The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1871-05-17
Shoestrings.
THEY ARE PROVED TO BE THE CURSE
| OF AMERICA.

THEY ARE PROVED TO BE THE CURSE
OF AMERICA.
ga shoestring is good thing. With
what intense admiration have we
watched shoemaker making a string
ont of a circular piece Of leather. And
when he rubbed little clubbing over
the string, twisted it on his knee and
made it slick and round, admiration
swellcd into amazement and delight.
Bnt leather shoestrings have gone out
of fashion. A few elderly gentlemen
and some impecnni"us negro men still
cling tn them, but females Of all COM
plexinn laugh them to scorn."
off a shOestring is good thing, it
will be argued that the longer the
stringth better thing it is. The pro-
position admits of debate. A sermon,
for instance, is often as good as the
majority Of shoestrings, hut no one will
contend that the longer the sermon the
better the sermon. If we look deeply
into the matter, we shall find that long
shOastrings are the curse Of this cOun-
try"
"Lct us therefore look deeply into
the matter"
"There are thirty millions of people
in the United States. OF these, at least
| twelve millions are women and chill
dren, who were long and generally rot
ten cotton shnestrings. The few who
can afford to wear button CATERS may
he thrown out of the account. Now il
takes a. woman ten minutes to lace up
her CATERS, and, as children are rest.
less, il takes mach longer to lace their
gaiters-say twenty minutes.
| This will he thought All overestimate.
But if we reflect that shoes have to be
changed several times day-fnr no
lady can wear the same shoes in the
street that she wears in the hOnse-and
if we remember that children's strings
are always either getting united or get
ting in hard knots, We shall find that
the estimate is moderate ono. Fifteen
minutes, morning and evening, make
half an hour a day wasted by each wo-
man and child in lacing AMI nnlaciDg
shoestrings. Men. meanwhile, average
thee seconds to each boot or shoe-say
twelve seconds in the twenty -four
hours.
Twelve millions half hours make six
, million hours. Time is money. But
women's time is not worth much money
We will say then that each hour of wo-
r mems time is worth one cent. Six mih
} lions OF cents and sixty thousand dol
lars. wasted every day of the world by
the women and children of this nation
There are three hundred and thirteen
r working days in the year. Three hnn
i la iyt nv M
: dollars mate-wlat do you suppose
Why, eighteen millions, and seven hmm
$ dred and eighty thousand dollars-say
: in round numbers, nineteen millions q
- dollars wasted per annum upon thi
n nnnsenselacing and unlacing long rot
Il ten cotton shoestrings. tast
II Said we not truly that long shoe
G strings were the curse OF this country
: What! do You want ladies to 60 bac
to slippers and low quarter shoes. an
e have their stockings eternaliy full {
& dirt aud coal dust Or would you hav
% them wear bnOts, and thus destroy til
: beauty of the female ankle
No, indeed. Your greatly mistaE
d MS. Not for worlds would we have IL
d ankle look boxed or swollen or in Il
t, least degree unsymmetrical.
le What then?
This, namely: 1nasmnch as bnttc
] CATERS, which cost so much more tia
mced gaitcrs-a really nice pair of Il
- former cannot be had for less than &C.
inasmuch, we say, as button gate
themselves are obnoxious tn the char,
ut consuming almost as much time al
money as laced CATERS, we wonld I
" away altogether with the present sty
n of CATERS.
IL But the delight Of neat, tight ank1
A. must be preserved at all hazards.
&c And here is the practical part of Il
matter.
2 1t has been discovered of late til
W rubber retains its elasticity SO perm
IN nently that it serves for springs almo
IN if not quite as we'll as steeh Now
Yankee ingenuity, availing itself Of til
persistence of force in rubber, cam
invent something that can be draw I
as quickly as mans boot, that fits Il
ankle perfectly, and Will continue to
it without pickering, as the elastic
r. modern mems CATERS always does, al
at without checking the circulation or t
III insensible perspiration-if Yankee !
ne veniion is not competent to the soluti
Of this problem, then we are huge
mistaken.
Let 1t be done. The saving of til
and temper will he immese. Aud wi
III. the time and money so saved we "
be able to pay Of the national debt
less than two hundred years.
N. Bit may be we'll to add for t
benefit of those who may still be
ed clined to accuse MS of Overestimati
nd the annual waste of money in wome
nd shoestrings that we have pnrpos'
it, taken the census OF 1860 instead
hit. 1870, in order to he within bounds. 7
tut population of the United States is I
l thirty but thirty eight millions
ION Pittsburg Index.
: 2.
adj DISASTER RESULTING FROM T
me LOVE OF BULL-FRos.-On the even
Of the 25th of March, the alarm dr.
was beaten in Erfnrt in North G
nonv. tho tOcsin sOunde6. landwe