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Show B I A.MEItK'A'.S CIlltl.sTMAS I'KOsl'IX' IS B' jm Tho business men of England, soon after war B if began, hung their Chilstmus stockings with many Hj jl mfbgivings Industry had become unsettled through R )W Ihu nation's rapid roadjustmont. WJth tho first shock m of war England feared for the fato of Its working H ? class. A fuml of $5,000,000 was raised to rcllovo B v tA. oxpected distress. B ' "U Then a most unexpected thing camo to pass Tho m JPr "poor" comuionccd to buy tho things tho rich hud BB begun to deny thomselvos. Tho woiklng class had BBl . bean touched by jnngic it had fallen heir to sudden BBb riches. Tho omorgeucy fund of flvo millions was BBl forgotten. B Workrron woro finding steady omploymont nnd BBM 1 good pay. They bought pianos, jowulry, cosmetic BBb S. - utul expensive furs. The salo of dlctionaties assumod 1 BaHHLIL largo proportions. A Sherlock Holmes might hare deduced that people who lacked culture wero brushing brush-ing up for contact with the nobility. The holiday trade was so great that proctlcally all tho la'rge re-tall re-tall stoics broke the records of tho palmy days of peace. Nothing was too good for the soldiers there was a big business in expensive goods sent Id the front. Selfrldge, after six months of war, counted count-ed a substantial gain over the ear preceding. In 1016 his figures surpassed 1915, and In the year Just ended the profits revealed a gain of nearly $100,000. Harrod's had a similar experience, ns did other stores. War has not taken us by surprise, ns It did England. Why should not our stockings this Christmas Christ-mas bulge plumb, or even be filled to overflowing? Chicago Tribune. pa pa n |