Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-05-24
ON COST OF L|v|NG'
tvEN THE POET MUST PAY HIs
 COAL BILLS.

Practically All People Live on the
 Fruits of Day LAbor-RAnt Should
 Not Cost More Than 0ns-Fifth of
 Annual Income-Mistaken Pride
 as to External Appearances De-
 prives Some People of the Real
 Joy of Living-only Millionaires
 Can Afford" to Dress as Poor as
 Poverty-Buy Clothes at End of a { Season-Willful Waste the Crying
 Sin of American Housekeeping.
 BY MARGARET E.. SANGsTER.
 A young fellow just out of college met me one day and with a disgusted expression inquired whether I knew Mir. Blank, poet whose verses were household words. replied that had that honor, adding that appreciated very much the privilege of MT. Blanks friendship. Yesterday" said the lad. with gloomy look on his handsome face, T should have said the same thing, but am dislllusionized. 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!"
 MT Blank is most fortunate, said. Tt is not every poet who can defray the cost of living by poetic dreams, nor is poetry often so remu- nerative that 1t can offset tons of coal"
 We parted, the young fellow and |. unable to agree with one another, but I fancy few years later when he shall have become a sober, plodding, professional man, with family to support, he will understand the situa- tion 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 trench, we all live, If we are decent and diligent. on the fruits of our labor. A small contingent, not to be enyied. loaf about Europe ane America, existing in idleness on the money hard-working fathers and grand- fathers earned. But we do not 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 refuge from winds. rain, cold. storm and sun. Whether we live in a splendid brown stone edince or a tumble-down, un- painted cottage, or anywhere between these extremes, we must equally have protection from inclemency of the att 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 home values seclusion, and does not even desire for the moment the presence of friends. Four walls and roof 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 own the estate. At the basis of family living lies the cost of the shelter, and the first duty of householder is to rightly adjust this item of expense in its rela- tion 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 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 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 damp cellar, and that there shall be in 1t sufficient room to ac- the family.
 These are the essentials. Other mat .ers may take care of themselves.
 
 The Item of Clothing.
 A man who goes daily to business must be comfortably clothed for his work. well shod and provided with utter garments that enable him to ap- pear thoroughly respectable among his A good deal of success nay depend on the appearance a man makes when going to and from the place of his work A man whose iress is obviously shabby and thread ,are is discounted unless being a miI- ionaire he can afford to look as poo- ls poverty.
 In ordinary circumstances the man .f sho houos r-,u~s ha usIi dr~.,~a A.