The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-05-29
A LEGEND OF SOCKS

A LEGEND OF SOCKS.
Uncle Dudley Tells why II win Not Do
to Judge Bundle by Its Wrapper.
Sometimes a valuable bundle is done
up in cheap paper and tied with brown
string. A schoolgirls essay is frequently
tied with beautiful blue ribbon, while
Longfellow wrote Excelsior" with a
lead pencil on the back of an old en-
velope. But men persist in judging
other men by the way they look when
they are done up in bundles. IF the wrap
pings are coarse the human bundle with
in is considered worthless. President
Harrison gave expression to this popular
delusion when he said, "a cheap coat
makes cheap man."
Jerry Simpson furnishes an illustra-
ton of the tendency of men to judge Of
the value Of bundles by the manner in
which they are done up. Here is man
whom it was popularity rumored was
tied up without some of the conventional
strings used in making up the human
bundle. A small local rumor arose that
he wore no socks. This rumor spread
from township to county, from county
to state, from state to nation, and then
vas blazoned before the open eyed won
der OF the universe. Here was a human
package done up in careless, unconven-
tional way, and the world incontinently
concluded that its contents were Of little
value. But we have already discovered
that the world, as it has frequently done
before, and as it will frequently do again,
made a prodigious mistake. Jerry Simp-
son, with or without socks, is nobody's
fool. He is coming to be considered as
voice for hitherto inarticulate millions,
who until now have been unable to ade-
quately and coherently speak for them
selves. And he is a voice that is earnest,
easily understood, and bound to be
heard. If Jerry is done up with econom-
ical wrappings and tied with cheap
string, he is for all that valuable
package.
When General Grant used to walk
through the army dressed like an ordi-
nary soldier, with the exception of three
stars on his shoulder, he made shabby
contrast with some of his predecessors,
who used to ride down the line upon
richly caparisoned chargers, respondent
in all the gorgeous paraphernalia Of war.
At first it was thought that the bundle
was an inferior thing, just because it
was so poorly and carelessly wrapped
up. But Uncle Sam, in all his many
shopping tours, seldom brought back
a more valuable package than that.
Some one once said that Thomas Car
lyle had the most unkempt head of any
man in England. eyes," replied a
listener, "and the most brains in it,
too"
Abraham Lincoln was very awk-
wardly shaped bundle, and for long
time many people thought his ideas
were misfits, simply because his clothes
were. But it was found out soon enough
that his ideas were cut by much more
skillful tailor than his coat. Horace
Greeley used to button the top button of
his vest into the bottom buttonhole, and
some of his enemies used to say that he
put on his pantaloons hind part before
Horace was another very good package
carelessly done up.
It is far from the intention of your
Uncle Dudley to start crusade against
good clothes. All animated human stat
uary looks better when it is artistically
draped, and it is a quite pardonable
weakness for man or woman to be
solicitous about the drapery. Some O.
our foremost men, it is true, have been
poorly dressed, and some of them, on the
contrary, dressed with exquisite taste
and elaborateness. Washington always
dressed in the height of fashion. Web
ster's blue suit with brass buttons be-
came an acknowledged model for sue
ceeding generations of statesmen. Presi-
dent Arthur could tie cravat as well as
he could handle the chief executive pow
er of a nation, which was very we'll in
deed.
The conclusion of the whole matter is,
"You cannot tell the value of bundle
by the way it is wrapped up" Don't
judge Jerry Simpson by his socks or lack
of socks is the advice of your Uncle Dud-
ley in Boston Globe.