Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-05-04
A Sinful waste Of Tine.

!. A Sinful Waste Of Time.
A friend inquiries if it is not ga sinful
waste of time to give SO much attention
to mending and repairing by those
| who can afford to buy new garments,
when the poor besiege our doors daily
with scarce sufficient clothing to protect
them from freezing? Would it not be
wiser-certainly more Christian If
ladies would give their half-worn gar
ments to such applicants, instead of
spending hours in repairing and remod.
| cling them for their own use?''
No. We think not. Reflect a mo-
ment. Notice these ragged applicants
for assistance more carefully. How
many, in every fifty that beg for help,
give any evidence that they have ever
spent moment in attempts to repair
the rags that barely cover themp Would
| they be so ragged if they hadP They
may be beggars because every other re-
source has failed them; every effort to
find work by which they could help
themselves may have proved fruitless.
They may be desperately poor, but they
need not be ragged or dirty. Water can
be obtained by the poorest, to keep their
persons and garments scrupulously
clean, and if needle and thread were
needed for repairs any one would cheer
fully give them. But who that has
heard repeated almost hourly the set
form of begging, GA widow with three.
six, eight or ten small Children or
husband 'sgone OFF, 'snot mouthful to
cal" and so on to the end of the beg.
gar's list of wants-who has ever heard
them beg for needle and thread to re-
pair their poor clothesp If such a re-
quest was ever made it is impossible to
imagine that it was refused. When we
see rags it is not uncharitable at once to
conclude that Incidence, lack of atten-
ton to the small Sits and holes, has
done more than neglectful, improvident
husbands to make the owner a begrar.
Such persons do not reflect that "a
stitch in time may not only save nine''
additional stitches, but that timely re-
pair will go far toward saving the whole
garment, and the wearer from the dis
grace of rags.
How long would a lady's secondhand
garment last if given to this IMPROVE
dent, reckless class? Usually made of
fine materials that were not designed to
stand hard. rough usage, how many
days would the recipient of such iniu-
dicious charity wear dress before she
would have it in holes and tatters, from
top to bottom, until it would be past re-
pairing? Whereas, a lady's neat and
tasteful remodeling would make the gar
ment becoming, beautiful and servicea-
bic for long time. MOI Give to such
characters the strongest material that
can be spared from your morning ward
robe, if so situated that it is necessary
to take an active part in household af-
fairs, and to perform work that requires
strong, serviceable material, or buy and
make up, if you can, what you feel in
clined to bestow; but do not waste fab
RIGS which you can use effectively but
which they would destroy before it
could do them any great service Those
OF our benevolent institutions, sewing
societies, etc., are the wisest who solicit
from merchants and friends strong,
stout goods, and have them made up
for use, instead of soliciting ''cast-off -
clothing of the better sort, which is of
little service unless to fill boxes for mis-
sionaries. There finer materials may
be used to great advantage, and even
prove blessing to many refined souls.
Would the time spent in patching and
darning be more wasted than that given
by thousands of our genteel ladies to
crocheting and embroidering objects
unlike aught in heaven above, the earth
beneath, Or the waters under the earth?
We do not intend to speak lightly, or
to ridicule the manufacture of MANY
kinds of really elegant fancy articles
and adornments that are the results of
woman's skill, but should disaster come,
and any of US be compelled to s'rise up
early and sit up late and eat the bread
of carefulness," to plan, turn and con-
trive, using all the skill we possess to
convert old things into neat and COM
Portable garments "almost as good as
new," how thankful we should be that
in our younger and more prosperous
days we had been educated to give such
attention to the care of our clothes that |
we are able to carry into our altered cir |
cumstances power to bring some light |
out of darkness.
If one understands how to renovate |
and remodel there is far more genuine |
pleasure in using that knowledge to |
construct new out of old than can be |
gained in going from store to store, con-
stantly searching for something new,
and shopping on the most extravaganza
scale. To walk into store with money
in plenty, no need to count the cost, but |
to buy without stint whatever for the
moment strikes the fancy, or the eye
covets, to send the material to one of
Worth's pupils, have it made and
brought home, with no effort or care save
strict injunctions to have it in the latest
style, is tame enjoyment compared with
contriving dress from a scant pattern
or from odd bits and ends. We weary
of that which costs no toll or thought.
The charm of possession soon vanishes,
and we seek for something new.
Parents who have the best interests of
their daughters near their hearts will
teach them that kind of care and econo-
my that will be invaluable under all cir
for none of us can foresee
what is in store for our children, and if
our daughters lots are cast where they
can not be as lavishly supplied as when
in their parents houses, when on them
will rest the responsibility of making ga
little stretch a great ways,'' then how