Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1855-12-21

~ WIN PieSe oA pdPci III my iltie iuT'
mace with two or three little bits of char
coal that some careless boy had dropped
in the street just in my path. With three
cents l bought scraggy piece Of salt
pork. Half fat and half lean. There
might have been halfa-pcund of 1.-THE
man did not weigh it. Now half my mo-
ney was gone, and the show for breakfast,
dinner, and supper was certainly very
poor one. With the rest of my dime l
bought four-cents' worth of white beans.
By the by, get these at night, and soak
ed them in tepid water on neighbor's $
stove till morning I had one cent left.
l bought one-cent's worth of corn meal,
and the grocery man gave me red-pep-
per pod.
"What was that for?"
"Wait little-you shall knew. Ofall
things, peppers and onions are appreciated
by the poor in Winter, because they help
to keep them warm. With my meal l
made three dumplings, and these, with
the pork and pepper-pod l put into the pot
with the beans and plenty of water Gor
the pork was salD and boiled the whole
two hours and then We had breakfast,
for it was time for the children to 20 to
school. We ate one of the dump!ings,
and each had plate of soup for breakfast,
and very good breakfast it was"
81 kept the pot boiling as long as my
coke lasted, and at dinner we ate half the
meat, half the soup, and one of the dump
lings. We had the same allowance for
supper; and the children were better sat-
isied than 1 have sometimes seen them
when our food has cost five times as much.
The next day We had another dime-it
was all could earn for all l could get to
do-two pairs Of mems drawers each day
at five cents pair-and on that we lived
lived well. We had change, too, for
instead of the corn meal and beans, I got
four cents worth of oat meal and one
cents worth of potatoes-small potatoes,
because 1 could get more of them. l
washed them clean, so as not to waste any
thing by pairing, and cut them up and
boiled them all to pieces with the meat
and meal"
(Which went furthest?"
81 can't say. We ate it all each day,
and didn't feel the want of more, though
the children said, 'Ma, don't you wish we
had piece of bread and butter, to finish
off with ?" 1t would have been good, to
be sure but bless ne, what would q
dimes worth of bread be for my family ?
But had another change next day"
"What, for another dime ?"
"Yes; that was all we had day after
day We had to live on it. 1t was very
hard, to be sure; but it has taught me
something"
"What is that ?"
"That poor folks could live great deal
cheaper than they do, if they only knew
how to economize their food. You have
told them how, but they arc slow to learn
or 10th to change from foolish old practi-
ces."
"Wkat was your next change"
"Oh, yes, 1 was about to tell you that
Well, l went to the butchers the night
before and bought five cents worth of lit
tie scrap pieces of lean beef, and declare
l think, l got as much as a pound, and
this l cut up into bits, and soaked over
night-an all-important process for soup,
or stew-cooking it il the same water.
Then bought two cents worth of pota-
toes and one cents worth of meal-that
made the eight cents; two had to 60 for
fuel every day, and the paper got my
purchases in served for kindliDg. The
meal wet up into stiff dough, and work.
ed out into little round balls, about as big
as grapes, and the potatoes cut up into
slices, and all together made stew, or
chowder, seasoned with small onion and
part of pepper-pod that I got with the
potatoes. 1t was very good, but it did
not 90 quite so far as the soup, either day,
or else the fresh meat tasted so good that
we wanted to eat more. But l can tell
you, small as it may seem to you, there is
o great deal Of good eating in dime"
So there is-what pity everybody
don't know it. What world Of good
might be done with dime.
Reader, have you got dime--that is
to spare-only one dimes Give it to that
poor widow. Give it? No; you owe it.
She has given you twice its value, whether
you are one that will feast to-day on =
dollar, or be stinted with dime. She
has taught you-what you never knew
before-the value Of one dime.
What pity SO many should be thrown
away. What pity we could not teach
this lesson of economy in food to the thou
sands who will suffer before Spring for the
dimes wasted, through Ignorance, when
dimes were plenty. Knowing how to use
a dime might often save q family from