Show I I GJ LLIE c Says days o people wonder Just how these expensive discreetly-expensive lIttle little lit lIt- tle tie shops tucked away In odd corners on the Avenue manage to exist And the answer Is Is charge charge account Without Without With With- out credit there would be very little business transacted anywhere and there Is hardly n a person who does d es not have a charge account t some place Not long ago ogo there sat sot by my bedside bedside bedside bed bed- side a 0 gentleman who congratulated me sincerely on my returning health My reply was that I really should be felicitated on having haying been ill in the first place and allowed to recover In Inthe Inthe inthe the second that It had all been actually actually actually actu actu- ally a double blessing The conversation conversation conversation conversa conversa- tion took tool a sudden turn to his own affairs and he made me a confidante of the unhappy period he was going through due to an estrangement from one of the members of his family and what he would give If the whole misunderstanding misunderstanding misunderstanding mis mis- understanding could be wiped away Then It was that I asked him If he be had a charge account A IIA dozen was his answer I 1 couldn't do business without them You liquidate your accounts every month 1 I said Absolutely Otherwise my credit wouldn't be good for very long He recognized every obligation of credit for he lie Is he-Is Is a n good business man I and good business men are honest and punctilious He knew that if he saw sawa a hat hot In a window shop and was induced Induced Induced In In- to purchase It sooner or later he would have to give glye up something I In exchange He could not have the I hat and his money also and without I thinking much about It he realized that such an arrangement was only equitable But he was unprepared for formy formy my next question Have you ever thought of opening a n charge account with God 1 I He had never explicitly considered God as the source of human happiness and blessings nor that In return for what God gives us we must give some some- thing It had never occurred to him that If he wanted a reconciliation with that member of his family he must deprIve deprive deprive de de- de- de himself of something else He had hind not until then caught the Idea Ide that only by giving of our own love generously and without stint can we merit the love of others As we talked I told him of the time when I was working on a Chicago newspaper and as ns a matter of convenience convenience con con- opened a charge account with a department store near my ray of of- fice For three months I paid my bills promptly when they were ren ren- dered The fourth month I was out of ot the city on an assignment and did not return for several weeks When I Idid Idid Idid did get back I found a rather curt letter letter letter let let- ter on my desk from the credit man of ot the store asking me to kindly remit Then It was I realized that God was the most lenient creditor I had My Iy account with the store was but a few weeks overdue and I had been remInded reminded reminded re re- minded of It at once But my bill with God had hind stood for years and He lIe was still sun patiently waiting for me to pay something on account I knew of ot course that I could never redeem the principal but at least I could have kept up the Interest on It One of the reasons for my recovery I am sure Is the charge account I have had with God I knew that what He gave me would come when 1 l wanted it I knew It would not be shoddy nor second-rate second I knew that He lIe cared for fr f r my Interests but I realized realIzed realized real real- too that I must give Him something something something some some- thing In return So I have done the only thing I 1 could do to pay that debt I have endeavored endeavored endeavored en en- to have nothing but love In my heart to come as close to the spirit spir spir- it of the Sermon on the Mount as my limited powers would permit and for I loving a n great many people He lIe has hassent hassent hassent to love me sent a great reat many people I Ille He lle has hns given me returning health the strength to write a n book the friends i to help me sell sen It My charge account with God has hns not been unavailing Al AJ Jolson included this story in a recent letter to me Wha s de cognomen of ot dis chile asked the colored preacher who was doing the honors at the christening of ot Mandys Mandy's latest offspring Her name am Opium Bryant was the reply Opium aint no fit name for a gal gol was the reply Well It fits din gal answered mammy for dey say opium comes from de wile poppy and Us OUs chiles chile's poppy was wile Irvin S. S Cobb rec recently acquired s son law and before and during the ceremony a number of questions were I put up to him to settle as the nominal head bead of the family One problem was submitted by his prospective son in I dont don't know how to address Mrs Cobb he said How did you ou address address address ad ad- dress your our mother law Well Weil replied Mr MI Cobb It was this wa way For the first year I called I I her Say Suy and after that wo we all called her Grandma The rhe nearby horizon has signs In plenty but the one that chat Intrigues me most Is the one which reads in part The first cost Is practically the last I article It advertises 1 I cant can't see what I for the roof hides that from me inc But Bui theres there's only one thing I can cun think e c l whose first st cost Is less than the up up- I The sign must be advertising p n Funeral I Copyright by o. o |