The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-07-18
THEPHILosopHY OF wHrTEwAsH
By MISS JESSIE TRUnBU1L.

THEPHILoSOPHY OF WHrTEWAsH
BY MISS JESSIE TRUMBCLL.
Whitewash! ! confess il does not sound
very elegant or suggestive Of interest, and
not very long since il any one had limited to
me that I should deliberately choose such
theme for our Commencement day, /
should have been incredulous. So, per-
hape, it may be Of interest, q q kind Of
prefac, eto state how ! happened to choose
topic 80 very suggestive Of the famous
Lime Kiln Club and the artistic occupa-
ton of its members.
To those who have never had occasion
TO write an essay for commencement ex-
ercises, the difficulties Of selecting sub
ject upon which to write may seem trif.
ling, but can assure all sucn that it has
by no means been my experience. For
months before this Commencement l
was haunted in my dreams by the SEEM
iDgly vain endeavor to select some sub
ject. Myths, mythology, and every other
kind Of ology danced before me like
imps Of the perverse. Az the King OF Dem
mark in Hamlet, Like man to double
business bound, stand in pause where
/ shall first begin, and both neglect" So
il was with me; l could not decide, and
kept putting it Of from day to day, until
the days ct June drew perilously near. In
my desperation / wrote to friend sug-
costing my difficulties, also stating q
topic which / had thought Of appropri-
ating for the occasion, and requesting
his advice. In the answer which / re-
ceived / was laughed at, and the writer
said 1t was nonsense for me to attempt to
write upon subject which could know
nothing Of further than had learned in
school, and that anything should write
on such subject would be simply white
washing my lack Of knowledge and want
Of thought, by appropriating the ideas
and thoughts Of others. You will admit
that it was rather discouraging to have
high sounding topics suggestive Of
learning and knowledge pushed aside,
and to be rudely told to come down Oh
your Suits, that You could not pluck star
from the armament. even il you were
perched upon them, and that you had
better turn your gaze upon something
within the SCOPE of your horizon. While
gloomily bordering over the contents Of
the letter, the words withdrawing my
lack of knowledge and want Of thought"
struck me, because I had to confess
there was some degree Of propriety in
the writer's application Of them to me
and my proposed topic for an essay. /
then began to wonder If the phrase
would not furnish me with topic Cor
my essay, viz, Whitewash. I finally re-
solved that it should, and, with sigh Of
relief, arose, feeling that the die was cast;
shat had chosen u better Or worse-the
sequel will show which.
First, what is whitewash? Webster
defines it as liquid composition for
whitening something; as the plaster Of
walls, or the face; also as, to make white,
10 give fair external appearance.
The use Of whitewash in purifying our
dwellings, celebrating the unsiRhtly
spots and stains of time, in making our
walls white and fair to the eye, is surely
not subject for criticism or fault-finding;
but if we have the wisdom to SEQ it, may
prove the subject Of useful and instruc-
tive lesson.
We all know. Of course, that after the
application Of the whitewasb, the spots
and stains are still there, only hidden by
: thin coat, ready to appear again when
that shall have worn Of. But We also
know that few strokes Of the brush
will make it as white as when it left
the builders hands.
Some years ago celebrated Scotchman
wrote q book ON the philosophy ct clothes.
Now this was not book TO be used as q
guide to styles, fashions, ETC., as might be
supposed, but rather. treated clothes from
= 0ymDOuCdl pOAul ~ S1cWs
do not wish you to suppose that am
going to give you instructions as to the
correct admixture OF the various sub
stances that unite to form whitewash,
much less when and how to use it to
whiten your walls or faces.
But, if there is philosophy Of clothes,
Why not philosophy Of whitewaah?
For, when considered as symbols, you
can readily see there is some affinity be-
tween them. II clothes cover our naked
ness and perhaps hide some deformities,
may we not have metapborical white
wash that conceals our moral nakednesa
and deformities from the gaze Of the
world?
An interestingAme writer, describ.
ing the paintings in the rotunda Of the
capitol at Washington. speaks IN particu-
lar of one supposed to represent De Soto
and his men discovering the Mississippi.
He says: "What a curious, ridiculous lie
il is, with its display OF superb costumes,
lie well conditioned horses, and its plump
cavaliers, as fresh and gay in their silks
y il they were caveering in the streets Of
Madrid on day Of festival. What is
better known than that these poor men
reached the banks of the great river in
woefui plight, after wearisome march
OF many months through the wilderness.
II is also particularly recorded that De
Soto was sparing in expenditure for gay
apparel and that every rag Of clothes was
burnt after one OF their bloody encoun-
"A. r.