Trench and camp. [volume] (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, 1917-11-28
Prose and Poetry BY Men at Camp Hancock
DOES 1T PAY?
81 oRLANp KY ARMSTRONG.

Inc OtHef udy, SnOrlly after the pay
checks were given out. a private strolled
up to the desk to buy stamps.
want dollars wor..l~ he said.
why so many?" / asked. "Do you
need that many right now?'
mo; of course not he answered, but
you see, / got to get enough to run me
month. II ! don't, III have to, do with
nu two 1eG Gav aay n neve da1 nave any
] grew interested in the situation, and
continued the conversation.
How much do YOU draw per month";"
Thirty dollars !" he responded
a,,,, liant you save a little out of that
stamps?' asked. Does it take all that
for extra expenses"
Well" he said, 81 guess it wouldn't
take all that if had a mind to hold onto
fellows fingers before he knows it. IL
never try 10 save any of it. What's the
use. anyhow? / never expect to come
back, and it won't do me any good to
save money.
/ wondered If there were any others
like him. Are there?
If there are, the trouble with them is
that first they have the wrong viewpoint
OF things; and, second, they lack that
great characteristic known as thrift Let's
sit down and talk over these two things
for moment.
AS to the wrong viewpoint: I refer to
the expression, What's the use, any
how? never expect to come back. :"
More than one soldier has that idea. He
feels that because of the slaughter going
on in Europe his chances Tor coming
back are not worth considering, there
fore eat drink and be merry, for to-
morrow we die" The soldier with that
idea needs to shake himself out Of it,
It's wrong. In the first place. all statis-
tics point out that fourteen out of fif-
; Peace may come before one out of a hun
dred is Killed Even If the war should
be bloody and go on long enough, for
half OF the men enlisted to be killed, and
this is hardly athinkable, a fellow would
have a nifty fifty chance at it, and that's
worth holding ION to. But the point is,
the man who holds the tomorrow we
die idea of war, isn't as good a soldier
as the one who fights and hopes while he
is fighting.
Il can prove that the soldier who hopes
to come back after the war makes the
best fighter There are two reasons:
First, he hopes to come back alive and
feeling at the same time that he gave
them all he had. He works harder, and
gets the promotion up from the ranks.
The fellow who doesn't care what hap
pens toshim stays at the bottom. In the
second place, the soldier who hopes after
the war TO return, wants to come back
better man than when he marched
away HE wants to have his health, in
order to live a long life; his money. so
that he can build up successful trade
business or profession; and his habits
formed IN such way that he can rely
vigorous living--in fact a credit to his
home, his friends, and the country he has
fought for The fellow with that idea
OF things is the best soldier.
Now, as to the thing known as thrift
The trouble with the soldier who let's
all that~thirty dollars slip through his
fingers is that he hasn't an idea Of what
i. is worth: Oh, of course, he may realize
that IT will buy thirty dollars worth of
tobacco, street car fares, movie tickets,
q good Tune, or pay a few debts. l won
DER II 1t isn't worth more than that
How about that buck private | found
the other day, who said he sent fifteen
dobars nome every month? How about
the one who said he kept track of every
cent in little notebook and usually had
from twenty to twenty-five for the bank
Tight-wads, We're they? Not a bit. They
let it all Slip through his fingers To
them, that thirty dollars was worth more
than thirty. Money is worth exactly as
it is saved and used for the right pur-
pose. The private who sends SIS home
will be $3.50 dollars to the good in year
Suppose the war goes on two years. Even
If he is the one out of the fifteen not to
return, his saving will benefit loved ones.
If he is one of the fourteen who return,
his little fund has prepared him to live.
Do you know that IF the war goes on
three years, and you deposit ten dollars
per month, at four per cent, that it win
amount to $870.10? Do you suppose that
it will be worth anything to form the
habit of deposting that $40 per? If you
keep it up for twenty years, you win have
So, 496. TO- Is it worth while?
Here's a true story you can be thinking
about During the Civil War, a young
man with some ideas of thrift and de-
termination to come back from the bust
ness of fighting with some preparation
for the business of living, put away few
dollars every month. He wasn't getting
$50 per- either. but $13. What could he
save out of that? Enough to buy a lit
tie land and calf or two, when the war
was over. You see, through the war he
carried picture of some one, and he
wanted to come back ready to build her
home, And he did. When his com
rades were struggling to get start, he
was making his past thrift work for him.
He ,became, a successful farmer; teacher,
true story, for that soldier is my grand
father The picture he carried in the
fighting was that of my grandmother
Is it worth while?
Prepareto live! The fellow who wants
to come back worth more to his loved
ones and to the world in general can do
so. How about that picture you carry?
How about the home you intend to build?
Prepare to lve!> The opportunity is all
about you Save an allotment each
H. ~