The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1891-10-03
OLD CLOTHES.

i've
Rev. Philip D. Strong, in Golden Days.
OLD CLOTHES.
A Made-O Over Jacket and What It
Did for Its Owner.
If Carlyle had had my experience his
philosophy of clothes would have been
modified thereby. cannot say in just
what particular, but l am sure such an
experience could not have failed TO at
feet his views on the subject
/ was the youngest Of a family OF
six, and the law of succession to cast
off garments being firmly established
in the family, l was brought up in old
clothes. My sister Hannah was the
eldest, next to her came Maria, then
came Tom, my only brother, followed
by the twins, Ludora and Isabella, and
last, and in all respects least, l made
my entrance into the family.
suppose the law of succession afore.
mentioned was a necessary feature OF
my mothers domestic economy, for she
was left a widow shortly after my
birth, without an abundance with
which to support the family. Maria,
being but a year and a half younger
than Hannah, was very near her in
size, and seldom had to suffer the infe.
licity Of wearing her outgrown or out.
worn clothes. The fact of Hannah's
having a new article of dress or adOrn.
ment was generally considered a sufi.
cient reason that Maria should have it.
Tom, being the only boy, was favored;
and he was the only one who was per
mitted anything like extravaganza in
dress. His cast-off garments were
given to our neighbor, Mrs Hobbs,
still poorer than we, to be converted
into garments for ''the little Hobbses,'
IS we used to call her numerous off
spring. Ludora and Isabella openly
resented the "made-over" garments
furnished them from Hannah and Ma.
ria's w~ardrobes,s and soon outgrew
the possibility of being forced to
wear them; but l think l must have
been a poor-spiritcd child, for l not
only stayed little" SO long that when
/ had. at last, grown tall the fact was
quite ignored, but | generally accepted
what was given me uncomplainingly,
and when, on one occasion, / did give
an angry expression to my detestation
of our clothes and my desire for new
ones, the family were astounded. My
mother said she would not have
thought it possible for her little Bah to
show such a naughty temper and selfish
spirit; and, seeing that l had brought
her to the verge of tears, i refraineA
from further complaint. though the
little Bah" was, at that moment, rs
offensive to me as the cast-off gar.
mepts-
r neTssNkkSlkther name of 'Bab,"
r waifr' is IN noS ANY, my b eh%e ms sna
ly a 8aby, which had
been worn fofs8Eshort time by every
child in the family, except the twins,
u whom it could not be conveniently
abplied, and had. at last, like the old
clothes, been given to me in final pos
session, while my own regal-sounding
name of Minerva" had been laid
away, presumably as too good for my
everyday wear. To the title of ''Bab,"
sufficiently diminutive in itself, was
generally added the diminutive adj
~jective little" and 1 vas called little
Bah" until l was fully five feet five,
which is a little more than the height
of either Hannah or Maria; but they
possessing more avoirdupois and i'm
portance than l, nc n re- thought
of calling them little.
That this much wearing of old
clothes had a manifest effect upon my
destiny will clearly appear from the
facts which / am about to relate. At
the time of which / shall speak.
Hannah and Maria were both married,
and Tom was in his senior year in the
college at D. An epidemic of
measles causing the college to close
earlier than usual, he came home in
March, accompanied by q friend who
was a teacher there. / was absent on
a visit to my Aunt Maria when they
arrived, and when / returned home,
this friend, Randolph Morey by name
whom Ludora and Isabella, though
they were both engaged, declared to
be .'splendidr' had gone on, taking Tom
with him, to visit relatives in N.
Soon after my return. Ludora and
Isabella went to spend q week with
Aunt Maria and do some special shop
ping with reference to the double we'd
ding in which they were TO figure not
many weeks later. The next day
after their departure my mother said:
Bah, i wish you would see that Toms
room is in order. He will be back
Saturday, and Ludora and Isabella were
so busy with their sewing l don't think
they made his as neat as it might
be-"
l found that the room might be made
neater. | picked up a garment which
Tom had 9ung across a chair, and car
ried it to his closet on entering which
my eye fell upon a well-worn blue fan
mel coat and neither garments hanging
there, and a novel idea flashed into my
mind. Not long since a dress of dark
blue serge had been made for me ont
of Ludora's and Isabella's old ones, and
l needed a jacket of some heavier ma
t%erial, but matching the dress in color.
to make it quite complete and COM
Portable for the cool autumn days by
up those garments and washing
and pressing the better parts of them
l could get quite a respectable jacket
out of them, and who would v know
from whence l obtained it? / knew
Tom would not care, for, although
there was still right smart Of wear in
as Mrs. Hobbs would have said,
they could be worn but little more
without patching, and Tom abhorred
/ carried the garments to my mother
10 consult her. She, poor dear, having
practiced making owe until she had
the work to a science, Jumped
the idea" to use aaother of Mrs
Hobbs expressions. BY the close of
l.. --.k - l.1