Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-02-16
SAVING THE DIMES.
INTERESTING EXPERIENCES OF
THOSE WHO HAVE TRIED 1T.

store the other day, and one of them bought
and paid for two cigars. The cigars cost ten
cents each, and the man who sold them
handed back, in change for the silver dollar
that had been rendered 10 him, eighty cents
in ten cent pieces Thereupon one Of the
young men laughed vociferously, and the
other, who had bought the cigars, pocketed
the eight dimes with an expression approach
ing chagrin, and said: Just my luck, by
George However," said he, after lighting
his cigar 'if there Is any more spending IL
be DONE old fellow, you've got 70 do it, for
Pm broke
When the young man left tho store the
cigar man turned to reporter who Ind
witnessed the transaction and said:
"Do you know what that meanstn
'No.n
"Well, the young man has simply caught
the dime saving craze
And what is the dime saving craze!'
at is something that may not be exactly
new, but is new for all that know TO the
contrary. The scheme is never 10 spend a
dime 1t was probably devised for the bene-
1T of thriftless people, who are not able TO
save their money in the regular way, and for
plan of saving it is one Of the best | ever
heard Of Hundreds of young fellows have
caught it, and limit their wants accordingly.
My business suffers from the practice to some
extent, but not great deal In fact, am
something of dime saver myself, and l get
new customers by explaining the plan to
them and getting them to adopt it. They
come in to SEQ me about it nearly every day,
and tell me how well they are doing"
Suppose you give me the plan more in de-
tail"
"Well, you make up your mind to keep
every dime that comes into your possession.
You are never to part with a ten cent piece
under any circumstances. Whenever you re-
ceive dime in change put it away, and
when you get home place it in box or re-
ceptacle for safe keeping. The more dimes
you get in change the greater your savings
will be. You are to make any sacrifice rather
than to part with one dime If you have
nothing but dimes in your pocket when you
want cigar, go without the cigar. If you
want lunch and have nothing but dimes, go
without lunch. If you have only a dime in
your pocket and want to ride home on n
horse car, brace up and walk. Save your
dimes"
"Well, what will be the result of tF'
ut will surprise you. If you are n free
spender your savings will assume large pro-
portions. You will be surprised when you
adopt the plan to see the number of dimes in
circulation.
Now, when you come to think Of it, dime
Is no small sum. If you save all the dimes
you get in change you save nearly onehalf
of your small expenditures If you are not
free with your money your savings will of
course not amount to a great deal; still they
will come to an interesting sum in time.
The plan seems to be- as L said, devised for
the purpose of making people who spend
money freely Save a part of their pocket
money. 1t is a good thing, too in the way
of teaching a man frugality and thrift l
believe that any one who learns to save i'll
small things will not be long in learning to
save in large things Try the thing awhile
and see what comes of itl'
Inquiries among personal friends served to
show the reporter that the dime saving plan
had become to many of them fascinating
habit.
II took up the scheme last spring." said a
young married man, sat the solicitation of
my wife. We had been figuring up my ex-
penses-that is, my personal expenses-and
she declared me frightfully extrayagant |
insisted that the expenses could not well be
curtailed She advised the practice of a
little self denial in the matter of cigars,
shines and all other little expenses that eat
up dollar 50 quickly. l said it would be
impossible for me to forego these little luxu-
ries, as they had so grown upon me; and
she, while asseverating she did not want me
to revolutoniZe things, maintained that
little denial of these pleasures, a moderation
of them, in fact, would improve me finan
cially and physically.
at was about that time that heard of the
dime scheme, and became an advocate and
devotee of it at once. Well, you wouldn't
believe how | profited by it. 1t became u
matter of the greatest interest to me, in the
first place, to secure change that had no
dimes in it. In the second place it became
interesting and amusing to deny myself GER
tain things l otherwise would buy without
any thought of saving Everything l de-
MED myself became really source of pleas
ure to me, and | would not only enjoy the
saving of the money that would otherwise
have been spent, but | enjoyed telling my
wife about it. Furthermore, / felt the keen
est interest in the pile of dimes that was con-
stantly growing. felt free to spend in some
things because l knew that would get my
return in dimes. The desire to add to my
pile, however, kept mo from buying many
and many thing should have been as eager
before to secure.
y know you will refuse to believe me
now, when l tell you that l have saved in
six months nearly 500. It's solemn fact,
though My salary is s., 500 a year, and
has been for two years past, and / am really
this dime saving method have | saved any
money. Ny wife and are delighted with
it, and think | see my way to saving 81 ,001
next year. have determined to buy house
and lot with dimes, and to become whole
some example to my boy, if / should live I'M
til he becomes young man, and am conf
dent that shall never cease adjuring him to
save his dimes"
"Now,n said the gentleman's wife, "you
need not think that he is the only member
of the firm that does any dime saving. If
you knew what a walker 1 had become
through my unwillingness to part with a
dime, you would open your eyes in wonder. |
Often and often have walked home because
of having no other money than dimes. l
have saved nearly all my church money. l
never buy a fashion paper, and as for candy |
l get it by the box or not at all. l have
saved at the market, in shops and at the |
stores, l never spend a dime, and have gone
without many, many things, and have taken
u positive pleasure in the sacrifice"
Several of the boys started in with me" |
said young gentleman who fell to talking
with the reporter about the dime habit, land
l don't suppose any Of us intended to keep
the thing up, or to do anything more than
try it on for day or two, just for the fun of
the thing. The practice of self denial is |
mighty enjoyable thing, though, if you can
see yourself prospering at SO much denial
never cried for much money, but this dime
business has made a reglIla miser out of
me- st Louis Republican.
METHODS OF WAREHOUSES;.
An Ex-showman Explains the Mysteries