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Show TO MARRY OR HOT TO MARRY. Below we publish a communication on the marriage question, drawn from the personal experience of the author. ;nd it is worth a mountain of theories. It shows what can be done by sensible husbands and wives in the way of economy, and yet have conveniences con-veniences and comforts to a reasonable reason-able extent. It is a straight-for ward, clear, practical statement: To the Editor of the Inter-Ocean. 1 Upon this question it may perhaps be of interest to your readers to have , some statistics drawn from actual experience. ex-perience. Tho writer has ft detailed account of all bis expenses for several ! years, down to the most minute item, from which he presents the following fol-lowing abstract for the year 1865: Food $207.69 House rent 59.47 Fuel and lights 48.84 Sundry house expenses 14.14 Clothing forseif 64.63 Clothing lor wife 42.76 Books, stationary and postage. 23.30 Doctor's bill and medicines 7.72 Horse hire and pleasure 61. GO Tobacco 10.G4 1 Personal expenses 10.68 Presents 17.00 Premium on life insurance 49.07 Taxes 35.62 Support oi minister, etc 88.28 Total $741.4-1 The writer at the time this account was kept was a journeyman mechanic in a country town in Massachusetts. His income lor that year was$8S2.80. Many of the statistics given are not adapted to the meridan of Chicago; but lood and clothing are not as high to day in Chicago as they were in 1865, in Massachusetts; for this was one of the years of high prices. I find that I paid $13 for one barrel of flour, $14.25 tor another; eggs, 30 to 40 cents per dozen; tea, $1.40 per pound; coflee, 40 cents; lard, 62 cents; butter, 50 cents; sugar, 16$ cente.' I had three persons in family, making the cost for food to each person per-son just $2. My account for the year 1866 showB the cost of food for each person to have been $2.06J. I need not say' that no food was wasted, the meat that was left from dinner appearing ap-pearing again for breakfast, or per-hays per-hays even for another dinner; but I will say that we lived well, not buying the poorest of anything, or trying to see how cheap we could get along. I could give, if desirable, the cost of each kind of food. I was 27 years old when I married, having spent, up to that time, my wages (which were high for a mechanic) me-chanic) as fast as earned; but since my marriage there have been only ; two years in which I have not laid by a little tor a rainy day. One Who Believes ih Marrying. |