The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1889-12-12
A Thing of tho Past.


called thing Of the past now, sighed
an old lady, a> she sat before genu-
inc log fire in he parlor Of il very old
fashioned house in 4onkers, looking
for holes that She was not particularly
anxious To find in IL great pile OF stock
ings that filled II basket beside her.
Beyond myself and half Il dozen 9TH
ers who meet ~ ice a week and call
ourselves .I'he Old Ladies' Darning
society, { don't know of anyone in
Westchcsier county who uses the nee
die, or even knows how to use
it, Darned stockings are looked upon
as relics Of barbarism to-day, believe.
and people object to what they call
patches, which, they say, hurt their
feet. Are the feet, then. more tender
than they were sixty years ago when
was girl and knowledge of darning
was an important part Of a young
ladv's education? don't think so. But
suppose the clumsy way in which
hole in Il stocking is mcnded now
CASUALLY with Il plain sewing-needle
and hard cotton thread,) las justly
earned it the name of patchwork. Per-
haps the Jagged hole and direct con-
tact between the foot and the shoe is
preferable.
'sBut this awkward mending must
not be confused with darning. The
wool used in the Oid-fashioned repair
ing is generally much softer than the
materiaTof which the average stock
ing is made, aud my husband and boys
say that the spots where my needle has
been working are the only really COM
Portable parts of their hosiery. | don't
know whether this is very desirable
state of affairs, but at least it shows
that skilful darning and careless patch
ing are different things.
I'm days Of old, when no lady con-
sidered darning an undignified occupa-
tion, stockings were manufactured of
very much softer and finer material
than they are made of now. and the
wool with which hole was darned
was, as nearly us possible, of the same
consistency, so that tue Wearer, no
matter how sensitive his feet might
be, could not detect the presence of a
foreign body at his heel Oh under his sole.
A good old wool stocking is far more
comfortable than q new one. and
elderly gentleman-my father, for eX-
ample = believed that hosiery was
never quite beyond the reach of the
darning needle. [ have darned u
stocking so often that not Il shred of
the old material remained. The whole
piece was my own make, and compos-
ed entire of darning wool.
EAT that time, too, new stockings
were very expensive, and that might
have been an additional reason why
people chung so persstently to their
old ones; but now stockings, though
of very inferior grade, are so cheap
that it is considered hardly worth while
to wash an old pair, and when ask
store | am frequently told, we don't
keep them "-NcW York Sun.
Three hundred and fifty miles of
rabbit proof wire fence have been
built between New South Wales and
South Australia. A recent rabbit
hunt in that country resulted in the
death Of II, 900 of the little pests.
What is the use of sending your laun-
dry out of town when there is good steam
laundry at home? Prices as low and work
Just as good as in Chicago.
If Grant House Basement.
The new United States of Brazil
has decided that only those persons
who can read and write may vote for
government officers. This may not
be the rock-bottom idea of perfect
equality between man and man, but
it is a good provision in two ways.
1t precudes the possibility of hun
dreds of mere animals being marched
to the polls and voted by political
fine workers, and it spurs the upris-
ing natives to learn at least SO much
as may give them the franchise.
Having this much of start educa-
ton the ''litttle learning will lead
them on to intelligence, and in time
to come there will be few among
Brazil's voters who can be driven to
the polls like cattle. 1t begins to
look as though the founders Of the
Brazilian republic were of the real
long headed sort.