Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1886-10-13
ABOUT DOOR.pLATES.
Those Which Wear and Look Well, and
Those which DO Not.

Those Which Wear and Look Well, and
Those which DO Not.
'In this world of change there is one
thing which does not change" said a
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. have
theory that the inmates of house can
be gagged in a measure by the style Of
their door-plate. II they are shoddy or
solid, retiring or ostentatious, you will
find il there as plainly to be read as
the name which the plate bears. In
deed, ! even go further, and fancy ]
can tell banker, a board of trade
man, lawyer, or a minister by his
door7plate. There are some door-plates
that look very clerical. OF course, a
doctor labels his house as if IL were
one of his own medicine bottles. once
counted a Doctors name painted in
seven different places upon his house.
II was stencilcd upon each side of his
bow-wmdow; it was borne aioft upon
the transom: the door had il on sill
yer plate; a sign held it crcaking 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 garhh, 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 i'm bad taste in a country man.
sion, where the family name has sig
nificance. We have some very curious
names to cngravc upon plates. It is a
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,
Weathcrwax, Merryweather, Starbuck,
Juniper, Holloway and Halliday, Fow-
Ter, Forester and innumerablc others
bear in them suggestion of the cir
cumstances or accidents which gave
rise to them. had plate for man
on the West Side whose name was +.
Sharp. After it had been duly put APP
some small boy with gruhge again&
him scratched on it underneath the
name with n keen instrument, us A
Flat" Next time was ordered to put
the whole name upon the door. Some
people seem to be SO inc6psidcrate about
naming their children. L really pity
some of the people whotgivc me their
names. Fancy the state of n fathers
mind who was willing to mike his son
the victim of an ineradicahle joke by
naming him Paul Maui.
Think, too, of the absurdlity of the
position of some insigmficant;and HARM
less son who is obliged, simply because
he chances TO be a far-rcmoved de-
scendant of "A great man., to bear his
name. For instance, Washington
Irving. or Robert Burns, or Thomas
Jefferson. Why, he must fecl like pre-.
scnting a. continual apology to the
world for his inadequacy. His life 10
spent in futile attempts to live to his
name. But, however bad his name
may be, almost every man wants to see
itin print at least once, and IL he cant
get it there any other way he has his
door-piate. Not infrequently you will
sec a pretentious plate upon q mere
shanty of house. This will not be
remnant of past splcndor, but simply .
gratif5cd ambition.
There is one vocation to the osten-
tatiohs, and that is, try as}they may,
they can only have a plate which cost.
about SO much. They are not very
expensive, and that is sometimes adds
advantage TO the tradcsmen. " Cticnga
Tribune.