The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-09-04

It was cheering news about the
 income tax. The papers said that the
 government had saved $500, ,oo0 Ooo Figuring the population at 0,00o,-
 900, that would be $6 apiece for each
 of us. Figuring half of them as non ] tax payers, it would be SIP. 1 A saving of SIP, without having to 1 go without any cigars or pie a la
 node or anything like that. A saving
 of SIP for me by Uncle Sam, to be
 deducted of course from my income
 tax next year. It was wonderful. l saw the glad tidings in the even- | ing paper, and neglecting to men
 ton it to the family, went to bed to l decide how 1 should spent that SIP.
 At last I chose golf balls I have | never had enough golf balls. l have 1 bought new ones and used ones, ex- l pensive ones and cheap ones, but the
 minute l got supply something gets
 the matter with my wrist or my l stance or my brassie shaft or some thing, and away they go into the rough never again to be beheld by the eyes of mortal men, ] Proudly and happily the next day I went to a sporting goods store and 1 shopped for golf balls. 1 found many kinds for sale, but
 all of them high priced. But what | cared I?
 The government in it's wisdom and I benevolence had saved this SIP for me. For once I would be prodigal. ] took a dozen of the dollar sort, tucked them under my arm and
 marched gaily home. | No one was in the house when l
 arrived. I was glad of that. I don't
 like to be stingy, but the family is
 dreadfully wasteful of Of
 s off balls. They can't afr ord cad- dies when they play, of curse, and
 their off balls E Q often 0 1 go to often to the rough, 1 hunted
 around for place to hide my pres l ent from Uncle Sam. l I rejected many places as impos- i sible-altogether too public. Finally l I thought of an old trunk in
 the attic, and therein I deposited my i treasure.
 | l was just in time The front door slammed as l was coming down the
 attic stairs My wife was taking her | hat off as I reached the bottom step. i On her dressing table lay flat ob- 1 long box l thought of cigars. It was nearly my birthday.
 Something for me?1 I asked. No" she said in voice that was l thick with mystery. Something Tor
 myself. I've been a pig" 1 Impossible" 1 said seeking to win i her confidence. But I saw by her face | that it was useless.
 Mystery Decpens Half an hour later the daughter 1 of the house came home. She too had
 flat oblong parcel, which she took
 immediately upstairs, disappearins with it into her room.
 The boys came home to dinner at
 6. To my amazement, each carried
 parcel similar in size and shape to
 those carried by my wife and
 daughter.
 I tossed out a few leading ques- tions, but they brought nothing tan gible in the way of answers. At dinner the talk fell on the in- come tax.
 T see that the government" began my wife.
 'Is going to reduce" said one of the boys.
 The income tax, added my daughter.
 By about SIP to each taxpayer" finished the second boy. was amazed. Seldom did the slow The prices of goods are still so high as to be beyond the reach of our erstwhile customers abroad and normal overseas trade shows little sign of early recovery. On the whole, the prospects here for the coming winter are not cheer