The various floors, with the exception of the first, are broken only by a rotunda, which extends to the roof, and is inclosed at each floor by a massive iron balustrade. Leaning over one of these balustrades, and looking up or down, the sight is brilliant and attractive. Thousands of persons are scattered about the floors making purchases. Hundreds of clerks, salesmen, and cash boys are busy serving them, and the buzz and hum of human voices under the vast roof sounds like the droning of a hive of bees.
The service of this immense establishment is arranged as follows:
- There is one general superintendent, with nineteen assistants, each of whom is at the head of a department.
- Nine cashiers receive and pay out money;
- twenty-five book-keepers keep the record of the day;
- thirty ushers direct purchasers to the department they seek;
- two hundred cash boys receive the money and bring back the change of purchasers;
- four hundred and seventy clerks, a few of whom are females, make the sales of the day;
- fifty porters do the heavy work, and
- nine hundred seamstresses are employed in the manufacturing department.
Besides these, there are usually about five hundred other persons employed about the establishment in various capacities, bringing the total strength of the personelle of the house to twenty-two hundred.
The accounts of each department are kept separate, and the sales of each for the day constitute a separate return. These sales will average something like the following figures: