Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1910-04-21
HER WAY OF
ECONOMIZING

IL Was IHelT urSC open quarrel. FdLo
had been leading them gently toward
1t ever since he gave her his last pres
ent of all, plain gold ring. He was
not mean by nature, but he had soon
realized that dollar in the counting
Is worth two in the home
I'VE must economic in small
things" he had said when she smi-
lingly showed him the house account
for the first month with the balance
on the wrong side
So she cut ont ice cream sodas on
her daily marketing expeditions and
he waited until he got home to see the
evening paper.
1--WE must economic in small
things" he had repeated when fearful
ly she showed him the second months
accounts and some unpaid bills So
she cut out going downtown and or
dered everything over the wire. Not
having even the manly vice of smo-
king he could attain no further virtues
Of economy.
Then there had come a bright spot
In their lives followed by cloud. He
noticed that she was making habit
of glancing through the morning pa
per before he carried 1t off to read
on his way downtown. "She is de-
veloping," he had told his mother the
next day. He heartily approved of
women who took an interest in public
affairs. But, alas, every time he made
some remark on current topics she
said: Eyes, DEAR" when she ought to
have said: "No, DEAR" and vice versa.
What on earth is the good Of read
Ing the pa err if you don't get more
out of it than that" he grumbled. 1t
was the first unkind word and she was
too hurt to explain. After that the pa
per was still UNFINISHED when he car
ried 1t off after breakfast. And mean
time the accounts were slowly getting
better. though there was another
deficit at the end of the third month.
I'VE must economic in small
things" he reiterated Its the little
things that make the big items in life
We mustn't spend one penny unneces-
sarily."
Then came the cloudburst; one
evening when he came home he no
ticed copy Of the mornings paper ly-
Ing on the table. He said nothing
about it, but when it happened two.
three, four days in succession he not
too kindly made inquiries.
Where do you get this extra paper
every day." he asked.
h,,S,.
Piled.
DO you mean to say we are pay
ing an extra subscription for paper
that might as well be printed in Chi
nese for all the good you get out of it?
No wonder you can't keep the house
expenses down If that's the way you
go about ii"
why shouldn't l have a paper as
well as your" she answered.
His reply was so unlike him that
she went back to the kitchen with
tears in her eyes and promptly spoiled
the dinner. This was too much I'M
happiness for one day. She threw
herself into an easy chair and hid her
face in her hands.
1T isn't the news" she sobbed when
ne came to her with quick sympathy
for the vanquished. 1T isn't the news.
It's the advertisements. | was shamsd
to let you see me reading it when you
found couldn't talk about the things
you read about. But | do get some
good out of it. | saved dime on
those chops you enjoyed so much last
night and whole dollar on that shirt.
waist you said was pretty last week.
And-and-don't you see it's the bar.
gain advertisements they put in every
day-and you haven't noticed what
better food we get now-and the din
ner's spoilt and"
We'll. Pm a." he murmured
Wash your face and put on that pref.
ty shirtwaist and we'll have dinner
downtown"
They are now economizing in biz
things.