Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1899-07-21
FOLLOWING CUSTOM
Odd Habits of Man aud Feast which
Neither seems Inclined to Discard

| Neither seems Inclined to Discard.
Why does a man wear two buttons
! on the back of his coat? This is not a
companion riddle to Joe" Miller's cell
ebrated cOnundrum, why does a hen
cross the street?' But it is a pertinent
linterrogatory. 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 do
you. Adam didn't. There wasn't
much call for sartoral spendor in the
Adam period and Eve wasn't the au-
, thor of the nine tailors to 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 to be in evidence.
They held the sword belt in place
When the coffee and pistol fad super
seeded the rage for rapiers the custom
of wearing the two buttons was con-
tinued. Ever since then the buttons
have been worn. No use to anyone.
No advantage except to the button
manufacturers. Yet your tailor and
mine had better not leave those but
tons off, or we'll 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 colored serpents all climbing
UP and down in different directions ac-
cording to 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 were a barber
l 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 TO receive it at the top?
Haven't you written the address and
name on the envelope? When the
world was younger the scribes and
pharisees were not acquainted with en-
velopes and consequently knew moth
ing of the mysteries of the envelope
game as ii flourishes to-day. The ad-
dress was therefore written on the let
ter itself and the sheet was then fold
ed in such a way as to bring the super
scription only to view when the seal
ing wax was applied.
The window custom is one which al
mo L. 1
These gentlemen are in the habit of
putting up houses with windows on all
sides. and this is all right where there
Is use for these apertures. But
your ordinary builder doesn't cOnfine
himself to the unitarian. When he
strikes a corner house where there are
not so many windows required as in
other localities. he does the best he
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. In
agination windows are placed on the
side walls, with lintels. lodges and
stills and the builder feels he 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 90
through that unvarying form? No
Well, that dogs forefathers and the
forefathers of all the dogs, big and lit
tie, started that practice. They had to
beat out hole in the snow or grass
before they could get a comfortable
bed. Then, too. your dog sits with his
nose on his paws. You don't know
why. Neither does your dog. Bur les
simply following instinct. His dos 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 he
cause cleanliness runs in the cat fam
lily The first cat had to be a mighty
immaculate feline physically, or her
prey would have scented her and XII
~ would have gone hungry. And so
it goes throughout. The man and the
brute beasts are on an equality in the
matter of following Hind custom