The Tupelo journal., 1906-05-18
BY MARGARET E. sANGsTER.

BY MARGARET E.
A young fellow just out of college
met me -one day and with a disguised
expression inquired whether l knew
Mr.. Blank, a poet whose verses were
household words. l replied that | had
that honor, adding that l appreciated
very much the privilege of Mr.. Blanks
friendship. Yesterday" said the lad,
with a gloomy look on his handsome
face, Il should have said the SAM
thing, but l am di~sillusionized. Blank
called at our house last evening and
with a laugh told my father that he
felt very happy. He had settled his
coal bill with the price of. a poem.
Think of that! Think of bringing
poetry down to the level of coal bills
and furnaces!"
"Mr. Blank is most fortunate l
said. 1T is o every poet who can
defray the cost of living by poetic
dreams, nor is poetry often so remu-
nerative that it can offset tons OF
COAL"
We parted, the young fellow and l,
unable to agree with one another, but
/ fancy a few years later when he
shall have become a sober, Flooding,
professional man, with a family to
support, he will understand the situa-
ton better. By some honest means
coal and groceries must be paid for,
and the cost of living must be. taken
into account whether people earn their
money by one form of day labor or an
other. \ From the president in the
White House to the Italian workman
digging a trench, we all live, if we are
decent and diligent. on the fruits OF
our labor. A small contingent, not
to be envied, loaf about Europe and
America, existing in idleness on the
money Woodworking fathers and grand
fathers earned. But we do o take
them into account, as they belong dis
tinctly to the unproductive class. Most
of us are producers, and as producers
are directly interested in the cost OF
living.
The proposition resolves itself into
several parts, the first of which Is:
The Shelter of the Roof.
We cannot be exposed to the ele-
ments. We must have a refuge from
winds, rain, cold, storm and sun.
Whether we live in a splendid brown
stone edifice or a tumble-down, un-
painted cottage, or anywhere between
these extremes, we must equally lave
protection from inclemency of the at
mosphere, and asylum from friends and
foes. The latter sentiment may need
explanation, because everyone COM
prehends that enemies are better on
the outside of the sheltering walls,
while everybody who is not disposed to
hermit life has a welcome for his
friends. Yet there are days and nights
when a home values seclusiOn, and
does not even desire for the moment
the presence of friends. -Four walls
and a root are the shell of the home,
let it be very simple or very stately.
For this shelter we pay either in
rent, if we hire, or in taxes and the
cost of constant repairs, if we W the
estate. At the basis of family living
lies the cost of the shelter, and the
first duty of a householder is to rightly
adjust this item of expense in its rela-
ton to other necessary items. The
| house itself should not annually cost
| for shelter more than a fifth of the an
| nual income.
Often people pay an undue price for
| shelter because they are determined to
| live on a fashionable street, or in a
| peighborhood where houses are held
at a fancy valuation. They deny them
| selves a great part of the joy of liv-
ing and are defrauded of comfort
through a mistaken pride as to the ex-
| ternl appearance and internal arrange
| ments of that which is after all the
least important item in the bill. What
| we demand of a house is that 1t shall
| have excellent sanitary conditions and
perfect drainage, that it shall be
tight and compact, without a leaking
| roof, or a damp cellHr, and that there
| shall be in it sufficient o to &C
| commodate the family.
These are the essentials. Other mat
| tiers may take care of themselves.