Put Money Aside

1901

Take 10 cents to the nearest available savings bank and deposit it to your credit. Keep it up until you have a dollar.

Don't wait to do this until you have situation. Do it now. If you have change for car fare, walk.

This is the only way to save money. If you wait until your salary is raised or until you happen to have an errand near the savings bank, you may be dead before you lay by a cent.

There is only one way to save money. That is to begin now. — New York Journal.

One Cent

1920

An ingenious professor of mathematics, according to the Omaha News, has figured out that 1 cent, invested at the beginning of the Christian era (1,919 years ago) at a rate of interest equal to the Government Liberty bonds, that is, 4¼ per cent, with interest compounded to date, would make 100,000 globes of solid gold, each the weight of the earth.

The earth weighs six and twenty-one ciphers tons. But the 1 cent with its accumulations, reduced to a minimum weight in gold at the rate of $20 in the ounce, would, he says, make 100,000 planets of the earth's weight!

The moral is: Save the pennies!

Where People Are Content

1902

In his book, "The Soul of a People," Mr. H. Fielding Hall gives an interesting and sympathetic account of the quiet life and philosophy of the Burmese. Among other things he says:

"And so all the people are on the same level. Richer and poorer there are, of course, but there are no very rich; there is none so poor that he cannot get plenty to eat and drink. All eat much the same food, all dress much alike. The amusements of all are the same, for entertainments are always free. So the Burman does not care to be rich. It is not in his nature to desire wealth, it is not in his nature to care to keep it when it comes to him. Beyond a sufficiency for his daily needs money has not much value. He does not care to add field to field or coin to coin; the mere fact that he has money causes him no pleasure. Money is worth to him what it will buy. With us, when we have made a little money, we keep it to be a nest egg to make more from. Not so a Burman; He will spend it. And after his own little wants are satisfied, after he has bought himself a new silk, after he has given his wife a new bangle, after he has called all his village together and entertained them with a dramatic entertainment — sometimes even before all this — he will spend the rest on charity."

Bear Saves Child From Its Mate

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, Oct. 6. — Frightfully mangled by a captive bear in Idora Park, 10-year-old Selma Lewis, daughter of Fred Lewis, was saved only by the interference of the companion bear in the cage. The little girl was feeding acorns to the bear when it suddenly reached through the bars of the cage, scalping her, frightfully mangling her right arm and biting off three of her fingers. She screamed and the other bear in the cage rushed at its mate, compelling it to loosen the hold on the child. The girl was taken to the city hospital, where her death is expected at any moment.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Oct. 9, 1909.

Trade Unions — Savings Bank Lifts Load of Anxiety

1910

By Daniel J. McDonald

Trade unions are formed to elevate humanity by increasing wages and by bettering the condition of the laboring classes. In work along each of these two lines they have been far more useful and effective than is generally believed. Each dollar increase in wages and each hour of leisure secured gives larger opportunity for education, thought and the gaining of knowledge.

Among the greatest of the loads borne by the workers are uncertainty of employment, heavy expenses of sickness and of death of the worker himself or of those dependent upon him or of those upon whom he is dependent; the loss of wages during such times of trouble and the lack of provision for old age. So small is the utmost possible amount of a workingman's savings that almost invariably it is swept away, sometimes repeatedly, by one of these causes, and old age finds the worker penniless.

Any movement like this of savings bank insurance that proposes to lift the financial load at times of sickness and non-employment, and make provision for old age, is in direct line of trade union effort. By providing for future emergencies it promotes independence and lifts a load of anxiety. The man is more able to fit himself for advancement.

The British labor movement has been noted from the beginning for the variety and extent of its financial assistance to its members in times of trouble. Unity, solidarity, steadiness of purpose, devotion and faithfulness of members have been the results. The splendid achievements in English labor legislation, far surpassing anything we can hope for in many years, are due to the unity of purpose and action produced largely by the fraternal care for each member. In this country we need to exercise more care for the welfare of each member, in order that each member may be more devoted to the welfare of the whole.

The ideal method of affiliation, if there is to be affiliation, between the labor movement and savings bank insurance, is for each union to insist that each of its members shall be properly and adequately insured.

Saved by a Cat

1900

Sir Edward Osborne, Lord Mayor of London in his time, bought an ancient house in Yorkshire, and sent his wife and children thither. There were two boys among them. The Pall Mall Gazette tells of a tragedy which occurred at the house soon after.

One of the boys, the elder, dutifully obeyed when summoned to his lessons one morning in a turret, but the younger, loitering, "happened to light upon a cat which he delighted to play with, and crept after her to catch her under a table in the room which was covered over with a carpet hanging down to the floor."

Thus he disappeared, and the next instant a terrible rush of wind overthrew the turret, in which his brother and the tutor sat at work, crushing them to death.

Supposing that both her sons were there, the mother fell into convulsions. One of the maids, running in a distracted manner from room to room, caught sight of the small boy peeping from under the table, with the cat in his arms, snatched him up and bore him in ecstasy to his mother, he only crying:

"I pray thee, I pray thee, do not whip me!" — Youth's Companion.

Money Spending a Habit

1908

Spending money is a good deal of a habit, and though nobody need expect to break it off entirely, it can be restricted with much less serious inconvenience than most of us suppose.

It is by no means the only way to have fun. The problems of economy are just about as interesting as the problems of expenditure. It is sometimes so harassing to decide in which of several ways to spend a sum of money that it comes almost as a relief to have the money crawl back into its hole and make a decision unnecessary.

Thrift has great powers of entertainment, especially when it is successful, and relieves the mind of fiscal anxieties without depriving the body of the food, raiment and shelter that are necessary to health. — Harper's Weekly.


What She Said

"What did your wife say when you told her that you had lost your money in stocks?"
"What a foolish question. She said what every other woman would say under similar circumstances: 'Isn't that just like a man?' " — Detroit Free Press.


The Ideal

The ideal man, as woman considers him, is one who can trail around for half a day and not get weary while she stops to price things.

Save Lots of Money by Not Shaving

1911

Wise Cracks in the News

A Massachusetts octogenarian who has never shaved in his life, claims to have saved $24,000 in that way, but most men would rather not have the money than the whiskers.

A lady smuggler arrested with $8,000 worth of jewels in her stocking claims that that's where she always wears 'em. Evidently we've been overlooking a good thing.

A few phlegmatic men who never become excited about anything are not going to buy a fruit farm next and get rich in one season by raising apples.

The fashionable dressmakers are still quarreling over the location of the waist line, and women will have to go along a while without knowing where it will finally be located for the season.

There are many ways of getting in bad, only one of which is to travel on a train which is about to be wrecked.

We are told that the day of the novel is ended. When we consider the alleged literature that has been perpetrated recently, we cannot squeeze out even the semblance of a tear.

Patriotic Creed of the Good American

1920

Patriotic Creed of the Good American for the Welfare of Everybody

Composite by Federal Reserve Savings Directors

I believe in the United States of America.
My opportunity and hope depend upon her future.
I believe that her stability and progress rest upon the industry and thrift of her people.
Therefore, I will work hard and live simply.
I will spend less than I earn.
I will use my earnings with care.
I will save consistently.
I will invest thoughtfully.
To increase the financial strength of my country and myself I will buy government securities.
I will hold above barter the obligations my country thus incurs.
I will do these things to secure the greatness of America's future.
Let us have no financial slackers in this battle.

Wife of Mexican Millionaire's Curious Hiding Place for Money

1915

Really Odd "Savings Bank"

With the coming of the pay envelope for women has developed the evolution of the broken-nosed teapot as a savings bank. Many and varied are the methods women have worked out to save money, although it is only within the last fifty years that the average woman has had to consider the problem individually. With their "going to business," however, questions of finance and investment have come to them.

Many amusing incidents of the broken-nosed teapot as a savings bank have come to light. There is a story of Pedro Alvaredo, the peon millionaire of Parral, Mexico, whose mines yielded silver so fast that he could not spend it, though he bought pianos and ponies by the carload, and all the metal work in the palace that stood where his old adobe hut had once been built was of silver.

Alvaredo had no faith in banks and kept great quantities of cash in his house. Naturally, much of this came into the hands of Senora Alvaredo. The senora had a special bed quilt which always covered her at night and was never far away in the day time. When the senora died her maid went to Alvaredo and asked for the quilt. But Alvaredo was superstitious and disliked to give away anything to which his wife had been so much attached. He offered the woman money instead and, though dollars were no longer flowing in at the rate of 30,000 a day, he was generous in the matter. But the girl insisted that she would have no memorial of her mistress but the quilt.

Finally Alvaredo's suspicions were thoroughly aroused and he ripped the quilt to pieces. It contained $30,000 in $1,000 pieces. Among them was a letter from the senora saying that she had saved the money for her two sons and directed that it be put in the bank to their credit. And now the young men are being educated in an American college upon the interest of their mother's savings. — From the Business Woman's Magazine.

Why Some People Are Poor

1879

Silver spoons are used to scrape kettles.

Coffee, tea, pepper and spice are left to stand open and lose their strength.

Potatoes in the cellar grow, and sprouts are not removed until the potatoes become worthless.

Brooms are never hung up, and are soon spoiled.

The flour is sifted in a wasteful manner, and the bread-pan is left with the dough sticking to it.

Clothes are left on the line to whip to pieces in the wind.

Tubs and barrels are left in the sun to dry and fall apart.

Dried fruits are not taken care of in season, and become wormy.

Bags, strings and paper are thrown into the fire.

Pork spoils for want of salt, and beef because the brine wants scalding.

Bits of meat, vegetables, bread and cold puddings are thrown away, when they might be warmed, steamed, and served as good as new.

—The Bucks County Gazette, Bristol, Pennsylvania, Feb. 20, 1879, p. 1.

The Habit of Saving

1874

Wastefulness characterizes our domestic economy to an extent unheard of in more frugal countries, and we must always eat, drink and be clothed with the best the market affords. There is no economy in depriving ourselves of an abundant supply of nourishing food, decent raiment and healthful shelter, but this affords no excuse for the prevalent sin of waste, nor does it justify spending hard won wages upon expensive delicacies, unnecessarily large habitations or costly trifles. There is far too slavish a subserviency to fashion among all classes. Economy in this respect would not only save money, but tend to create a much-needed independence, both in dress and in our whole manner of life.

The only absolutely certain way of inculcating habits of economy is to begin with the children and accustom them to self-control and self-denial by saving a portion of their pocket-money or the earnings of odd minutes. There will be even a greater necessity for economy in the next generation than in this, since now the bounteous gifts of nature are being very lavishly drawn upon, and our successors are likely to live under narrower conditions than we do.


Method in Work

Do instantly whatever is to be done; take the hours of reflection for recreation after business and never before it. When a regiment is under march, the rear is often thrown into confusion because the front do not move steadily and without interruption. It is the same thing with business. If that which is first in hand is not instantly, steadily and regularly dispatched, other things accumulate behind till affairs begin to press all at once and no human brain can stand the confusion. Pray mind this; it is one of your weak points; a habit of mind it is that is very apt to beset men of intellect and talent, especially when their time is not filled up regularly but is left to their own management. But it is like the ivy round the oak, and ends by limiting if it does not destroy the power of manly and necessary exertion. — Sir Walter Scott.