The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-09-10
ABOUT DOOR.PLATES.

Those Which Wear and Look Well, and
Those Which DO Not.
I'm this world of change there is one
thing which does not change" said
dealer, land that is door-plates. The
plain plate of silver has long been and
must long remain the most elegant and
tasteful thing in the market. l have a
theory that the inmates of > house can
be gagged in a measure by the style Of
their door-plate. If they are shoddy or
solid, retiring or ostentatious. you will
find it there IS plainly to be read as
the name which the plate bears. In
deed, 1 even go further. and fancy l
can tell banker, . board of trade
man. . lawyer, or o minister BY his
door-plate. There are some door-pla,es
that look very clerical OF course, q
doctor labels his house rs If it were
one of his own medicine bottles. once
counted q doctors name painted in
seven different places upon his house.
1t was stenciled upon each side of his
bow-window; it was borne aloft upon
the transom; the door had it on a sill
yer plate; q sign held it creaking from
the veranda, and it was painted upon
each side of the house. He who ran.
though he came At midnight, could
read. The best door-plate made is Of
brass, close-plated with silver leaf, and
will stand the wear and tear of wind
and rain indefinitely without losing its
plate. Nothing will quite take the place
of silver for house purposes. Brass is
too garish, gold too expensive and too
soft and bronze not easily enough
seen. The fashion of cutting
the name into : stone of the
house will hardly do in the city. where
people change their residences so often,
but is not in bad taste in country man.
sion. where the family name has a sig
niicance. We have some very curious
names to engrave upon plates. 1t is =
perpetual mystery TO me what circum-
stances could have given rise to some
of the names. Others tell the tale OF
their origin quite plainly. Money
penny, for instance, and Sharpneck,
Weatherwax. Merryweather, Starbuck,
Juniper, Holloway and Halliday. Fow-
Ter, Forester and innumerable others
bear in them a suggestion of the cir
cumstances or accidents which gave
rise to them. had plate for a man
on the West Side whose name was F.
Sharp. After it had been duly put up
some small boy with grudge against
him scratched on it underneath the
name with a keen instrument. us A
Flat" Next time was ordered to put
the whole name upon the door. Some
people seem to be so inconsiderate about
naming their children. l really pity
some of the people who give me their
names. Fancy the state Of fathers
mind who was willing to make his son
the victim of an ineradicable joke by
naming him Paul Maui.
Think, too, of the absurdity of the
position of some Insignificant and HARM
less son who is obliged, simply because
he chances to be . far-removed de-
scendant of . great man, to bear his
name. For instance, Washington
Irving, or Robert Burns, or Thomas
Jefferson. Why. he must feel like pre-
senting . continual apology to the
world for his inadequacy. His life is
spent in futile attempts to live to his
name. But. however bad his name
may be, almost every man wants to see
it in print ut least once, and if he can't
get it there any other way he has his
door-plate. Not infrequently you will
see pretentious plate upon . mere
shanty of house. This will not be .
remnant of past splendor, but simply .
gratified ambition.
There is one vexation to the osten-
tatious, and that is, try as they may,
they can only have q plate which costs
about SO much. They are not very
expensive, and that is sometimes dis
advantage to the tradesmen. Chicago
Tribune.
Now, Mr.. Witness" said . Co
lumbus lawyer, ''are you willing to SOL
omnlv swear that tho chair uas facinn