The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-08-21

We have all heard of the story of the fool
ish Midas, whose wish that everything he
touched might be turned into gold, was grad
flied. He soon repented, as we learn, of the
fatal generosity OF the gods when the very
bread and meat changed at his lips to the
precious metal. That Midas ears finally
grew into those of an ass was ft termina-
ton, and not the most incredible part of his
history.
We can discover among us some of the de-
scendants of Midas without even look at
their ears. Their asinine propensities are
enough 10 point them out, without any other
lnulcaton OF their race. We may pass by, for
the present, the more characteristic of their
kind, and examine some of the less marked
specimens.
1t is wonderful how people Systematically
deprive themselves of many of the enjoy
ments and comforts of life by turning things
which are inten led for use into mere articles
OF finery. There can be nothing more Midas
like than this practice, which often prevails
TO such an extent as to convert the utmost
abundance into total destitution. Labor is
performed and money spent without stint,
and yet with no other result than restricted
ease and diminished comfort.
You can trace the practice everywhere,
throughout jail the course of daily life. 1t
is visible in the dwelling, the furniture, the
books, the equipage, the clothes. Most peo-
finer houses than they can well use, take
care of or pay for; and daily living in q
house without even feeling at home at all is
of all wretchedness the most wretched The
| furniture, moreover, is often too nice for use,
| the carpet too delicate to be trod by the COM
| mon boot, the chairs and sofas of too choice
stuff for close proximity with the everyday
| coat and gown. The best room in the house
is thus not seldom made the worse for the
| family, for every member regards it as he
| might a chamber of horror, into which he
| does not put his foot without fear and trem-
bling. There is many a man who keeps a
caIriagez too fine for use, and breads
every time he rides in the approach of
shower or a dirt cart. At night he is forced
to submit to the democratic street car or ON
nibus, for darkness conceals and endangers
the fiDery OF the equipage.
There are some who boast of their libra
| ries, and yet live themselves, and keep others,
| in ignorance, because their books are too nice
| Tor use. Their gilt edges and choice bindings
| are only safe under glass, lock and key; so
i they remain sealed to the curious, and might
as well be so many dummies of wood, such as,
in fact, are occasionally found filling up the
| vacant places Of the shelves in the bookcase
of grand libraries.
There are a Thousand ways in which the
clothes originally, without doubt, intendol
for comfort and protection are turned into
| sources oil annoyance and danger. ODedI-
| ence to fashion and a desire for show have
/ metamOIphOsed the essential coverings OF the
| body into so many corporal tortures. The
hard oundibeaver. hat and chignon, the spi
| der-waist and tight-bodied coat, the pinching
| boot, high-heeled shoe, are but few of the
various Instruments of suffering which men
| and women have contrived to make out of the
| simplest articles OF clothing. Human and
civilized though such people pretend to be, it
II t.1 oil hair
/ tfices of dress the asses ears of the Midas
| breed. Whatever might be useful they turn
| by their touch into the snowy and inconve-
| nient.
Children, even, in spite of the earnest sup
| plication of nature, are not spared this absurd
and cruel process OF transforming the snowy
The desire for display is apparent in their ed
ucatiOn, their manners, their dress and daily
walks. Is the purpose of most of the So
called accomplishments of the girls schools
to produce useinl or snowy women? Are the
mincing ways and tricks of behavior so care
fully inculcated intended to make children
| genteel, as it is called, or amable? Is the
dress of kind or make suitable for free
dom of movement, so es sential to the healthy
development of the young, or adapted only
to the stiffness OF formal presentation to COM
pany? Are the promenades of the starched
and bedizzened child for the promotion OF its
health, or the qualification of a mothers van
ity and love OF display? While we commend
to all propriety of conduct and delicacy of
taste, we should warn them against being too
| nice.-Hdrper's Bdzdr.