The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-04-01
THE WHIMS Of DIALECT.
a CANADIAN WOMAN OUT SHOPPING
IN AN AMERICAN CITY.

Boots and Low Necked ShOes-Cotton in
Bolts and on SpooIs-A Paper of Grin
kIed Notions''-Need of Barber Shop
Rules-An Argument for Annexation.
Il will never forget said Canadian NO
man who lives in this city, my first efforts
at shopping in this city. | went alone, be-
cause my husband was busy at his Office, and
I had as yet made no acquaintance. You
| know in that raw country, which really Is so
vast and yet seems so small, we have many
different names for things from those the
people called Americans have, though why
everybody on the western hemisphere is not
called an American is hard to understand.
well, / soon found myself in a big store,
not any bigger, however, than one or two Of
those in Montreal or Toronto that 1 was &C
customed TO- 1 wanted material to make
| sheets of, not linen but cotton sheets. Cana
dians call the material cotton. asked floor
walker where to get it, and he directed me to
a certain counter. Two or three people were
| being waited on at the counter, and awaited
my turn, expecting that when the clerk had
served those who came before me he would
ask me what l wanted. l found, however
that several people who came after NE called
out to him what they wanted while he was
yet waiting on others, and when he was able
ne handed down the articles required, so that
the rudest and most pushing shoppers were
first served.
I'm Canada it is the custom, just as it is
here in barber shops and the like, for the
clerk to keep his eye on the order in which
! his customers arrive and serve first the first
corners. Thus modest woman is relieved Of
much embarrassment and rude women gain
nothing by their rudeness.
COTTON OR MUSLIN.
"When succeeded in getting the clerks
attention | asked to see some cotton.
"'What numbern he asked.
"'No number that | know of, l replied.
! 4 want white cotton, reasonably fine
"'Fortv is medium fine, he said, pulling
out drawer of spooIs and selecting one
! for me-
81 don't want thread said, 4 want
cotton, cotton! Don't you know what cot
ton is! Steam loomF l queried III despair,
remembering another word we had for it,
''This is cotton, he said rudely. y guess
you want muslin with patronizing grim.
'Now muslin with US is the fine material
called dress muslin or lawn here, and l GER
tainly did not want that, and it took the
combined efforts of the floor walker, two or
three clerks (clarks, | pronounced it, and
6undry cash girls to convince me that muslin
was the American store name Shop used to
call it i'll my provinciahsm) for cotton and
cotton for thread.
''When these patrOnizing people had suffi'
GENTLY Inundated me, and had stared at me
and discussed me with winks, grins, mods and
giggles to their hearts content, and had evil
IDENTITY set me down as some very recent ar
| rival from lunatic asylum, l asked to see a
pair of boots
For boyF asked the clerk.
d" For myself said /
d" We don't keep ladies' boots, ma'an.' he
answered. Have no call for them. Ladies
generally order them where they get their
riding habits.
. Riding habitsr | said, in establishment.
oh, / don't mean long boots. l mean just
boots, like those l see there, plenty OF them.
'Them's Shoes he answered, mot boots
oh you call them shoes, do YOU Aud
what then do you call theser and ! put my
hand on pair of what had always called
shoes.
- 'Them's low cut shoes, he said. Oxford
ties
Then l comprehended that what called
long boots Americans call boots. what called
boots they called shoes, and what / called
shoes they called low necked--no, low cut
shoes, or Oxford ties.
CRINKLED NOTIONS.
"I must have some hairpins, now l said
with resignation; perhaps you don't call
them by that name, but l could draw you q
/ diagram OF the article if you think Jon could
recognize it
HE did not take my suggestion in the
spirit in which it was made, but snappishly
informed me that Notions is over there
Notions, l said to myself, quite pleased
at my rapid accumulation Of American store
language, hairpins are to be notions hereafter
with you Approaching the girls at this
counter, which was heaped up with S Tiscel
laneous assortment of small wares, said,
Give me a paper Of notions, please, assorted
sizes, of the wavy or crinkled variety
A look of surprise appeared IN the girls
ewes and then smoker ran along their tired
faces and knew ! had betrayed my ignor-
ance again. To my establishment and delight
l discovered that nairpins were bairpins still.
They seemed like old friends in a strange
land, and l bought enough 10 last me year.
Notions / discovered embraced everything
on that counter, though Why no one could
explain.
Finally, when I came to give nay address
in order to have the goods sent home, ispelied
out my name to the clerk, Hazard. When
came TO the third letter, whish had a.
ways been taught to pronounce 'zed,' ne
stopped and asked 70 have it repeated
'Zed, reiterated
"'Zedr ne queried, IN a puzzled 'vsv.
Certainly, I said. lifted nett,ed. 'Don't
you know your lst1ersa Zed, the last letter
Of them all
"'Oh, zee he laughed That's what you
mean. IS its
Have it nee II yu1 Ike answered
weakly, with s groan; 4 viii 90 hoC'e. buy
ne sn American A c book and bcgin my
siBcAllou again At the beginning, "-Aev
Y ark Tribune.
Manual Training schools.
Statistics furnished by The educational re-
port make It ap44ar that there are IS manual
training schools in tee United States. with
IS teachers; IA OF these are females These