Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1882-12-06
Hats ta America.

.An ECg is5ns1, writ ng 1Ter2 t1ls coun-
Try on hats, ssys:
Following tie course o. empire west
waid, | found that, after leaving the
n.ulstto cts.e,, I passed through the red
Irdlsn to the Chinese on the Pacific, and
then golug south, trsversed the Mexican
till came TO the negro, and through him
got back to the mulasto. As a matter of
chronological geography this division of the
State was sufficiently interesting, but an
additional interest accrued from looking
at il from the hat STANDPOINT. As gen
eral rule, IT may he accepted that hats are
made only Tor white men and that the
supplementary classes wear them after
they have been thrown away, and tina: the
negro, as a general thing, only arrives at 4
hat after il has been thrown away several
times. Nobody bnt negro cherIshes a
very old hat
The Chinaman, il may be, buys a
secondhand hat, and, after ironing the
brim out fiat, wears II with decency. A
red Indian begs or steals one, and. after
cutting out a bole IN the crown. stuffs the
orIfiee with feathers and walks around the
camp with much complacency- The mu-
latto. having found one lying about,
washes it, ties blue ribbon around 1t and
wears it ON Sunday. But the negro meets
with an old hat and straightway puts II en-
to as much of his head as 1t viii cover.
He does not try TO improve II or 10 ornH-
ment 1t. When he first saw II lying 10 the
road 1t was IAN ole hat, !" but once his 1t
becomes a new possession, and never
grows any older until he finds another.
Ard in Amenca, scattered up and down
the states, there is prodigious number oil
them lying about, especially in the Vest,
and most especially in The mIuing districts.
1t seems TO be a point of honor among
miners not to wear second hand hats, for
If they choose tney certainly need never
buy one Perhaps they suspect old hats
to be only some straiagem Of the enemy
TO get them into quarrel over the claim,
either to it or something else. At any rate,
whatever the reason, they never touch
them any more than coyote will touch a
dead Mexican. The Mexican, by the way,
eats so much red pepper when alive that
the coyote will not eat him when dead.
So they say The ''colored man," how
ever, does bot frequent mines, or he might
revel in a new Old hat every day. He pre-
fers civilization, and the result, in the
matter of hesd-covering, Is very striking.
His appreciation of the independence oil
American citizenship leads him into the
most complete reckiessness. There is moth
ing that he Will not put on the top Of his
head, provided there Is only enough OF II
to assure him that 1t once formed part of
a cap OF q hat, and that he eau balance
the fragment On his head. In Texas ami
Arkansas his originality excels itself-he
turns anything into hat. L saw negro
sitting on wood-pile, near Marshall, with
the lid of luncheon basket on his head
and tied around ms chin with red ribbon.
He was single person, Tor he accepted
the remarks of my companions IN the
kindest spirit possible, and told US he had
''snother hat" at home. This was only
h,s working day hat. The Indian has very
marked tastes, for he prefers the stove
pipe" hat. If with crown so much the
better Next to this is the gray felt, the
light color having superior facilities OF
adornnlent He begs for fragments oi
ribbon, for the metal ornaments used as
trademarks on cakes of Chewing tobacco,
and trims the crown with them, while he
adorns the bum with fringes of his own
conlrIyance. The labels of sauce bottles
make chasIe ornaments for mats OF this
kind. The Cninanan is profound 1ulIia-
rian. He understands, moreover, the Tea
object OF a hat in a warm climate, and
does not hesitate, therefore, a! any width
of brlnI, When working in the sun, as ]
saw them in gangs on the Southern Pa
cific line, he wears q construction thai
looks something like 2 laundry basket.
Speaking roughly, hats increase in bril as
security TO life and property diminish
IL was q man without nat that stabbed
Buckingham. This is true ali the wcrld
over, whether We are among the white
turbaned KOokas In India, the flap-hatled
banditu Of Italy, or the cowboys of Ari-
Zona and Texas. The outrageous briin
of the hat Of the Arizona Doy,-''the
white Indian," as be Is called, and he l.
indeed more terrible to iheel than the red
is the flag, as 1t were, of his insuOOrdi
nation 10 laws. Heis no respect of hm-
it's, and expresses a general abhorrence of
discipline by the license which he takes in
hats. y narrow bIim sayoTs 70 hin Of g
cramping civilization. lie refuses to lie
crbbed up under ordinary head gear.
Nothing is too WIDE Ior HIM. 1t he co1ld
he would put prairie upon his head
But leaving minor points about hats for
larger ones, whit wonderful amount OF
a mans respectability rests in his hat. To
try the experiment lose your hat over the
bridge ON windy day and walk a few
blocks without one. All the rest of your
clothes Will not save you from the per-
sonaliiies OF the juvenile public, nor the
unconcealed udicule of the more adult.
Ii Is no use TO stop and remind the street
boys that Julius Caesar never wore any
hiDg on his read. Ii you put your um-
1r,lla up Sou will make matters worse,
ILe msn who has lost his lat Is the gene
TAI joke of the moment.