it is wasteful to buy in quantity if it is not advantageous. Sweet potatoes, very perishable, should be got in small lots. If carrots are six cents a bunch or two bunches for ten cents, there is no merit in buying two bunches if only one is really needed. Many women will buy two and finally throw away the second bunch.

Waste arises from failure to watch the market and buy at a favorable time. Twenty-five and fifty cents a ton may be saved by buying coal in the summer. Sugar usually goes up in canning time; the wise woman buys one hundred pounds in four twenty-five-pound bags before the rise. If one has established with a grocer the reputation of being a prompt payer and a fair-minded customer, arrangements can be made with him to let one know of special opportunities to buy to advantage. This can also be extended to other tradesmen.

It is wasteful to buy things because they are cheap, on a slender chance that they may sometime be used-as furniture polish, metal polish, and cement for broken dishes bought from persistent venders only to cumber the closet shelves; or to buy an article for which demand seems to exist without first seeing if something already on hand will not answer. The next day the hasty buyer says dejectedly, "Dear me! Why did I not remember that I had so and so! It would have done just as well as what I bought."

A source of waste to be strongly condemned is the growing custom of paying high prices for cooked food at bakeries and delicatessen shops in order to save one's self the trouble of home cooking. From five to six o'clock in the afternoon these stores are thronged by women who have been at the matinée, or shopping, or calling, and they hurry in to buy food already prepared which they can quickly set on the table, with small regard for its real food value. So they pay forty cents a pound for boiled ham, or thirty-five cents a pound for veal loaf, twenty-five cents for some potato salad, twelve cents a dozen for rolls, twenty cents for a pie, twenty-five cents for a small plain cakeand lo, a meal! If these things had been intelligently made at home, with

good management as to fuel, a saving of thirty-five to forty per cent. could be effected. The woman who daily loses money because she will not take the trouble to cook has probably another characteristic of a wasteful housewife— a contempt for small savings. One cent saved on a ten-cent purchase is a saving of ten per cent. just as truly as one dollar on ten dollars. A ten per cent. investment would be considered desirable by any business man. Much of the household savings must come from looking after the pennies.

To be condemned strongly is the growing custom of buying articles of food out of season when they are luxuries and the price is highest-strawberries at Christmas, "spring lamb" in January, and asparagus in February. It would be well if we could learn that there are better ways to entertain a guest than to impoverish ourselves in order to set before him some luxury out of season and probably lacking its real flavor. He who would enjoy fruits and vegetables at their best will be satisfied to eat them when they are at their perfection in his own climate.

One of the most serious sources of waste in buying is the practice of "running bills." It is useless to aver, “I never buy anything on credit that I do not really need." If one will steadfastly for six months hold himself rigidly to buying only what he can pay cash for, if he will keep his accounts carefully and at the end of the time honestly study the result, he will admit that he has cut off one serious source of former wastefulness. The merchant well understands the frailties of human nature, and he is eager to get you to open an account," suggesting it in his advertisements, and even seductively soliciting it by letter.

Again, waste arises from misuse and neglect of materials after purchase. There is a loss of food through failure to care for it properly; milk is left standing in a hot kitchen to sour, or butter to melt; bread grows musty in a neglected bread-box; cheese is forgotten on the shelf and molds. The same tendency shows itself in failure to scrape clean the kettles, saucepans, and mixing-bowls,

so that no food is left adhering to them. If only a tablespoonful of oatmeal is left on the sides of the double boiler each morning, it means quarts wasted in a year. A lack of good management of "left-overs" contributes to waste. It is one thing to get them eaten under protest so that they just escape being thrown away; it is another thing to use the "left-overs" so skillfully as to make attractive and palatable dishes, and so save the expense of providing new food. If the family does not like hash, there is no merit in using cold meat in this way and having it eaten "at the point of the bayonet," when, as croquettes, or filling for an omelet, or in shepherd's pie, the dish would be relished and praised. In this connection one is reminded that some woman said that the two most mysterious words in the English language to her were "stock" and "drippings." Until a housewife has come to be on familiar terms with the stock-pot and the drippings-jar, there is sure to be waste in her household.

Neglect as a source of waste is shown in a failure to care for each utensil and article of furniture so as to prolong its period of use. There is a right way to care for every article in household use, and by adhering rigidly to this right way it may be made to last from half as long again to many times longer than if used carelessly and ignorantly. If wooden tubs are left without water standing in them, it is not strange that the hoops fall off. If the boiler is not dried properly, of course it will rust. If brooms are always hung up when not in use, and if they are dipped in hot suds once a fortnight, their life will be doubled. If a couch is turned end for end each sweep ing day, the springs will not sag and give way so soon. By changing the position of furniture in a room, the wear on the carpet is distributed. When money has been expended upon finished floors or hardwood floors, it is sensible to learn the best way to treat them and preserve their beauty. Failure to mend articles at the first sign of impairment is the guarantee of waste, for soon the article is in serious condition, if not entirely beyond repair. At first the cupboard door needed only a screw to

tighten a hinge-any, one could have put it in. Finally the door broke away from the hinges and a carpenter charged a dollar to mend it. Every house should have a kit of simple tools, nails and screws, and some member of the family should have interest enough and gumption enough to make little repairs. It is certainly wasteful to have to send for a man every time there is a leaky faucet to pack, or a shelf to put up, or a windowcord to mend.

A considerable part of daily loss comes from waste of fuel. This may arise from the use of an expensive fuel when cheaper is available, as artificial gas when coal is cheaper, or coal when natural gas is cheaper. Whatever the fuel be, most servants and some mistresses use it most recklessly. Often more fire is built than the nature of the work demands. Lena had a red-hot stove if she had only to boil an egg and make coffee. In using gas Katie would always turn on more than was needed, and it would blaze around the kettle in a beautiful but costly aureola. In vain did her mistress explain that the contents of a kettle would not cook one whit sooner because the water was in a state of violent ebullition. Katie only sniffed incredulously, turned down the gas with reluctance, and, when her mistress departed, triumphantly turned it on again full head. A common error lies in a failure to make a fire do as much work as possible. A careless ironer will make up a hot fire afresh when she is nearly done, and it burns on unused after she has finished. Or the gas oven is heated to bake a single dish, when by planning the menu carefully a whole meal might be cooked in the oven at the same time. Or the oven fire could be utilized to do extra cooking for the next day, as a dish of baked apples for breakfast or some custards for lunch; a pan of water also can be heated under the oven for dish

water.

Waste of lights occurs chiefly in not turning down gas when leaving bedrooms or bath-rooms. The men and boys of a household are the chief offenders here. The burning of a light in one's bedroom all night is a piece of wastefulness inexcusable in well persons.

A little investigation on the part of mistresses will disclose the fact that maids are apt to keep a light burning all night, and their excuse is that they are afraid to sleep in the dark.

Again, waste arises from allowing children to grow up with silly whims about eating, so that "Mary won't touch lamb," "John can't bear soft-boiled eggs," "George would rather starve than eat rice." Meals cannot be economically served where special dishes must be prepared for notional people. In a family of four adults of my acquaintance there is such diversity of tastes that three meals must be prepared for each breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Except in rare cases, if children are managed in a kind and tactful but firm way, they can be brought to eat the articles of food commonly found on people's tables, thereby making them comfortable members of the household, and guests always welcomed by both mistress and maid.

A source of waste not always recognized is the common practice of ordering groceries and meat by telephone or from the man who calls for orders. Old-fashioned marketing seems to be dying out. "It is too much trouble," say the women. But the housewife who really cares whether she is economical or not will not begrudge the time or the trouble of marketing in person. Often on reaching the store she rearranges her menus, for she finds it advantageous to do so. The peas are not as tender as they should be, so she buys beans. She expected to get berries, but finds it advisable to purchase a pineapple instead. She not only gets the chops for dinner, but finds, for a small price, just the piece of meat for an Irish stew to-morrow.

Waste arises from a lack of thorough knowledge on the part of the housewife of the whole round of housekeeping. If the mistress herself does not know how to buy, how to cook, how to use, how to save, the case is hopeless. But knowledge alone will not suffice-there must be vigilance and intelligent oversight. Poor Richard says, "The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands." Even competent servants will have no interest in true economy. No

one but the mistress will see "the leak in the dike."

Lastly, a large part of household waste arises from moral cowardice-a fear of seeming stingy keeps people from being saving. Many a housewife is really afraid to say anything about economy lest her servant characterize her as "stingy " when the neighborhood servants gather for their nightly confabs. The disrelish of the average maid for economy or anything that looks in that direction is one of the serious phases of the problem. In possible explanation of this is the fact that many of the servants have come from the poverty of the Old World and so are inclined to call a family "rich" if they live in a comfortable house on a salary of $2,000; hence they say, "Why all this talk about economy?"

Moral cowardice brings on waste through a fear of being considered oldfashioned and queer in the appointments of the house. Furniture excellent in quality and correct in design must be sent to the attic or "traded in " at a low figure for the latest fashion as regards finish of wood and form. We would be ashamed to have the Murray-Hills visit us and find an old-fashioned sideboard in our dining-room when every one else has a buffet. And then think for a moment of the ignominy of being the only folks in our set without hardwood floors! When the friezes are too wide, or the drop-ceilings do not drop enough, or the wall-paper is light when every one else has tapestry papers, no course seems open to a self-respecting family but to cut down the subscription to the church and re-paper.

Moral cowardice impels to waste in providing too elaborate repasts when friends are entertained. There must be luncheons of eight courses when most of us are lucky to have two when we lunch alone. There must be show dinners with expensive place-cards, costly floral centerpieces, and such a succession of unusual and mysterious things to eat that we have to give up when we try to tell mother about it the next morning. As soon as a woman thinks of having a few friends to dine, she begins to cudgel her brain for novel ideas-there must be novelties in table decorations, novelties

in food, novelties in the way of serving the food. We all know that the sweet grace of hospitality is stifled in this excess and flummery, but it is a rare woman who dares invite her friends to a simple meal suited to her purse and station. "Just think," she sighs, "of that perfectly elegant dinner the Schuylers gave! Why, I didn't know what I was eating half the time! How could I ask them to a simple dinner after that? I just couldn't do it." I knew of a luncheon club of twelve young married women, one of whom each month entertained the others at lunch. As the months passed, the affairs became more and more elaborate, each striving to outdo the others. Soon the town

resources were exhausted, and flowers, out-of-season delicacies, and fancy ices were ordered from the city. Some of the members could not afford this, and the others knew it. All felt that the affairs had gone too far and had become a burden to plan and most wearing to carry out, yet not one was willing to be the woman to assert her good sense and return to moderation. All honor to the woman who in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation dares to be simple and sane! If you are so blest as to know such a one, hasten to tell her how much you admire her, lest she too falter, lose her foothold, and be swept. off by the waves of waste.

W

HATEVER

attempts have been made to vindicate the Chinese soldier have attracted no attention. No doubt the cause of this is the estimation in which war is held by the Chinese. Confucian justice degraded the military profession and ignored the development of the art extolled by Cæsar, Alexander, Tamerlane, Genghis Khan, and even the Manchu Emperors.

No one has thought it worth while to inquire into the character of the Chinese soldier, much less to praise him, and the sterling qualities inherent in the race have never been suspected to pertain to the soldier even by the Chinese themselves. But when it is considered that the Chinese soldier is robbed and exploited by his superiors, facts of which he is perfectly well aware, his respect for authority is seen in this case to be purely accidental, and owes its existence to the filial training which the lowest Chinese possesses. War under such conditions is merely a personal adventure to the common soldier, who has been taught that the officials are responsible for the welfare of the people, and that China has no real enemies among the tributary barbarians visiting the borders. It is a fact that the Chinese soldier in an emergency delights to make sure his escape as well as to leave his superior in the lurch.

The old ideas regarding foreigners have, of course, been largely dispelled. Instruction in the art of war, as practiced by the West, has been carried on for many years in China, and those Chinese qualified for the profession of arms, acquainted with the geography of the world, the power of foreign enemies, and the consequences of battle with foreigners, have furnished an example of what a real Chinese soldier is. In 1900

1 Mr. McCormick was the Associated Press cor

respondent on the Russian side during the Russo Japanese War, and was for six years a newspaper correspondent in China.-THE EDITORS.

the Chinese military students at the Tientsin arsenal defended first the walls of the arsenal, then, compelled to retire, defended the building, from which they retreated to their rooms, and died defending their bureaus.

The sterling qualities that have made the Chinese as a race so hardy appear unaffected by the political and moral degeneracy of which the nation has complained since the days of Lao-Tzu and Confucius.

The subject of this sketch may be taken as an eminent example of what the great body of the Chinese consist of, and something of what is possible in them. Chang is a man of the lower or peasant classes. He was one of a large family of children, and was noted in his neighborhood, but especially among his relatives, for his stupidity. When a young man, he became a soldier and served in the army of the Tartar general at Mukden, spending his time partly in the destitute barracks to which a Chinese soldier is consigned, and at intervals escorting prisoners and hunting bandits in the surrounding region. He was something over fifty years of age when he became my hostler, just preceding the battle of Liaoyang. On the last day of the battle I was taken in the Japanese lines, and Chang was obliged, with two animals and the baggage, to make the march during the Russian retreat of forty-five miles to Mukden, alone and unprotected. It is needless to say that an unprotected Chinese with a foreign army is theoretically helpless; especially during the retreats which the Russians made after their defeats, a Chinese was at the mercy of the soldiers. While en route to Mukden one of his animals lay down and died, but with the other he managed to save the baggage, but was thrown into prison, charged with being a spy, and remained for nine days in hourly danger of having his head taken off by an ignorant official who made no