The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-04-18

the skirt be short enough To hang clear
of the ground, say reach only TO the
top Of the boot. be suspended from
the shoulder, giving full play to- the
lungs and not dragging on the hips
over this a loose sacque, buttoning to
the throat. with sleeves and arm-holes
large enough I o allow free use of the
arms a hat with a brim broad enough
20 shade the eyes and the back of the
neck stout shoes with broad heels,
placed where nature designed them,
instead OF in the middle of the foot,
and only high enough TO raise the hol-
low of the foot Just as nature raises II
In a perfectly formed one. Such a
costume might be made coquetish and
becoming, and vet leave the wearer
free in every muscle. For some en-
plovments il might be necessary, while
at work, to wear a shorter skirt and
remove the sacque, which could be
done with as much propriety and a.
title loss Of time As the taking ell and
putting on of ordinary outdoor wraps.
1t could be made thicker or thinner at
pleasure, and If, instead Of the ordi-
nary cotton drawers, or rather over
them, a pair of loose pantaloons were
worn, entirely hidden by the outside
skirt, there would be an additional
protection against cold, TO which the
most fastidious could not object. In
this dress, with the same training Civ
en- them as boys and men receive,
there is no occupation engaged in sby
her father, brother.or husband, from
which a woman need be excluded.
The wife of a European peasant works
in the field at as hard labor as her
husband. Rising in the social scale,
man does less and less physical labor,
and his wife and daughters would also
do less. Whether such labor Is desir-
BILE for woman, except In cases where
it is necessary to keep the wolf of hun
ger from the door, is another question,
and one into which we do not propose
to enter. We simply wish to impress
on the minds of those women who de-
sire to compete with men in any avO-
cotton, the necessity of first being
trained to work as men are, and next
Of adopting their costume to their
work, so that it shall in no way i'm
pede the free action of the brain, the
body and the limbs.
We once visited a cheese factory,
owned by a joint stock company of
New England farmers, where the
whole work was done by one woman
anu tNO a SIOW li1Cl VII Jul way
we overlook the manager, and enter
ed the factory with her. She was
dressed as any other well-to-do farm
er's wife might have been, but in five
minutes had dropped her outer skirt
and sacque, and appeared in a skirt
reaching half way down the calf of
her leg, pantaloonS and short
with loose sleeves that could be rolled
UP t 0 her shoulders. In this costume
she went to work, weighing the milk
brought in, testing its richness, and
going through the whole process
of cheese making, working the curd
with her hands and arms immersed in
the vat, as she said it was only in that
way she could judge the temperature.
We spent the whole day, from nine
till four, with her, saw the whole pro-
cess, ven to the turning of the cheeses
made the day before, which was done
under her eye by the boys. There was
nothing she did not do, or superin-
tend, and when we asked if it was not
very hare work, she replied, mot
half as hard as cooking and washing,
or experimenting a farm house for
when | am through, my work is done,
and | can change my dress and rest
Don't you take cold from having
your feet wet all dav from the sIop Of
the whey and water" we asked.
My feet are not Wet was the reply.
"only my shoes. which | will take off
as o as / get home; they are thick
and keep my feet dry, and you see l
have no skirts long enough to catch
any dampnesS." Shortly after this, at
a social gathering in one of the farm
houses. we recognized our friend of
the factory, dressed in a good black
silk dress, a fashionable CAP, and lace
collar and sleeves, and overheard her
discussing George Elliott's last novel.
She had been trained from her youth
to work Systematically, and had no
trouble in adapting herself to the po-
sition she held, and no unwillingness
to wear a suitable costume while at
work, though amply able to don her
silk and lace, and discuss a novel after
work hours. She had competed sue
cessfully with man, even In a business
requiring strength of muscle and con-
slant standing. Frances Power Cobbe
in an admirable article, entitled "The
Little Health of Ladies'" which an
peared first in the Contemporary Re-
rieu, and is published in the PoDular
Science Monthly supplement-, for Feb
ruary, after setting forth most admir-
ably the evils resulting from the present
style of dress for women. truly saws ::
mo woman who knows the world. and
how severe is the penalty of eccentri-
city in attire, will ever counsel her
sisters to incur it for any motive short
of a distinct duty. But if the hun.
dreds of ladies who recognize the tv-
ranny of senseless and unhealthy
fashions were to combine force. TO
obey those fashions Just as little as man
Re, to go as near the wind in the direc-
lion of simplicity, wholesomeness and
ease in their dress as they dare. there
would by degrees be formed a public
opinion, rising year by year with the
numbers and social standing of the
representatives of common-sense. It
must have been IN some such way that
our great grandfathers dropped their
swords and bagwigs and ruffies and
embroidery, and took to dressing-as
even the %silliest and vainest now do in