The age-herald., 1902-03-30
The Cheerful Economist

The economist is abroad in the land. He tells the working young man how to eat cheaply, how to dress for song and in conclusion imparts advice on how to become a millionaire in a few years. The great trouble with these gentlemen and women too, for that matter, is that they do not even pretend to follow their own advice. At the present moment the econ omist on eating is particularly gracious with his advice. He hasn't appeared in Rirmingham but of course he is coming along with other freaks of progress. In other cities he Is telling the young man how he can eat for a dollar or two a week and put the rest of his savings in hank. The self-respecting young man in Birmingham can no more live on two or three dollars a week than the self respecting young man or any other city can. Of course it is not an impossibility, but this way of living is not congenial to young man with pride and he is not going to do it.
 A place has recently opened in New York called the one cent restaurant" The father of the scheme announces that he believes Americans, rich and poor alike, consume large quantities of food, high priced, hard of preparation and hav- ing but little nutritive value. This is the bill of fare for the first week:
 Large bowl of ssup.... .............. 1c Large bowl of steamed hominy........ 1c Large bowl of steamed oats. s.............. 1c Large bowl of steamed barley.......... 1c Any of above named dishes, with but
 ter or sweetened, and with a slice of
 whole wheat bread and butter ........ 5c Peas, with whole wheat bread and but
 ter...... ........ .............. DC Potatoes, with bread and butter. ......... 5c Pot roast and potatoes with bread and
 butter ...... ...... zee. ........ ....... .10c Food coffee, with milk.... ...... ........ 3c Food coffee, with cream .................. Dc Date whole wheat meal pudding. ....... 5o
 Any of the one cent portions contain food elements, which are said to be suf- ficient to supply the nourishment required in afull meal. Two or three of these 1c portions per day, if varied according to appetite, should maintain the weight. strength and health of any ordinary ndi- vidual for an indefinite time, if such ex- treme economy Is necessary
 What self-respecting young man would go in this place to eat? None, except per haps to try the experiment a time or two. They would not meet their friends there. Besides not being a congenial atmosphere I venture to assert that the place will not be well kept very long. The walters will be dumb and the regular patrons of the place will hardly be fit companions. Food the body demands. The better the food, the better prepared, the better the physical condition. Food cannot be ob- tained for less than the market price, It costs something to prepare it in palatable form and it Is absurd to talk of obtain ing 1t at ridiculously low prices. Here in Birmingham the young man who is willing to take a room mate can get fair board at a private house for $20 If you call 1t good board and want room to yourself you will pay anywhere from $25 to $40. If you are disgusted with boarding houses, and one cannot be blamed for getting tired of it, you will pay $50 per month to live down town. To be sure one can go to a half dozen dirty little res taurants and get a meal for % cents There will be a foul smell about the place, the walters will not have sufficient intelligence to take your order correctly, your steak will in many cases. have passed the eating age. and you will go out with a general feeling of disgust, if not dys- pepsia. Beware of dyspepsia. It Is worse than poverty. Give man a good. sound stomach and he will be happier than the millionaire who Is a walking encyclope- dia of remedies for indigestion.
 
 One thing the economist proves, that he must be credited with. He demonstrates that clerks and other employees whose du- ties force a sedantery life upon them profit very little by prosperity. Salaries remain at the same figure while food and clothing go up Labor, protected by un- ionism, gets the benefit of prosperity. On the other hand tho man whose sala- ry never f1uotuatee, high or low, Is told he must economize. Parents are advised to set their children at trades instead of putting them into offices. We find men calling others fools on this account. But the fool who keeps his business together on borrowed money and false representa- tions, rather than live in an unfashion- able neighborhood or curtail any of his expenses, is about as bad after all as the fool who covets for his son a clerical or professional life instead of one amid ma chinery and grime. It is a case of so-