The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1904-11-26

Ninety nine people out Of ever,
hundred are naturally extravagant an,
wasteful. They realize it themselves
and they also realize that it's the littl
expenditures which mount up. Near
ly every depositor has some devic'
for beating himself-making himself
save.
1.-The dime savings bank was a
scheme of that kind. You dropped
in every dime that came your way.
You couldn't open it until it was full
so it helped you to resist any sudden
temptation.
It was all right until people learn
ed that when the old, extravaganI
Adam rose up in them they could
beat their better impulses by borrow
ing enough dimes from the corner
grocery to fill it up and open it.
That rather killed the dime bank,
although many are still in use.
''Some people save every copper
cent they get. Four of our deposi-
tors do it. One woman works that
scheme with nickels and her account
is surprisingly large.
Zone of the commonest plans is
the swear off system. A man deter
mines to cut out drink or cigars.
Then for every drink he'd have TAX.
en- if he weren't on the water wagon
or for every cigar he'd have smoked
if his light weren't out, he pays him
self and saves the money. Unfor-
tunately, these good resolutions about
liquor and tobacco don't last long in
most cases and the account usually
stops with the grand fall from the wa
ter wagon.
You'd think that the church
would take most of the small change
of pious people in Lent. The fact is,
though, that the account of church.
goers are rather heavier in the pen
itential season than at any other time
of the year. One of our woman de-
positors who began to bring in her
little steel bank not long after Ash
Wednesday told me about it.
's'Oh. I give up candy and the
matinee and all my fun in Lent, she
said. It's so hard for me to do il
that I consider I've done enough for
my religion and l might have the
money for myself
In contrast to her there's car.
penter who had been a small deposi.
tor for years. One year his deposits
began to increase enormously.
Had good luck this year, haven't
your l asked when I handed him
back his balance book.
No, 'tain't that, he said.
Though it's good luck enough in its
way. You see / used to be a good
Presbyterian and give my tithe regu-
lar to the church. But I've been
reading Robert Ingersoll and I've
learned that l was away off. So
keep the money for myself now.'
II have anovelist on the books who
always deposits any money he gets
out of short stories. He's a man OF
reputation, who can count on a pref
ty steady income from his books, SO
when he gets a,stort story idea and
strikes it off in odd moments he fig
ures that the money is velvet
Zone waiter, who works in place
so humble that it pays board and
wages, instead of expecting the help
to get paid out of tips, always saves
the small tips he gets. For a work.
ingman he's pretty heavy depositor.
Another waiter, who works under
the tip system. saves every coin he
gets from a woman. I have proof
that women are acquiring the tip
habit, for his annual deposits have
nearly doubled in three years.
eve have a couple on our lists
who order their household affairs on
a grand cooperative and money-sav-
ing scheme. In the beginning they
lived comfortably for one week, and
figured out exactly how much it cost
them for every item.
They wrote out the items and
amount on little slips-meat, 81;
bread, so cents, and SO forth, clear
down to salt, pepper and condiments
"Now, when the husband comes
home with his weeks pay, he drops
into each box the amount it calls for.
They pay strict spot cash for every
thing and the wife agrees not to ex-
ceed the amount written on the box
for any commodity. If she does they
go without it for the rest of the week.
"Once she plunged heavily on meat
and spent the 81 in FIVE days. Sc
they were vegetarians for two days
that week.
Gas a matter of fact, the wife al.
ways manages to have considerable
small change left in the bottom of the
boxes at the week end. That is put
into the savings bank, minus 10 pei
cent. which she gets for her pains
"The plan works like a charm and
they've rolled up a nice deposit in
two years. Some of their friends have
followed suit.
Every college in the country
ought to name a dormitory in honor
of the man who invented the plan Of
opening a bank account for the baby's
college course. II is very poD11ar in
these days. and will make many B.
A. twenty years hence.
"When the baby is born, the par
ents and grandparents and other fond
relatives put as much as they can
spare in the savings bank. They
add to it on his birthday and on
Christmas. The mother usually
keeps little steel bank to swell the
deposit.