The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1918-08-23

80 cents day unnecessarily in barber
shops we have total of $1S2 800, 900.
under the actual figures, taking into
consideration all classes of people. In
the less exclusive barber Shops one
finds continual stream of men, of the
moderate salary class. who indulge In
the items / have enumerated. We
might guess the total ought to be al
least half billion dollars.
To have our shoes shined weFspend
at least $100,O00,000 a year and a mil.
lion more than the market price for
shoe laces because we wish to avoid
the trouble of putting them in our
selves. Some of this expense undoubt-
edly is necessary, but while the war
lasts we need not be ashamed Of any
form of Spartan economy. We can be
tight handed and rigorous with our
nickels and dimes without being open
to the charge of stinginess-proy
we use the money for government
needs. We can shine our own shoes
for tenth of this hundred million dol
lars. There are In New York number
of men who have grown very wealthy
from the shoe shining business. Among
them are some large tenement owners
-one reputed to be worth millions
There are more than fifty thousand
bootblack places in the United States.
some of them employing a dozen or
more men. The majority of these
bootblacks are within the fighting age.
at least they ought to be doing some
sort of war service, instead of shining
shoes-while American blood runs sc
freely on the other side.
Women Big MASTERS.
But when it comes to this kind of
self-pampering women spend far more
money than men. Figures secured from
one large department store give some
interesting sidelights on possible eco.
Monies. It's sales of toilet goods last
year ran about 1.3 per cent of its total
sales. Thus for every million dollars
in sales its customers buy $4,000
worth Of toilet articles. Apply this
rate to all the stores in the United
States and you have a total of unnum.
bered millions. The term toilet goods
is very elastic, including both neces-
sary and unnecessary articles, but the
conscientious war saver no doubt
would class one-third of these items as
partly dispensable, such as perfumery,
certain soaps, powders, rouge, toilet
waters, so-called beauty compounds.
and the like.
Americas women are highly SCENT
ed. We live In an atmosphere redol.
ent with ambrosia. From almost every
woman one passes on the parade"
streets of the cities there comes an
aura of roses, or perhaps violets. Our
girls demand scents, in infinite variety
not only in perfumery itself, but in
hundreds of products. Merely to graft
fly our sense of olfactory luxury we
spend tens of millions Of dollars an,
nually. Yet in France the husbands,
brothers and sweethearts of our wom-
en- and girls are sweating and fighting
in nOisome places amid the stencil Of
disease and DEATH. The odors they get
are Of gunpowder and blood. Surely
we can spare sa6e of our perfumery
in the cause for which we sent
them abroad.
If it were possible to estimate the
money spent by women in New Yorb
alone for hairdressing and beauty cul.
ture it would undoubtedly run into the
tens of millions. One hairdresser In
the metropolitan district states that
within eighteen months, or since Amer
lea entered the war, he has built up a
business that nets him seven hundred
dollars month.
A woman proprietor of a so-called
beauty establishment says that fifty
customers bring her revenue of $780,,
600 year, that she realized clear
profit of $4,000 on powders, creams
and perfumes, that she sold sets of
cosmetics at seven hundred dollars
each. Thousands of women pay fancy
fees for hair waving, tinting and
One concern announces
twelve colors, ranging from black to
golden blonde. Much money also goes
for removal Of freckles, wrinkles treat
ment, face bleaching and so on. The
manicure bill in New York is enor
nous. and the chiropody outgo large
These places are furnished in the ut
most luxury. If only we could i'm
press on women of this class the dread
full hardships our American youths are
in the great cause!
The lesson ought to sink home to all
women in America, who in greater or
lesser degree, let their good money go
for such futile vanities.
1t is estimated that a million men
and women throughout the country are
giving to the Turkish baths an aver
age of a dollar day. Thus we have
a total of 1896, 100000 a year. To this
we can add perhaps half as much for
attendant fees, special treat
ment and incidentals.
Bathing is commended, but most of
us, at least those who have the Turk
ish bath habit, can take our ablutions
at home. The soldiers in Europe don't
have Turkish baths. We imagine we
need them here. We eat big dinners
and fill ourselves with rheumatic de-
posits, poison ourselves by gormandiz-
ing. We contract colds because our
systems are too badly clogged to throw
off the germs. 1t is when we are stuff
fed with rich viands and all sorts of
luxuries that we turn to the Turkish
bath for relief. Why not discipline
ourselves during the war and transfer
all these millions of dollars into the
fund that is going to beat autocracy
and the German peril?
l have touched on merely few of