Evening star., 1877-12-29
MR.. sTMPkT>s' DOWNFALL.
4 Sad story of >horf SOCKS. and the
Dtstres~fog Calamity that Bef~it
Their Wearer.


Prom fhs Negc lory Tsfnrs
Man i the only animal that wears short
socks. This 4 not only = more accurate i~6
milton than any hitherto devised 10y scientific
ptr>ou>, hiti a. shows the iuierinrity IT man 10
AL other animals. and ought o. have cNcn more
elect IN humhllng our wicked pride than IhN
famous story ui the h,tle giri WHO Na> exec,
>Nely proud of her >ilk dreS> unit >he was old
thai u MAS spun. woven. cat cut. made Up aud
trimmed by loath>ome Worm.
HE great trouble wtih the short Seck u that
u VII not Keep IT, place. There helug n.thins
Whatever 10 hold a.. the fnTcr of graNitatian
LtCe>>atilN draE> D. down about th, aux -
iii> 'auS,.S an amount 1T mis,rN which u ap.
railing. There l. 10 msu Who can feel al,
c"uhutu nee On hi> >nck>. Whether h,. l. walk
ing 81 sitting, hs knows that IT. >ss.k~ an,
SONY, hut surely slipping down. GartrrS
hlhE "ui 81 the question. since the ~liertu,.,.
81 The sock does nut permit a garter - d..
placed ln a position where a viii not >ltp there,
- absolutely no remedy iur Nhat ~ NAV far
NcaA ne giant Ell ot the axe. iiu> and mu-
cilagy have both been Tried hN desperate m,n
but They have both proved U~,lc>>. and haN..
merely added IL The misery at tlIr u~,,r In
these circumstances there : uuthiur lrff Ion
man io do except to bear the shock I'm silence.
"r 7" hoidi, cast a aside and adopt the Igu.
grown stocking.
The latter alternative Wa> recently chosen
/ hN that eloquent hut unfortunate tl,rrNm4n
Rev Charles Simphiu>, of Me>thridgc. "a.
ntil the catastrophe which ha> lately ultI
taken him, the church did not po>>,.>> 4 IipI.,
popular and promising Noung -ivTtN man. a..
could repeat the opcnlng rNhoridtian all the
| Tor the same. without onc, pau>inu tnl breath
! and u has been asserted that he could mono
tone The entire Apostles creed While breathing
/ only three times. A. h. was unmarried AMI
! hot Yet = years old. a. Mas REGARDED Win
/ peculiar reverence 10y the unmarried ladie, aI
hl> parish. and he received more annual slim
I States
NeatneSs was one Of the di>tnrui,bip-
1 characteristics "t Mr.. Nimpkin> and there ar.
/ probably few men who have suffered uurs
| keenly from short Sock>. when MalkinI,
! through the village, he Was i'm continual dread
| lest MS socks should descend into public view
and even while preaching his most slouurI.f
sermons, the perSpiratlon would gather ou hi,
brow aS he felt one OF hi> socks Na> graduaI,
! slipping down. This wore upan him - ths
extent that his massive intellect threatened 10
iotter, and on the morning of the eighty first
sunday after Trinity he deliberately paused
alter remarking here ebicih' aud stopprd
down To repair damages. That night hp r.
solved that vigorous measures must De- taken.
and he accordingly wrote A confidential letter
10 his sisters husband. who resided in TINS
clA. and nrlO>ed all the necessary inca sure
ment. Shortly afterward he received. o>t.n
slbly from the husband. hut really from tho
anectionate sister. two dozen pair of Baihric
gan hose. together with pair of scarlet rlas-
ties an inch IN width and of precisely the .glt
size.
A. soon as Mr.. SmpkinS had learned Nv
repeated experiment how to wear fh, scarlet
appliances. his spirits began 10 rise, "A. Va
nO longer a prey 10 doubt and despair a.,
stockings hrlny kept their place. and D." friJ
climb over a fence without fear of r.tii,r-
quenceS. Accordingly. Tor the first time dur
ing ms residence AT Ne>tbridlse. he consented
10 attend the Sunday school picnic of the 3l>J
of October last. and thereby filled Will unilt-
terable delight the souls of all the unmarried
teachers of the church.
Mr.. SimPkins, being free from care. entered
into the sports of the picnic with great ze>t
and the children insisted that he. together
Win Their teachers. should take part in 4
game OF blind mans buff The request was
aftfdt al TO- and The usual rInnlnH lamuliuH
and Shrieking followed. IL was while Mr.
Slmpklns was neeng. in company with six
excited teachers, from the pursuit of a blind
folded small boy. that he suddenly noticed that
one ot hls elaSiics had become uncla>ped aud
had fallen 10 the ground Al the same mo
ment II Was perceived by the prettie>t of IN.
teachers, who made frantic effort to seize IL .
hut was anticipated by the unhappy clergy
man. IL was bad enough for him To know that
the teacher had discovered his misfortune but
What Was his horror and amaZement when
with every appearance of anger. She demand
ed that he should hand her that" instantly
lie Was 80 astonl>hed AT her evident desire 10
make sport of him that he did not deign -
answer her, but put the disputed article ia his
pocket and walked away. Whereupon the
fideniial friends that Mr.. SimpkinS had had
the inconceiyable audacity 10 steal one of her
IN fact, her private property.
1he scandal spread rapidly and widely. AMI
grew as rapidly a. IL spread. At the end of
hall an hour every lady at the picnic had cut
The Clergyman in the most marked manner
got Ia repair the deficiencies Of his toilet aud
went home feeling rather more cresifallen than
did The prophet Daniel when he found that
The lions would not recognize his existence n
was not until he was ON the point of seekinra
sleepless pillow that he discovered that bnth
his scarlet elastlcs were in their proper place
While the one which he had picked up az the
picnic lay on his table. The fun horror of his
situation flashed upon him. The teacher bad
really dropped a scarlet elastic. and hp had
slezed II under the impression that il was his
own.
The utter hopelessness If ever making any
satisfactory explanation of the affair was only
Too apparent. Early the next morning Mr.
Simpkms fed from Nestbridge a ruined man.
The fatal articles which had caused hi> down
iall he left behind him. and they teach with
mute but powerful eloduencP Ihe I.>Snp thar
We should bear the socks We have. aad meyer
dream of flying 10 stockings of which We
know nothing except by hearSay.
The Partisan Dead.
The great holiday and its accompanying
sacred season. All Saints and the Day ri th,.
Dead" are here once more NeSie rdaV Pan,
put up It's shutters. and the town i'm the after
noon seemed deserted. The churches are very
Wei illed nj the service hours better. perhaps.
ii1 raah IN previous years. Ihere has been great
revival oi religious observance here since the
war: and the recent political struggle has al>p
contributed To make the clericles more pJinr-
tlllo,is about church going. They feel that they
must have the courage of their opinions aud
they are right. A. for the day of the dead L.
u the most touching and tender Observance ia
iAahct' dn cid>ses o1 population go 10 GENE
terles, and crown the tombs of their host with
Mreathes OF immorteileS. and with more
perlshabie blossoms. The custom j. universal
I'm this country, and in some sections the peas
ants have very curious ceremonials in cannrc
uon with the anniversary. In the department
OF Brittany and the Maine the peasants during
lhe night after All Saints. run through IN"
fields bearing brands. the charred pir,.,
oi which they carefully preserve a. charms
against any Ills that may befan cattle or other
stock. In the neighborhood of Toulouse. until
Mlthln lew years. on the evening preceding
the second OF November there were proce>-
slons in the cemeteries toward the small hours.
Ihe clergy conducted a sombre array of mask
ers and OF trembling men and women who
carried long tapers i'm their hands, and fanciei
that lhey saw ghosts at every turn. ON such
occasions the Dies lrae and the burial services
were always chanted. In Paris the toml,s of i.
me lllustrious dead are literally buried under
mowers Every year some Americans cover
the grave OF Lafayette with rare blossoms To
tne american accustomed now and then 10
wander through the grassy glades and sylvan
dells OF our lovely cemeteries al home there
Is but little that is attractive in the stone walks
anu hard, cold-looking tombs in this coun-
Try ; Out no one can helD bpinq touched by