The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-07-30

least unpleasant: but we do not. We have
a general impression that saving Is praise
the ne new - generation genera that knows not Mr..
Smiles that thrift Is bad thing, and that
the necessity for saving should be superseded
by action of the state; at whose expense we
need not now particularly inquire. In course
of time the necessity for human beings may
be superseded by the. invention of automatic
substitutes: but, meanwhile, We go on upon
the old plan. We look askance on the
spendthrift: but not altogether without the
suspicion of envy which we generally feel
for wrongdoers. and for which the feeling
of virtuous self-satisfacton is the COM
pensating advantage. We may, as a special
treat. allow ourselves to initiate his habits;
but as a general rule bride in our extrava-
CANT propensities with pain" sand con-
graduate ourselves upon pursuing such
creditable courses.
Most people have what they call their
are certain farseeing persons who replace
their bootlaces as soon as they show signs
of wear instead Of waiting until they break
at one of those high inconvenient moments
others who follow the advice of Sidney
Smith and take short views" Of life regard
lace until it has become much knotted and
tagless fragment There may be much ex-
penditure of time and of labor and of breath.
whether In physical tugging or the utterance
of explosives; but penny is triumphantly
saved. Or II may be matches; any one who
travels in railway trains or other public con-
streets must quickly learn that there are
many men who apparently depend upon
charity for their matches. They carry with
them all the appliances and means to smoke,
even TO the elegant match box with their
crest upon it; but no matches. For these
they rely upon the benevolence of any chance
companion and If they chance TO travel
alone. unless they merely take pleasure in
practicing parsimony as fine art and keep
secret supply of matches for such emer
gencies. they must of necessity be con-
strained to take smokeless journey. In
their own home they will prefer TO use paper
spills; and II they have friends will bestow
upon them cigars Of great price, but insist
upon making a single light suffice for all.
There are divers other small necessaries
over which the economically minded delight
to save. Pope, 'paper-sparing Pope" was
frugal in respect of foolscap and wrote his
Had upon the backs of old letters; by
which practice he must have in the course
of about half a dozen years have saved
some shilings And there are in the pres
ent day people of his mind, who delight TO
conduct correspondence upon half sheets.
There is a story OF a gentleman who. with
masterpiece of frugality, would carefully
unstick the envelopes which he received,
and, by turning them inside out make them
do again. Another fayorite field for the
practice of economy is to be found in pins.
Popular statistic makers, whose function it
is to amuse with instructing. have made
elaborate calculations as TO the number Of
tons Of pins that annually fall on to the
pavement; nay, have even gone so far TO
describe, illustrate by means of COMPARE
sons, the noise which these pins, though in
dividualiyy not sonorouS, would make If
they fell simultaneously. There is no doubt
gutter is ultimately carried, with other
treasures, 10 the dust destructor or the I'M
harvest ed sea. But there are some people
who set themselves to reduce this waste
considered trifles, they think, are TO be
picked up, and not purchased with price.