Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-31
I 1OUSE=
HOLD
lINTS

with the new year at the door and de-
plorable object lesson in feminine "fren-
zled hnarce' to point out it's own moral
the woman who is responsible for the ex-
penditure of the family income may well
recall Poor Richards good advice, and bind
it upon the frontlets of her account book
for serious meditation:
Buy what thou .last no need of and ere
long thou shalt sell thy necessaries of life
Silks. satins, scarets and velvets put out
the kitchen fire. These are not the neces-
sarles of life; they can scarcely be called
the corveniences, and yet only because
they look pretty, how many want to have
them! But what madness it must be to
run IN debt for superfluities. Think what
you DO when you run in debit you give to
announcer power over your own liberty. If
you cannot pay at the time you will be
ashamed TO see your creditor; you will be
IN fear when you speak to him. When
you have got your bargain you NAV per
haps think little of payment; but creditors
nave better memories than Debtors"
one thing every woman should aim to do
anu tnat is TO live we'll within her income
some, py the grace of God or other fortui-
MS ,9us circumstances, have much and are at
liberty to spend accordingly Others of Ms
the greater majority-have less and
least" in which case the responsibility is
greater as well as the credit when a little
is made to go a long ways In all avants
beware of debt. Start the new year with
the resolve Ito owe no man."
III the tenements, according to the expert
ence or the settlement workers there the
wages earned by the men and USUALLY turn-
ed over to the wife are Quite enonoh for
comfortable living. 1t is however the aw
iul ignorance and thoughtlessness that
keeps the family nose to the grindstone. !"
| TO quote the apropos Richard again. In
many cases the day or two following IVA pe
| day are times of reckless expenditure al
the delicatessens and cheap bake shops, the
corner candy stall and push cart mer-
| chants. From that time on to the next ma
| day is famine sore or else an ever-increac
| ing burden of debt. Nor is this poor man
| agement confined to the tenements alone.
and sad to say the greatest offenders are
| those of American birth or Irish-Amerj-
| cans The English, Germans, French. Ital-
| ians and Swedish are much more proyident.
| A case In point was afforded by two
thanksgiving dinners in the same house
! The one was prepared by Swedish Wo-
man whose husband is a carpenter. the
! other by an American-born woman of Irish
| descent, whose husband works for the
| street department. The income in each
| case is about the same, also the number
| In the family to be provided for. In view
| of the fact that turkeys and other fowl
| were so dear. the Swedish woman bought
| a shoulder of fresh young pork, had the
bone removed and stuffed 1t with force
| meat of prunes and apples. She purchased
| red onions, which are considerably cheaper
| than the white, and soaked them first in
! salt and water to remove the strong taste
| before boiling, when they proved quite as
| delicate as the more expensive ones. She
| made her own bread. cooked potatoes and
macaroni with tomato and cheese. and
| buying a package of mincemeat for IL
! cents, enrching it little more with spices
| and fruit had enough for four small pies
| Not only did the family have a good an6
| abundant Thanksgiving dinner, but enough
/ F1- INrtI Cot ,rrIa -
| Sunday.
The other woman declared she would have
| turkey no matter what it cost. She paid
| twenty-five cents pound for skinny bird
| that the family demolished In one meal,
| then threw the bones away. Instead of red
| onions she bought white, also celery. cram
| berries and canned peas. From the baker
| she purchased two large mince pies at
| twenty-five cents each. A mortal gorge
| as the cowboys say, took place on Thurs
| day, but before Saturday every cent had
| been spent. not a thing was left in the
! cupboard and the children were in at the
| Swedish home asking for bread and butter.
Twelfth Night Festivities-with the cele-
bration of Twelfth Night or Little Christ
mas on January 6. the holidays proper come
| to an end. Then st. Distaff's day, on
| January T.
! Partly work and partly play
! and next morning
| every one
| To his own vocation
The English and Latin peoples have al
| ways made much of the Traditions of "old
| Christmas but 1t is only of late years that
| Americans have begun celebrating it. Now
! among gentle fol-" guests are invited to
| country house parties from Christmas until
! Twelfth Night, when a gay masque and
| other revelries suited to the occasion bring
| the festivitie- to a hilarious close. We OF
| the workaday world compromise by helping
| the young people to one more gay evening
| before they go back to their studies The
program for Twelfth Night party begins
| with the supper, which is served early In
| the evening, and is hearty enough to take
| the place of the usual meal at home. II
/ must be as ''old Er@lish" as possible. The
| table. preferably of boards stretched across
| trestles, may be set in the dining room,
4 kitchen. or, bes of all. in the cellar, down
by the furnace fire, where oysters may be