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Show ' awaaaawaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-a i . d . I Back Yonder WE ALWAYS suspected ItJwhen we saw I amateur theatricals at the' high school those old time colonial gents In lace cuffs and knee pants found it difficult -to wear a sword comfortably. A copy of Bradford's New York Gazette, dated 1734, carried this ad: ."Lately Imported, a choice parcel o swords. The blades are old, but the handles are made after the newest fashion. They may be worn Indifferently by men, women and rhiMrrn without hurting themselves or any other persons?' - ' J' A sword must have kept getting in the way . when sitting down, not to mention( tripping trip-ping up strangers In a crowd. By the way, do yoil realize that It's only a matter' of less than a couple of centuries since men had to carry swords or cudgels to protect their lives? Policeman does it for us now.' They had their liquor problem, too, back In the "good old divs." also the tent who lies awake nights worrying about other people's troubles. The Boston Gazette in 1765 printed this letter from a reader: 'JJo me It seems high time, for us to abate In our extravagances, for it present our folly has scarce any bounds as to eating and drinking. In a few years we shall all become turtle eaters, and a number of vessels may be employed In that branch of fishery. '. M to drinking, it must be punch or wine; malt liquor the doctors don't think wholesome, and cider Is almost prohibited. French brandy Is encouraged to be smuggled In, and Hi the town taste as well as the country's. If, the French have no hand in making our laws they hava great benefit by some of them. We run Into the same extreme In dress, so that there Is scarce any distinction between persons of great fortune and people of ordinary rank." This old time stuff seems quaint and laughable laugh-able to u$ of 1913. But don't laugh too confidently. con-fidently. For future generations will dig into our newspaper! and laugh at many of the best of our modern devices and institutions. The airplane, tor Instance, Is Just as crude, now compared with what It will be In 'the future, as the cordwood-burning locomotive hauling passenger cars that looked like stagecoaches, even to the detairof side brakes seems when we compare It with the snorting steel monster mon-ster that rushes our fast trains through the irigtit Everything becomes antiquated and ridiculous It's Just a matter of time. |