$06        Necessity  of  an  Early  Closing  Movement.    { ANn0VJembef.bim ' 
brick  and  glass  "  every  day,  sixteen  hours  a  day,  without,  many  of 
them,  God's  sunshine  and  fresh  air,  in  a  daily  grind  with  small 
details  that  wear  out  their  lives  before  their  time  ?  The  physician 
has  his  changes  of  air  and  scene,  his  variance  in  the  duties  of  his 
profession,  and,  in  many  cases,  some  leisure  hours  that  he  can  spend 
in  relaxation  and  self-culture.  But  the  pharmacist,  as  a  rule,  has 
the  same  dull,  deadly  routine  to  follow,  day  by  day,  month  by 
month,  and  year  by  year,  with  little  or  no  variance,  and  small 
chance,  in  many  cases,  for  personal  pleasure  or  personal  develop- 
ment. 
Why  is  this  ?  Simply  and  solely  because  the  pharmacist  himself 
has  so  willed  it.  He  has  educated  the  public  to  expect  it ;  and 
now  that  the  public  expects  it,  he  fears  to  adopt  "  shorter  hours," 
because  all  pharmacists  will  not  adopt  them  also  ;  and  other  phar- 
macists may  thrive  at  his  expense.  Drug  stores  are  so  numerous 
and  competition  is  so  keen,  in  these  strenuous  days,  that  he  feels  he 
dare  not  take  the  risk,  even  though  it  would  mean,  to  him,  years  of 
added  life.  But  surely,  if  the  small  retail  grocery  stores  of  Philadel- 
phia can,  by  common  agreement,  be  closed  almost  every  evening 
by  6  o'clock,  why  cannot  the  drug  stores  be  closed  at  reasonable 
hours  ? 
Believe  me,  there  is  no  real  necessity  for  such  long  hours  in  the 
drug  business.  It  is  a  common  thing  for  many  to  plead  that  retail 
drug  stores  should  be  kept  open  for  16  hours  a  day  because  the 
needs  of  the  sick  demand  it.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  needs  of  the 
sick  require  nothing  of  the  sort.  The  business  done  after  9  p.m., 
for  example,  could  just  as  well  be  done  before  that  hour,  if  the  pub- 
lic were  uneducated,  or  rather,  if  the  public  were  educated  to  see 
that  the  16-hour-a-day  service  is  fraught  with  serious  possibilities 
of  danger  to  itself  by  reason  of  the  strain  of  the  life-and-death 
work  required.  Human  nature  has  its  limitations,  and  the  nature  of 
pharmacists  is  human  nature.  The  public  condemns,  and  rightly, 
the  railroad  company  that  compels  the  engineers  of  its  passenger 
coaches  to  work  16  hours  a  day,  and  if  the  public  but  knew  of  the 
long  and  weary  watches  of  the  day  and  night  that  the  average  retail 
pharmacist  has  to  stand  guard  between  the  life  and  death  of  their 
loved  ones,  and  the  dangers  to  them,  both  of  omission  and  commis- 
sion, that  result  from  the  prolonged  mental  and  physical  strain, 
they  would  not  ask  for  a  reform ;  they  would  demand  it.  They 
