Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-07-21
HANDKERcHIEYs

seem to have q university of tastes. One
man chooses an old.fashioned bandanna,
large enough for. 8 shawl, either red or
yellow. These are your old fashioned
gentlemen, generally snuff.takers, and
inordinately addicted to telling anecdotes
Of the times halfa century ago; and wea.
ying you to death with long verbal es-
says on the increasing immortality among
youth. Some choose handkerchiefs Of
gaudy colors, or witha flashy border, and
a large picture in the centre, of horse
race, steamboat, or the ugly features Of
q dead and forgotten patriot. Others
again, prefer the white cambria, with or
without border, or an edging of lace, like
hnically fine lady. Some wear them
IN their coat-tail pockets, others in their
outside breast-pockets, with the white
edges carefully pulled out, or perhaps
sometimes pinned in; another man always
carries his in his hat: and then there is
the nasty man, who never carries one at
all. We sometimes think we can tell the
character of man by the handkerchief
he wears-the various characteristics of
his mind are therein indicated. We once
knew young man Who was so extraya.
gantly fond ofdress that it occupied more
than half his thoughts.
At this time it was the fashion to wear
pantaloons with wide bottoms to the legs.
This man-millincr of ours, now, would
wear an article made of stiffly starched
linen, something in the shape of an old
fashioned coffee-pot inverted, which he
fastened to bis leg just below the knee,
to make his pantaloon legs set out round.
ly. The same person, before putting on
his coat for walk, would place bis white
handkerchief carefully in the pocket.
with bout four or six inches of it hang.
ing gracefully out, and which he pinned
in, to prevent it being lost or stolen.
But the worst of all the abominable
handkerchief nuiSances that exist, is the
habit that some otherwise nice people
have of carrying them so long that their
"ofence is rank, and smells to Heaven"
We frequently encounter such people,
and only wonder how it is that they are
not infected with all the malarious dis.
eases Of the world.
The idea of encountering one of these
individuals during the hot weather, and
pass on the leeward side of him, as be
attempts to wipe his sweaty brow, is
more than decent human philosophy can
bear. 1t cannot be that such men ever
prosper-there must be mighty judg.
ment laid up against them somewhere.
Have these individuals no noses of their
own! Have they no distinct perception
or conception of . smell !-of general
accumulation of all the disgusting odors
of the world, boiled down into one infer.
nal St stencil, and the main strength
of that extracted and refined, and then
unbOttled and held to creations nose
they cannot have, or they certainly would
correct the odor that absolutely steams
from their filthy handkerchiefs. Is il
not delightful to have such . person sit
opposite you at dinner, who will insist
upon using that handkerchief for nap
kin! 1t makes US sbudder. Such fel-
lows should be ruled out of society. They
should be placed under the superintend-
ence of the health wardens, and a huge
bonfire should be made, wherein all their
musty rags, should suffer martyrdom.
Make US, for heavens sake, Mayor of the
city for a month, and We should arrest
and Danish all persons found guilty of
carrying dirty pocket handkerchief. and
who insist upon fiinging it to the breeze.
We would sprinkle them with chloride
of lime, to escape pestilence, for nothing
is so int0lerable in this life as filthy
handkerchief-Ssuaday Atlas.