The Yale expositor., 1918-08-22

of II is fraud stuff. Wooded articles
are reputed to be made from trees that
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.
soutely 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 flashlness appeals, rather than
utility and economy. A dealer in cheap
goods told me that he netted $4,000
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 unlmportant.
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.
II five million people would save one
fve-cent call a day it 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. l know of
business houses that talk several times
a 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-
cans haven't learned II is economy of
talk-which in these days of war need
might well mean millions of dollars I'm
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 a
three-cent stamp instead of ten-word
message. One large wholesale house
requires all its travelling men to re-
port daily by telegram, an expendi-
ture that might be eliminated. The
telegraph tolls of some of the large In
lustrial 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 ii and
much of the domestic. I hap
pen 10 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
ined TO fifty words. hut often run sew
'ral times that length Baby had the
ollie; Freddy fell downstairs and |
skinned his knee, Jeanette had her
lair washed.
| happen 20 be acquainted also with |
With a young man who revels In night |
etters to his fiancee. They are real let
ers, too, beginning like this: "Darl-
ng Sue-I love you more than ever.
couldn't sleep last night thinking Of
'ou. Do you love me stil?. :"
\ certain business man. the head Of
/ large concern. goes away at intervals |
o rest for week or two. hut insists
m having a night letter every morn
ng narrating the substance OF the
previous days business. These mes
ages run into hundreds OF words every
lay.
would not belittle the night letter:
ut I'm 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
alb mania. There is a very large class
4 men and women who ride in cabs
abitually, and let go immense sums in
he aggregate. They take taxicabs to
o few blocks. In group OF twenty
eading cities there are about four hun
red thousand of these vehicles. and If
ach Of them absorbed ten dollars ev-
ry day. in unnecessary fares the ag-
regate would be over fourteen million
Ollars year. What would be the
)tal for the whole United States? 1t
! a luxury to jump into cab when
yer ones wants TO move about, but
lese are stern times and we need to
e more iron-minded. The boys I'm
rance do not ride in cabs, and the
loney we waste on this form of luxury
light better go into gas masks for
lem.
We American men saturate ourselves
18th many kinds of soft indulgences-
5 in the barber shops. These places