The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-11-16
Why Some Persons are Poor.

III talking with u hired man who
was u smoker, l asked him what His
.obaccc cost him q year. With one
assista nee in figuring, he found that
The cost was only twenty dollars. He
thought that was not a large sum-. l
odd him by q few minutes calculation
hat If instead of smoking away TWEEN
ty dollars yearly, he would put that
amount out ut interest, aud add the
like sum every year, with interest also
continually added in, he would accu-
mulate in this way through life, say
from twenty-five to sixty-five years of
,ge, no less u sum than four thousand
.ollals. He WAS startled ut the amount,
out had not courage to leave of the
habit. j knew another man, who used
much more annually in tobacco, who
discontinued the practice, aud it ena-
Died him in twenty years to build b
,hree-tliousand dollar house Their.
are other practices, which, wasting u
very little at q time, cause u loss OF a
areat deal annually. A domestic H.
,he kitchen piles on the fire one-ti .ird
more fire than Is needed. 1t amounts
to a few cents daily, but twenty dollar
at LEASE in a year. Here is anoths.
waste of four thousand dollars in forty
ears. A farmer leaves his reaping
machine exposed to the weather till
November his plows aud harrows are
out half the time and in this way the
needless decay amounts to more than
twenty dollars annually-another sum
running up TO four thousand dollars
wasted. The want of fodder racks,
and the exposure of his sheep and cat
tie to the winter, make waste equal
70 fifty dollars yearly, and tho lons o.
,heep by exposure, and shrinkage IL
the flesh aud milk of his cattle cause T..
} early loss Of fifty dollars more, ovei
and above the cost or interest on prop.
erly erected shelter. These two SUM,
would he equal to twenty thousan,
dollars in forty years of II lifetime.
There are many other small leaks,
both on the farm and in the Kitchen
such as scraps of bread thrown away
vegetables rotting for want of asserting
knives rusted tor want of cleaning
tumblers broken by immersing in hot
water-harness broken for want of
o iling-carpels ground out by dirt
under them-pumps split by freezing
tools decayed for want of oiling OF
painting--every single dollar of which,
thus needlossly wasted annually, will
amount to two hundred dollars in forty
years, If with interest on interest.
There is no need of being penurious OF
stihgy, but only to prevent actual
w--t-- a r-.-;i.. .---i 49, ---~--
pounds of butter yearly the mistres,
found that less would do for cooking
and she saved fifty pounds by not max
ing the food so fat, and yet she had All
equally good table-and fifteen dollars
were saved each year.
l shall not undertake to prescribe
rules for others; they can Judge best fol
themselves where to prevent waste and
loss but / will show how much MANY
waste during their lives by the follow.
ing figures from the foregoing estimates
which are sufficient to show why some
are poor:
Tobacco, S2e yearly, and interest, in 40
years, $4,000
Wasted fuel in the kitchen 4,00(
Decay Of tools, reapers,&c., 400
Exposure Of animals, and waste of hay. 20. O0(
small leaks, many put together 2,oO(
S3I ,0OC
VIII any one say this estimate is ex.
travagant? Then let him correct it
and see what the corrected amount
would he. II may be too large In some
particulars, and probably as much Toe
small In others. Let each one make
his own figuring, and If he.does 1t thor
oughly, he will probably find out VIII,
some men leave little to their children
have not taken the waste by drink,
Ing Into account, as that, and its eff
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