And among these
whose higher station is indicated by the linen or paper symbol, what
a gap between the mechanic with collar attached to a flannel shirt,
and just visible along the top of a black tie, and the shopman whose
pride it is to adorn himself with the very ugliest neck-encloser put
in vogue by aristocratic sanction For such attractive disquisition I
have, unfortunately, no space; it must suffice that I indicate the
two genera. And I was led to do so in thinking of Bob Hewett.
Bob wore a collar. In the die-sinking establishment which employed
him there were, it is true, two men who belonged to the collarless;
but their business was down in the basement of the building, where
they kept up a furnace, worked huge stamping-machines, and so on.
Bob's workshop was upstairs, and the companions with whom he sat,
without exception, had something white and stiff round their necks;
in fact, they were every bit as respectable as Sidney Kirkwood, and
such as he, who bent over a jeweller's table. To John Hewett it was
no slight gratification that he had been able to apprentice his son
to a craft which permitted him always to wear a collar.
Pages:
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153