The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1875-07-07
where they Come From.

where they Come From.
You'll be shocked, | fear, when | !
tell you that your doll came out Of a |
rng-bag, the curls from the back Of "a
goat, and her elegant china tea-set
out Of a mud hole
But what will you say when l tell
you that ycur jelly is made out of
old boots, and your delightful per-I
fumery from horrid smelling coal
tar?
You don't know all the made-over
things in the family, either. John
ny's new beaver cloth oyercoat was
worn out on the back Of q beggar,
and even played the part Of a scare
crow in some farm yard, before it
went into the rag-bag and began to
come up in the world again, and the
Table Gelatin" which every one Of
the family likes to eat, once did duty
as skin on the back Of q rat.
1t it is really wonderful to trace
things back, and see where they come
from, aud who has reason to boast of
his ancestors. Queer stories you
would hear if the things around you
could tell their history There's your
tatting shuttle. 1t once made itself
useful as bone in horse, while the
ivory dice in the backgammon board
adorned the jaws and crushed the
oats Of another Of the race.
The pearl of your paper knife lined
the shell house of Q modest little
creature at the bottom of the sea,
while my mammals shell comb was
the comfortable roof over o sea tor
toise.
Your guitar strings were iudispen-
sable to the internal comfort Of some
poor pussy or unfortunate sheep, and
your piano would be but a dumb
wooden box, without some of the in
ternal arrangements of q horse.
Your nice hair brush FIRST saw the
! light on the skin Of hog, and its
pretty back papier mache came out
of the rag-man's bag. The crinoline
taat stiffens the bottom Of ladies'
dresses was used originally to switch
the flies from the back of a horse,
and the mattress on which you sleep
SO comfortably served the same use
before it fell into the manufacture
hands
Your dainty toilet soap-dear me,
how can l tell you-was made Of
dead cats and dogs, found in the
streets, and the "bitter almonds"
which so delightfully."- iavors your can
dy, came from the borrible-smeIling
coal tar while the choicest ale is deli
eiously favored with-putrid cheese.
The scent bag Of that offensive
creature, the skunk, furnishes some
desirable additions to the toilet table,
used for removing freckles and tan,
and the dreadful stuff left in drains is
changed into fashionable toilet ar
tiele, and adOrns the face Of ladies.
To be sure, these disagreeable ma
terials have some pretty rough hand
ling before they come out in their
new colors. The old boots, for in
stance. They do not step from the
gutter into the jelly kettle, by any
means. They 60 through long pro-
cess Of washing and soaking in I've
and smoking with sulphur, and steam
ing and boiling, before they come out
white and delicate and fit for the ia
BILE.
The coal tar, to grow into perfum-
cry, goes through the hands Of chem
lists, who treat it to | don't know
what dreadful chemical process; and
the dead eats and dogs are boiled to
extract the grease, purified, whiten-
ed and perfumed before we see them
as soap.
The doll whose ancestors inhabit-
ed ragman's den endured many un-
heard Of operations OF washing, soak
ling, bleaching, ch piping, molding,
and so forth, before she took her place
in the nursery to amuse the little
folks, and the clay from the mud
hole was washed, and purified, and
whitened, and kneaded, and baked
and glazed, before it yentured 10 call
itself china, and take its place on the
tea-table
/ The horse tails that stifien the
/ dresses and stuff our mattresses are
washed, and soaked, and boiled, and
baked, before we use them, and the
Iintestines which make the voice Of
guitar and piano went through long
/ processes Of seraping and soaking in
I've and washing before they were
drawn out into the fine tough strings
you are familiar with
The rat skin which we eat under
the name of gelatin, first aourished
as the thumb Of Q kid glove, and af-
ter being worn out in that capacity
went through ever so many purifying
processes, somewhat as the old boots
did, and ended on our table.
Nearly all the things that we throw
away in the alleys, or even through
our drains-the most disgusting
things You can think Of are valuable,
and after going through the hands Of
skillful workmen, come cut in new
shapes and have new fields Of useful
ness.
The feats Of old fashioned fairies,
who turned pumpkins into carriages,
and shabby old gowns into elegant
robes, do not compare with the won
ders performed in our workshops, by
rough looking men in shirt sleeves