The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-05-06
TWENTY DOL1ARs A WEEK.

What is the use of spending time or
OF bOtherinR ones brains about how to
use an income so absurdly small as
twenty dollars a week? StarVe and go
ragged, 1 would, II that were my allow
ance."
Thus Mr.. Adolphus Bankstock. Jr..
when I mildly asked a suggestion from
him as to the best method Of husband
ing my means. I knew the Senior
Bankstock was no child of fortune; that
he had hewn his way to great wealth
from extreme poverty, and thought
the son might know the strokes where.
with this pathway was made; but I
found the early struggles of his father
were not an agreeable subject of con-
Yersation for Adolphus, and gave up
my hope OF learning that particular
way to wealth.
So the problem remained for me to
solve, as it does for thousands OF others
who have not the good fortune to pc
born into the world as Adolphus BANK
stock, Jr., was, with silver spoon In
his mouth" 1 set about its solution,
not with a hope of reaching the point
gained by the elder Bankstock, but
with purpose to make the most out of
what seemed to be my hard fate.
was the "head" of a family, consist
ing of myself, a wife, and two "bRirns."
To have been the incumbent of the
1I6SlueuLld1 llSeII COuIu nave
scarcely melted me to more thorough
study of the "duty of the hour" than I
gave to my affairs. called to my as
sistance my Cabinet-consisting OF a
single member, whose place is secure
from the operation of all Tenure-of-
Office laws, except the law which fixes
the tenure of Iife-and, together, wei
mean my vile and myself-agreed up
on a financial policy.
I was the President of a little ranub-
lie, with fixed revenue of twenty dol
lars week. This was to be adminis-
tered wisely for the public" good. I
am now recording my experience, hop.
ing it may benefit others similarly Sit.
uated.
1t has been three years since Adolf
plus declined to entertain my question.
Then l owned no spot of earth; now I
sit under my own vine and fig-tree;
and in these three years my family
has not "starved," neither have we
"gone ragged" Blessed with health,
and rigidly following the policy at first
agreed upon by a President and Cabi-
net, we now enjoy the fruits OF our la
Dor:
am aware that there can be no alb
solute rule to determine the actual cost
of living, because of the variation in
price OF the necessaries of life at differ
ent times and places; but If one has be-
fore him the cost OF living, in certain
case, he can easy calculate the necessa-
ry cost in his case.
We began by experiment for few
weeks TO ascertain on how little we
could com ortably live, and then we es'
tablished our rules, which were as in
flexible as the laws of the Medes and
Persians. House-rent was the chief
item of expense, and it was regular
charge. We took a comfortable cottage
in the suburbs, where pure air and
plenty of elbow-room for the little ones
ef1ectually guarded US from the visits
of the dear doctor, and from the pre-
sentation OF his unwelcome bills. For
this place we paid rental of fifteen
dollars month. For fuel we laid aside
weekly. during the winter months, one
dollar and a half. Butter 1--WE used it
without limit almost) was the most ex-
pensive article of our diet, costing US
two dollars week; in this, however,
we included the cost of the pint OF milk
we used each day. For meats we al
lowed one dollar; for flour, seventy-t7e
cents; for coffee, sugar and tea, seventy
cents; for vegetables, ETC., fifty cents;
for washing, one dollar; and for sund-
ries not enumerated, seventy-tive cents.
We had room in our lot to keep chick
ems, and thus we obtained our supply
of eggs without apparent cost.
Summing up we have the following
rs tho actual cost of living for one
week: