By becoming teetotalers
they saved another five shillings (one dollar and a quarter) and on
clothes the same weekly sum. They took no holiday this summer: ate meat
only three times a week, abstained from sugar in their tea, cut down
short tramway rides, and the father reduced his smoking allowance. By
these means they have been able to buy a War Savings Certificate every
week.
Just as no sum has been too small to save, so is no act too trivial to
achieve some kind of conservation. People are urged to carry home their
bundles from shops. This means saving time and labour in delivery and
permits the automobile or wagon to be used in more important work. I
could cite many other instances of this kind.
Even the children think and write in terms of economy. At the annual
meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science held
last summer at Newcastle, an eminent doctor read a paper on "London
Children's Ideas of How to Help the War." The replies to his questions,
which were sent to more than a thousand families, all indicated that the
juvenile mind was thoroughly soaked with the savings idea. Some of the
answers that he quoted were very humorous. A boy in Kensington gave the
following reasons:
"Eat less and the soldiers get more: If you make a silly mistake in your
arithmetic tell your mother not to let you have any jam, and put the
money saved in the War Loan: Stop climbing lamp-posts and save your
clothes: Don't wear out your boots by striking sparks on the kerbstones:
If you buy a pair of boots you are a traitor to your country, because
the man who makes them may keep a soldier waiting for his: Don't use so
much soap: Don't buy German-made toys.
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