Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-01-15

Although the whirr of the spinning
wheel and the tedious stitch stitch,
stitch" of our forcmothers. has given
way to the attractions OF the linen sale
and bargain counter. and the hum of
sewing machine, st. Dstaff still holds
her own in midwinter. just as surely as
she did in Elizabethan days. Now, as
then, 1t is the plenishing Of the family
linen that is in order, though closets and
wardrobes galore have supplantcd the
''oaken chest" carved or otherwise, that
formerly sufficed to hold the homespun
hove-woven, homesewed, bed, table and
body linen for the family.
Frocks and frills come later In the sea
son, along with the ''livelier iris" on the
FURNISHED dove. and the spring styles
but January holds the corner on white
sewing" 1t was A. +. Stewart, years
ago. who started the January Linen
Sales" in this country, "a precedent now
followed even in the remotest towns.
with the taking down of the Christmas
decorations the shop windows burst in
to n fair white bloom srtistically dis
posed napery, sheets and pillow cases,
towels and blankets and Ready Made
Underwear.
And Just here is the housewives oppor-
tunity to do something that shall mater
tally benefit herself as we'll as the thou
sands of toiling women and young
women and young children who make the
garments which she and her family wear.
We all love barg0ins-but not those which
make flesh and blood so cheap. We
are all horribly afraid OF infection, and
yet many of .hese garments made In
| poverty. hunger and dirt" prove for us
as we'll as the worker to have been sewed
with double thread shroud as we'll
as q shirt" And these are not the cheap
garments by any means. Often con
sumptive confined TO the bed Ia able to do
the fine, careful work almost to the very
last, and these infected things are sold
not to the poor but to the very best trade.
In New York. especially. the women want
the finest and incest things made. but do
not care who makes them, nor under what
dreadful conditions so long as they are
pretty and attractive. The remedy Is
largely in our own hands. IL We insist
upon It that the garments we buy shall
bear the Consumers League label-a cir
Gle with wings-then we may be sure that
they have been made in sanitary sur
| roundiugs. The conditions on which
these labels are awarded are that the
garments shall not be made In tenement
houses that children under is should not
be employed, that the operators in shops
should not he forced to work overtime
and that manufacturers should obey the
| laws governing and safeguarding labor
and the sanitary conditions under which
| labor is performed.
Another fact not generally known is
that the fine
"FRENCU" GOODS
sold for tremendous prices here are many
OF them made in reformatories carried
on both by Potestants and Catholics in
this country. While the sanitary enVi'
ronments are usually all right. the prices
asked, s95. $50 or $40. FOR single night
dress are quite out OF proportion TO the
real value Of the article. 1t Is simply an
other case OF there being considerable II
a name, after all
In buying table linen the Irish damask
which is grass bleached, is usually con
siderel best The French loses its gloss
and the Scotch is partially Oleached witt
chlorine which weakens the tibre' \
good plan is to get the half-bleachec
which soon gets white. A poor sieazS
linen js never economical A good quail
ity looks we'll to the last-even darns be
ing considered "A patent Of nobility. Al
ali.over design or a running pattern arr
| 70 no preferred in the me iium quality 81
damask to a cloth that has much Plan
surface while the snow-drop and othel
scattered designs may be selected In th'
more expensive cloths. The term "dou
BILE" damask means heavy linen IL Il
not. however. necessarily more expensive
nor vet better wearing than the single
damask.
When cutting table linen Nut by th'
pattern. which is the same as cutting 10y
the thread.1h thread makes the patteri
and If YOU follow the pattern, which takes
less time than pullins the thread !o'
will achieve the same result.