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Collecting and Hoarding
Jamik Gaither, ’32
Collecting and hoarding are instinctive
tendencies and are manifested very im
pressively in the small boy who stuffs his
pockets with what he calls ‘‘important
things'’, consisting mainly of bits of cord,
marbles, corks, and stones.
Time Mas, especially before the idea of
having banks or of lending out money in
the form of investments came to he accepted
by persons who had money, that the in
stinct to collect and hoard expressed itself
in the custom of burying coins at the foot
of a chimney, or in cemeteries, or hiding
them in the bed one slept on. Each person,
especially the head of the family, had his
savings for a rainy day buried in some very
inconspicuous place. Whenever more money
was to he added to the amount already
hidden, the person would go stealthily to
his hidden treasure, never digging it up
until he was sure no one Mas watching.
Not only the place of one’s treasure, but
the amount of it must he entirely concealed
by living in a manner that Avould indicate
less than his actual possessions, thus the
hoarder tended to live like a miser, as in the
case of Silas Marner. By such means money
Mas taken out and kept out of circulation.
One of the causes of the present depres
sion is, economists say, the AvithdraAval of
money from circulation. Persons who have
money M’hicli they fear to place in banks
for safekeeping or to lend to different kinds
of business as a means of gaining interest
or dividends are hoarding it in primitive
fashion for the original fear of losing their
principal. Some hoarders removed their
money from banks because many banks—
sometimes because of dishonest management,
but very often because of the M'ithdrawal
of funds closed their doors. Money lenders
have refused loans because of insufficient
security. Employers discharged many effi
cient Morkers because there M’cre no sales
for their products, and, consequently, there
was no money to pay employees save that
M’hicli had already been received as profits
from previous sales. Employers Mishing to
save their business of employing and pro
ducing for the sake of gain are compelled
to resort to such measures as discharging
employees, shoving up the amount of busi
ness because of diminished sales, and allow
ing amounts of capital to lie idle much as
the money of the common hoarder does.
The helpless persons on the fringe of circu
lation and those who have suffered loss of
their savings are in dire need of food and
shelter. The hoarder uho helps provide food
for the bread-line instead of letting his money
into circulation i- primitive indeed; he is
practicing the primitive custom of hoarding
without realizing that he is in the midst of
a civilization that is built upon a view of
common brotherhood, tin* interrelation and
interdependence of all social groups. He i-
in this civilization, enjoying many of its
privileges, but is not an open, fair and
square part of it.
The Campus Mirror
Work
Curtis Miller, ’34
Da mii.
Poonie, a big strong man of about thirty,
lay in his bed consuming sleep by the tons
—and big gulps.
“Poonie, you’d better get up. It's near
time to go to work.”
Poonie raised up and then lunged, head
foremost under the cover. He usually got
up on time, but he could not pull himself
out of bed that morning. In a few minutes
the order Avas repeated—more forcefully.
“Poonie, you get up. It’s near time to
go to work. Do you hear me, Poonie?”
“Yes’m,” came the muffled reply.
Poor Poonie. He had heard those Avords
for a good many years now\ Sometimes they
summoned him to the cotton fields, some
times to cut trees,—to peach orchards. Now
it Avas to the railroad. This railroad Avork
Avas as near to his ambition as he had ever
yet come. As a child he had fumbled and
tampered with tin, nail, and Avood until the
materials had expressed funny ideas of his.
He had always longed to see iron and steel
express his oavh notions. When his father
had decided to take him out of school, from
the fifth grade, Poonie had pleaded with
him to let him stay, to let him work his
Avay through at Tuskegee—but to no aA-ail.
He had hungered and thirsted in vain, and
this job on the railroad Avas as far as he
had got. “Near time to go to Avork . . . .”
His mind caught up the Avords. Work!
Work! Work! He Avas tired of this kind
of Avork, but he could not stop noAV. Lame
father. And, besides, he kneAv nothing else
to do. No, Poonie must Avork.
Miss Elizabeth Perry
Miss Elizabeth Perry, avIio has returned
from a leave of absence to study at Teachers
College, Columbia University, having com
pleted studies for her master’s degree, re
sumes her Avork as Professor of Education
in the three institutions. She A\*ill have
charge of practice teaching at Oglethorpe.
Exchanges
Binks: I'll pay you Avhen my shoes Avear
out.
Collector: What do you mean by that?
Binks: By that time I'll he on my feet
again.
* * *
Passer-by: What Avould your mother say,
little boy, if she heard you swearing like
that?
Bov: She'd be tickled to death if she
could hear.
Passer-by: How can you lie like that?
Boy: That’s no lie. She’s stone deaf.
Similes
— As popular as Freeze.
— As packed as was the campus truck in
the proce-sion at the opening of the new
road.
——As acceptable as a holiday.
-—-As quickly formed as the line for second
helpings in the dining-room.
7
He got up, slipped into the heavy overall
suit, ate a lot of the simple breakfast, and
set out for the station-house. He made it
by 7 :00 o'clock—always on time—that Avas
Poonie.
Poonie had often told me of the kind of
Avork they did “way up the road”, but 1
had never chanced to see them lay the cross
ties, SAving the heavy steel rails, stick the
pins—until today. They Avere at Avork just
hack of our house.
I climbed up on the bank. It Avas a hate
ful day. The air Avas full, thick Avith dust.
The sun beat doAvn unmercifully. There Avere
about four men in the group Avhose job it
Avas to replace Avorn rails. A tall funny
looking brown man began the chant:
“Come on, men, let’s go—pull, pu-u-11,
co-o-me o-on. Get another holt, men—a-a-h!
le’s g-o-o, co-ome on—hard, m-e-en!” They
AA r ere tugging, lugging, pulling the long
hea\’v steel rail out of its socket. Pulling!
Poonie—great drops of perspiration on
his face—clothing Avet in huge flat spots.
Pulling—hard, straining—hard! Muscles all
set like hands of the same steel he Avas
Avielding, A’eins standing like Avhip-cords on
his broAv! Work! The blood started from
his nostrils as 1 Avatched—a thud—a clang!
Poonie fell—the rail fell. Blood trickled
from his nose now and oozed from his lips.
The station doctor Avas summoned and came.
Too late! Poonie? Dead! Burst blood
vessel. The body began to stiffen, the mus
cles relaxed. The big strong man avIio looked
above “that sort of Avork” had dropped it
for—rest.
„„ „ ,,,, „„ „„ „„ „ „„ „„ „„
I WEST END AMERICAN i
Shoe Shop
83 5 Gordon Street, S.W.
I Shoe Repairing and Pressing j
While You Wait j
J. R. BARRON 8 SON. Props.
Phone Raymond 3626
.J.,, „„ „„ „„ Ml, II. «. III, 4*
James L. Holloway
Jeweler j
I Special Prices on Holiday Gifts |
I Furnish Class Rings
and Pins
I !
172 Auburn Avenue, E.E. j
I Phone Walnut 2772 |
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