The Penn's Grove record., 1886-04-03
2fIauaulahrr'a

VI lttil+. NJ -4il-t''
be the bugbear for half the
so called linen handkerchief
are partly cotton. But in buy
ing piilow-case and underwear
linen. cotton isn't the danger.
The danger is tow. You think
you might trust yourself for
cotton you can't. But how
abouttow? Can you pick out
tow? Have you any skill what
ever in recognizing the grades
Of flax? Are you not blind as
to flax? We know you are.
The merchant knows you are.
The little shopkeeper knows
you are. Everybody knows
you are blind as to flax.
Where then is your safety?
Buy ola man who is building
up a permanent trade" you
may say. That isn't enough.
We add: you had better buy of
a man who knows the fine dis
tinctions in linen; you had bet
ter buy of a man who can tell
you beforehand how a piece of
linen will wash and wear; you
had better buy of a merchant
who takes habitually a proper
responsibility for whatever he
sells.
We haven't forgotten our
subjects.
There's nothing like Irish
linen for both. There's moth
ing like Irishlinenfor sheeting
we said so the other day. You
care a little more for a snowy
pillow than for a snowy sheet.
The gray of the continental
linens does well enough for
sheets; not quite SO well for
pillow-cases. That's the whole
of the choice by country.
Flemish pillow-case linen is
good enough if you don't OBJ
ject to its gray, which never
wholly disappears. We have
it at soc, There are may grad
es of Irish. The very best,
whether fine or coarse, bears
the brand of !. n. Richardson,
Sons & Owden. 1t costs a
quarter, third, or even half,
more than other linen Of equal
apparent excellencev7oc to
SI.35. We have anGt6 e,fdrIsh
make for those VIII in
pay for what they e eGMei -.
45c to 81.
The case is a little different
in underwear linens.
None but Irish is white
enough, except the extrava-
CANT French sheer handmade
linen, which we needen't con
slider here. Two weights of
both coarse and fine are in use
in this country: very thin and
rather close. The thin, when
coarse, is sleazy; when fine, it
is exquisitely soft. We have
it at 80 to- 7oc;and, in pieces
of irregular length, we have
more or less of it Ioc cheaper
or thereabout.
The more los e~ly-wovcn
heavier, underwear linen we
manage in quite another and
very peculiar way. We might
buy of Richardson, Sons 6.
Owden and pay quarter, third
or half, more than we actually
do pay for it; but we shouldn'I
get any better linen. If we
didn't know linen we shouldn't
dare to say what we do say.
that this which we buy is as
good as if it bore the brand Of
Richardson, Sons & Owden
/, We buyit for less, because tho
maker is less famous; the lin
ems are equal, We should be
/, throwing money away, and ouI
knowledge oflinens too, if he
bought of the famous makers
Our price for this more closely
woven linen is 80 to S5c.
Now a word about buyirl
abroad and buying at home
t Now and then we buy in New
York; but VIC look with sus
t picion on "jobs' in New York
We know of linens over there
that have been waiting year at
| ter year to get sold. The!
; were old as long ago as in 1877
the year we opened this store
They are "higllly finished,
full ofwhatever it is they pu
in to make linens look bette
and feel frmer to inexperts
their strength is partly gone
of course; still waiting for buy
r ers.
| Would you rather buy you
: linens of us who are careful