The Washington bee., 1899-07-22
FOLLOWING CUSTOM
Odd Habits Of Man and Beast which
Neither Seems Inelfned TO Discard

Odd Habits Of Man and Beast whieh
Neither Seems Iaeltned TO Discard
Why does a man wear two buttons
on the back OF his coat? This Is not
companion riddle 10 Joe" Miller's eel.
ebrated conundrum, Why does a her
cross the street," But il is a pertinent
interrogatory. Habit-that's the an
swer. Unquestioning. unreasoning Gus
tom Your father wore two buttons in
that same position. So did his father
So did your earlier ancestors. So dC
you Adam didn't. There wasn'r
much call for sartcrial splendor in the
Adam period and Eve wasn't the au-
thor OF the nine tailors 10 make a
man" theory. About the time men be
gan wearing clothes and developing
differences Of opinion in which the
sword was the usual arbitrator the
two buttons came 10 be in evidence.
They held the sword belt in place.
When the coffee and pistol fad super
seded the rage for rapiers the custom
OF wearing the two buttons was con-
tinued. Ever since then the buttons
have been worn. No use 10 anyone.
No advantage except 10 the button
manufacturers. Yet your tailor and
mine had better not leave those but
tons OF. or well start an account at
another tailor's.
Look at the hairdresser's shop This
isn't for baldheaded men or infants.
There's a pole that looks like a sta
tionary pousse cafe, or half a hundred
rainbow eolored serpents all climbing
up and down in different directions ac-
eording 10 your condition. In the good
old days when the giants were on the
earth there were also barber sur.
geons seeking whom they might en-
tice The vari-colored pole was the
sign OF their profession We don't
have barber surgeons now. The sur
geOn lives in fashionable quarter. and
if you planted one of those poles in
front of an Office The owner would
have you locked up. The barber hangs
on TO the old custom. The pole means
Blood letting done here" Come TO
think of it. the pole is not so inappro-
pirate after all But if l were barber
/ would not advertise my speciality that
way
When you write a business letter
why do you write the name of the per-
son who is 10 receive il at the top?
Haven't you written the address and
name on the envelope? When the
world was younger the seribes and
pharisees were not acquainted with en-
veIopes and consequently knew moth
ing Of the mysteries OF the envelope
game" as il fiourishes to-day. The ad-
dress was therefore written on the let
ter itself and the sheet was then fold
ed in such way as to bring the super
scription only 10 view when the seal
ing wax was applied.
The window custom is one which al
most every builder knows by heart.
These gentlemen are in the habit Of
putting up houses with windows on all
sides. and this is all right where there
Is a use for these apertures. But
your ordinary builder doesn't eonfne
himself TO the utilitarian. When he
strikes a corner house where there are
not so many windows required as in
other localities. he does the best be
can TO give that house the appearance
OF being nothing but windows. Look
at all the corner houses you pass. Most
Of them have blind" windows. I'm
agination windows are placed on the
side walls. with lintels. ledges and
sills and the builder feels be has done
his duty.
Ever notice your dog walk round and
round in a circle before he lies down?
Yes. of course. Why does he do that?
Know OF any reason why he should go
through that unvarying form? No.
Well. that dogs forefathers and the
of all the dogs. big and lit
tie. started that practice They had TO
beat out a hole in the snow or grass
before they could get comfortable
bed. Then. too. your dog sits with his
nose on his paws You don't know
why. Neither does your dog But hes
simply following instinct His dog par.
ents away back in the dim dog ages had
to keep their noses clean for the scent
and they never leT them touch the
dust or snow
There's the cat. Clean beast. the cat.
Always washing herself, That's be-
,ause cleanliness runs in the cat fam
ily. The first cat had 10 be mighty
immaculate feline physically. or her
prey would have scented her and kit
~ would have gone hungry. And so
t goes throughout The man and the
brute beasts are on an equality in ,hs
matter Of following blind custom