West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1888-02-09
orroct behavior and moro thorough ladies

u
! Wrong fashion Is 10 10 charged with many
| OF the worst evils of society, and its path has
often been strewn with the bodies OF the
slain. IL has often set mp false standard by
which people are TO be judged. Our common
sense. as well as all tho divine intimations on
the subject teach us that people ought TO b.
steemed according 10 their individual and
moral atta'nments The man who has the
most nobility Of soul should be first, and he
who has tho last of such qualities should
/ tand last. No crest, or shield or escutcheon
| 'an MITIGATE ones moral peerage. Titles OF
luke. lord, esquire. earl viscount or patrician
ought not 20 raise one into the first rank.
Some of the meanest men have ever
4 known hal at the end OF their name ID. d.,
| lila ID. and f. II. s. Truth. honor charity.
herosm, self sacrifice should win highest
favor; but nordinatc fashion says: "Count
not won ans virtues; count her adorn
/ ments." Look not at the contour of tho
head. but see the way she combs her
hair.' ASK not what noble deeds have
been accomplished by that mans hand; but
| Is It white and soft Ask not what good
sense Is her conversation. but "In what was
she drcssedf Ask not whether there was
hospitality and cheerfulneSs in the house but
I'm what style do they liver
As conse Iue1ce, some of tho most ignor-
ant and vicious men are nc the top, and some
OF The most yirtuous and intelligent Mt the
bottom. During the last war wo sud ienly
saw men hurlel mp into the highest social
positions Had they suddenly reformed from
cvil habits, or graduated i'm science, or
achieved some COOL work for society No
they simply had obtained a government con
tract
This accounts for tho utter chagrin which
people feel at the treatment they receive
when they lose theirproperty Hold up your
| head amid financial disaster like n Christian
! FHty thousand subtrGcted from good man
leaves how muchl Honor, truth, faith i'm
Col. triumphant hope and kingdom Of
lnsHable glory, over which he is TO reign for
ever and ever.
| - N
out of his pocket would he sit down on n
curbstone and cryl And shall man pos
sessed of everlasting fortune wear himself
out with grief because he has lost worldly
treasurer You have only lost that in which
| hundreds of wretched misers surpass YOU:
and you have saved that which the Cae ars,
and the Pharaohs, and the Alexanders could
| never afford.
And yet society thinks differently, and YOU
SOC the most intimate friendships broken up
rs the consequence of financial embarras5-
ments. You say 10 some one: Elbow is your
friend" The man looks bewildered and says:
used TO be intimate" "Well.p SAYS the man.
our friendship has been dropped. The man
has failed"
Proclamation has gone forth. "veIvets
! must go up and plain apparel must come
down, and the question is: Glow does tho
coat iitf' not who wears itf The power
TINT bears the tides of excited population up
and down cur streets, and rocks the world of
Atlantic and cis-Atlantic, is clothes IL de-
i cides the last offices of respect; and how long
| the dress shall be totally black: and when it
may subside into spots of grief on silk, calico
| or glngham. Mendie in good circumstances,
! but by reason of extravaganza funeral ex-
| penSes are well nigh insovent before they
get buried Many men would not die at all
II they had TO wait until they could afford it,
wrong fashion is productive of a most
! ruinous strife. The expenditure of many
| households is adjusted by what their neigh
bors have, not by what they themselves can
| AFFORD 70 have; and tho great anxiety is as
! 10 who shall have the finest house and the
/ most costly eluipage. The weapons used i'm
the warfare of sociallif are not Minnie rifles
and Dahlgren guns, and Hotchkss shells, but
chairs and mirrors. and vases. and Gobelns.
ana Administers mnny household establish
ments are like racing steamboats, propelled
at the utmost strain and risk, and lust com
ing TO terrific explosion. WHO cares -
say they, eff we only come out ahead r.
There is no one cause to day of more finnn-
! clal embarrassment and of more dshonesties
than this determination at ali hazards to live
as VOL as or better than other people.
mere are persons who viii risk their etsr-
nlty upon one pier mirror or who Will dash
ont the splendors of heaven to get another
trinket.
My house is too small" "But." saws
some one, You cannot pay for a larger"
= Never mind that. my friends have IA better
i residence and 50 will l." "a dress of that
style and material must have. cannot af.
! FORD 1t by n great deal; but who cares for
that My neighbor had one from thnt NAT
tern, and must have One.n There are scores
or men in the dungeon of the penitentiary
| VINO risked honor, buSiness-everything in
the effort TO shine like others Though the
| heavens fall they mus be "in the fashion.
Tho most famous frauds of the day have
| resulted from this feeling. 1t keeps hundreds
| OF men struggling for their commercial ex-
istence. The trouble is that some are caught
and incarceratcd il their larceny is small
/ ~
/ castle on The Rhine. Men get into Jail not
/ because they steal, but because they do not
/ steal enough
Again Wrong fashion makes peopIe m
natural and untrue. 1t is a factory from
] which has come forth more hollow pretens, s
/ aud unme1ning batteries and hypocrisies than
tine Lowell mills ever turned out shawls and
EaIIhertS. Fashon Is the greatest of all
liars IL has made society insncerc Won
! know not what TO believe Whom DeoD'e ask
/ you 20 come You do not know whe her or not
! they want you to come When they sanI
! their regards You do not know whether n il
an expression Of their heart, or an external
| civihty. We have learned to take almost
! everything at discount Word is saDt s.not
az nome when they are only too lazy 20 dress
/ themselves. They say: "Ths furnace has
Just gone ont when in truth they have hal
| no nre IN 1t all winter They apologize for
/ inc unusual barrenuess Of their table when
| they never live any better They decry their
In'st luxurious entertainments 90 win n
I 80 Va dbfiOFhl. lUeN apologize Tor
/ thair appearance, as though 10 wore unusual
when always at home they look lust so. They
/ W"ud make YOU believe that some nice sketch
/ or the wall was the work OF a master On t.r
~ was IN heirloom and once hunZ on the
/ "a.I' OF c19tle IN q n Duke give 10 TO their
/ era 20 ather People who will not lie about
/ anything clee viii lic about n picture On n
| small income we must make tho world believe
] t.at we are aiitusut, and our life becomes a
| che1t, n counterfeit and a shnm
/ rev people are really natural and unaf.
/ le iteL When ] say this / do not mean 10
/ SUR cultured manners. IL is right that we
/ supll have more admiration for the sculp-
/ turd marble than To- the unheyvn block OF
/ tne quarry From many circles IN life fash
! iOn has driven out yivaoitv aud eptbus.asrn
! a fro1cn dignity instead floats about the
/ room and iceberg Crinds against iceberg
/ 1on must not lau2h outright. 10 is.yulgar
/ ron must smile. You must not dash rapidly
/ across the room. you must glide. There IS n
/ r.u1l of bows, md grins. and hatteries and
! eht an1 ahs. md simperiugs AMI Mandy
/ ranbyisn, world ~ which b. not worth
/ one good. round, honest peal OF laughter
/ from such hollow round the tortured guest
/ rriire5 nt the close ~ the evening aud asgrres
/ niz host That be has enjoyed himself
q IEus social lif5 has been cOntorted and de.
I FORMED until in some mountain cabin where
I rr-t.cs gather 70 tho quilting Ut the app'e
I n, lnf. There is nnors good cheer than in
/ all tho lre9eoel ice houses Of t.e metrosofis
J we want in al t8e higher circles of So .iafy
! more wIrm'h Of heart AMI nqturafuoss az
. y . lori I'D fH q. q.