INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 53 



from the tops of discarded stockings. Although 

 the tops of those long, hand-knit stockings were re- 

 footed, often more than once, the time came when 

 they were not worth repairing and then they 

 were handed over to the boys. Sometimes, I must 

 confess we did not even wait for the re-footing. 



I remember I went out to try my new shoes in 

 the new-fallen snow. The older boys knew, as I 

 did not, that new shoe soles are a slippery, treach- 

 erous underpinning, so they and the dog went 

 along to see the fun. After I had gone down 

 several times they set the dog on me and then the 

 real fun began, for as I got up the dog would 

 push me over with his playful antics. Queer, 

 isn't it, that I can remember every detail of those 

 shoes, the mischievous joy of my brothers and even 

 the color of the dog, yet I forget many of the 

 transactions of yesterday ! 



My father always wore a grayish-colored, tall 

 stiff hat in shape much like the silk hats of the 

 present day. In the top of the crown he carried 

 letters and other valuable papers I say other, 

 because letters were then precious which were 

 held down or up by a highly colored silk or cotton 

 handkerchief. His coat, with collar built high 

 and reinforced with buckram, was a long cut-a-way 



