The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1869-07-29
Shirts and the Little ucathen.
BY JOHN QUILL.

"But they must have clothes, Mr.
wilkins"
''No they mustn't. It's ridiculous
nonsense for any collection of old women
like your sewing society to start out lot
of duds and things TO the heather in Afri-
ca. 1t is confounded stupid, l say
What do you suppose lot of old Coffee
colored Pagans, STEPPED in ignorance and
vice, want with shirts Hey! Why,
they don't want 'em. They were born
without 'em, weren't they? And if it
was right for them to have clothes don't
you suppose they would have had EN- ?
Don't you suppose beneficent nature
knows batter than you and all the other
heifcrs down at the sewing bee? Why,
it's absolutely ridic-'
"Wilkins, you shan't talk that way
about
''Its perfectly ridiculous. But you 60
on; you 60 on and send them over there
to Africa, and do you know what will
happen! Do you know what will be the
result of your tomfoolery! Why, the
very first thing you know some benightcd
heathon or other will 60 and mount one of
those shirts some night, and paddle around
in the dark and scare the other heathen,
and make them believe in ghosts, and set
the whole continent of Africa to falling
down and sacrificing themselves to a lot of
old nine-headed idols, and jabbering away
at their pagan prayers. You've got sin
enough on your soul, old woman, without
that, want you distinctly to understand"
too tam
BILE to notice."
Eyes, and Ia just ike to know what
an ignorant heathen knows about shirts,
any how? Why, absolutely nothing;
and very likely the fret fellow that tries
to get into one will get it on upside down,
and mix his legs all up in the sleeves, and
get himself into tangle ard trip Up, and
fall over some precipice or other, and then
there will be the responsibility for man
gled man added to you: list of crimes
But I'd just ike you to bear in mind that
you don't send any of my wardrobe out
there. L don't want parcel of Ethiops
sporting around on Afric's sunny shore in
my linen. Not exactly. l like to see men
enjoy themselves, but not in that indecent
style.
"But, Mr.. Wilkins"
"Pretty spectacle it will be now, won't
it! Forty six little Africans dressed in
simple but chaste garb of white shirts,
sitting along a bench in Sunday school
wrigghng their toes, or else enjoying them
selves at recess singing 'han fat and
doing 'the walk around That's pretty
way to civilize heather land, amt it 3
For they won't wear any pants you OBJ
serve. If you SO to shipping a lot of
pants over there the first thing you know
they will have them tackled on to some
idol or other, or rammed full of feathers,
and be holding religious service before
each pant and as for socks, why every
sock as has ever been sent over there has
been stuffed with sand, and used as war
club. That's so, and I've no doubt that
very identical pair you're knitting on now
will brain a stray pagan some day or other
in some muss.
"Mr. Wilkins, you know that's not
So"
'If you want to do your colored
friends service, why don't you 60 to
work and ship them lot of The delicacies
of the season? Why don't you send out
ship load of canned missionaries, or
something else that will make their mouths
water? Or you might collect an assort-
ment of second hand jaw bones, and give
them for necklaces, or send out your own
false teeth, Or
s'Wilkins I'll scratch"