Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1851-05-30
AGITATION or THE HAT REFORM.

Pcrhar last, hu, certainly not least. among
,hr thousand anl ore reform, Of thc day, ls
ths rrr1t agitation lor o ha, reform. Ih.
agitation D, ro, cnaGa,l io cla-,,, nor huan-
aly Inc. I,i.a general, v.is.-gr4t.ns
sentiment. Gcnln ihr Great ll, found 10 Co.,.
r-,,ay 10 take up lr zen % defence uf BIS
style. b., it Is Ike opposing ,ho mrrc'
straw to a dclurc OF reform and revolution.
H. m1y bring music and Jenny Lind ucLcs
20 hi, aiI, bul ,hry must prov, lmpolcni-
The aeIl1lor, ur "a revolution arr uo, to be
put down. Like ihc s.lyrrm.lh of Ephr.ns,
,hc,, who g., rrcl, gains by thc erection of
sections of .loyc.fnu uTon ,hc human head,
mus, Weld a. the rrucnl cry, Down with
the tunnels" H., us Gr moment examine
the h1, of uur d7y with the cls,or of aac.rnt
,trrs. 10 point " hauty and symmetry,
what {, our hat Avery dciorniiy-a block
AN appendix to the "human form divine"
which has mo- real connection with It a. mat
ter of ornament or a. part Il the apparel oi
man. made with an eye 10 convenience or
comfort. It's on cluuraton, Tui IN without
any reference 20 the shape Of the structure Of
which Il torn, one visible end 1t docs yio-
lencc TO taste. which requires that Ne should
no, thus deform a work where each part Is
made TO conform to the other. Imagine O
statue of Washington chiscled IN white mar
Die. surmoun,cd by modern hat 1t would
outrage an sense Of taste. Nevertheless that
Of Wn. Penn looks quite passable under the
more comcly covering Of his sect, and If wc
90 back to the days Of Horarth, why, there
is something noble in the hat Of his times, as
We see il drawn by his pencil Who has
no, admired the pictures Of the early govern
ors of Massachusetts, or the pen portraits Of
the pcopIa of their times, a. drawn by IlaW-
thorne In the Scarlet letter. Nevertheless,
we DO not say that the hats Of those days were
models of perfection. Let Us for a moment
examine the modern siovc.funnel' hat in
II. construction a. II effects the comfort and
conyensncc Of llie wcarcr In the hrs, place,
il is a protection which 10 the business and
hurry Of life is made a continual annoyance /,
chiefly because every man is not gifted with
the mathematical faculty Of calculating dis.
,ances. for between the crown OF the head and
the crown Of the hat, is ordinarily quite a
space, whether the poll itself Is Of the
g., nd.held" or the "Fla,head" order
Now. in the coach, tn, car, or in any space
smaller than tia, out doors, who has no, felt
the evil of which We speak You so over a
Jolt, and suddenly you find your head made
an entering wedge 10 the hat, and very un'
comfortable il becomes as such, and very
aW Wkward is ones appearance under such CIR
cumstances. But we are obliged to submit
or provide ourselves with cap, while the hat
has 10 be carried in a box for use 10 other
places. Secondly, the hardness Of the hat
is feature inimical to human features, and
one which results in much discomfort. In a
warm day who has not eSPerencedi,' We
recollcct once seeing man with new spring
STYLE on. 1t was painfully tight, and he rais-
ed /, by intervals. Bot there was no relief,
and he finally took i, Of. The inden,ures
round his head, the krs, reddor and more pal