The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-11-04
Cashier State Savings Bank, in
Speech on '"Thrift."
BLUFF" IS AMERICAN GAME
Everyone Is Attempting to Put
on a False Front.
We Are Wasting in Our Homes,
Says Banker.

a WaSter; soldier IN the sIede a'
of those who work or a loafer stray
pIing in the rear" This was the mes
sage brought by ]. d. Gossett, cashier
in the state Savings bank, to the Low
man Hill Parent-Teacher association
meeting Friday night The ttle oA
his paper was Thrift.
His paper, in part. is as follows;
After earning money by labor, it
becomes necessary that it be well
spent in order that the benefit, botn
morally and financially, be lasting. II
the child be merely taught to earn IN
order to spend, he is acquiring spend
thrift habits which Will enlarge as the
years go by, and be disastrous Every
parent owes a duty to the child IN
training it first to earn largely ana
then to spend wisely, and then the boy
will not be tempted to buy a PIERCE
Arrow on a Ford income when he De-
comes a man.
The curtis Publishing company en-
ploys over 10000 boys in selling its
publications every month, and sucn
opportunities are on every hand for
the boy to use profitably his spare
time which might otherwise be trlt-
tered away. The selling of papers,
running of errands and work of TINS
order does not reflect on the standing
of the parents. It is simply good
training and those who regard it worth
having will recognize this fact.
The Great American Game.
The great American game is said to
be base ball. 1t is mott is bluff; the
putting on of a false front; assuming
to be what you are not, and pretending
to have that which you do not possess.
We want lobster on pork and beans
income and an auto when We ought to
hike. The banker, the grocer and
butcher. the tailor and the chauffeur
know the buffer, for his masquerade
fools no one but himself.
When man has the courage to cut
out a great many unnecessary expendi-
lures and save money for really use
full purposes, he is a free man. AL
classes might live more satisfying
lives if they saved more. You need
not be a spendthrift or miser. II
YOU can afford it, give to the church
charity feed and clothe yourself and
your family well, spend some money
for healthful recreation, but save
also against the inevitable
rainy day.
some people think it a disgrace to
go into debt, but let me say here that
some kinds of debt are desirable, help
full and necessary, while, on the other
nand, some kinds are nerNe-racklns
and costly. Buy home on the install
ment plan if you want to, but don't buy
an automobile that way.
But turning from generalities into
more specific things of life, let me
mention few things that ought to be
thought of in a more thrifty way. Sup
pose we begin with the welfare ot tia
farmer. Do not for moment think
that l know anything about practical
farming, but it seems rather out OF
plac e to me to see piece of farm ma
clhnery costing anywhere from $l0 TO
S1CG lying out in the weather all thru
the winter to rust, when cheap shed
would easily prevent decay of the i'm
plements. Why does the American
farmer burn thousands of tons or
straw that in Europe would be saved
and used for various purposes?
Waste of Corn Stalks.
According to one student of the
value of by-products. allowing corn
stalks to evaporate and decay causes
an annual waste of $20O,00O,OOO. But,
be it said in praise of our progressive
farmers. they are reducing this waste
by using silos to preserve chopped
corn stalks and other fodder crops.
Our helpful hen is a first aid to the
thrift of the farmers wife, but the
department of agriculture estimates
the annual loss to be $40, 100000 from
unnecessarily spoiled eggs. Maybe
that is one of the reasons why we are
paying such high price for the eggs
we use in our homes every day. The
government also estimates that home
canning on the farm of what other
wise would be wasted ought to save
at least 500, 100000 annually.
In our homes we are wasting every
day Why do we buy and cook just
a little bit more each day than we eat?
If all the surplus from our tables could
be utilized we could reduce our food
bill materially. A thrifty housewife
must learn how much to buy and also
what food has the most nutriment for
all the family. Every mother and ia
Their would do we'll to let their daugh-
Tor ctr homo RpnnnrniOz If Gha
marry a millionaire.
Women Are Savers.
The average woman, if left to her
own thoughts. is much more apt to
save than her husband. if she knows
that she can look forward to having a
regular allowance. l have been in a
savings bank for nearly twenty years
and in that time it has been very no.
ticeable to me that the saving among
the laboring classes seems to be large
~ among the wives, and it is the
mothers who start many of the ac-
counts for children.
Did you ever stop to think what the
childrei- could save in a year. or I'M
til they got ready to go to college, if
they put aside in a savings fund as
much as they spend for candy and
chewing gum. or even the moving pic
ture shows? The movie business seems
to have firm grasp upon Topeka, as
elsewhere. for after a canvass of the
different show houses. we find that
$4,000 persons attend the filrn thea
tiers every week in our city. That
means an average of every one in To-
peka's going to one chow a week. If
10 per cent of this money were put
into a fund for education what a
power it would be-
Do not understand me t. saw the
picture show is wrong-it is, on the
other hand, If properly censored and
the pictures selected for the Children.
something of great educational value
which brings us in touch with tAa
whole world. without spending rail-
road fare for trips to far off coun-
tries.
Our Annual Waste.
Statistics are tiresome but l .zant to