The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1873-03-07
A Pair Of Wristers.
BY FRANE-sTRAND.

BY FEANEssIRAND.
"What is the price of these wristers?''
] inquired of a lady clerk behind the
counter of a worsted store.
"FOrty-two cents"
"How much worsted does it take for
them ?u
"About an ounce.v
81 will take an ounce. What will it
be ?"
''Twenty cents.v
And I left the store, thinking with
great satisfaction, shall make twenty
two cents by knitting them myself
Ny husband had just left me, to be
absent several days. Before he went
away, he asked, "what Will you do
while am away?" And then he sug-
gesed that / should finish a book which
we were reading together. "Oh, non
l said, 81 shall not need TO do that, l
have all these papers TO finish" And
though / did not say so, knew there
was pile of stockings to be attended to,
and smiled inwardly at the idea of my
being in want of occupation.
But after he had bade me goodbye
with a hOarse voice, ] paced the floor in
anxious thought. What can be done, l
asked myself, to prevent his taking
these bad colds? He sometimes speaks
of his wrists being cold, and of course
they must be, in the large cuffs that he
wears. pll buy him some wristers, or
make him some, the first thing l do.
And so l sailed forth to the worsted
store.
On returning, l borrowed some
needles from friend, and some advice
upon the subject of wristers. After
casting on some stitches and knitting a
little, l found ! had not started my work
large enough. Raveling it out, began
again. This time it was too large.
81 must have had it right in the first
place" remarked, and re-cast the orig
inal number Of stitches.
"Arn't these needles rather large >" |
asked, presently, finding'm work a lit
tie open.
"Perhaps so, I'll get you some smaller
ones"
And 1 raveled my work out again.
But while I was looking after the
needles my friend knit some with the
larger ones.
'You knit loOser than 7 do" she said
"Oh, is that the trouble? Well, then,
Pll begin again and see what / can do.
But, dear mel at this rate ! had better
have bought some wristers ready
maden
ut always takes a great while to get
started,n she replied, i'm a tone that
showed some contempt for my small
amount of patience.
at does, does it 81 and I thought l
should not like to start in a new enter
prise very often.
The afternoon slipped away, and il
was tea time when the first wrister was
fairly begun. After tea, resolutely put
ting aside the papers-and what is so at
tractive as 4 fresh newspaper sat
down TO my knitting.
"Ill finish these this evening" l
thought, 'and read Tomorrow"
But the evening wore on, bedtime
came, and the first wrister was not fin
ished. My original doubts returned to
me. Was it good economy to undertake
something 1 had never done before for
the sake of twenty-five cents? Would
1t not have been better to buy them of
woman who was accustomed TO max
ing them? But then, / thought, can't
earn any money, and must save all /
can Ana so, quieting my conscience, /
went to bed.
The next day there was little time for
knitting. The third day, after three
hours OF pretty steady work, / finished
the wristers.
"Whati did you make these your
SELF" asked my husband upon his re-
turn, as, with a pleased face, he tried
them on and found them perfect fit
"Yes," / replied, and swallowed his
thanks as best l could.
did not like to tell him how long il
had taken me to do it. In truth, / was
not very well satisfied with myself.
could not feel that l had, like the busy
bee, 'improved each shining hour" l
had not used every minute of my leis-
ure in storing my mind with honey.
And had done worse than this; / had
not only wasted my own precious time,
but in doing so, had cheated some one
else out Of the rightful pay for her time.
l ielt that 1 had been contemptibly
mean to be unwilling to pay a woman
twenty-five cents for knitting a pair of
',.tE,oIs. mtlSleIs. 10 be sure, one used to the
tt Itoah could have finished them in less
% SLlln nan the time / had sDeDt. But
t;n;oi tue swiftest knitter could not
IL .ISn . PAIR IN less than three hours
80. en- cehtsan hour is not very HIGH
St PS. ~ lor me, IN saving twenfy-tWo
borri - Ilade about three cents an
iOuI; anu While earning the infinitss-
SINAI sum, l feel that have jaFra,,.SS,,
tne woman who makes her Ii,-i,-e- ueu I7S-
knitting wTisters Of her lust dno ~
have set an example which I ot-iea.- -
of a woman who will take the breaS ',,j'i,i o,l,
of her sisters mouth, for the sake oF q Ttl T;t
tlepoeket money. How do know Inf ~ ~.
knitter of wristers has family depenJ-
ent upon her?
ll0nly yesterday, my landlady told me
Of poor woman in delicate health, who
has q sick husband and three children
depending upon her, whose only means
of earning money is binding horse
blankets at twelve and half cents
apiece. She can, at the most, bind only