Middletown transcript. [volume] (Middletown, Del.) 1868-current, 1918-08-24

grow on historic spots. but are really
bogus. Strings of beads are manufac
tured by the mile and sold to-the pub
lie as the work of Indians. The same
is true of moccasins, toy canoes and
the like.
At best the bulk of these goods is
rubbish, and our outgo for this pur
pose might well be cut off entirely dur
ing the war. To do this requires alb
solutely no sacrifice. The people en-
gagged in this business will simply have
to do what so many Of us have already
done, adjust themselves to war.
Aside from souvenirs, we are wan.
ton spenders for actual merchandise
that is inferior or worthless. There is
a great class Of people to whom cheap
ness or flashiness appeals. rather than
utility and economy. A dealer in cheap
goods told me that he netted $4,000 a
year from merchandise that was prac-
tically worthless. He found it easy to
appeal to the spending instincts of his
customers.
Unnecessary Phone Calls.
Not many of US ever stop to think
of the immense amount of money that
is spent for unnecessary telephone
calls. Wherever you 60 the telephone
booths are occupied, and when you
catch fragments of the conversations
you usually find them unimportant.
Reginald calls up his best girl to tell
her he still loves her, Maude calls Al
.crnon to thank him for the chocolates.
No matter how trivial the occasion,
our first impulse is to step into a tele-
phone booth.
If five million people would save one
five-cent call day it would mean
total Of over ninety million dollars a
year. Doubtless several times this sum
could be saved very easily by the gen
eral public on local and long-d!stanee
calls. We are lavishly extravagant in
the use Of the telephone. know of
business houses that talk several times
4 day between New York and Chicago.
:ncurring tolls on each occasion that
run from five to forty dollars or more.
If there is one thing that the Ameri-
cans haven't learned it is economy of
talk-which in these days of war need
might well mean millions Of dollars in
Liberty Bonds. The telephone wires
are heavily overtaxed, anyhow.
Then there is the telegraph. We
have this habit. too. With little
planning we could commonly use
three-cent stamp instead Of a ten-word
message. One large wholesale house
requires all its travelling men to re-
port daily by telegram, an expendi-
lure that might be eliminated. The
telegraph tolls of some of the large in
.lustrial and commercial establish
nents are so big that they seem in
credible.
The night letter is, in a measure, a
luxury. at least we could do away
with the social phase Of it and
much of the domestic. I hap
pen to know one business man. who.
on his frequent and long absences
from home, gets night letter from his
wife every morning and sends one each
night. Nor are these messages con-
fined to fifty words. but often run sew
cral times that length. Baby had the
collie; Freddy fell downstairs and
skinned his knee, Jeanette had her
hair washed
happen to be acquainted also with
with young man who revels in night
letters to his fiancee. They are real let
ters, too, beginning like this: "Darl
ing Sue-I love you more than ever.
couldn't sleep last night thinking of
YOU. Do you love me still? -"
A certain business man, the head of
a large concern, goes away at intervals
to rest for week or two, but insists
IN having a night letter every morn
ing, narrating the substance Of the
previous days business. These mes
sages run into hundreds of words every
lay.
I would not belittle the night letter;
but in the present stress we need to
,urtail whatever part of this expense
nay be unnecessary, and loan the
money to the government.
The Taxicab Mania.
We Americans also have the taxi
,ab mania. There is very large class
If men and women who ride in cabs
and let go immense sums in
he aggregate. They take taxicabs to
20 few blocks. In group of twenty
eading cities there are about four hun
1red thousand Of these vehicles, and if
Zach of them absorbed ten dollars ev-
Try day In unnecessary fares the ag-
yregate would be over fourteen million
dollars year. What would be the
otal for the whole United States? 1t |
$ luxury to jump into a cab when
'yer ones wants to move about. but |
hese are stern times and we need to |
,e more iron-minded. The boys in |
france do not ride in cabs. and the |
money we waste on this form of luxury |
night better 60 into gas masks for |
hem.
We American men Saturate ourselves |
With many kinds of soft indulgences-
IS in the barber shops. These places |
n the high class hotels, as well as the |
letter shops outside, take from us i'm
nense sums-for what? Here Is a
ypical list: Shave. 25c; haircut. Soc;
Csc; bay rum. 15c; face mas
age, 35c; manicure. Soc; shine, 1Oc;
ips, zoe; total $40. It is not I'M
ommon for men to 60 through the
Whole list. and to pay additional money
or hair tonics and other fancy frills.
When we analyze this list we find
hat the only item really necessary is
he haircut - and perhaps the shine.
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