The Newtown bee., 1879-07-30
Needed. Laaser Hahits.

A large proportion of our discomfort in hot weather comes from our fashion of wearing apparel. Our garments are not adapted for torrid heats Our dress conforms mainly to fashion and cool weather.
 The garments of the native of the trop- ics fit him loosely Ours are tight. We bandage ourselves with stiff linen collars and neckties. Our feet are now cramped, feverish and uncomfortable in the shoe and stocking of civilization. The 0ri- ental has the sandal or slipper, which is merely a sole caught to the foot The turban of light, gauzy material is bet ter protection for the head than our al- most rimless and senseless summer hats. We allow tailors, who remain almost entirely indoors, to devise the shape of garments with which we must brave the scorching sun. We must wear. the band aging shirt collar, though it be required to change it half a dozen times daily. A spring or summer hat means in many cases a hat of light color, but which in other respects would answer as well for winter as summer. This is another tri- umph of the designing natter.
 But let our garments be of what cut, color or fashion they may, for summer they must be tight fitting. They must exclude air from the skin. This is the |, the closer fit may be desirable because we need as much as possible to retain the natural heat of the body. But in summer we require to rid ourselves of superfuous heat. Thin clothing does not answer this purpose if thin clothing t' fits like glove" Yet with his under shirt, shirt, vest and coat, the gentleman of the period goes about with four tight. natty-htting bandages about his person and then complains of the heat. He swathes his legs in tightly y-fitting drawers and trousers. His feet are likewise actual ly bandaged with close-ftting leather plains of the heat. He perches on his head a hat nearly devoid of rim and com- plains that the sun dazzles his eyes. For protection and comfort in hot weather the European costume is a mass of ab- surdity. We could, with advantage to health and comfort, take lessons of the Orientals, But wno will haze the cour- age to appear on the street in Turkish trousers? He would be mildly mobbed Yet we scorn the people of London who threw the mud of prejudice at the man umbrella, likewise an adaptation from the Oriental. And our women bandage themselves in light but tight materia even more than the men, and their only comfort in this hot weather is. first, to make themselves secure against visitors retire to their inmost chamber, close the blinds and take it off. And we are the people who propose to carry the war into Africa and teach the benighted dwellel of the desert how to live!
 Let it be remembered thaA among us where one person dies immediately ot sunstroke, ten of whom we never heal are seriously and probably permanently injured through the same cause, and twenty more indisposed. The exhaus- tion caused through a succession o1 blazing, scorching days takes many forms of disease, and some of this might be avoided if our customs conformed more to the requirements of this trying season. Our June, July and August climate is tropical. We need to study tropical summer habits, where nearly all the outdoor labor is performed in the early morning or evening, where garments are worn, not only thin but loose, save when the European clings with senseiess prejudice to the fashion oi his own country.-NeaO York Graphic.