Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-10-22

| winter, and no fancy materials are used, but
there is such an infinite variety in the popular
| English, Scotch. French and German woolen
goods so much worn last season. that the lack
Oh novelty is not noticeable. Heavy overcoats
are made variOusly of fur beaver, elysian. chin
| emilia, or of the rougher Scotch and English ma
terlals so fashionable. There is but little change
| IN the make OF overcoats, except that they are
longer and tit more closely than heretofore. The ia
VOrlte single breasted sack with Solutions:
| these may button through, or have the fly front
| with concealed buttons, as fancy dictates.
Double breasted overcoats are still made i'm all
| kinds of material. and will be warm and COM
| Portable, if not in the extreme of fashion The
| Surtout, always elegant and never out of style.
is to be distinguishing feature of this winters
| fashions. 1t is mostly made of smooth cloth,
elysian or fur beaver but will be seen this sea-
son in more marked patterns. The correct thing
| for young men who ride or drive much is the
| loose oversack. which will be considered quite
| elegant for street wear. and take the place of
the ulster, which seems to have had its day, eX-
cept for travelling and rough weather. The
| frock ulster is. however, quite the newest thing
| in overcoats; it is made with short waist, me-
dunn length skirt, and is generally seen in rough
| Scotch goods
In undercoats the two prevailing styles are
the four-button cutaway and the straight four
| button sack. The One-button cutaway Is for
stout men, who cannot wear the new walking
coat, but still have genteel aspirations. These
coats fit very snugly, and are worn buttoned. to
| the rolling collar; the lower button is left I'M
| fastened to give glimpse of the vest. Frock
coats are as much in vogue as ever, and are the
! only elegant style for middle-aged gentlemen;
there is slight change in the shape of the
skirt, which is cut away from the waist instead
| OF from the first or second button. Gray frOck
suits have recently been introduced and are
rapidly finding favor. Double breasted five
button sacks are made close fitting in the back.
with narrow collar and high lapel; these are
| popular for business suits. Sleeves are all
l fifrhf ILL al,a
braided, and finished with two buttons, or
none. according to taste. novelty in binding
Is double row of stitching on a medium width
braid, and it is very neat and stylish.
In dress suits there aresome decided changes;
| on the coat the broad collar and lapel are no
more, but it is made with q small collar and
lapel to roll a trif1e higher, giving vastly i'm
proved appearance to the whole. The vest is
cut short and straight across, and has but one
| or two buttons; the trousers are moderately
tight. But the greatest novelty in dress suits
| is the decided change in the material. The
| smooth brOadclOth and cashmere that were the
conventional goods for gentlemen's evening
| wear have given place to very fine diagonals and
| an elastic material called Marling suitng that
does not show any special pattern.
There is gradual decrease in the size and
general appearance of trousers, and no one
| seems to know the origin of this truly American
| change of fashion. For several seasons trousers
have been growing smaller by degrees and
beautifully less" till the extreme of tightness
| appears to have been reached this winter The
London tailor, Poole, is cutting them as loose
as at any time for some years. The present
style is small and plain cut quite straight, with
but little spring. and shorter than last year
The material is anything that appeals to mans
fancy, and there is no arbitrary style. Pin
Checks small stripes. indefinite plaids and
quieter patterns of every color and description
| are worn. 1t is only in fancy makes and gray
mixtures that the whole suit is made from the
| same goods
Vests have changed somewhat, and are gen.
| orally single breasted, without a collar, closing
high; and some are made to close only moder-
ately high and have a notch collar They are
cut short and straight across, very little show
| ing with the present style of coat. The mate
rial is matter of taste, but of the same as the
coat is always good taste. Fancy vestings have
| been imported by some leading houses, but do
not become popular though it is said they will
be in time. AS long as the high roll, closely
| buttoned coat is worn, fancy vests will remain
in the background.
Whipping in the Old.Time School.
| From The Boston Transcript.
public school fifty years ago was a very diff
ferent affair from what it is now adays.
Upon my word, when think Of the whipping
| that went on day after day in the old Mayhew
School, am astOnished at it. Yet with the va
| rlety of corporal punishment so freely bestowed
there was mingled sort of CHASTITY sportive ele-
ment, grim humor which did not always COM
| mend itself to the perception of him who re-
ceived the fagellatiOn. merry cOnceit, for in
| stance, was that of Master Clough.
That ingenious person would direct culprit
| to stand upon the platform, near the desk, and
| without bending the knees, touch the floor with
| his fingers. Then smart flourish of the rattan
and sudden blow would cause the unhappy
| youth to involuntarly resume an upright posi-
ton with diverting rapidity. 1t was really very
amusing Ito Master Clough). Sometimes an
offender would be asked by one Of the masters
| which instrument of torture he would choose
| the rding-whip, the ruler, or the rattan. Which
| ever he seemed to prefer was not the one used
| but one OF the others would make him smart
| This little change would have healthful moral
influence upon the scholar, teaching patience
and resignation under disappointment.
pleasant Illustration Ito the teacher) of the irony
| OF fate was shown in another way. When the
| stock of rattans ran low (and that was not
| seldOm) some victim in disgrace would be dis
patched for fresh supply, knowing that on his
return he would feel the first stroke of the rod.
| With what ingenious refinement of torture the
victim was thus made to find the weapon that
| should wound him.
There was another clever diversion of our
| kind-hearted masters which, in summer, when
the days were long, occasionally broke the
| m0notOny OF school-bOy life. Sometimes, of a
sultry July afternoon, a tired scholar overcome
| by the heat. would find the sound of voices in
the room grow fainter and fainter, his head
would droOp and finally sink upon his desk,
anu he Woulu quickly De IN the Pheasant land
| OF dreams. Then it was that the master, Selling
his rattan and stealthily yet joyfully striding
across the rows of desks, would give the Sleep
| ing wretch such a r0using whack as to astonish
and confound as well as suddenly awake him.
confess that these diversions of the pede-
gogue were not without their attraction for us
| who looked on and saw the cOmcal contortions
| OF the boys whose fortune it was at the moment
to be under discipline. The fact that our turn
might come next did not prevent us from find
ing what entertainment we might in what our
master evidently enjoyed. None of us had yet
read the maXims of the cynical La Rochef0u-
cauld, but we realized that under certain cir
| cumstances there is something in the misfOr-
tunes of our friends that gives us a certain sort
| of satisfaction.
Those were indeed days when flogging was
administered in no homeopathic doses, but with
most heroic fullness Of practice. l once made
| a careful estimate of my own experience in that
way, and came to the conclusion that had
averaged about a whipping and a half day
during my connection with the Mayhem school.
OF course we became somewhat Injured to this
| rough treatment. 1t was considered the proper
thing to suffer with Spartan frmness, and he
| who while laid across the masters knee could
calmly make comical and derisive faces from his