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MAY 1, 1913 



it is incumbent on us to wear the old style 

 of stiff starched shirt fronts. In our pres- 

 ent church we have a Bible class of elderly 

 people who sometimes number as many as 

 fifty or sixty. Last Sunday I took pains 

 to notice, and scarcely a man wore a shirt 

 with a stiff starched front. 



NoAv I want to say a word along the same 

 line in regard to the care of the feet. For 

 years I have been troubled with corns, and 

 it has taken a great amount of my time to 

 apply corn remedies, or to provide myself 

 with a keen sharp knife and cut away the 

 troublesome accumulation ; and especially 

 during hot weather my feet get hot and un- 

 comfortable. Last summer I told Mrs. Root 

 that I should have to go barefooted or weai' 

 some very light women's cloth shoes. But 

 she vigorously objects to this, especially 

 when genteel people want to see A. I. Root ; 

 and, by the way, that reminds me that one 

 day down in Florida when I had discarded 

 my shirt, cap, and every thing but my light 

 union underwear and pants, 1 was out bare- 

 footed hoeing my potatoes, when a whole 

 load of ladies and gentlemen who took or 

 read Gleanings called to see me. These 

 were people of wealth and culture. When 

 I undertook to apologize, the leader of the 

 party said that was just the way he did nt 

 home himself; and I found out afterward 

 that he was a man of large means. Well, 

 when Mrs. Root scolded about my going 

 barefooted, even in the presence of com- 

 pany, I tried at the shoestores in Braden- 

 town to get some of the tliin-cloth ladies' 

 shoes. Among the dealers one who came 

 from the North explained that there was no 

 call for any thing of that kind in the South ; 

 and when I told Mm about the troubles 

 with my feet he brought out some Florida 

 shoes. A pair of these shoes are now on my 

 feet as I dictate these lines. There are 2] 

 oblong openings in the upper part of the 

 shoe. In fact, one can look right through 

 the shoe and see the stocking feet. Some 

 of the oi^enings come right above where my 

 most troublesome corns used to be located. 

 Let me digress a little. 



Years ago one of my feet became so sore 

 that I was pretty nearly crippled. I went 

 to our family doctor; he said the trouble 

 arose from a lack of ventilation. He told 

 me to get an old shoe, and cut some slits 

 through the upper part so as to let plenty 

 of air get in clear around the sore spot, and 

 then Nature would perform a cure without 

 any drugs or medicines; and I used to go 

 to church with that same mutilated shoe. 

 Well, these shoes I found in Florida were 

 made that way, and the openings I have 

 mentioned are disposed so as to be orna- 

 mental rather than otherwise. I do not 



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know whether this sort of shoe is for sale 

 here in the North or not; but it certainly 

 ought to be in hot weather. 



Let us now consider our text, or string of 

 texts, a little in closing. The dear Savior 

 exhorted us to beware of thinking too much 

 about what we should " put on;" and I am 

 sure he would not approve for one moment 

 the expensive clothing that is now worn by 

 both men and women who think they can 

 atford it. I am not posted in regard to 

 women's dress; but I am told that single 

 garments frequently cost more than a hun- 

 dred dollars. On our trip home a lady who 

 sat next to us told about a woman in Flori- 

 da who paid $600 a week for board and 

 lodging — almost $100 a day. Her attire 

 was after the same fashion. Our text ad- 

 monishes us in these words: 



"Why take ye thought for raiment?" 

 And, again, " If God so clothe the grass of 

 the field . . . sliall he not much more 

 clothe you, ye of little faith? " We as a 

 people have not only been " overfed," as 

 Terry tells us, but we have many of us been 

 ovcrclothed. In fact, I have been over- 

 clothed; and until the present time I scarce- 

 ly knew it. As nearly as J can gather from 

 the Bible, among Oriental peoples in an- 

 cient times the clothing not only cost but 

 little, but it gave access to an abundance 

 of air over every -paxi of the body ; and not 

 only air but sunshine as well. 



I forgot to mention in the proper place 

 that, when I let the Florida sun strike di- 

 rectly on my bare neck, shoulders, and 

 breast, I at first got sunburnt ; but in a 

 little time my flesh got tanned and harden- 

 ed, and it was just delicious to feel the sun 

 and air where I had been having neuralgic 

 imins. Many times when we had cold nights 

 I found it necessary to put on my sweater, 

 and bundle up pretty well. But I would 

 often get busy and forget to dispense with 

 this extra clothing when it was no longer 

 needed. Then I would begin to have my 

 old feelings of lassitude and bad circulation, 

 accompanied Avith a lack of energy and en- 

 thusiasm; but when I got rid of the heavy 

 clothing, and got hold of my hoe and went 

 out in the garden, I felt a new lease of life. 

 I was ready to sing praises, and give an 

 old-fasliioned Methodist shout over my 

 " showers of blessings." At my age, when 

 1 begin to feel cliilly toward sundown, or 

 when the weather changes, of course the 

 proper thing to do is to hunt ujd the dis- 

 carded garments until I feel comfortable. 

 The shoes I have mentioned, which I call 

 my " corncrib " shoes, have very thick soles. 

 This keeps the feet dry. Of course you 

 must not get into the mud and water with 

 such shoes, for that would soon result in 



