The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1907-08-10
Copyright. by Joseph b. Bowles.)

veal.
Copyright by Joseph Z. Bowles>
(Atrs. Frederick Nathan is one of the
best examples in the United States of the
busy woman of leisure. Her time is given
TOR the most part to practical charities:
New York city. she has been able to
achieve far-reaching results, the. benefits
Of Whivh go to the poorly paid classes of
workers. Mrs. Nathan is a graceful
writer ami interesting lecturer on sub
Jects relating to reform by women. She
the Noman's Municipal league, a direc-
tor OF the Congress of Liberal Religions,
Of the Southern Library fund and Of the
Jewish Council of WOmen.)
The word bargain to the average
woman is very much like the word
cocktail to the average man. 1t tickles
the palate; it awakens pleasant an
ticipations. The woman who is offered
a bargain and the man who is offered
a cocktail both hope to get something
at the expense of some one else. They
may be getting something they do not
require, perchance what is not good
for them; but the temptation to avail
themselves of the opportunity, in either
case, is hard to resist.
The habitual bargain seeker is as
apt to come to grief as the habitual
tlppler. Just as the too frequent
cocktail impairs the digestive system
so the abnormal appetite for the bar
gain weakens the moral constitution.
There is a glamour that impairs the
vision, SO that the defects of the bar
gain cannot be estimated and renders
the bargain hunter oblivious of the old
maxim, penny wise and pound fool
ist1." Who does not know the shopper
who refuses to buy renaissance center
pieces at the counter for $275, but
who, seeing the same articles at bar
gain table the following week sur
rounded by crowd of eager buyers,
rushes to secure one at $3.50?
She feels a triumphant thrill at
having clutched and retained the very
one that her neighbor was endeavor-
ing to secure. She glows with pride
when she finds that there are no more
Of that design; the one she grasped
in such frenzy cannot be duplicated
She admires her own perspicacity; it
was we'll worth giving up quarter
of an hour in order to feel that to
the victor belongs the spoils. Who
has not met the woman who shows
with pride the bargain she has OBJ
tanned at a reduction of ~ cents, but
who. in order to obtain it, was jostled
and pushed about at bargain coun-
ter for fully half an hour, and then,
finding it too late to reach home in
time for luncheon, has gone to res
taurant and expended thrice the
amount saved? This type of woman,
however, probably derives more than
her moneys worth of pleasure from
the mere idea of procuring a bargain.
And the recreation is harmless enough
if the bargain be not a "tainted' one.
There need be no antipathy to the
word bargain in itself; some bargains
are wise. There need be no denuncia-
ton of all bargains. Some from the
ethical point of view no woman should
countenance; but any thoughtful per-
son must concede that there are manv
that are legitimate. In this class we
may place CD articles that are sold
cheap because they have been manu-
featured in modern factories with the
assistance Of the most modern inyen
lions and therefore at low cost; (2)
those sold cheap because manufacture
ers have obtained material under
peculiarly advantageous conditions in
very large quantities.; 90 those where
the manufacturer or merchant is over
stocked; (4) those which are no
longer fashionable or novel; (5) those
sold at a low price as a method of
advertisement. Any shopper, however
conscientious, could take advantage Of
an opportunity to obtain a bargain
that would fall in one of the above
classes.
In the category of "sillegitimate"
bargains come CD articles sold cheap
because given out 70 be made under
the contract system of work-a sys-
TEN which reduces the profits of the
workers to almost nothing in order
to place money in the pockets Of con-
tractors and subcontractors; (2) arti-
cles sold at a low price because made
in sweatshops. where amid unwhole-