The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-06-02 00:00:00

2e 3tourbrik9e Obserber,

SATURDAY, JUNE 2nd, 1883.

DRESS REFORM.

THERE are certain controversial topics which
seem to move in cycles with mathematical
regularity, and to appear, disappear, and reap-
pear with well appointed precision. The sub-
ject of dress reform is one of this recurring and
reliable kind, but just as comets vary in bril-
liancy on the different occasions of their appear-
ance, so differs the intensity of the interest with
which this subject is debated. This time it has
certainly attracted more general and lasting at-
tention than usual. Until recently the activity
and argument have been rather one-sided, the
advocates of reform in the make and manner of
dress having confined their attention to the dis-
comforts and dangers of ferrale attire. It is
true that facts must be constantly repeated be.
fore they become impressed on the public mind;
but their presentation in the same from and
the same illustrations is prone tobecome weari-
some. It is a relief, therefore, to find that the
critics of women's costume are not to have it all
their own way. The defenders of the present
forms of female dress are develop;ng two modes
of action—the one defensive and the other
offensive ; the latter, seeing that it is directed
against them, the men may think offensive in
wore ways than one. It dues not seem generel.ly
to have occurred to the people that there are
absurdities and affectations quite as patent in
the dress of men as of women. Of course the
chimney-pot hat is the first object of ridicule,
but in this point, as on the question generally, the
objections which arranged are largely founded on
a state of things which has been reformed. Tne
silk hat, for instance, may not the happiest
effect in design, but at the present day it is not
nicessarily an uncomfortable or unhealthy head
covering. It can be made as light as any other
form of hat, and constructed to efferd proper
ventilation. If men of business were martyr 4
to headache in consequence of wearing the
s' chimney-1)0C it is very unlikely that they
would be preparel to sacrifice comfort for the
sake of being conventional. In the same way
the tirades against tight-lacing were better
warranted a generation ago than at present. A
woman's success in life is not now thought ta
depend on reducing her waist to the propor ions
of a wasp's. There are still some unwise in this
respect, but it cannot be said that the practice is
anything like so general or severe as it was som
forty or more years ago. A medical writer has
not inaptly pointed out that, adopting a favourite
line of misleading argument, statistics go to
show that the wearing of corsets is conducive
to longevity. The rate of mortality among
young women is not so great as that among
men of the same ages, and he suggests that the
impervious casing for the body wnich the corset
ie proves a preventive to a certain extent of in-
ilawation and other ills to which men are more
largely subject. At all events, the figures show
that the wearing of corsets cannot be attended
with serious results in ;zany cases or the per-
centage of deaths among females would not com-
pere so favourably. There is no doubt that
there are detai;s both in male and female attire,
wuich could be easily improved, and it would be
better to suggest these than to agitate for
radical changes which are opposed to what is
generally considered to be in keeping with the
fitness of things. After all, the natives of these
i.lands cannot be slaves to fashion or tradition.
With the burst of summer has come a change of
casturne in keeping with the altered climatic
conditions, except, of course, in the case of the
golden or rather gilded, youth whose eccentriei•
cies do nnt deserve serious consideration. l'he
ordinary Englishman would not thlnk of obtain-
ing a special suit of clothes to walk ten or a
thaen miles, and would complete the j eirney
without having experienced any particular dis-
comfort from his dress, which is, perhap, the
best teat of its common-sense constractioi
Ladies, too, who are fond of out-door pursuits
can take long walks with their friends, do a con-
siderable amount of climbing, or play lawn
tennis in costumes which could pass without
comment, save from the hypercritical, in the
streets of a city. It is evident, therefore, that
the present style of dress CRII be n.ade to com-
bine comfort and grace, and there does not seen'
sufficient reason for making such changes no
those which have been proposed by some of the
theorists who have lately interested themselves
in the subject of dress reform.

THE IRON TRADE
WOLVERHAMPTON, Wednesday.

The n.a, ket this afternoon was very quiet, only
a limited number of transa tins in finished iron
te,ing recorded. The numerous inquiries th..t were
made indicated, howevtr, that there was no falling
off in the disposition to purchase Merchants e ere
ill incst of the cases the largest inquirers for rolled
iron. mid some good specifications were on offer,
principally for bars, rheets, and hoop.. Prices
general y wet,: maintained on the list basis, and :n
sevetal instan,e s the rates quoted for the ehea t r
qualities were a little firmer than has barn noticed
of late. Unmarked bans changed hands at £6
to £6 Iss. The galvanisers appeared to be anxious
to obtain large parcels of 24 0-trag consequent on
the teceipt of a number of Colonial orders for gal—
vanised sheets. Makers of blank sheets reported
rathtr more inquiries for work-up secti .ns. In
hoops the chief demand was for American supplies
maitly of the cot tout es description. In the heavies
partment inquiries n lated prim pally to girder
plates and angles, nail rods were setting very •low:y,
and there did not appear to be be mu.. 11 doin4 in
other smaller sizes except for tube 8 rips, for which
there wits a very good donna d, though the com-
petition inteiferes very much with manufac trers
alteing more than a bare margin of profit. In Ca.:
heavy metals the sales recorded cli fly relate to
medium forge pigs and the commoner kinds of
foundry iron, though some of the smelters of otner
kinds have yet to deliver a great deal of iror,
Prices were for the most part sustained, and there
seems to be no prospect of their becoming weaker.
Cokes and ironstone sell more fret ly. Some of the
coaltnasters are doing a steadier busineas in manu—
facturing fuel, but household qualities are in less
demand.

BIRMINGHAM,

There was only a small attendance ou 'Change
to-day, but transacions in some departments were
rather more numerous. The Northampton and
Leicestershhe pig makers disposed of several large
lets of iron, the individual contracts ranging fiom
500 tons to 2,000 tons. In Staffordshire all•mine
iron, however, the extert of business was limited,
and part-mine and cinder pig only went off slowly.
Fiiccs were weak, Staffordshire all-mine selling at
about 655. a ton for hot-air. and 20s. txtra for cold
blast ; part—mine at 478 6d. to 525. 6d.; and cinder
pi 4 388. 6d. to 425. 6d. Northampton pig sold at
4as to 47. 6d. The finished iron department was
rather quiet, but piices wt re upheld by the tirmne,s
f the rates for coal. There was a steady demand
for girder and tank plates, snd also for nail rods,
while the .heat masers secured a fair number of
contr,cts, extending over the next tbree months.
ht et maim a .turers a-ked ss. a ton more for
singles, but th, enhanced quotations were seldom
realised. , ihe ordintiry current pricelbeing £7 10s.
for deliveries in the dititr:et.