The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1889-11-14

tnere was q communal sCraln on the
straps at the bottom and the suspen-
ders at the top. Sometimes a button
broke or strap bursted under peculiar
circumstances and then the pants
crawled up amazingly.
One day was riding out with my
sweetheart and the catastrophe hap
pened as We were running galloping
race up a long hill and my pants
crawled up to my knee and carried the
undergarment along and it was on her
side of the house, and she laughed and
laughed until she like to have fallen off
and had to get down and cut shaver
off of a rail and fasten the strap on
again. The mischievous thing told it
on me and I never got even with her
until one day her hustle came united
and dropped off as she was passing my
store and I picked it up and handed it
to her with bow as polite as French
man, and said: 'Miss Mary, your shoe
strap is broken" The bustles, of that
day were shaped like new moon and
stuffed with bran, They were general
ly about as large as a hoe handle and
tapered out to point at each end, but
the more style the bigger the hustle.
They were all home made and were
considered very sacred a mysterious
article Of feminine furniture. Some
times one Of these big ones would rip
from long wear and tear and the bran
would leak out as the woman wiggled
along and you could track her all the
way home just like the hogs would
track a mill boy when there was hole
in his corn sack. remember when the
hoop skirts Of a high flying woman was
three feet across at the bottom and
when she stood up close against the
counter her dress didn't need any
shortening behind. It was sight of
trouble to squeeze them in the pews Of
the churches and sometimes they be-
haved in a very unseemly manner
when the wind was blowing in a shifty
way.
I remember when the college boys
wore boots according to their politics.
The toes were shaped like ducks bill
and were turned up and over on the top
Of the foot like skate, and if the boy
was Wing he had CLAY printed on
the toes in large letters, and if he was
a Democrat he had POLK printed
there, and so they walked about stick
ing their politics in everybody's faces.
But after all believe the women of
this generation are more reasonable in
their deeds than for many generations
past. Three thousand years ago they
were fast-very fast, for Isaiah tells
about "the bravery Of their; tinkling
ornaments about their feet and their
cauls and round tires like the moon
(bustles I reckon,) their chains and
bracelets and mufets, the bonnets and
the ornaments Of the legs and head
bands and tablets and earrings and
rings, and nose jewels and changeable
suits Of apparel, and the mantles and
whimples and crisping pins and hoods
and walls" Oh! it took light to set
up one Of those high-hying Hebrew
women, and the Prophet went for
them as fercely as old Allen Turner
used to 60 for our women a halfa cen
tury ago. "If that young woman with
her green bonnet on the back of her
head, and the devils martingales
around her neck, and her stirups in her
ears don'tquit her giggling, I'll point
her out to the congregation" Yes,
we are all doing better-except some.
But I must stop now for Mrs. Arp is
calling me to come and put out some
chrysanthemums, and I'm so tired.
BILL ARP.