, 1877-11-25
CURRENT GOSSIP.

1
CURRENT GOSSIP P.
THE FREE BACHELOR.
Ny home it is called the Bac'''s Retreat,
And find genuine solacc there; "
| I'm free from the chiding that married men meet
When home from nice little tear,
| Yes, no one is waiting or watching for nc,
| With broom on my poor back to break;
| Or nont at the clock and cry. ''Sir, do you see:
| You wretch, you! what kept you go Iate?''
| Tin free from the wrath Of yonr dear feminine
! I'm free; and all husbands do say,
s'You're lucky, MY boy; your life is sublime;
| O threw mine so foolish away
| glory, you see, in my bachclor-ltfc,
| And escape from my dear little honey,
Or the sweet, tempting kiss Of some fond, tricky
| wife,
| Whenever she wants any money.
| purchase no 'gorc for baby to cure,
Nor carry it round half the night;
| Or cradle to rock, Us husbands endure,
| While their wives s1umocr tranauily quite
| The smiles of the lades are all lost on me,
Though their faces with them may all glow,
And the charms OF the cottage, pray you will Sec
| With marriage, FOR ':,c are no 60.
| CHICAGO, Nov. a3, 1877. 3iAGsrs JOHNSON.
| A, COUNTRY WITHOUT NEIGuBORS.
| Hrs. II r. Hundy ~ Paffdaetphfa neeklu Times,
| The Southern Confcderacy was i country
| without neipbors, pu@list without hackers.
History furnishes no instance OF more effective
! blockade. I:lndward, except where Mexican
robbers and Indians held the frontier, lay the
I country Of the foe, and SEWARD, within hail Of
each other, from Virginia to Texas, tue vessels
! Of the United States navy, shut i'll the bcsiegel
! Statcs from the world, and shut the world out
| FROM them. Tile men who ran the blockade
rs1zed life and liberty; for this risk they de-
lna,tlct1 large profits on the goods which they
! brought. Tic war produced its natural crop Of
] extortioners. After tho reputation in 1853, Of
| onc-third Of the Confederate debt, few people
| had faith i'll the currency. Those who held it
| spent freely, anxious to exchange for sonc-
| thing oi .n"rc tangible value. No o,lc WHO coutl
afford TO let capital remain idle was anxious to
/ sci! merchandise which every day increased i'll
| market value. This imitation bore its legitimate
fruits, and the rare spectacle was presented Of
| purchasers anxious to buy, while merchants
] were 10th to sell.
| For four years the Southern: States were shut
| up to their own resources. These resources,
| though immense, were undcvc1opcG, and the
means to develop them were, for tue most part,
J lacking Manufactures sprang up all over the
country; but where chemical agents were neces-
! sary to the perfection Of their work, tlat work
! was lett unprotected. Confederate cotton cloth,
| rs already stated, was sent forth from the fac
tory in its natural unbicachcd tint. Confcd-
| crate paper was inferior in color and texLurs to
| the brown wrapping paper commonly used in
dry-goods stores today. Tho Georgia woolcn
( mills produced army cloths and blankets ofgood
quality. but wool w2s wolul!y scarce. anu the
[ cloth sold for $500 or $500 i yard. Cow-hair
] was carefully saved from the tannerics. and,
| mixed with cotton, WAS spun and woven into
garments which, if coarse, we're at least thick
| aud warm. The highest ladies in the Land did
not tisdajn to wear homcspuu The wash pop
| Inns OF to-day, sold III all dry-goods stores at
from 10 to is cents i yard, closely resembles
the homespun dresses OF which Southern
! women were then SO proud The prettlest
homemade cloth of the Confedcratcs was q mix
ture OF silk aud cotton. For this, black silk too
much worn to be OF use in any other way, was
cut into bits and picked into lint, mixed with
more or less cotton, and spuu and woven Tor the
dress. The process was painfully tedious. rs
from pound and half totwo pounds OF picked
out to accomplish dress stopped short at
enough silk to knit pair Of gloves. The state
ment made III former article upon Confederate
ulake-shifts, published in Har7er's -HaIdzine-
to the effect that the Confederate women
did not know what vas the fashion, was
the OCCASION of some incrcdulous comments
Not only did they not know, but many
OF them did not care! They wore what they
had or could get, anu We're content A lady
friend of The writer laushingly declares that
never but once in her Life did she always have
something to wear, and that was in War times,
wien reduced to opedrcss-a black cashmere
made Of two old oncs; she had no choice, but
must always wear that or none. Calieoes in
1864 were worth $50 and $40 yard, and d new
calico was regarded as handsome dress. Gar
mcnts already on hand were turned and re-
turned, dyed, ind made over rs long as a piece
Of them remained. The s*costumcn u ct the
present day, in 50 far Us it means dress made
Of two materials, was pcrlorcc fashionable in
the Confetleracy-n convenient mode OF making