EARLY CLOSING.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3749, 3 January 1881, Page 2

EARLY CLOSING.

(To the Editor of th<j Evesixg Stab.) Sir,—Will you allow me through the columns of your valuable, paper to call attention to the late hour at which some of the shops on the Thames are kept open in comparison with establishments of the description elsewhere. This custom is not at all fair towards the employes, as

it gi'-es them no opportunities for study

or selfimprovement, as, when a man is ' confined to work from seven (or eight at latest) in the morning till nine or ten o'clock at night—during which hoars I see several shops are kept open,—he is totally deprived of all chances of attending lectures or public meetings of any description, or even of attending at the Public Library for the purposes of study, as this institution closes, I believe, at 9 p.m. While the low standard of wages prevailing here is such as to render the acquisition of books an almost utter impossibility. Ido not now go into the question of health,, though. perhaps a visit to some of our millinery establishments, where late hours are observed, might afford some strong arguments in favor of less work and more rest. I only write these few lines in hope that someone more able than I will take up the cause of improvement, when I hare no doubt many will come forward to help. —I am, &c, -Fiat Justitia buat Ccelttm. [Our correspondent will no doubt recollect that in a recent issue of our paper we reverted to the baneful practice of employing delicate females to a late hour in the evening. There is no doubt ■ that a little extra time for recreation or study would be greatly appreciated by f those employed for an unreasonable' length of time during the day .-—JSd. E.S.] |