The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-04-19
THROWING MONEY AT
SOMETHING YOU CAN'T HIT


long day is contained in recent ar
| ticle sent out by the American
Bankers Association. 1t says that
thrift is that feeling which comes
over you when you know you've
been stung. Did you ever notice that
man at summer resort who steps
boldly UP to the counter, lays down
nickel, picks up three balls and
throws them wildly at negro's
head, a row of grinning dolls, or
some other contraption devised to
lure him away from his nickel, hit
nothing and walk away with de-
| jected look?
Did you ever go on an outing, or
on a nights pleasure bent, and be a
| good fellow" a good spender,"
and go home with that -did-get-
out-of-it feeling?
Did you ever attend an auction,
lose your head and buy something
you didn't need and couldn't use, at
price twice as much as it was
worth and have the same sensation?
protest against waste-your
thrifty self strus Cling against your
thriftless self, trying to show you
that you waste money only to re-
greet it, and, even though you for
get it, you won't alter the situation
! Every summer resort is built upon
the proposition that most everybody
wastes certain amount of money,
gets foolish at times, takes a throw
or two at something they know they
can't hit, just to see how it feels.
Coney Island and the movie" do not
despise the nickels-all they want is
enough of them. Did you ever stop
to consider that nothing at amuse-
ment resorts costs over ten cents eX-
cept food? Summer resorts know
that human nature is frivolous in
summer time, bound to spend a part
OF the weeks wage in being foolish,
generating thrills, that even though
innocent are costly, and only thrills
after all. And if the crop of foolish
folk We're not a. bumper one every
year, and if the stings OF conscience
were needed, there would be many
an empty booth at the beaches this
year.
You can spend your money foolish
ly so long that your conscience will
not trouble you, just as you can cul-
tiyate a bad habit so long that you
cease to think it wrong. Even the
best of us, with the most careful
management, are bound to waste a
certain amount of money. Some
how it gets away from us, try as we
will to prevent it. But the man who
deliberately throws his money at
something he can't hit, whether it be
a negro's head or a business PROPOSE
tion, must not complain if the ball
goes wide of the mark.
If you can't resist this tendency
to throw things, either stay away
from such places, or don't carry
much money with you.
You can have day at the beach
for dollar. Fifty cents for your
swim, ten cents for car fare and
forty cents for lunch. And that will
put redblood in your veins and key
up your appetite wholesomely. Three
balls for nickel never does that.
The crowd would rather look on
while you throw your money away
than to throw their own; but what
comparison have you? When your
money is gone they will buy no
shoes for your babies, nor pay your
rent when you're sick, nor subscribe
to your pension when you're down
and out. Many catastrophe in life
is caused by throwing money at
something you can't hit, whether in
| business, in society, or at the beach;
but listen to that still, small voice
that sting of conscience, and do
what it tells you, for it stings to a
profitable purpose. 1t is waving a
red flag of danger to keep you safe.
Heed it.-St. Augustine Record.