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About The Alliance herald. (Alliance, Box Butte County, Neb.) 1902-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 1919)
rAan kiqiit THE ALLIANCE HERALD. ALLIANCE, NEBRASKA, OCTOBER 30, 1919 i it 'i ! a.v I COMMENT AND DISCOMMON The stnld and norene Wall Street Journal nnnouncM that residents, of one community hi New York, pre aumably a fashionable ronitnuftit, for The Journal hus never been' known to take fyi intercut in any other kind are Inaugurating the old-fif sfllloned serins Ih Housewives are holding community parties, where women pnther several times a week to make clothes for which they otherwise would lmve to pay high prices. All this is a direct slap at the high cost of llvlnc, and we have our doubts as to its etllfncy, for nine out of ten of thtse women will never make more than one lrenn, and' ten to one the housemaid or the cook will wear that one. The ordinary dressmaker has hard work making garments nifty enouch to suit her customers, and the ordinary housewife is hopelessly outclassed. The department ntores an furnish the cheaper house dresses At less cost than they can be made, in the back parlor, and the home artist cannot, save in. exceptional cases, make the better class of cloth ing well enough to pass the critical Inspection of her feminine neighbors. Besides, the sterner sex Is better edu cated as to clothes than It. was ten years ago. It strikes us that sonic Other way will be found, sooner or later, to combat the' high cost of llrlng. ' . ; - 5- i la the eastern states, consumers' leagues are raising cnln generally, and some folks five them credit for lowering prices. They have begun as neighborhood organizations who con-! ducted rrlvate boycotts against deal ers who charged exorbitant nris, ' but of late they have been making co-operative purchases direct from tl.e farms and manufacturers. The rial difficulty with these leagues Is t! at they deal with po small a portion j o the problem, and that they hit the n taller hard, when be retailer is o,lr hnndlng on the buck that has been passed to htm by the whole. sclera. It's not fair to expect a mer cliant to carry a large stock, assume all the risk cf doing business, and furnish the consumers leagues wltr. nine-tenths of what they purchase, aid then nave the league memoers purchase the other tenth direct. The retailer Is entitled to a profit, and you will find. In nine hundred ninety- nine cases out of a thousand, he is Mitlsfled with a niall profit. It Is no bed of roses these days, this oeing in business, and If you trouble to look it up, you'll find that the pro portion of failures among retailers is greater than ever. port a family on. the waRes barbers: get these days Is nothing less than a blinking Idiot, or words to that effect. Ills Idea Is that the whole problem will be solved by a tremendous panic, which will knock the bottom outwf everything. He Is looking for It any day cow, and thinks that after five or six months of panic, the atmo sphere will be all cleared and a new era begin. He doesn't really believe that he will ever be able to buy beef steak again at the rate of two pounds for a quarter, but he lias a sneak ing hope that when the glad day comes, he'll have at least a nickel left over after the bills are paid. He's fond of this near beer, though he says It's really far away but he hasn't been able to gratify his thlrpt for the last six months without a feelinu that he's taking the shoes right off his children's back. . what I can gather, The Register Is the best paper In the county." , . In other cities, worklngiaeu are forming organisations and beginning .to operate retail stores. It all works out simply enough on paper, and the proposition , is usually tackled" with a great deal of enthusiasm, which begins to wane as soon as ftiey begin (o learn something about (ho Ina and outs of business, especially the fact that there is a certain risk which must be met. So long i a bunch 'of men buy a few staples In large lots from the wholesale houses, every thing is lovely, but -wiien the average workman, without business experi ence, starts In to conduct a business, It Isn't long before he learns that buying at wholesale prices and sell ins, at the same prices will leave a big deficit. Considering . wholesale prices, consumers can buy groceries I in Alliance cheaper than most places In the state, and the same thing Is true in other lines of business even printing. The fact is that Alliance 7 stores do a tremendous volume of business, and this means, where com , petition is as keen as it is here, that lower prices are charged. The cost of living must come down, of course, and the problem is to find the place to begin. One man says the retailers are making the gouge; another insists that it is the wholesalers, and a third that It is the manufacturer. Still another will argue that the high cost of living is due to the laborer, who retorts that without high wages he can't possibly pay bills. He can prove, by a com parison of prices, that at $30 per week he Is really making less than he was In the palmy days when beH supported a family of five on a wage of 116. Another explanation is that the high cost of living is not due to any of these causes, but to the luxury- loving proclivities of the people themselves, who are not content with blue denim clothes,' but want velvet. This Is more or less tommyrot, of course, for all the manufacturers have to do Is to follow the deman-1, and It doesn't cost any more, aside from the material, to manufacture silk stockings than the cotton vari ety, for the same knitting machines, manned by the same laborers, do the work In the same lime. In the mean time, the prices are mounting stead ily, although the government author ities, with fair price committees and watchdogs to see that food' hoarders and profiteers are palled, are making some headway. A slraneer with a low, melodious voice confided to us the other day that he knew of one way to meet the rising costs. He said that he didn't see any reason why a man should undertake to support a woman In times when he can't buy food and clothing for hlniHelf on his salary. He is wondering if there won't . be a falling off in marriages and an increase in tUe number of husbands who leave in the dead of night for parts unknown without leaving any address. He assured us that he wasn't married, but he had a sort of tamed look that made us wonder. We give this solution to you as it was given us, without money and without price, and with out recommendation. It seems to us to be rather an extreme measure, and we think that other plans should be tried first. Have you ever been disillusioned, that is, those of you who have not been married? Here's a letter from a gob written to a friend in Guam, Marianne Islands, after he had re ceived a discharge from the navy: "At last I am ready to believe I am out of the navy. I am paying four bits for soft collars and other wise feel the hard strains of the cost of living. It's a great thrill I get, Swede," to receive trading stamps with my small stores. I arrived here on July 3, four days after the Wop, nnd had to wear my regimentals un til after I was paid off on the ninth. guess the neighbors all thought I was giving them a chance to look me over. I hardly budged out of the house until I had clvies. Now I don't like to walk around in them because they feel so blamed strange. It was terrible. Many people thnk the world has gone crazy, but most folk have lucid moments three times a day break fast, dinner and supper. . -itituHo alrnlane record of UC T l t 30,300 feet has been made, but .hey didn't get up In the air as Tar as some of the congressmen. The folks insisted that I have a picture made and that is one thing that I hate, but there was no use arguing. I went to Sid Whiting and the idiot worked around on me for about an houi. The proofs came out this morning. Oy, you should see tbeml You know, it is a deuce of a Job trying to look Intelligent, non chalant, pleased, yet sedate and aus tere. The pictures don't make me look like that at all. I have a bored look like :i fly were crawling down my back and a morbid smile as if I were refusing a generous offering of cheese-cake. They'll be fine. ,to scratch matches on. Our barber, who is a well read man all barbers are is convinced hat a man who will attempt to sup- You' wll wonder, of course, Just how a name like "Comment and Dls comment" came to be chosen for this column. It all dates back to the days before the war, when the writer was working with his father and three or four brothers on the Ham ilton County Register, the best paper published in Aurora, Nebraska, and as a country weekly second. only to j what wo expect to make of The Her ald. There was a barber in that town who, like most barbers, sought to entertain his customers while he shaved them for fifteen cents or cut their hair for two-bits. You can tell from these prices that It happened some time ago. Aat any rate, the adman of The Register dropped in o have' his whiskers punched in, and imong the choice bits of information hat the barber told him was this, delivered as only a barber could say t: "Of course," he said, "ydu hear ots of comiiientB and some dlsconi aients, too these days, but from "You . doubtless ' remember how many pretty, nay beautiful girls for merly abounded here. Well, they're Rome'vhere else now. It's terrible. -Perhaps the hot weather is keeping them in. All I have seen so far is a lot of prairie hens. "Now that I have been here and become readjusted to everything again, I wish I were back In Frisco. I can't give any Idea of how dead everything is here. Down-town it Is crowded all day, but Just as soon as the 5 p. m.-whistle blows it looks like a newly opened graveyard. don't know what the people do with their money. I guess it goes for war taxes. When I bought my clvies on July 9th the salesman In Wolff's said there was a fifteen cent war tax on two pairs of sox each. I asked him what for and he showed me a card where sox were classed as a 'Luxury.' " MM Grass widowhood saves a woman lots of trips to the cemetery. g?c a package x) bet oi 2 before the war c a package during the war c a package NOW THE FLAVOR LASTS SO DOES THE PRICE! . 187 11 D) Goats 1-4 Off Suits 1-4 Off Dresses 1-4 -Off Our entire stock of Coats, Suits and Dresses are now on sale at one-fourth less than our low regular prices. Every garment new and up-to-date. Many garments received the last few days and they all go in this sale . ' THE DRESSES Undoubtedly the greatest collection ever shown in Alliance. Hie materials are Tricotines, Serges, ' Taffetas, Crepe de Chine, Crepe Meteor, Charmeuse, Broadcloth, Silver tone, and they come in almost every shade ONE-FOURTH OFF THE SUITS The materials are Tinseltone, Frost Cloths, Velours, Broadcloths, Serges, Tricotines, Silvertones, and they come in all the new wanted shades , ONE-FOURTH OFF THE COATS The materials are Tinseltones, Silvertones, Frost Cloths, Broadcloths, Velours, Polo Cloths, Plushes they come in all the new wanted colors ONE-FOURTH OFF BLANKETS Wool Nap values up to $8.50 for $5.69 OUTING FLANNEL 22c yard SERGE MIDDIES all sizes $3.98 SHOES Special Women's fine kid shoes our regular $12.50 values for $8.98 t Shop In the Mornings If Possible and Avoid the Afternoon Crowds The oldee Rio lie Store Select Your New Suit, Dress or Coat at Once, as the Selection Will Be Larger r r i f , J 1 STRICTLY CASH