The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-02-16
A PHILADELPHIA INSTITUTION.

From The NewPork Herald.
Nothing in Philadelphia Is more
quaint than a sign which extracts q
smile or gay sally from every passerby
on Locust street.
In rain and in sunshine, at the dawn
of day and after the shades have fallen,
there it waves, a beacon light to all
who may be in need of such an estab-
lishment as this, which welcomes the
stranger in these words:
Gentlemen, we'll be a mother to
you.''
The man who conceived the wording
of that sign was inspired, beyond a
doubt
There is a ring a bout it which touches
that spot in human nature which makes
the whole world kim
Recollections of the long-ago loom up
unconscionsly.
Thoughts of the time when ycar
linen was carefully looked over by the
kindly eyes and burned matches had
not yet been called into requisitlon as
toilet articles crop up until you posi-
lively form an attachment for the pro-
prietor of the shop and the author OF
the sign. who, by the way, has had it
copyrighted.
Women are popularity believed to at
tach more sentiment to articles of ap.
parel than men-a fact, however. which
is entirely overthrown by the flourish
ing trade done by this lite shop.
In motley mass flung on one of the
counters. are crowded together shabby
cravats, disreptuable gloves, and hats
whose brim and binding seemed crying
out for sponge and hot iron.
The surgeon in this ward of the
''Hospital for the Relief of Rundown
Garments says that these self-same
dilapidated-looking specimens reap
pear at regular intervals to be cleaned,
pressed and patched, and that their
owners spend more upon renovating
them than new ones of the same quail.
ity would cost.
Suspenders, which to the eyes of an
uninterested person would appear alb
solutely worthless and fit to be rele-
gated to the ash cart, are sent with the
injunction to be mended with care"
Surely the associations which these
things carry in their wake alone make
them of so much value to their owners
It cannot be from the principle OF
economy, for the outlay is far beyond
that which their actual value would
warrant.
Yes, man must confess to being a
creature of sentiment when he orders
his socks to be darned in blue wool be-
cause this was the color his mother
used, and now at Christmas he hank.
ers once more for the homely feature
of his boyhood days.
That the male biped luxuriates in the
@sthetic trivalities of dress has been
here exposed Is we'll. Recently well.
dressed gentleman-a swell from Rit-
tenhouse Square-brought in per.
fectly new liver pad and requested his
monogram embroidered upon it in terra
Gotta floss.
An old Irish dame walking along
Locust street spied the sign not long
ago, and after spelling it out with
great difficulty CALCULATED: 80, it's
home for poor little orphans. Bridget
and Mamie, I'll see what they'll do in
there fur youse." And forthwith the
elderly washerwoman seized the two
puny youngsters at her side and hurried
them into the shop, where she unfolded
= tale of woe to the proprietor.
Unfortunately, he could only "be q
mother to them in SO far as giving
them vigorous wash. which PROPOSE
ton was met with demurs from all
sides, and they beat hasty and un-
ceremonious retreat.
When l asked the manager what
manner of things he had been called
upon to look after he cited everything
imaginable, from grip and an UNI
brella to Wristbands and half-soles.
'We've attempted everything" he
added facetiously, Except the patch
ing up of blackened regulations or the
cleaning of besmirched characters"
The kitchen in which the Needing,
cleaning and dyeing processes go on is
one of those great barn-like rooms
which always remind one Of the living
room of farm house, with its usual
array of odds and ends standing about,
yet homelike withal.
Motherly-looking women preside
over the different tables, and their
CHEEKY words and good Offices go a
long way toward recouciling the
bachelor to his lonely existence, and if
the truth be known, this latest insti-
tuition for easing the path of the un-
married man is largely responsible for
the dearth of matrimonial engage
nents in Philadelphia