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
