The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1919-12-26
A CHRISTMAS RESOLUTION

his legs felt without the old "puttees"
on them. But he had seen enough and
been home and looked around long
enough to have thought out some
things for himself. Then, too, Christ
mas had come, and gone, and he had
found that what was left over from
his army pay hadn't stretched far
enough to buy a good many things ne
had wanted to buy when he saw the
holly, the mistletoe and the green and
red paper wreaths in the windows Of
the old town.
John Holloway was in a mood to
make resolves and give the reasons
for said resolves that afternoon. He
and some of the "old gang" had been
lounging in the warm and brightly
lighted drug store for an hour when he
said:
"You know over in France l found
out that nearly every little old gar
dencr and farmer and every shoe cob
bier and carpenter had a lot of his
Jack soaked away in Government
bonds? 1t is fact. | was never
more surprised id my life than when /
found out that the old women in the
house where l was billeted had been
saving money all those years and
sticking it cway, handful of francs
at time, in honest to gosh Govern
ment bonds.
"Why, you know that before we got
into the war, if anybody had told me
about Government bond would have
thought they were talking about the
bond that the judge says must be
signed if you don't want to get your
self slung into Jail.
Of course we heard lot about bonds
when the "Libertys" come along,
but even then l had it figured that
the man who had the big money was
the one they were for.
"You see / went across before the
bond drives got to scraping down and
getting the high and the middle and
the low.
"But that was one swell idea the
Trenches had and they had it first
by a big majority. 1t works out
mighty we'll and | feel pretty sure
that the 'Froggies' didn't fight any
poorer because they knew that they
and their families had an absolute
financial state in that ia belle France
they were always talking about"
"What's the idea anyway" asked
one of the half interested group. "Do
you intend to go back over there and
work for francs instead of dollars and
stick francs into French bonds?"
"For why should | do that ?" ar
gued ex-Corporal Holloway. Haven't
we finally got the same advantage ov-
err here and in a darn sight better
country than France ever was or ev-
err will be? I'll say we have. Any
boy, with a little old job and little
old luck | will be ridin' on the world
come next Christmas. I'm going to
save me some money and to keep 1t
from slipping through these fingers of
mine. Pm certainly going to take a
leaf out of the Frenchman't book"
ooh, all right, but what is the
plan?" asked another idler, who was
willing to 60 most anywhere but
home.
"Why, l gets me few dollars and
buy me a 'beaucoup' War Savings
Stamp" said Corporal Holloway. Il
stacks away said W. S. S. for which |
pay four bucks and some odd cents
and | keep stacking them away out
of the old pay envelope and come live
years from now | have me a roll, in
terest having piled up on each and ev-
cry buck that | put in there"
at would beat the savings bank in
terest, at that, agreed one of the lis
tencrs.
"Forty said ways from the jack"
went on Holloway. "Why, it's just
like shooting fish. Now | don't know
anything about oil stocks or rubber
plantations, or a patent device to eX-
tract buttcrfat from a Burbank
squash, or any of the rest of these
now.
But do know that the old Govern
ment of the U. S. A. has been paying
off regularly since away back yonder.
Wherefore and therefore it is a safe
bet that it is going right along on the
old 100 cents on the dollar basis.
"The Trenches put the idea in my |
head, | guess, but our own little old
w. S. S. game back here beats it. 1t |
don't take much to get into it either |
You can buy a stack Of chips with |
four iron men and few odd cents |
Then you are in and you are not GO
ing to run up against any ace fulls |
with it either. 1t may not be as fast |
as trench paper, either way or as
rapid as that niger golf we used
to play under the mired down truck at |
the side of the road. But it is not |
forbid by regulations and you surely
will get somewhere with it.
"Ive got my mind all made up to
enlist in one of these War Savings
Societies." he went on, "and l here
and now make my biggest New Year
resolve. You hear me-"
And he got up, gave hitch at
where the old o. D. belt used to be
and rambled out to get a pocket full
of w. s. S. circulars and hunt up a
place to "enlist.n