The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-07-08
Keeping Up Appearances,

always boarded at home without cost tCS
himself. The remaining four atss asugh
ters, aged respectively 18, 16, and NJ!
and are attending seminary : in the
city, the eldest just ready to gradlate thiS
season. N
We are making his condition the ted
of our essay on the subject of this articl :
and as he is known to most Of our reader!
We do not wish to describe his busines
80 closely as to reveal his identity. Hs
has made NO money this year, and he haa
Just emerged from one unfoftunai
speculation in grain that has wiped onl
most of his available capital. He has
regular commission business, which ha5s
run smaller than usual, and he isatIhis3
wits end for money. His family haae3|
never been recklessly exttayagant
these terms, are ordinarily defpN \
they have always maintained vi
consider "a good appearance" in
aud the problem to be solved Mas hoT
preserve this position, supposed ito S,es
essential to their peace of.nind diSiL
the coming season.. N
The eldest daughter had been pronlssd
new dress for CONNIE cenaent day;
besides the ordinary additions to- her
wardrobe, and the other girls also sdesiIa
several new dresses apiece, and sm
have them" if they took their usual sJl
msr vacation. And where should they
20 for the summer? They have never
been wasteful as they think, and 81 600 Z
has been fixed for several years as tho
limit-for the travelling and hotel expen
ses of the family "outiDgp through thes
warm weather. The wife and $motherN
would be content, che thought, with just
one new dress and the fixing over of two
or three of an older date. The boy was5
content to dress himself out Of his payss
but supposed, of course, that,he would bee
supported with the family wherever they;
should go during the two weeks OF ms
promised vacation. go
It would need, to cover all these OUT
lays, at least $4,000, and the nerehartS
saw no way in which he could realize
such sum during the next six, months
He could borrow it, perhaps, but ne, ,does
not like to incur such g debt with no.
reasonable certainty of being able to pay
it from any legitimate income. We
presume that this may picture, tosomess
extent, the position of not q few O. .our
readers, and that most of them will bridge
over the summer with a loan, and trust
to revival of business to help them out
toward the end of the year.
Our merchant has net taken this coutsI
and will not, and We are giving this LITTLE
history as q possible help to others irl as
like emergency. fortunately he has i
wife that is a help.meet, or in his despon:s|
dency, which, we can assure our; readSS ?
we have not overdrawn, he migst
rushed madly out of life to escape the
pressure of burden which he felt was
more than he could bear. The wo.
man saw that he was in trouble, and she
took the surest way of relief, by inducing
him to make clean breast OF it. Hst
had paid his house rent on May ! torass
quarter in advance. and he is earning
just enough in commissions to supply thesj
family marketing on an economical scale. Il
He has no other resources.
4 family council was called, and the
whole case laid before them. The boy
is a manly fellow, and at once reproscheds
himself for not having been sufficiently
thoughtful to turn in portion of his
income instead Of spending his twenty
dollars week on dress, cigars, theatres i
concerts and drives in the Central Park:
He could spare enough TO meet the ne1
quarters rent, and he insisted on dolng
It, go that was safe. The graduating class
would all dress in white, but the oldest
girl with some pallor in the face that
showed the effect of her self;denials
brayely declared that she had q lawn lett
over from the last season, which, without
a dollars outlay, could be made as good ]
as new. She would not spend anythins
save for pair of gloves. There was eil
tear or two in younger eyes, but the 9th ,crl
girls all consented to forego the expectQA
additions to their wardrobes, and thesNee
maiden of sixteen, who is as tall as her.
mother, and has outgrown all OF her last
years attire, laughingly declared that She.
and her maternal parent could have one
Sunday dress between them, and take
turns in wearing it to church. 8 s.
The vacation is to be spent at home
There is not one of the seven who is il, 81
or who needs q change of air for sanitary
reasons. and we have no doubt that they
will find this city one of the finest water
ing places that could be selected. They
have concluded, furthermore, to surren-
der all attempts to keep up the appear
ance of wealth until they have it in hand.
If they maintain this resolution, what a.
load of care it will lift from the head Of
the household! The father frankly con-
fessed that if he had made this resolution
wears before, and had saved the money
that he could not afford to spend, his
family would have been just as comtorta-
bic, and he might have enlarged his
business in way to have relieved him OF
any undue anxiety about their future !
support. 1t was the effort to secure the
needed meaus by single stroke Of tors
tune that led him to the disastrous spec1:
lation we have recorded.
Those who have wealth legitimateiy
acquired do we'll to spend largely and
wisely, since such disbursements afford
great assistance to others who live by the
ministry thus compensated. But those
who spend their life under harrow for
the sake of keeping up the appearances OF
an af1uence they do not possess, are
sacrificing their peace of mind for theS
merest shadow. They deceive no one by &
the specious show. There is not a ser.
want girl on the block in which they live
Who does not see through the thin dis
guise, and they lose their own self:respect
without adding in any way to the respect
felt for them by others. The Difference
they secure by the unreal life they lead
is the veriest sham-hardly q cents
counterfeit of the regard which all,LJnest
folk pay to real worth.
Those who are unwilling to appear in
their true character on life's brief stage,
but must always assume and act part
which is not their own, receive no real
compensation for the ceaseless struggle
that burdens all their being. Everybeey~
who comes near enough to care anything
about them sees through all the artiices
of dress and paint, and will often over.
look the real worth beneath the padded
counterfeit, in disgust With the vanity
that can tolerate such shallow pretenses
and consent to wear such a vain disguise.
There is deeper moral, too, but having
given the key, we leave that for The study
of rejecting minds.-Neo York journal