The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-07-21
"THE PINCH OF COMFORT,

of civilization. Three friends were
discussing politics and other subjects,
and the conversation drifted to the
cost of living and the difficulty of liv.
ing within ones income. One of the
speakers declared to his friends that
it is not alone the fact that the cost
of food and other necessaries has risen
but that the standard of comfort has
been rapidly and steadily rising
Calling attention to the fact that Har-
ward College last year spent about
$40, 900 more than its income on the
same principle, he deduced the conso-
lation that an individuals modest de-
ficits are not to be wondered at. The
single man of the group dissented,
/ but the other understood. The rest
of the story follows:
"Do boys outgrow their shoes.'' he
asked, "before they wear them out?"
always; long before"
s."And your school bills-let me see
must be SO and so?"
"They are.''
| And to keep the teeth of a grow.
ing child in order cost annually"
ooh, yes" interrupted
"And 30 many servants cost"
eyes, yes, and for rent all you We
got left. :"
Hold on Elk pede, Hercules. 1
see you know all, but don't divulge
anything more. Respect Dacre's in
experience. "
"Well, how do you manage? Do
you cut down your indulgences every
year to offset the Increased length Of
your list of necessaries and the in.
creased cost of most of the items?"
Never Since you press me SO
hard, 1 never do. go out and hustle
for more money, and think I'm going
to get it. It's less trouble -
"Oh, WE'LL Maybe your earning
capacity Is elastic"
my hopes are always elastic.''
"Folly - said Dacre. II see your
finish. -
''No, you don't. Does he, Cattlett?"
II hope not. 1 guess not. If he
does, he sees my finish, too. He un.
derrates the effectiveness of the spur
of necessity. But he hasn't got all
the facts and can't read as much be.
tween your lines as can. You see,
Dacre, the prizes in the great game
run to bigger figures than they USED
to. and it costs more to come in,
that's ALL
"And in this country said l, sits
such an Internally open game. No
one is out of it who can manage to
qualify. No one in this country has
got anything, Dacre, that you, or 1.
or Cattlett, may not aspire to, or
might not have aspired to. if we had
begun early enough and had had the
right Kind of a start, and the right
sort of brains and energies to 60 with.
l sometimes think the reason why the
standard of living is high is that we
are all trying to live up to our oppor-
tunities, and to start our children
if we have children-in such fashion
that they may live we'll up to theirs.
1 dare say we would be happier and
less extravaganza, if we were more
rigidly classified, and if our oppor-
tunities were not restricted. ="
"Oh, come now" put in Catlett,
don't kick down the ladder. We can
stand the opportunities, if onlylwe can
manage to live down our comforts.
'We want some one to relieve us from
the awful pangs of comfort Comfort
competitive COMFORTS gnawing at
our ribs like the Spartan boys fox,
and we hide it under our coat and try
to look happy. If only some one would
deprive us of our comforts, making
scrupulously sure to deprive our neigh
bors of theirs at the same time, we
would build more monuments to him
than the grateful Carnegie has erect
ed to Tariff. But if our comforts are
taken away and our neighbours COM
forts are left, it will not help us. II
there is to be discrimination, let it
be in our favor. Give us that or else
give us a horizontal cut. Find us a
boll-weevil that will blast half the
budding comforts as they grow and
make them perish. Then the Chicago
bank clerk can be happy though mar.
ried, and Harvard College can declare
cash dividends, and distressed parents
will not have to sell their votes to buy
their daughters pioture-hats. "
"Why not unload few comforts,
Oattlett, since they bother you SO
much?"
"Can't do it. my boy. They re