Ai^VJembef,ti906!J'}    Practical  Experience  with  Sunday  Closing.  517 
About  twelve  years  ago  we  started  to  close  on  Sunday  afternoon 
from  one  to  six  o'clock  and  have  continuously  been  doing  so  ever 
since,  and  we  know  of  no  reason,  either  commercial  or  ethical,  for 
changing  back  to  the  old  plan.  No  trouble  has  been  experienced 
with  any  of  our  customers,  as  they  have  always  been  perfectly  fair 
in  conceding  that  we  had  a  perfect  right  to  the  day  of  rest  just  the 
same  as  they  themselves  demanded  in  their  own  right  on  their  own 
behalf. 
Leaving  out  of  the  question  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from 
the  loyalty  and  earnestness  stimulated  in  the  employees  of  an  estab- 
lishment that  always  considers  their  interests  as  well  as  the  purely 
commercial  phases  of  a  proposition  in  making  rules  for  management, 
it  is  a  fact  that  there  has  been  no  loss  of  business  as  a  result. 
It  is  very  rarely  that  we  are  disturbed  by  the  ringing  of  the  night 
bell,  and  if  this  is  ever  done  by  any  one  without  a  real  necessity  for 
excuse,  service  is  politely  but  firmly  declined  and  the  person  invited 
to  call  during  the  hours  set  aside  for  business. 
My  opinion  personally  on  this  question  in  its  relation  to  the  drug 
business  at  large  is  that  it  will  be  decided  according  to  the  predi- 
lections and  views  of  each  individual  proprietor,  and  after  a  few  of 
those  having  the  courage  born  of  a  conviction  as  to  what  is  their 
just  due  have  demonstrated  the  feasibility  of  the  movement,  it  will 
come  to  be  regarded  as  a  matter  of  course  and  accepted  as  a  neces- 
sity by  the  public  generally  and  a  large  majority  of  pharmacists 
themselves. 
W.  L.  Cliffe. 
The  closing  of  drug  stores  on  Sunday  is  a  subject  of  vital  interest. 
That  there  is  an  increasing  sentiment  in  favor  of  a  closed  Sunday  and 
shorter  hours  during  the  week  is  in  line  with  genuine  progress.  Every 
druggist  knows  that  Sunday  customers  and  late  customers  are  such 
largely  through  habit,  and  that  genuine  emergency  cases  are  very  rare, 
and,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  they  occur  because  the  drug  stores  are 
open  waiting  for  just  such  trouble.  The  druggists  of  any  city  or  town 
can  educate  the  people  in  one  month  to  buy  their  medicines  and 
drug-store  supplies  on  week-days  and  during  proper  hours.  Were 
druggists  to  adhere  more  strictly  to  self-respecting  business  methods, 
including  Sunday  closing  and  shorter  hours,  they  would  be  more 
respected  by  the  people,  would  make  fully  as  much  money,  enjoy 
