The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-12-10
Quarter Of A Million Dollars
 For Christmas Presents
This Sum Will Be Released By the American Bank &
 Trust Co., Under It's Christmas Savings Account

About one-quarter of million dol- lars, representing the years savings of 4,0O0 members of the American Bank & Trust Co.'s Christmas Savings club, will be distributed among those m embers at the expiration of the club term on December 1Oth- This accu- mutation of pennies. nickels. dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars is the "pin money of enough persons to people a small city. It has been deposited in a place where it has been safe against the temptation to break over a good resolution and spend it, and between now and Christmas most of it, in fact probably practically all, will find it's way into the hands of the merchants of Bridgeport.
 Few plans of compulsory saving have met with a more ready response than has the Christmas Savings club The idea caught on quickly when 1 first introduced a few years ago. Thousands availed themselves of the opportunity to lay away small sums | regularly to the end that after a little l less than year the accumulated sum | might be returned to them, with in | terest, and be available for Christmas spending or any other purpose to | which they might desire to put it. i A year ago when it was announced that the savings club plan would be | continued, the American Bank & Trust Co. was fairly swamped with AO avail themselves of the club mem bership. All day and evening the | banking rooms were thronged and l the resulting enrolment was close to 4,O00.
 r Not the least feature of the savings | club has been the universality of it's | appeal A. casual consideration it l might be supposed that only persons | of small means would take advantage | of it; that those better circ nstanced would pass it by. It is a fact, how ! ever, that the club has numbered its l members as many in moderate or might be classed as poor. The req son for this lies in the compulsory | feature of the plan. All of us, well | to do as well as poor, cherish pro | iects for saving part of our income, | these plans varying in scope and mag nitude according to our means. Yet it is automatic that only small percentage of these plans come to lack of the rare quality of persist ence, the possession of which brings
 success in any field of endeavor.
 We plan to save. we even map it
 will put aside regularly, and we keep our resolutions for a while. Then
 some emergency arises and With 1t the temptation to break over, and the savings scheme that looked so
 good has gone the way of all things | that perish.
 There is an end to all that, how
 aver, in the Christmas Savings club | it is true that nothing can compe the member to keep up his weekly
 aSsessm ents. He can drop out al will but there is no temptation to dc
 so, for the money that he has already
 banked remains on deposit until tht
 close of the club term. Moreover, h.
 cannot raid the sum deposited. | remains where he put it and at thu
 very worst than can befall he receive h r4 fta
 That the club membership itse1
 proves the best incentive to system
 atic saving is proved by the small
 dropped out during the past year
 Exact figures in this regard are no
 available, but it is said that the mum
 Der that have not kept up their pay
 ments is surprisingly small.
 The club began it's present term
 December 26th, 1919- and for 50
 weeks small amounts of money which
 the club members have not missed
 have been rolling into the American Q. pile they have made in the end. Also, if these sums hadn't been thus saved, where would they now be? l The most important factor to be rec | ognized is that if these sums hadn't | been saved in this manner. very few 1 of the club members would now pos sess any of the money.
 | The majority of the deposits have been made in women'S names, as in many instances the mother acts as agent for the family. It Is, however, reasonable to believe that if the | mother acts as agent for the family mother didn't look out for the stray bits of change no one else would do so and no deposit would be made. It would be interesting to know what becomes of this vast sum, How much of 1t will go for Christmas pres ents? How much for paying bills ? How much will be re-deposited in the bank? The last question is the most interesting one of all, because it would show eonclusively how many people have acquired the saving habit as direct result of the Christmas club The desire to see one years savings increa sed, together with the present depression, will very likely see a good many of these club deposits find themselves back at home in the Ameracan Bank & Trust Co.,, within a few days after their release. The instinct of thrifty club member will tell him that he might as well put the money back. He will figure that if he hadn't joined the club he wouldn't have Had the money coming and would have to get along without it.
 Should. any reader regret that none of the quarter of a million dollars is his, he need not mourn over that fact