The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1882-06-22


friends, requesting the contribution of a
penny from each. She hopes, at the age
of sixty-five, when she will be eligible to
the admission fee. Another puts all her
cast-off clothing into an immense chest;
against the time when sue shall no longer
be able to earn more clothing. But why
do harrow your minds? And what adj
vice have I to give? First, we must
know the truth. As fof the advice, it is
not worth much-not anything to many
temperaments. Such as it is, it is COM
prised under four heads.
First, save something every year you
work. 1t will be difficult, but I should
suppose it possible for most women who
are teachers, OF dressmakers, or book
keepers, or even clerks, to save fifty dol
lars year.
hear a storm of indignation. 1t is
not possible, you say. and if it were,
your employers, especially the school
boards, would reduce your salaries in
stantly.
Well, that is par ly trne, and 1 know
your vacation trip has given You ten
years lease of life, and you can wear
your eal-skin sacque till extreme old
age, so do not expect any womaL I'M
der thirty to follow my advice. Still. I
give it; save fifty dollars year.
Second, do not invest more than
hundred dollars in one place. Put lit
tie money in the bank, little in gov
eminent bonds, little in life insurance
with an endowment policy, a little in
co operative store, q very little in
Western farms, etc. The interest may
be small, but it is not likely that all the
investments will fail at once.
Third. make up your mind at the out
set that this process must be continued
many years, so that the accommodating in
terest will be an important item in the
fortune you are amassing. For instance,
fifty dollars year for thirty years, if not
at interest, would give you only fifteen
hundred dollars; if at interest at five per
cent, it would give you not far from
three thousand dollars. If you began at
twenty, you might retire at fifty. You
will not begin till thirty, but perhaps
some years you may save more, and at
any rate you can retire at sixty. and is
not this better prospect than the Old
Ladies' Home?
Is the woman demented that she thinks
we can live on the income of three thou
sand dollars? Well
Fourth, you must plan to live in the
simplest way when you cease working.
You will say you would rather continue
to work than to live so. That is right;
work as long as you can. BUTT will not
hamper your life to know it is possible
to stop when you are too old and feeble,
or when the conditions of work become
intolerable.
But could any woman lead q rational
life on three thousand dollars? Many
would he willing to try for that if they
thought so.
1t would be cheaper as we'll as pleas
anter for two friends to combine their
forces. I know several pretty villages
on the railroad, not far from the city,
where two such ladies could eslly secure
four good rooms for fifty dollars rent.
They could easily do their Homework
themselves. The expense for fuel need
not exceed thirty dollars year for such
an establishment, as I know by ex-
perience. Perhaps you will not believe
that hundred dollars would furnish
the table with an abundance Of whole
some, substantial, appetizing food. But
buy q pound of the best steak, and see
how many dinners it will make two
maiden ladies. For rent, fuel, and
board, each partner thus pays ninety
dollars year. In such quiet home,
forty dollars would clothe her in as neat
and lady-like q way as q hundred and
fifty dollars would do when she goes out
to earn her living. Then, if her three
thousand dollars can be invested at five
per cent, she will still have twenty dol
lars year left for postage, travelling,
gifts, books-but let us settle in village
with public ibr sry.
After all, would it not be Just as dis
NAL to lead such scrawny life as this as
to live from hand to mouth, and trust
Providence for our old age?
Perhaps 90. We must, at all events
trust Providence, or we shall be mere
misers. We might toll our thirty years,
and lose our earnings in Q day. II we
could not bear the loss with fortitude, we
ought never to try to save; we are alto
gether unworthy.
Thirty years Of toll, and only . pit
lance at the end! But we have the toll,
at any rate and the pittance makes half
the difference between carking care and
serenity. And could We not lead cosy,
happy, pleased life in those sweet coun-
try homes?
Can We serve God and Mammon? In
the anxious endeavor to make our &C.
counts balance. are We thinking only of
Mammon? Oh. mo-! It Is often plain