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

ONE DIME.
IT'S little sum-'tis often given for a
drink or cigar-'tis soon burnt out and
wasted. 1t takes ten dimes to make a
dollar, and dollar is common price for
single meal 1t is soon eaten-its effects
are not lasting, except vixen it produces
dyspepsia, and then it often costs hun
dred dimes to purchase medicine that does
not cure the disease.
To those who never dine for less than a
dollar, how unsatisfactory would be din
ner for dime. Reader, have you ever
reflected how many entire families in this
city, where food is so dear, dine every day
for less than one dime? Did you ever
think of bestowing one dime for charitable
purposes, and how much good that would
do? What if every subscriber to THE
WEEKLY TRIBUNE should give one dime
with his subscription, to be applied to the
necessities of the needy and deserving poor
in this city-did you ever consider what a
sum it would be? Look at it-l37 900
subscribers at one dime each is $l3,100.
What if it were applied to purchase bread,
say at five cents loaf? 1t would buy
LAO, 600 loaves of bread. What if we
should announce that such a quantity of
bread was about to be given to the poor
in this city. The whole land would re-
joice How much can be done with one
dime
Let us see what we would do with it if
we had but one-only one dime in the
world yet with that must provide
for a family consisting of a mother and
four children for whole day. Wcwould
not buy bakers bread at sixpence loaf
very small loaves, too, never weighing
over a pound, however moist or however
adulterated with corn, potatoes, or buck
wheat, which are harmless-or with plas
ter of Paris, lime, alum, sulphate of zinc,
ground bones. and We don't know how
many other deleterious substances. No,
we would not buy bakers bread with our
dime, nor would We buy fine flour at six
or seven cents pound, else some Of the
children would 90 hungry. We might
buy corn meal and make cheap cake, or
a pot of mush, or larger pot of porridge,
or We might buy two pounds OF homm'ny,
and then our dime would feed the family
one full meal; but to this latter article
there is one objection. Where is the fuel
to come from to cook this mess?-for corn
more than any other grain requires cook
ing to make it palatable and wholesome.
Two, three, or even four hours of slow
boiling is not too much. One dime. will
not cook as well as buy the corn meal or
hominy. What then Potatoes Let
us see. They require least cooking, but
they cost with all their water-and they
are more than half water-two cents and
a half pound at retail.
Then they are not cheap food after al.
1t will not do to spend our dime for pota-
toes.
What then? 1t is no easy study to
learn how to procure the most human food
for dime; to ascertain how many hungry
mouths may be fed-how many empty
stomachs satisfied, for one dime. 1t is
study too much neglected. 1t should be
taught in all Public Schools. Certainly
in all Charity, Industrial and Ragged
Schools-where children are fed as well
as taught. What better wisdom could
you teach them than how to procure the
most food for dime? 1t is little coin,
but it can be made to expand. 1t would
be real charity-genuine charity-practi-
cal charity-to teach such scholars econo-
my in food; not how to eat less, to live
upon less-for, Heaven knows, some of
them live upon little enough now-but to
teach them what to buy, in case Of emer-
gency, with little coln-only one dime.
We have lately learned that lesson, and
we will teach it to you. We learned it Of
a woman-that is, the practical operation
of Though she says she learned it of
US, from something she read about ccono'
mizing food in THE TRIBUNE.
al had" said she, "onc day last week,
only one dime in the world, and that was
to feed me and my four children all day /;
for would not ask for credit, and l could
not borrow, and never did beg. l did
live through the day, and did not 60
hungry. fed myself and family with
one dime"
GLOW p
go, that was not all l bought fuel
too"