San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-08-15
Saving the Odds and Ends,

What sort of insane folly is it that pos.
sesses some of us at times, and makes us save
all our odds and ends of every description
under the delusion that they will 'come
handy" some timer They never do 'come
handy" but we cling to them with great
tenacity instead of having the good sense tc
bestow them on the ash man as his riGhtful
prerogatives.
Ny wife and have well developed economi.
cal tendencies, and we pride ourselves or
never wasting thing that may ''be useful
or "come handy" at any time in the din
future
have read of men of wealth who traced
the beginning of their riches back to the
time when they carefully saved pieces of
Irvine, never cutting it from bundle, but
carefully untying it and laying it away for
future USE until they must have had bar
rel or two of old Irvine lying around some
place. Once / read of millionaire who set
his fellow men an example of thrift by get
ting out of his carriage and picking up
rusty nail he saw by the roadside, and l EN-
ulated his example until had about forty
pounds of old, rusty, bent and broken nails
lying around; and about once in six months
l used pound or two of them in trying to
find one that l could drive into board with
out bending or breaking. At last | sold the
lot for old iron and got ten cents for them.
Then began to REFORM and the other day l
began reforming my wife.
l was cleaning out the accumulation of
years in a closet in the basement and piling
most of its contents up for the ash man when
my wife came down stairs.
There are some things in that closet /
want savedn she said; ''they'll come handy
some time" But resolved to be firm.
''You don't want this" said, holding up
an old tea kettle without any spout and with
six big holes in the bottom of it.
''Well, it might come handy for something
some day.
tossed it into the ash barrel and held up
pair of very old boots, discarded four years
ago, and now green with mold.
mo use in saving these, is there?" l asked.
"Well, l don't know. A little piece of
leather often comes handy in house for
hinge or something"
called to mind pair of leather hinges
once made, and the boots followed the tea
kettle
What do you want this rusty old hoop
skirt for!'
"Oh, a piece of hoopskirt wire often comes
in useful in house"
st hasn't been asked for in this house since
before the war" said. "Heres an old hat
of mine that's been lying around nine years.
Better throw it away, hadn't IF'
"Well, perhaps so. I've often thought of
giving it to some poor man, but forget it
every time tramp comes round. l gave it
to one tramp and he went off and left it on
the front gate post"
Showed his good sense" said. DO you
want all these old broken Dishes"
Eyes; I'll have them all mended some day.
I've intended having it done for five years"
When her back was turned they went into
the ash barrel.
mo use in saving these old bottles, eh!'
"Well, a bottles a handy thing to have
around. Better save them"
my dear" l said, "here are at least
seventy-five old bottles, and to my certain
knowledge we don't use one year, and
think we can trust our great-great-great-
great grandchildren to get their own bottles,
so here they 60"
In the same daring, reckless way threw
away three old bustles, old bonnets, breeches,
lamps, skillets, hair combings, shoes, saw
dust, tin pans, old papers, pop corn, wormy
walnuts, soap grease, broken lamps, spoutless
teapots, bottomless coffee pots, cracked
kettles and ten thousand other things that
had for years and years waited their turn to
"come handy" but which never would or
could ''come handy in this world or in the
world to come-Zenas Dane in Detroit Free
Press