Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 87, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1898 — QUAKER CITY ECONOMY. . [ARTICLE]

QUAKER CITY ECONOMY. .

Watchmen nml Guides Dlagnated—l.o»<- Their Umax Buttons. Tliere couldn’t possibly be in all this city another crowd of men so disgusted as were the watchman, guides and elevator men at the city hall, says the Philadelphia Record. It was all because the public buildings commissioners had been seized with what the men considered a ridiculous attack of economy. This is the time of the year when all uniformed men in the employ’ of the city prepare to change their winter clothing for their summer garments. Now, the uniforms worn by the city hall men are profusely adorned with brass buttons bearing the seal of the city, and the municipal authorities are particularly’ careful to see that none of these buttons shall ever go astray. It is, in fact, a punishable offense for a common citizen to have in his possession one of these buttons. Accordingly’ when each man appeared for duty, he was called to the front and an official, armed with a pair of shears, snipped off all the city’s buttons from the victim's uniform except'one, which was left to hold the coat across the chest. Forttmately the suspender buttons on the trousers are just the ordinary kind, without any municipal insignia, otherwise there would certainly have been a strike. The crop of buttons thus gathered in was sent to the tailor, who had finished the summer Uniforms up to the point of attaching those necessary little articles.