How to Economize by N. Z. TOWN

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 7, 1915

How to Economize

By N. Z. TOWN

Housekeeping for War Time

One-Course Meals

N. Z. TOWN

WHEN the European war started, one of the London daily papers published an article, under the above heading, on the importance of economizing in view of the conditions which the war would bring. Among other things, it says:—

“The first step to be taken in meeting the household hardships about to be laid upon every man, woman, and child in the country by this war, is to scrap most of our housekeeping commonplaces, from bacon and eggs for breakfast upward. If we all started with a clean slate, and without reference to past habits tried how simply we could live, most of us could go through a long period of warfare with little loss of money and none of health.

“It has become a patriotic duty as well as a wise precaution to reduce expenditure all around, to jettison luxury in money, food, fuel, and the rest. It immediately becomes a scientific problem, and it will be one of increasing difficulty.

“Importance of Scraps”

“The vegetable salts thrown away in the water from the saucepan, the good nutriment that escapes from potatoes if not cooked in their skins, the outer part of the wheat disregarded in making white flour, the wastage of bread scraps and vegetable scraps now disregarded, all acquire new importance. So out of doors it now becomes a crime for the gardener to practice his usual habit of throwing away tiny carrots and potatoes, or of pulling up peas and beans while they still have pods, even though the pods be old. It is to be remembered that peas and beans, even when dried, are as close and satisfying a food as meat.

“As to meals in general, the advice given by a famous doctor in the Franco-German War is worth remembering. He recommended one-course meals, especially for children and those over forty; and his advice may especially touch those who have now a houseful of children.

“The one-course meal, conservative cookery which throws nothing away and keeps a full stock pot, and an eagle eye for all waste, will in many households reduce expenses beyond all expectation. And housekeepers will find, perhaps to their surprise, that economy and simple meals become a game into which the whole household enters with zest, and from which it is likely to emerge with improved health.

“Bread should not be served when fresh, but be kept until stale, when it will be more digestible and less wasteful, and every scrap can be utilized for nursery puddings. Jam instead of butter should be served on the children’s tea table; not the two together. Soup made of lentils and dried peas will be a resource, and in every case great care should be taken over the flavoring of it and of other dishes. Vegetables dressed in different ways are an excellent resource and very good for the health. Every effort should be made to save fuel.

“The forgotten art of walking is a fruitful way of economy for a very large part of the community. The absence of ready money in the pocket is already teaching this lesson.”

In another paper we read “that since the war began, the authorities in Paris have forbidden the making of all cakes, pastries, and candies in Paris, allowing only the making of the plainest white and brown bread.”

From correspondence received from some of our workers we learn how they also are having to face this problem. Elder J. T. Boettcher sends the following word from Russia:—

“Formerly we received appropriations from the division conference for Siberia, Turkestan, and Transcaucasia; but since the war began, we are cut off from our head office, and have to look after our own affairs. We cannot get as much as a letter from headquarters. Owing to these conditions, we have been obliged to cut down the wages of all the ministers and licentiates one third. If our income keeps up to what it has been in time of peace, we can carry ourselves in this way; but you know how hard it is to come down one third with the winter before the door; but we did not know what else to do. We did not like to discharge some of our workers at the expense of others, so we shall suffer together like good Christian soldiers. A number of our workers have been taken into the army, and not a few of the brethren are in the war. We have to help their families as much as possible, as they all look to us for help. You may know, my brother, that we have to count the pennies as never before. I do not know how the tithe will come in this quarter. If it should be very much short, our brethren in the States would have to help us out; but I am in hopes we can pull through.”

Although not directly involved in the war, our brethren in the South American fields are feeling very keenly its effects. Those who had deposits of money in the banks have been allowed to draw only from five to ten per cent of their deposits monthly. Elder E. L. Maxwell writes as follows from Peru:—

“Financial matters here are in a terrible way. Peru has been placed on an unguaranteed paper money basis as a result of the war. As a direct result, goods have advanced 150 per cent, so that reasonable living is now out of the question for us missionaries. We are compelled to buy third-class food, and are patching our clothes to make them last as long as possible. I do not know what we shall do when those we have are gone.

“The government has closed all the primary schools, and reduced the salaries of all the inferior public employees.

“We have had no sickness thus far, and we are hoping to be spared the experience, for there will be nothing with which to pay the doctor. The fact is, having broken my glasses, I am getting along without them; and wife, whose teeth are sadly wrecked, is doing the best she can, as we cannot get the money to pay for new teeth. However, we mean to ‘fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer.’”

Should not these extracts from the daily press showing how people of the world plan to economize to meet the war situation, and the experiences of our own workers showing how keenly some of them are feeling the financial restrictions which the war has brought, lead us who are more favorably situated to curtail all unnecessary expense and to save in every way possible in order to help liberally in the finishing of God’s work in the earth? If we would learn to live as simply in this country as our brethren do in Europe even in times of peace, we might save thousands of dollars, and be better off healthwise than we now are. By giving a little careful thought to the matter, we shall find we are able to dispense with many things

which are not necessary to our comfort or happiness. If we learn to economize now, it will not come so hard a little later when troublesome times reach this country.