The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-02-02
ARGUMENT IN
4 CIGAR STORE
A Man Who Never Goes TO the Movies,
Nor Allows His Family to Go,
Starts Something by
@s His Remarks.
SMILES AND SCARCASM
The Prominent Citizen With the Soft
Sunlight Smile and the Voice Of
a Steel Machine Tool
Enters.

Il need every cent 1 can make
and scrape these hard times; never
go to picture show myself and
never let my family go because we
can't afford it; it's all / can do -
buy groceries and coal; don't see
how I'm called on TO buy theater
tickets for bunch of soldiers uv-
Ing comfortably in Des Moines; free
shows for the soldiers, For the sol
diers, Why not night gowns? Or
kid gloves?"
The man was one of those semi
orators Indigenous 10 cigar stores.
He would have spluttered and ejacu-
lated some more, but q crisp voice
with a suspicion OF a draw-i cut in.
This man with the face strangely al
ternating between deep gravity and
r sort OF soft sunlight smile, as his
voice was kind as good woman's
or with the quality of tungsten
steel machine tool, has just come in,
and he interrupted the speaker occu-
pying the cigar store floor, saying:
Some People Not Wanted.
You're exactly right about your
self. Ii you never go 10 picture
show, and if you never give your
family dime TO go to a movie. you
ought not to give q cent TO the Smile
age fund. Some other things beside
charity begin at home, and mans
FIRST duty is TO his family. The man
who never goes TO a show, and never
takes any of his family to a show of
any kind, is not expected to buy
:Smileage book in keokuk. Every
body else is
yor,r-o
sarcasm about nightgowns Uncle
Sam didn't build big thea ter in
every cantonment and camp over in
France TO make mollycoddles out OF
the soldiers. The men who head
some of the biggest commercial or
CARNATIONS in the country are be-
hind this amusement movement.
They found out long ago that they
got better work out OF their en-
ployees if they furnished them good,
clean amusement. Most of the big
corpora tons today have their own
employees amusement hall with fire.
luent shows on it's stage.
A Fifty-ffty Proposition.
Keokuk people are asked 10 help
In this thing simply because they go
TO the movies and the musical come
dies themselyes-al they are asked
10 do is 10 spend as much money for
the keokuk soldiers in camps as
they spend themselves here at home
for tickets. That will be plenty
and every dollar spent for a Smile
age book will buy about ten times
as much show in camp as it will in
keokuk, because the admission prices
for soldiers is really merely nominal.
This thing makes better trained
soldiers in Camp Dodge-and it is
almost vital over in France Not
occasional shells, but the continual,
constant nerve strain is what wears
a man out in the trenches. The mill
tary theaters do as much good as the
steel helmets over there"
Your Son, or Anybodys.
Who gets the tickets for the
money we pay in?' asked another
man.
whoever you send them to. I
suppose you'll send yours TO your
son. John here can send his to any
soldier he wants to. If you don't
know any soldier, you can send them
to the chaplain. or the Knights of
Columbus or the Y. NJ. c. A at Camp
Dodge or anywere else and tell them
to give the tickets to soldiers from
Keokuk, Iowa"
whats going to be the next thing
TO come along for our money! asked
man better known as the crouch
behind his back
The Next Thing.
II don't know" replied the even
voice of the Smileage man, ANY
more than I know when and where
and how our Keokuk soldiers are
going to get their next taste Of Ger.
man shells and barrage fire and gas
and bombs. 1t really doesn't matter
very much. does it, just what the
next call on your nice, warm, com.
Portable pocket book will be. The
thing right now is to buy one OF
those books of camp theater tickets
and send it to a Keokuk soldier be-
fore the next money campaign starts
and before the Germans send him
something entirely different"
The cold weather caused MANY
people to telephone the banks today
to ask details about the Smileage
books and to have one laid aside
until they get down town. An the
bank and The Gate City office and
the Hotel Iowa are receiving sub
scriptions by mail. and these should
enclose even dollars always, az the
books are one dollar each, with a
few at five dollars each-five times
as many admissions as the smaller
Dnes have.