The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-02-06
JOHNS SHABBY CLOTHES.

bit of dust; his dress shoes were kicked
upside down in a closet corner, summer
sweaters lay in the very path of the
moths, handsome golf tweeds came
down from a shelf, already chewed into
uselessneSs, and-but l spare you furth-
er narrowing details. Let 1t suffice
that 1 took that pathetic wardrobe in
hand.
Every morning 1 devoted a part of
the time usually spent in cOddling my
own clothes. stufiing my sleeves with
tissue paper and smoothing my rib
bOns, TO attending to Johns posses
siOns. We couldn't afford a valet, but
l pressed the housemaid into service,
and under my direction and quite unbe-
known to our victim, we worked some
miracles.
L had Johns top bureau drawer di-
vided by a carpenter into sections. and
there I laid his ties. handkerchief.
gloves, collars and cuffs. protected. yet
quite handy, for men, you know, hate to
have their things kept in boxes. while
they will take kindly to a sectional
drawer. After this 1 invested in a case
for his top hat. trees for his shoes and
pressed and cleaned by a professional is
an expensive practice, so 1 showed the
maid how. by using naphtha or merely
a piece of brown paper and hot iron,
spots could be easily eradicated, and
with the heavy goose 1 taught her to
press Johns clothes.
Finally, I persuaded John never to
wear the same suit to business two
days in succession, but by alternating
between the browns and the grays to
always have one suit to rest up for a
day, undergo an enthusiastic airing,
brushing and pressing. Then every
morning laid out for him was a set of
clothes, quite crisp and sweet smelling,
and to help the good cause of eradicat-
ing the odors of tobacco and general
STIFFNESS that hang about the cleanest
mans wooden garments, 1 put in his
drawers and closets plenty of vertivert
and dried lavender.
Right around the corner from our
house is a little tailor of whom 1 GER
tainly wouldn't permit John TO buy his
clothes, but a cheap, neat little man,
who will put on fresh braids. reface
trousers legs and do odd bits of tailor
ing at a low price. To him I took a
quantity OF things John had tossed
aside as of no further use and so neatly
did ne furnish them up that that in
nocent husband of mine is wearing
them under the impression that they
never wore out at all.
1T required a brief struggle on the
part of mistress and maid to learn how
mans clothes are properly folded
that a dress suit must not be brushed
with a whisk broom, and that the thing
to do with felt and silk hats for reno
walton is to have them blocked, but
we have learned-learned even to do up
Johns patent feathers irreproachably
and sew his coat buttons on without
putting the thread through the tweed
and lining, too, and making everything
pucker.
Between the two of US we turn out
a model man every morning, a sweet,
smiling, immaculate creature. with
never a wrinkle in his waistcoat front,
with faultless creases down his trous-
ers legs, and his overcoat pockets wear
ing their flaps outside instead of in. Al
together the sort of man who looks as
If his wife kept her eye right on him,
and took as much pride in his personal
appearance as her own.
We'll, 1 must confess. since I have