The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1869-04-30
Three Calico Gowns.

Three Calico Gowns. -
Although it may be . very ''pleas-
ant thing to see ones own name in
print,' IL is not allowable to print
names. especially when writing on
. true story. For this reason We
shall bsve recourse to fictitious ad-
dresses and introduce our young lady
acquaintance ~ miss Clara Clinton,
and her father as Judge Clinton, Of
Clintonvillc. .H#.,. - - 4
Tbey-that is the people-called
the Judge the oldest man that ever
lived. If oddity consi sts in having
. way Of bis own, Judge Clinton
was . very odd man. He would in
sist on living in little brown, old
fashioned house. without carpets
upon the floors and, what Was more
vcxatious. he would not allow . So
70 or lounge or roekiug-chsir inside
the four brown walls. Aud be had
an idea that the whole cou ntry Was
going to rack and ruin because the
men wore broadcloth, and the wo-
men wore silks, be declared he
would wear homespun % long as he
lived, and his women folks should
bs restricted to calico.
As wc have nothing to do with
Mrs. Judge Clinton, We shall not
allude to the hearty vexation with
which she carried ont the whimsic-
IL old Judges domestic relations -
A. she could do nothing wiser than
to gulp down her chagrin, she did
gulp i: down, and, woman like, pre-
tended to believe, with her husband
that they could reform the world by
making themselves conspicuously
mean and uncomfortable.
Judge Clinton Was still ia indigo
colored homc-spun, and Mrs. Judge
Clinton in nine-penny calico, when
Miss Clara Clinton. having reached
the age Of eighteen, and having
will Of her own, (Which her moth
er was careful to tell everybody the
child inherited from her father, }
announced her desire and determin-
alton to 90 to = boarding school.
The judge himself had been . poor
boy, self-educated through his own
exertions. He Was . proof of his
humble birth and the difficulties he
overcome at Brundery. He had
read Virgil BY the aid Of pine
knot. and Greek by the aid Of :.
penny candle. and solved the prob
le ms Of Euclid by moonlight. He
respected but one desire in the
world. and that was ) thirst for
knowledge. So whom Miss Clara
protested that she must, and could,
and would 80 to boarding school.
Jadge Clinton oheerfully scquieseed
and expressed himself ready to
cash over"
No sooner was the subject brosch.
ed. however, than, to Miss Clans
surprise, her father selected the
most expensive, thorough. and aris-
tocratic institution in the country,
paid the yearly expenses in advance
and sent her 1t once to complete
her education, with twenty-five
cents for spending money, and three
calico gowns for her wardrobe.
It WAS bad enough. Miss Clara
said, sobbing oil the while % it her
beautiful eyes had really been liq-
uid fountsine. to be obliged to
dress in calico but to have three
calico gowns oil alike, from the
self-same piece, % that her compan-
ions would think she had but one
that Was I" the hardest to bear Of
all"
But the old Judge Was ineorrigi-
BILE. He had saved tive shillings
and sixpsnce By having thsm I'll
alike. and be was satisfied II HE
dAughter wss not.
Il WAS bright, clear May morn
ing, when Miss Clara bade adieu to
the ugly brown honest tead, and her
mother who wiped her tosrs on hsr
calico apron. and the sheep that
bore the deeces from which her
fathers home-spun Was made. She
loved every thing about the dun
dwelling, now that she looked back
upon it from the coach window
But soon the novelty Of her position
.0varcama har oriaf. and she fOrpOt