
have the half-dozen clerks in one
store the right to object, as one mer-
chant claims, when there are a hum
dred or more who are desiring it rec
ognizing it as Distinctly war meas
ure, meant to get people earlier to
bed with resultant saving of fuel
and lights?" and that ITO be success
full and avoid confusion, the change
must be universal"
| Obedience the Keynote
Obedience to the law is the key
note to success in the "Daylight-Sav-
ing" plan, and lack of obedience IS
certain to bring about just such con-
fusion as has resulted right here in
our town by our failure to measure I'D
one hundred per cent patriotic, for by
splitting this hour, given every Amer
lcan, even to the humblest negro, we
have measured up only fifty per cent
patriotic, and are robbing our work
ing people of one-half of their rights.
| Quoting Marcus M. Marks, presi-
dent of the National Daylight Saving
Association, the Literary Digest said,
before the measure became law, at
would be quite an effort for those ac-
customed to rise at seven o'clock to
get up at six; but when the clock
says seven, habit asserts itself and in
a few days no one remembers that
the clock has been advanced"
In the "hfty-hfty" plan adopted by
our merchants, which they claim was
caused by our late shopping hours. it
seems 70 us that-an opportunity was
irrevocably lost for habit to assert
itself" by our failure to fall in line
with the beginning of the law. and it
should be the aim of every woman in
fitzgerald to begin now and set our-
selves right by clearing out of our
stores at exactly SIS o'clock P. M.
and HE ourselves to our excellent ice
cream parlors where we are invited
to- dress up and buy as long as our
money lasts or our credit is\ good.
when our merchants will have sold
Just as much, only at dicerent hour
Following is sample of letters re-
ceiyed from other towns about us:
Replying to your favor of the 5th
INST, relative to changes made bv
Vaidosta merchants in the opening
and closing of stores since the DAY,
iilght-Saving" law came into force !
Deg to advise that our business men
observe the new time strictly, closing
their stores at 600 o'clock and open
ing at the usual hour. In other words
we have forgotten that there was ever
any other time than that by which
we are now governed.
AS to the Thursday half-holidavs
there has been no agitation of This