Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-01

HOLD
| lINTS

Housekeepers all over this country, from
the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific, the
Canadian border to the gulf. scarce needed
the findings of the state conference of
charities and corrections held In Rochester
lately to know that the cost of living in
the last fifteen years has more than doubled
in many things. and that to insure a de-
cent, comfortable living for a family OK
five q close call on $500 or $1,GO0 would
have to be made.
1t Is, however, a comfort to have the re-
suits obtained by the painstaking scientific
investigators of social conditions, tabulated
in black and white. Many a man has
blamed his wife. in his heart IL not In
speech, for not making the lump sum
handed over to her for the weekly or
monthly living go as far as mother used
to make It," scarce taking into account that
rents, nearly all food supplies. fuels. serv-
ice and the doctors and dentists bills have
all advanced prodigiously.
Despite our national prosperity, wages
save In certain lines have not kept pace
In order to eventually compel by law the
payment Of wages sufficient for the requi-
sites of q normal standard of living and
their cost in definite localities, an fnvesti-
cation Is now to be taken up that VIII
cover all the principal cities of the Union
to find out just how much 1t actually costs
for family to live decently and comfort
ably. This includes besides shelter. food and
drink, clothing. light and fuel, furniture and
furnishings, car fares, provision Tor SICK
ness, accident and dental care, savings,
insurance and incidentals that vary accord
ing to each family's makeup.
Meanwhile, each housewife will have to
go on cudgeling her brains as how best to
reduce her wants. cropping off superfuities
and making the income, big or small, suf-
flee.
With the approach of Christmas this Is
particularly tantalizing, for the Christmas
spirit is an expensive one, prone to run
into an unwarrantedly expensive one II we
could only bring ourselves to realize that
1t is an offense against morals and good
taste to give more than we can rightly az
ford, or because we mistakenly argue We
have to-" perfunctory giving would soon
cease. It is sweet to be remembered; but
IL we truly love any one we do not wish
them to be overburdened on our account.
Among older folks cordial letter. card
with good wishes. trifing remembrance,
Just to show that we do not forget and love
endures. is quite enough. For the children
CHESS their dear hearts, the aged and the
shut-ins. that Is quite another matter; yet.
even so, there should be discretion.
INEXPENSIVE CHRISTMAS GIFTS.
One young woman who loves to send lit
tie remembrances to all her friends, but
whose purse is shallow, has taken pains
through the summer to collect a number OF
artistic local post cards some in black and
white and others In celors. To a portion
of these she will affix little calendars and
mount on gray cardboard, while others will
be passe partouted. Another woman who
has been abroad and brought back with
her a supply Of beautifully colored cards
has purchased a number. of the ten and
twenty -five-cent framed pictures that are
to be found In the ten-cent and department
stores, ousted the pictures that meant moth
ing and replaced them with the foreign
cards Another original idea Is to take
have them mounted on black three or FIVE
In a group with quarter-inch spacing be.
tween. then frame in dark green or duh
black. An artist last year took ordinary
post cards, and on the blank side made
lovely little water-color pictures of various
landscapes, with Christmas greetings un-
derneath. caution here would be, how
ever, not to send through the mails unpro-
tected, as the careless postman ruined