San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-03-11
Bv KATHLEEN NORRIS

who sells you the gas stove shows you
his nice little catalog with the shining
/ pictures Of stoves within ii, your eye
moves uneasily below the vision Of the
bright knob and the convenient shelves
and falls upon the 'list price,"
'Sixty dollars" you say family.
"You know we said about fcrty-five-
. 1ot more than fifty"
How cheerfully and casually he
takes out his sharp pencil and draws
q line through the printed sum.
"Ah, that's the list price," he as
sures'you hearteningly. eve cut way
/ below that. Let's see-twenty and
/ ten, and ten for cash--t5at stove,
\ just as she stands, set up in your
kitchen, if you buy now, will cost you
] just thirty-eight dollars aud eighty
eight cents!"
7 And this is one OF. the gratifying
( moments of life. A sixty dollar stove
fer less than forty-of course, ycu
/, want it! You learn then and theS
- pat a list price is one thing, and
What we actually pay is another.
Everything Has Its Discount.
Everything in life has its list price
and its discount.
The heaviest sorrow that ever befell
mortal man is one thing ca paper
and another thing to experience.
have no doubt that Joau the Maid
jogging through the streets of Rouen
to the shameful pyre, looked at some
old belfry clock and thought in her
+ glorious heart:
Before those hands move very far,
it will be all over. The fatigues, the
! responsibilities, the clat.eI of arms.
1 tie .reek of drying blood, the dark
camps and the wet marches-even this
final horror-all over. There will be
peace for me, and perhaps even joy"
For the old lady who goes yelled
and bowed to the poor house, for the
strong man whose eyes have paid
their tiny toll to the monstrous in
z Justice of war, to the mother who sits
dazed and stricken, with little cold
hand unresponsive in hers-there is,
thank God, always that little discount,
that strange spiritual adjustment that
makes it possible to live, and to SO
on.
Some Heavy Discounts.
And on the other side there Is a
discount, too, although we mortals
forgot that more often than any one
other fact that makes the strange con,
ditions of this strange world.
We call ourselves Christians" we
speak of "Christendom.'' But the
Masters teaching was one of perfec-
ten, nothing less, and which one of
us, since the Sermon on the Mount
was preached, has not taker his heavy
discount on that?
Our priests, our clergymen - are
they not supposedly perfect; meek,
\. yet strong, with eyes and hearts only
Cor the divine in life, aud yet warm
ly and generously human. too, brave.
tireless, just and wise? How we score
tie whole class when one of them
/ fails us!
Our schools-are they net splendid
buildings, flooded with sunshine and
Sweet fresh air, filled with eager,
healthy boys and girls only anxious TO
learn, superintended by learned, bal
alced, self-sacrificing men and woin-
en- whose only wish in life Is to guide
wisely and well? They take their
discount, and you and 1 say wither-
ingly: -.
Don't speak to me about our public
schools-they're rotten
A Discount That Means Divorce.
A wife must be all sympathy, all
tender responsiveness, all thrift, sys-
TEN, capability; she must be pretty.
entertaining, economical in dress, yet
always conspicuously smart among
other women smartly dressed. She
takes her discount-and after awhile
the divorce court statistics go up.
The oldest girl has an adorable dis
position and naturally curly hair, but
She hates books, and she already
shows a tendency toward plumpness,
IKE Toms family. And tie little ono,
while she is simply a prodigy IL
school, and has the wonderful Davis
eyes, is a mournful little creature and
hasn't ever had her sisters splendid
vitality. When they were tiny litti.
lumpy babies, both seemed perfec. ;
we awaken with pain to find that
tfey are going to take the little trade
discount, too, and lapse into the
ranks of the merely human.
5 The new house has a hundred adj
-vantages over the old, but We 10 SO
miss the big dining room
The new life is infinitely more
thrilling than any sing'c blessedness
could possibly be-but it is so odd TO
have to be home every afternoon al
five. to meet George, and to have
= George, otherwise perfection, show
signs Of Irritation when one is late
rr- III 1.,a,,, ithaca fbiuvS ave liz