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Show ' CHRISTMAS FOLLIES. Christmas is approaching. Not every one views Christmas with I unadulterated pleasure. While it is a period of good cheer, and love Iand friendship, it also is a time of worriment and even heartaches for those Avho aim to make presents to all their close relatives and friends and have not the means to do so. Thousands of dollars are t spent wastefully, foolishly by extravagant givers. The wife buys the-husband the-husband a piece of useless jewelry, the husband presents his helpmate t with an expensive manicure sot. Presents of that kind are duplicated over and over, and vyithin month ofter the exchange of affectionate remembrances, the junkman could obtain the encumbrances for a i fraction of the original cost. k Thi.s useless expenditure at Christmas time has become recognized ; as misdirected generosity, and so societies are being organized to ec- rect the extravagance. Lately Mrs. August Belmont and Miss Anne Morgan, two women of wealth who have seen the folly of useless giving, giv-ing, have formed a society known as the "Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving." Mrs. Belmont, in urging the wisdom of such a i course, said it was simply folly fora girl earning $S a week to spend ft money on Christmas gifts. Generous folly, if you will, but still ioliv j$3 that is not redeemed by the generosity. . $1 a r A Writer' comnieating on the new society, says, "Christmas Is a f$ 1 delightful season ; it is still our finest festival. It's a pitv we have to i , 1 spoil it every year by painful calculations and by balancing loss against gain. It's a pity, in other words, that w have to pay so much for our fun We have learned to organize almost every kird ol public pub-lic movement; here is a movement which can triumph only h, organized organ-ized effort. Custom is custom. The man who stands up against it is as black a rogue as Scrooge while he stands alone. But let him make a principle of his revolt and associate others with him, and he in helping help-ing on progress and enjoys the gratitude of his fellows." |