Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-10-15
THROWING THINGS AWAY.
How the Good Housewife Does clins
to Old Rubbish.

to Old Rubbish.
always before we move, sald Mt.
Billtops. I'VE go through everything IN
the storeroom and Gull out and throw
away the things that we don't want. II
we never moved, don't know but what
finally we'd be buried under the accu-
mutation OF things which from time 10
time we save.
Eve save tons of newspaper clippings
alone, and we always have Pile OF
magazines containing articles that we
want to read over again, but never do.
We put away old clothes and don't know
what not of things we've got through
with that are of no earthly use to us, but
that we hate to throw away. And how
we do hang on to some of these things!
Why. say, we've got boxes and trunks
containing things that we've saved IN
that way that we've been Juggling around
for years, paying to have them moved
and giving up room for the storing OF
them, that we never look into at all. We
couldn't tell what was in some OF them
without looking, but they are things we
sort of hate to throw away, and SO we
keep Juggling 'em around.
Il don't want to drag in melancholy
thoughts in n cheerful conversation, but
find myself wondering sometimes now,
us grow older, what will become OF all
this truck we save up in this way when
We die. 1t will all be just lying there,
and those who come after us Will look as
it and wonder what under the canopy
we saved it for, and then they'll throw
it away, which tell Mrs. Billtops we
might just rs well do now ourselves and
get rid Of it. There's nothing in the
whole blessed storeroom that we might
not with perfect safety. throw right out
without ever looking at it. Oh, of course,
that is rather sweeping assertion, but
nevertheless it is substantially true that
all that miscellaneous array of boxes and
bundles there, of odds and ends OF one
sort and another. we might just as well
throw away bodily, and we neyer'd miss
'em. We had curious experience In
this way last fall.
"Weedi.g things out, then, in the usual
manner, we set out of the storeroom one
day three big boxes Of stuff to look over.
But somehow these boxes got mixed IN
with the stuff that had been looked over
and was ready to throw away, and away
they went. never looked at, and we never
discovered it till the next day. Then
there was time! Mrs. Billtops wanted
to have me go right away and find out
what dump the things collected on our
block went to, and see if couldn't get
the boxes back. Our oldest daughter,
Lucinda, was sure the green box con-
tanned all OF her very best patterns. and
don't remember now what other things
of tremendous value those boxes did con-
tain, but STAYED the folks off somehow
from day to day, and gradually they felt
easier about it and in week they for
got it.
".That was q year ago. and do you sup
pose we've missed anything? Why, not
a thing. There wasn't anything in those
boxes that we really wanted to use. II
thore had been, we would have kept on
using it, but we hated to throw the stuff
away.
81 tell Mrs. Billtops, as said before,
that it would be perfectly safe to clear
out the whole storeroom without looking
at the stuff at all; just throw the whole
thing RICH, away; that we never store
cash there, nor title deeds, nor anything
of real value. But she says no: she'd
rather look things over, md l suppose
that some OF these old things. anyhow,
may have in old associations value
that will make us cling to them to the
end."-New York Sun.