The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-01-02
YESTERDAY AND TODAY.
Striking Changes in Ideas, Opinions and

From "Girard s Talk of the Day in
the Philadelphia Telegraph.)
Yesterday the wrist watch was the fad
of sissies and today it is the necessity
! of soldiers going to battle.
Yesterday Uncle Sam was smashing
the railroads into small units and today
he Is preparing to operate them as the
largest trust in the world
| Yesterday it was fashionable to see
how much you could waste and then in
directly brag about ''thc things one
really and truly must have to get on
with, while today multi-millionaires
are eating corn bread
! Yesterday all the blatherskites point
ed 70 big business such as Bethlehem
Steel and Baldwins as a public menace,
but today we hail them as saviors of
our country.
Yesterday hundreds OF men | know
or know about were earning with their
lbrains tens Of thousands Of dollars for
themselves every year, whereas today
they are toiling for Uncle Sam at two
cents week.
Yesterday il was crime for the
United States TO own a merchant ma
rine, today a Philadelphia shipyard is
preparing to build 30 great ships at a
clip. SO that we may have a merchant
marine.
YESTERDAY it was the fashion for the
vast majority Of people to spend every
cent they earned, but today ten million
people own Liberty bondS-mostly PAID
for out of savings.
Yesterday we couldn t possibly get
on without limited railroad trains, Yet
today We feel no fatal sensations whcl
those costly luxuries are not running.
Yesterday = girl paving teller in :;
bank would have caused mild riot
but today women are i'll the bank
breaking stones on the railroads. con
Quoting trolley cars, making big shell
for our troops, running elevators III OF
fee buildings and playing messenge
) boy.
!. Yesterday we put more money in a
; cohul twice over than we put iii a
! public education, as men. and fey
I | women, too, eouldn seem to live will
5 out John Barlevcorn, and yet today GU
). liquor bill has been cut in two withou
!. a major surgical operation.
j. Yesterday we taxed ourselves heav
=. " to feed and maintain in semi-luXur
Il or at least full comfort thousands {
+ crooks, thieves, counterfeiters and mu
d derers. but today some sensible con
e munities have set this parasite class
work.
= Yesterday miladv could scarcely dra
l. on her own gloves, but now she is kni
o ting with nimblc fingers stout swcate
,r for Sammec.
n Yesterday we depended upon &c
many for lot of drugs and dyes whi'
today We are duplicating only makli
better ones.
Yesterday We simply had TO Q
r steaks and chops three times da
i tnt now we find less need for docto
and fewer calls upon our bank accoun
IN when eating meat but once a day.
" YESTERDAY the farmers apparent
were raising all the food they cou
ar make mother earth produce, ncvertl
- less one clear call from Dame Necessi
" and the farmers added 4 cool billl
bushels of grains to our supply
"a Yesterday the mosah2eks yelled Il
Il 800 ships Of war were too many for
= nation certain never to have anotf
fight, but now We find 1000 such sh
~, too few, when we have war.
m Yesterday YOU just couldn t be e
: tent without Joy ride, eating up 2
cious gasoline, but YOU reduced mica
M on the aNerag" ny ~ per cent, anu >
re- survive the shock.
NJ. Yesterday we had TO have our d
nerplatcs thanked by sugar bowls,
l,h today when the big hotels dole out
". lump of sugar for each cup of cot
re we do first rate and still save over
per cent in sugar.
-is. That : what necessity does for US.
w. You never can tell. By tomorrow
Ia. may have made sufficient progress
mo be able TO dine without the din o
brass band At our elbows.
rnn |