The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-05
Wasting a Sheet of Paper

In the practice of economy there must be reason and due regard to relative values, for in the saving of a little there may be the wasting of much. For in- stance, certain bank president drawing a goodly salary spends a great deal of time cutting envelopes for use as scratch paper. He is wasting his time, for if he is worthy of being president of bank his brain value Is of so much greater worth than the paper value he is trying to save that he is penny wise and pound foolish. He should be thinking out the problems of his bank, not trying to save it a few sheets of paper. On the other hand it would be good economy for a large de- partment store, burning hundreds of lights daily, to pay a man $1O week to watch for needless waste of light and turn out those not in use.
 A certain man dropped nickel at a railroad station. In his endeavor to find it he lost his train, lost his temper, missed a business engagement that held up four other men, and caused confusion all round, and had to spend a quarter for a telegram to hold the engagement for his late arrival. That was poor economy.
 The point to be emphasized in all such endeavors is to impress upon the individ- ual who wastes that if all were to do as he does, the loss would be enormous; and if all were to do as he should. the sav- ing would be great. We are both careless and thoughtless. We leave our lights burning when they do no one any good We leave the water running, forgetting that the meter is on it's job all the time, and every turn of the wheel means money to some one, if not to us. It is all very well to say Its included in the rent''- yes, but the landlord has probably fig ured that out when he fixed his rental. You pay, not he, for every hour you burn a useless light, or let the water run to waste.
 A certain school teacher, wide awake to impress these things upon her pupils, got her great chance one day A little girl made a few figures on sheet of paper and threw it away. The teacher asked why she wasted that sheet of paper, and the pupil replied that it was only a sheet of paper and besides, it was furnished by the board of education free.' Calling the class to order, she asked them to take out their pads and count the number of sheets. Then she told them what the pad cost and asked them to calculate the cost of one sheet-a fraction of a cent. She then told them how many pupils attended the schools of the city on an average of 1S0 days a year and asked them to figure the cost if each pupil wasted but one sheet day. The total was a surprise.
 It's not the cost of a single sheet of paper, a single hour of useless light, a match, a cent or two, that counts-it's the cumulative totals that make the as- tonishing losses.
 There is such a thing as being mean and niggardly with yourself, eating only enough to keep body and soul together, wearing clothes until they are a mass of patches, and living a life of strict denial to all the bodily comforts. That is not the point; you ought to live well, dress deoently, and have wholesome pleasures, but be careful in your wasting, lest you be one of great army, wasting it may be but match a day, but if 100000 others are doing the same thing, we burn up lot of wood to no useful purpose. Light your pipe with one match!
 AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION.