Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-04-01
WaaaiAaksr's.
PnIi.sprLraIa. Mach o. 1855.

linen sheeting. In that we
wandered over half Of Europe.
For pillow-case linens we GO!
no farther than Flanders; for
linens we stick to
the Emerald Isle.
If we we're telling Of muslins
we should say we keep the 4
works of the mills you happen
to know and have the local
habit Of expecting to find. We
should not argue the case for
one and against another. You
know more Of muslin. There
is less to be learned about the
different makes and bleaches.
The way to learn is to guess
and buy and USE, or at most
to ask questions. Every house
wife hasher muslin experience.
Every shopkeeper has his
store Of secondhand expert
ence-better than home ex-
perience too, if he tells you
the truth, because it is wider.
The man who sells is the one
who has the means of finding
out the values of easy mer-
chandise.
Not so with linens. The
linen world is not nearly so
big as the muslin world; but
the differences in it are vastly
more serious and hard to get
at. Nobody knows too little to
dealin muslins. Nobody knows
too much to deal in linens.
Among the merchants and
buyers Of Philadelphia, whole
sale as well as retail, there are
not SO many as halfa-dozen
linen experts. Nobody not q
linen expert, or without the
help OF a competent one, is fl
to touch linens in any but the
| narrOWeSt WaV.
The merchants understand
this delicate, dangerous fact
and what's the result? Why
almost nobody deals in linen!
except in a little narrow, ire
sponsible, shopkeeping way
Our linen buyer is the onl,
one who goes beyond New
York for linens from a Phila
delphia retail house. So ia
from there being such skill
and care employed in othe
stores as we consider neces
sary in gathering linens, Their
is only one other store in tn
city in which no mixture @
cotton and linen is tolerated
If a store sells cotton-and
linen for linen what do yol
think of its linen ?
We are not saying tina
good linens are not to be GO
except Of careful linen mel
chants. We are saying tina
all but two of the larger Phi
adelphia merchants seem nc
t. care enoughab what. the
sell to keep cotton out of thei
linens. The little shopkeeper
can't; they are not to blame
The stress of what we ar
saying today is not on cottoI
mixtures. If we were talkin,
of handkerchiefs, cotton woul
be the bug-bear for half tn
SO. called linen handkerchief
are partly cotton. But in buy
ing pillow-case and underwea
linen, cotton isn't the danger
The danger is tow. You thin
you might trust yourself 70
cotton; you can't. But hoy
about tow Can you pick GU
tow? Have you any ski
whatever in recognizing tn,
grades of flax? Are you no
blind as to flax ? We know
you are. The merchan
knows you are. The littl
shop-keeper knows you are
! Everybody knows you ar
blind as to flax. Where thel
is your safety? BUY of
man who is building up a per
manent trade" you may say
That isn't enough. We add
you had better buy of a mai
who knows the fine distinction
in linen; you had better bu,
OF a man who can tell you be
forehand how a piece of liner
will wash and wear; you hac
better buy of a merchant whc
takes habitually a proper re
sponsibility for whatever h,
sells.
il We haven't forgotten on
subjects.
There's nothing like Irisl
linen for both. There's moth
ing like Irish linen for sheet
ing; we said SO the other day
You care a little more for ;
! snowy pillow than for a snow,
sheet. The gray of the con
tinental linens does wei
enough for sheets; not quit,
SO well for pillow-cases. That.