LIVING ON £1 A YEAR

Evening Star, Issue 19197, 13 March 1926, Page 18

LIVING ON £1 A YEAR

RAHD CADGER’S RECORD 6POHGSHQ AS A FIHE ART “The man who 5s out of a Job and temporarily crippled in pocket has his corapenstaions, said the Man Who Does No Work to a Johannesburg ‘ Sunday Times ’ representative. 1! or one thing, ho doesn’t have to pay income tax, and he avoids the extortionate prices of seaside hotelkeepers by not going to the seaside. “it is extraordinary,” he continued, “how much can be done, in spite ox lack of funds. Food, lodging, drinks, amusements, travel, and adventure can all be had either free or at very low “A friend of mine used to tell me that he could live in Johannesburg on £1 a year and enjoy himself, and this is how it is done: The rent of his room was never paid, although it was invariably promised at the end of the mouth; but before that time arrived he had moved. Should he experience difficulty in getting a room one of his pals would put him up for a night or two. “ ‘ Skoff ’ of sorts could naturally be obtained very easily. Counter-lunches, although not very sustaining, and rather apt to provoke thirst, do help to prevent * that fooling. Ho would occasionally be invited by a friend to lunch or dine. No day ever passed without someone asking him to have a drink, and he frequently enjoyed a game of billiards or snooker at a pal’s expense. Theatre tickets were forthcoming now and again, and an occasional motor trip. Ho managed to sign cards for about six months ot the year—a month to a bar—unti he became rather too well known. Then he had to rely on his friends tor his drinks. Tailors and others gave him credit for a time, so that ho had a decent wardrobe,. “ The only thing he had to pay cash for was a haircut, and. as ho used to go for about two months without one, this item only cost him 9s a year. A SHILLING IN THE PLATE.

“ How did he do about shaving, you ask? Well, he had a safety razor, and could always raise a blade or two from a pal. Two shillings would buy a year’s supply of shaving soap. Toilet soap Is generally provided in furnished rooms, but if Jack was stuck for any he simply pocketed a piece at one of the ‘ posh ’ hotels. His laundry he always attended to himself unless the charge was Included in his rent. _ “ I haven’t mentioned cigarettes, because—well. what do you do when you want a smoke and your case is empty ? “ Of the remaining 9s two were spent on a book of tram tickets, and one went into the plate on Christmas Daj (he always attended church on Christmas Day). “What of the remaining six bob? There is a tragedy attaching to them. Jack was invited into a bar for a drink. They had several, and finally the man who had extended the invitation found that he had no money on him, and, as the barman insisted on cash payment, Jack had to dive for it. It was very sad, but he couldn’t expect to live through a whole year without an accident of some sort, could ho?” The Man Who Does No Work was in a reminiscent mood.

“ Another pal of mine,” he went on, “ had a great desire to see something of Canada and the United States, and not having the wherewithal to _pay his passage from Liverpool, worked out a scheme. Harry was a good linguist. He had travelled in most parts _of Europe, and had a faculty for picking up languages—and other things that were not nailed down. So ho had no difficulty in obtaining _ a billot as interpreter on a boat going to Montreal. During the trip he managed to ingratiate himself with some oi tho passengers hy rendering them small services, and, not being unduly proud, ho pocketed the insults they offered him hi return. On arriving at Montreal ho waited until he saw a favorable opportunity, and then wont ashore with his suit case. THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN. “Tun next day he was lucky enough to strike a job on one of the local paper. —he had previous newspaper experience—and in this way managed to support himself in tho various towns which he vistied in Canada and the United States.

" After a time, however, Harry bocan to long for n sight of Piccadilly and the green pastures of Hyde Park. He couldn’t pay his passage, naturally as ho was one of the lads of the village and had never saved a nickel. One morning he walked down to the docks and found that he could get a job on a cattle boat that was just leaving. Nothing much to do except feed and water the cattle twice a day. The pay was £3 for the trip, just enough to pay his rail fare from Liverpool to London. So ho jumped at the opportunity. and after a somewhat rough passage in more than one sense reached Liverpool, received his £2. and travelled to London, _ where he went to the paternal mansion and played the star role in the prodigal son act. “Yes. temporary financial embarrassment, ns they call it, has great drawbacks, but it certainly also possesses a certain amount of humor and oven consolation. The man who is broke is in no fear of getting a letter from his bank manager asking him to reduce lim overdraft; neither is ho haunted by the dread that those shares ho has bought- on a margin may fall. Also he knows that when a change in his fortunes does occur it must ho n change for the better, so, like Micawbor, he waits for something to turn up. “If you are broke don’t take yonr troubles too seriously, but maintain the saving grace.” And the Man Who Does No Work continued to lean up against the Post Office with great composure and fortitude.