The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-06-03
MONEY-MAKING MACHINES.
THE DRoP-A-PENNY-IN-THE-sLoT FAD
School Children Are Good Contributors
The Many Changes i" the styles of
Calling CArds-A Young Society
LadJ's Ghost Party.

pretty maxim Tor children and Ike ali
maxims, the older it becomes. the more
appreciable it seems 10 the needs OF the
hour. The Observation-Disclosures
chine has another view of the matter and
with true philanthropic purpose, its mis-
sion is to get the pennies out OF the way
and leave the child untrammeled in his
efforts to hoard the dollars. II you don't
believe the machine is succeeding, just
fill your boys pocket with pennies and
send him TO q school where one OF these
machines is stationed near by. They are
mostly for the snle of chewing gum, but
chocolate bon bons also help to lure the
Pocahontas headed coppers. Everywhere
about the city the automatic contrivanc's
are scattered, the vicinity Of school honsCs
furnishing lucrative posts. Not only does
the youngster patronizing them. get value
for his money, but he Is also delighted III
the presto change" novelty of the thing,
and to this is due much of the machines
popularity.
A,majority of the slot machines are
without price-that is, you can't buy
them, for they are only leased like tele-
phones and other valuable patents.
Those in Indianapolis are operated by
young man who pays handsome roy
atty to the manufacturers and is in turn
richly remunerated by the tireiess. mute
statesmen. He buys his chewing gum in
dependent of the machines owners.
There are but few drug stores or con-
dictionaries in the city that are without
the machines, and they also participate
in the profits.
Ii will surprise most people when they
are told that $500, or, in other figures, DO
600 pennies find their way into the boxes
every month. This is nearly two pennies
for every person in Indianapolis between
the ages of six and twenty-One years, &C
cording to the recent enumeration, or
more than cents for every child who al
tends school.
AS the penny-catchers are found in
every city In the country, 1t Is in no wise
strange that the circulation of one-cent
pieces is sluggish, as small dealers some
times complain.
Druggists earn receipt OF a considerable
revenue from the boxes hung up in their
stores, a percentage of from - to $50 per
cent. on the total receipts being allowed
them. In a number OF cases they are
able to meet the salary of their soda
fountain attendants from this source.
Children are not the only patrons, nor
is it a certainty that they form a majority
OF the contributors 10 the slot. The
average man has a contempt for the
small coin unless in quantity, and the
odd cents in his pocket are apt TO burn.
So they, too. help fill up the little auto
matte machine.
This is the day OF fads and it is some
times hard to tell Just where the rules Of
etiquette leave off and the fais begin.
Hardly season ago it was the fad to
have calling cards ornamented with the
callers own penmanship. Aside from the
demands of formality, guest WAS
furnished with an autographic souvenir,
and the more illegible the penmanship,
the better the good form" The method
in this madness lies in the generally ac-
cepted plea that bad scrawl is in itseif
prima facie evidence of genius; and gen
ius. too, is aped with all the intending
grace of Angomania.
With mad rush the fad goes 10 tile
other extreme this season and il IL nov
quite proper 10 have your cards engraved
with SDencerian neatneS.. ! Our order IS
left with the engraver, he strikes OIL the
needed number of cards aud lays aside the
plate for future orders. Perhaps vou
may never need it again. for it Is possible
that the next season will demand u bold
lace type.
Another change has come over the gen
eral style of cards and this innovation has
led 10 the complications in al least one
Indianapolis fashionable home circle The
names of the unmarried daughters in the
household must appear oa the cards as
plain Miss Jones, without the baptisinal
prefix.
The rnle has not been so firmly estab.
lished that it will admit OF no exception,
and it is even understood by some young
women that only the eldest daughter is al
lowed the title. One Young lady, tired OF
waiting for her sister to either get married
or cross the Rubicon, presented herself rs
a miss on her own card, much To the dis
gust of the elder. Both insist upon the
correctness OF their own opinion, and rs
there is no sure precedent the dispute
won't end until the style changes. 1t may
also he remembered that gentleman old
enough TO make a social call on d lady
dubs himself mister and the democratic
form OF calling yourself John Brown or
Bristol has been relegated TO seasons gone
by.
Novelty is the soul of an entertainment.
Paraphrasing the words of Madame Roland
it might sometimes be exclaimed, go,
Novelty, what follies are committed in
thy namew Last winter a society girl on
the North Side decided to give party
one that would be remembered. Progress
sive euchre was out of date and fiddle de
wnks was too common. With the AS
sistance of several young medical friends.
perhaps, she laid the plans for ghost
party. II was a bowling success-eyen
more. a groaning and moaning success.
The parlors were darkened during the
evening and the bright spots draped with
black to give a most sombre appearance.
On top OF cabinets and mantels were grin
ming skulls, made hideous by dim candles
spluttering inside. Over the floor were
strewn bones, the result probably of
day at the abattoir. Now and then a
heartless young man would unloosen
deep, bass groan from retired corner, to
be met by more uncanny one in higher
pitch from the opposite corner.
The guests sat on rugs in circle about
the front parlor and told ghost stories.