West Virginia freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1881-1886, 1883-03-28
Hillsdale Social Circle.
sIXTY-sIXTH MEETING.
out OF POCKET. y

1hoiS eishO ciAiSC u IOiit1 l.
cation, whose receipt we had for
some time been anticipating, reach
ed US with an apology to this effect
Husband has been carrying this
in his pocket for three weeks
"Ah!' we CALCULATED, "a very busy
or a very thoughtless husband.h
And thereupon we fell amusing
about pockets, masculine and fem
mime. All men wonder why wo-
men are so content with so few
pockets. Pockets" we are told,
"are sign of civilization" Are
women, then, less than half civil
lied? The Arab has no pocket
but his girdle ercircling his waist
makes of his voluminous robe a
pouch, in which he stores his prov
ender for his journey. He has
never been known to refuse buck
sheesh for want of a pocket to put
1t in. The japanese makes his
ample sleeves the receptacle of his
various belongings. 1t is reserved
for the modern gentleman to revel
IN dozen or more pockets; while
wife, poor thing, often has only one
But why should she have more =?
Gu bonof if she should lose the one
she has it would probably be of no
more value to the finder than care
less Lucy Locket's, when Kitty
Fisher found it: Nothing in i.
only binding around it, Who,
ever knew of woman, especially
the mother of boys, keeping a pen
knife? Why should woman car.
ry around glove-buttoners or shoe
buttoners, when hairpins are so
handy, and can serve SO many diff
ferent purposes?
Possibly the reason why women
patronize the dentist more than
men is because they do not carry
toothpicks with them; but, as there
is no loss without some gain, they
are not tempted to indulge in the
rudeness, witnessed in so many
gentlemen, of picking the teeth in
public.
The women don't think it essential
to their comfort to carry a recepta-
Gle for fine cut" or to reserve a
special place for a choice brand of
plug tobacco; neither do they es-
TEEN it necessary to cement their
friendship for their lady friends by
offering them cigarette when they
chance to meet We have heard Of
other things being pocket compan,
ions, snch as cork-screws, brandy
TASKS, packs of cards, pistols, etc,
etc. Gentlemen of our acquaint-
ance do not carry these latter artic-
les, and, to our mind, those who do
would be more civilized if they had
fewer pockets. Nor do we regard
it as an especial mark Of enlight-
eminent that man should an
nounce himself by the tobacco at
mosphere he carries with him.
Tobacco was the solace of the abort
ginal inhabitants of our country,
and should be remanded to the
wigwam. We never ride in the
cars that we do not make a fierce,
mental protest against the barbar-
ic instinct still lingering in our
civilization. The true gentlemen
will eSchew-not chew-tobacco.
But let US keep our hands in our
pockets. pockets are handy for
porte-monnaies!" Let me whisp-
er an open secret. Many a hus.
band is SO kind as to relieve his
wife of the weight of the purse. He
has custom of mixing her money
up with his, and then, somehow,
he often forgets that any of it be-
longs to her. And it never occurs
to him that it can be anything but
agreeable to her to ask for any lit
tie sums she may wish to spend,
even if she is greeted with the
pleasantries: "Do you think am
made of money!" or, "Where is
that dollar gave you last week ?
Are not husband and wife one ?"
Why should the dear little woman
be so sensitive about so trivial a
matter? Perhaps she ought not to
be, but she is. Many a woman
feels Inundated by being put in
the position of a beggar, and envies
the cook in her own kitchen, who
receives her wages and spends them
with a freedom from surveillance
which her mistress longs to attain