The Ely miner., 1943-12-16

stew, beans, I make at ieast twice
too much for the current meal This
saves work and heat. And isn't it
a good feeling, coming home tired
from Red Cross work, to be able to
think, There are the beans, and the
applesauce, and the cold biscuits
to toast, and all I need stop for is
lettuce l like to have every meal
lap over the next, or the next but
one.
"Suppers are simple. We like
cornmeal mush with raiSinS and top
milk. We like milk toast, waffies,
jelly pancakes, rice, macaroni, deep
fruit pies. We always start with
soup, and if the family dimly recog-
nizes in the soup the beans, the spin
ach, the caulifower, the boiled on
ions, the crust of French bread, the
chicken bones and the duck gravy,
at least the family never complains,
and the good hot thick soup will
continue to be our first course all
through the winter. No butter ex-
cept with breakfast. And we're saw
ing fuel by the Chinese expedient,
which is to wear warm underthings.
A Chinese doesn't heat his house;
he keeps his person warm. So I've
found good solid fannels, and even
the girls have accepted somewhat
modified versions of them, and con-
fidently expect to keep away from
coughs and colds because of them.
SIN short, we're challenging the
situation instead of sinking under it.
And as that's what our boys are
doing everywhere, concludes this
valiant letter, ''it gives us a feeling
of kinship with them to keep up our
end"
And finally, from Montgomery,
Ala, comes last hint, perhaps as
important as any. The Robert
Browns of that town found them
selves strangled by petty debts when
the news came from Pearl Harbor.
Their son was called to the colors;
their daughter took job. They
looked the bills in the face, and found
them something over two thousand
dollars. Yes, just grocery and den-
tist and tailor and frock shop and
club and milkman-over two thou
sand dollars.
They knew that postwar times are
not times through which to struggle
with debt. So they paid up, at the
rate of about 500 month. It meant
self-denial, scrimping, discomfort,
even embarrassment. But they did
it. And doing it, they did one of
the most important things any moth
er and father and sister can do for
the boys who are coming home.
A woman in Youngstown, Ohio.
has moved her family downstairs for
the winter.
Conserve Housew0rk and Fuel
in Home
'Our only bathroom is upstairs.
which somewhat complicates," says
her letter. "But l have small
electric stove for that room. 9th
erwise our two upper floors won't
be heated this winter. Dad and I
have made comfortable bedroom
of the parlor; my daughter has a
wide couch in the old study, and
the two small grandsons have the
warm dining room for playroom and
nursery.
We have also unearthed an old
pitcher and bowl, and minor ablu-
tons viii go on in the angle of the
hall. The little breakfast room off
the kitchen will take care of all our
meals, and the so-called maids room.
beyond the laundry, is to have hooks
for all the clothes we viii need fire.
quently. The few intimate friends
who come in viii be entertained in
the study. It cuts housework in half.
and fuel down to one-third. And if
anyone raises eyebrows we're going
to mention the amount of comfort
the boys have in our far-scattered
lonely camps"