Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-02-11

used to be intimate" well" says tn,
man. our friendship has been dropped
The man has failed
THE CLoAuEs.
Proclamation has gone forth Velvet:
must go up and plain apparel must com
down" and the question is; How does
the coat titY" not: ''Who wears it," The
power that bears the tides or excited pop
ulation up and down our streets, anC
rocks the world Of commerce, and thrills
all nations, Transatlantic and Cis-Atlan
tic. is clothes. 1t decides the last Office
OF respect: ard how Ion. TIE dress shall
be totally black; and when it may sub.
side into spots Of grief on silk, calico OIL
bingham. Men die in good circumstances,
but by reason of e~Xtravagant funeral cX.
penscs are well nigh insolvent before they
get buried. Many men would not die at
all if they had to wait until they could af-
ford it.
Wrong fashion is productive of a most
|ruinous strife. The expenditure Of many
households is adjusted by what their
neighbOrs have, not by what they them
selves can afford to have; and the great
anxiety is as to who shall have the finest
house and the most costly cquipagc. The
weapons used in the warfare of social life
are not Mimic rifles and DahlegrCn guns,
end l%Iotchkiss shells, but chairs and mir
rors and vases. and Gobelinc and Amin.
stcrs. Many household establishments
are like racing steamboats, propelled al
the utmost strain and risk, and just com
ING to a terrific explosion. Who cares,
say they, 'if we only come out ahCadT'
CAUSE or FINANCIAL FAILURES.
There is no one cause of more financial
embarrassment and of more dishoncstic:
than this determination at all hazards &c
live as well as or bettert than other people.
There are persons who will risk theil
eternity upon one pier mirror or who vii
dash out the splendOrs of heaven to gel
another trinket.
MY house is too small" But says
some one, you cannot pay for "A larger
Never mind that, my friends have "A bet
ter residence and so viii l." "A dress of
that STYLE and material ! must have. |
cannot afford it by a great dead; but who
cares for that? Ny ncighbor had one
from that pattern. and ! mus have one. -
There are scores of men in the dungeons
OF the penitentiary who riskcd honor,
misunderstanding inthe effort osline
IlhD otIltlS, IptSu inc ICdNtllS IdIl
they must he ''in the fashion"
The most famous frauds of today have
resulted from this feeling. 1t keeps
hundreds Of men struggling for their com.
mercial existence. The trouble is that
some are caught and incarccrated if their
larceny be small. If il be great they
escape and build their castle on the Rhine.
Men get into Jail not because they steal
but because they did not steal enough.
DECEPTIoSs OF WRONG FASHION.
Again: Wrong fashion makes people
unnatural and untrue. 1t is a factory
from which has come forth more hollow
pretenses and unmeaning batteries and
hypOcrisies than the Lowell mills ever
turned out shawls and garments. Fash
ion is the greatest Of all liars. 1t has
made society insincere. You know not
what To believe. When people ask you
to come you do not know whether or not
they want YOU to come. When they send
their regards you do not know whether ii
is an expression Of their heart or an eX-
ternal civility. We have learned TO take
almost everything at n discount. Word
is sent not at home when they are only
too lazy to dress themselves. They say:
The furnace has just one out when
in truth they have had no fire in it all
winter. They apologize for the unusual
b%arrcnness Of their table when they never
live any better. They dccry their most
luxurious entertainments TO win a shower
Of approval. They apologize for their
appearance. as though it were unusual,
when always at home they look just so.
They would make You believe that some
nice sketch on the wall was the work Of
"a master painter. 1T was an heirloom
and once hung on the walls Of a castle;
and a duke gave il TO their grandfather. "
People who will not lie about anything
else will lie about q picture. On a small
income We must make the world believe
that we are a%tiluent, ?rd our life becomes
a cheat, a counterfcii ana a sham.
A~FFECTATIoE TUE RULE.
Few people are really natural and IN
affected. When | say this | do not mean
to slur cultured manners 1t is right that
we should have more admiration for the
scuIptured marble than for the unhcwn
block Of the quarry. From many circles
in life fashion has driven out vivacity
and enthusiasm. A frozen dignity in
stead floats about the room and iceberg
grinds against iceberg. You must not
laugh outright; ii is vulgar. You must
smile. You must not dash rapidly across
the room; you must glide. There is a
round of bows, and grins, and batteries,
and obs, and abs, and simpcrines, and
namby pambyism-a world Of which is
not worth one good, round. honest peal
of laughter. From such a hollow round
the tortured guest rctircs at the close Of
the evening and assures his host that he
has enjoyed himself.
Thus social life has been Contorted and
deformed, until, in some mountain cabin,
where rustics gather to the quilting or the
apple pairing, there is more good cheer
than in AL the frescoed icehouscs Of the
metropolis. We want in all the higher
circles Of society more warmth of heart
and Daturalness Of behavior, and not so
many rcf"igerators.
w..GSG FASHION PRODUCES.
Again: Wrong fashion is incompatible
with he ppiness. Those who depend for
their comfort upon the admiration OF
others are subject to frequent disappoint,
ment. Somebody will c~riticisc their APP
pcarance or surpass them in brilliancy,
or will receive more attention. Oh, the
jealousy and detraction and heart burn
inSs Of those who move in this bewildcr-
ed maze. Poor butterflies, Bright
wings do not always bring happiness.
she that liveth in pleasure ia dead while
che Heath - TIN roun1o.ippo ri birh Efn