The Monticellonian., 1918-08-30

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 are repHted to be made from trees thai 1 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 ab- solutely no sacrifice The people en- gagged In this business wifi simply have to do what so many of us have already done, adjust themselves to war.
 Aside from souvenirs, we are wa- ton spenders for actual merchandise that is inferior or worthless. There Is great class of people to whom cheap ness or fiashiness appeals, rather than utility and economy. A dealer in cheap goods told me that he netted S25,000 q 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 go 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 gernon to thank him for the chocolates No matter how trivial the occasion. our first impulse Is to step Into tele- phone booth.
 If five million people would save one five-cent call a day 1t would mean a total of over ninety million dollars year. Doubtless several times this sum could be saved very easily by the gen eral public on local and long-distance calls. We are lavishly extravagant in the use of the telephone. I know of business houses that talk several times day between New York and Chicago. mourning tolls on each occasion that run from five to forty dollars or more. If there is one thing that the Ameri- talk-which in these days of war need might we'll 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 ten-wora message. One large wholesale house requires all it's travelling men to re- port daily by telegram, an expendi- ture that might be eliminated. The telegraph tolls of some of the large in- dustrial and commercial establish ments 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, Wlno 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 sev- eral times that langth. Baby had the collie; Freddy fell downstairs and skinned his knee. Jeannette had her hair washed.
 I happen to be acquainted also with with young man who revels in night letters to his fianeee. 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 large concern, goes away at intervals to rest for week or two. but insists on having night letter every morn ing, narrating the substance of the previous days business. These mes sages run into hundreds of words every day.
 would not belittle the night letter; but in the present stress we need to curtail whatever part of this expense may be unnecessary. and loan the money to -he government.
 TNe Taxicab Mania.
 We Americans also have the taxi cab mania. There is very large class of men and women who ride in cabs habitually. and let go immense sums in the aggregate. They take taxicabs to go few blocks. In group of twenty leading cities there are about four hun dred thousand of these vehicles, and if each of them absorbed ten dollars ev- cry day In unnecessary fares the az gregate would be over fourteen million dollars a year. What would be the total for the whole United States? It is luxury to jump into a cab when ever ones wants to move about, but these are stern times and we need to be more iron-minded. The boys in France do not ride in cabs. and the money we waste on this form of luxury might better go into gas masks for them.
 We American men saturate ourselves with many kinds of soft Indulgences- as in the barber shops. These places in the high class hotels, as well as the better shops outside, take from us im- mense sums-for what? Here Is typical list: Shave. 25c; haircut. 50c; shampoo. 35c; bay rum, 15c; face mas sage. 35e; manicure. 50e shine 10e; tips. 20c; total $40. It is not un- common for men to go through the whole list, and to pay additional money for hair tonics and other fancy frillS.
 When we analyze this list We find that the only item really necessary Is .l. I,t.,,,+ ,,a .>,,b,x- .ba -1,{na