The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-02-22
ECONOMY OF THE RICH.

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1t is always the poor W II are ~extrava-
CANT. The rich woman utilizes every
scrap of material. has every gown
made over, and keeps rich, because She
is economical. The poor woman is so
desperately afraid of being thought poor
that She goes into debt, does not give
the proper wear to her belongings and
carries IL burden Oh her shoulders that
makes her old and ugly before her time.
| once had the pleasure of going into
the wardrobe room of Il very wealthy
woman and that wardrobe room was
an object lesson to me. 1T was Il large,
light room on the top floor of the house.
with wardrobcs built around it on ail
sides, drawers being under these ward
robes, and with high shelves built ABOVE
them to hold bonnet boxes. Here all
gowns We're kept. Those that were to
be worn were ready for assumption.
Those that had been Worn came up to be
brushed. looked over. and carefully put
away. Here all day long sat two maids
sewing, brushing, and making over,
while the greatest care Was given to
each portion of a frock when it was
put away. Sleeves were stuffed with It's
sue paper to keep them in shape. Bits of
cOlOlcd tissue paper went over white
lace to prevent its becoming yellow.
Parasols were softly wrapped in thin
white wool stuff. Boots, shoes, and slip
pers were all on their trees and stand
ing in the drawers. Every hat box had
written upon it in big letters Il terse de-
s%cription of the hat in it, so that one
did not lose ones temper by going
through innumcrable boxes searching
for one particular chapeau. Most re-
mo I1-D l1n of .1 wnrn Tho 1nSnr El1nl
with gowns that had been ripped apart.
When a dress had lone its duty in life,
the thrifty maid took it. ripped it care
fully apart, made it immediately clean
and then sized its possibilities. The silk
lining was folded, and on the paper
wrapping it was written, Here is
enough purple silk to make Il petticnat.'
The brOcade that formed the dress was
carefully done up, its measurement de-
scribed, and there was suggested in
writing. This will make a handsome
sofa pillow" or This may be developed
into party bags or chair covers" The
finely cut steel buttons were wrapped
separately and boxed. The laces were
cleaned and carefully bastcd on sheets
OF colored paper and laid in large flat
y Absolutely nothing was wasted.
The consequence is, when a new dress
Is To be made, after some thought has
been given to its general style, the maid
Will remind the modesto of the OK
q1.slte lace f1ounce already possessed,
of the fnely-cut rhinestone buckle that
was on the pink satin or Of the set of
steel buttons that appeared on another
gown, and any one of these is ready to
20 forward and do duty again. Feathers
from bonnetts are in special boxes. Flow
crs are carefully Strengthened out and
thought given to their possible use.
Nothing is counted worthless unless it is
50. and the consequence is that this wo-
man can afford to be generous. She
docs not give away old tinery, but when
she wants to help She can afford to put
her hand III her purse and offer money
to whoever needs it.
GIVING AWAY RUBBISH.
Apropos of giving. | laughed in a half
hearted way the other night. My hair
dresser, VINO is a widow with four small
children to support and an aged mother
To care for, was Juggling an enormous
brown paper box rs she entered the Bah
mansion. She spoke of her arm being
tired, but said one of her customers had
given her thAS box early in the day and
told her it was full Of some things that
would be useful to her. Now, Il good
many heads have to be dressed to sup
port Il whole family: consequently every
thing must be valued at it's proper con-
slderation by this woman. | suppose
she saw the curiosity in my eyes. but
she told me if | would allow her she
would open the box, as she would like
I" see her presents. | realized as |
looked exactly how mean Il rich woman
can be. In that box were torn work
"aGS, broken sets Of pigs in clover"
shattered fans, faded cotilliOn favors,
ana II few MISUNDERSTANDING ribbons that
'ouIo not have been utilized even for Il
"ol'-Just such a lot of rubbish as one
Se'S When an old chest of drawers is
cleahed out; and this accumulation of
nonsense ana trash was offered with an
All OF pflde to a Woodworking woman
WHO Would nave appreciated something
sensible, but who had absolutely no
room for u rubbish. | often wonder
what the good God thinks of such
charity. And | often wonder what tbe
people who give such things oxpect the
recipients TO do with them. But they
keep on giving them, and the people So
i"cted TO receive these doubtful blessings
are obliged to take them and to smile