Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-01-07
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Travellers inform us thai there IL q tribe a
Central Africa tire women az which wear na
clothing ~haicver. willie the meB wear a..
usual large siiirt collar. striped trousers ani
comic hat Characteristic of tic male negro
everywhere. TIE MASON for this curious
difference Of dress between Tie sexes has Seea
only recently sscelfaGed. 4 missionary tsao
made careful Inquiries in re.-Rrd TO IL was told
hy native king that tine women We're forbidden
to wear clothing, - that tacy could occupy the
front seats al theateTs without shut ing OF the
stare from the sigh, OF the rest oftRe audience.
-" hen our women were allow "a 10 dress them-
selves. sad the king, slaeakug in his Hntige
Nponi dialect. 1T was useless for any one 10
attend toe opera or the thyatCT. since he could
see nothing bat the bunucts and back hair at
the women iD trout al him. Now we have
changed all that. ~ you readily ascertain
10y attending lite next performance al the ROYAL
thcater" The missionary. % course did Eat
90 la the tbeater buj hp VAS compelled 10 adj
nit that the native kings were more intelligent
in some things than the men al fis rat Ne scot
land. and nc immediately wrote home 10 the
general assembly az his particular XIX Suggest
Ing tnat The principle OF restricting feminine
dress might be adopted ian a modified foftu Ia
connection with church services III home.
This instructive anecGotc ot missionary lallor
is recalled 10, the oulcI1 which men in civilized
cite; ~" aoN making against the large rOand
FAT hats worn 10y fashionable ladies' There l. TAO
doubt tGat these has interfere nd the con fcrt
of thcater-gucrs. une 90 them is alone sufficient
10 shut Oh the view OF the cUiir" stage fro'n haif
dozen unfortunate lgen. ~ humorous are
these hats that perhaps thyce--ssrth, of tie nn-
dience at any particular tir.,iCr does not chialu
Sln2le glimpse oi The play. Indeed an euthu-
SiaStic LEeatCT-CoeT has attended the rgpresenta-
ton OF Pai,acc siXty-three times and has only
once caUgAt a moWentaIy sight OF the stage
This is state OF THINGS which S naturally very
cooperating TO men. INT nothing can be more
idle than to sunooSe That women viii cas- aside
their big hats because men dcBOunCe and ridi-
cuie tdem. ON the contrary. they viii cling all
the more foaIly 80 them. ard A. ~ probably add
few extra feet TO the circumference ot their
hai-bTaS.
CuriouSy enough no woman seems vet TO
have noticed the remarkable acoustic proper
ties Of these big hats. Placed as they are,
nearly on the back OF the head aud curving
from the center TO the circumference IN very
nearly the proportions of a raiabo!a, tie big
hats are so many sOundu--hrards. A hat Of
this kind has no perceptibie effect upon the
voice OF the wearer. bat whatever is said to her
bv anGlncr person is reflected from the parabolic
interior al the hat, and can be plainly heard at
distance of not less thaE twenty aud not more
than serenity feet. II may strike the unscien-
tine reader as strange that the voice thrown
back by the hat cannot d. heard at a less dis
tance than twenty feet, hut any one vino is
familiar with Schmidjz's lax Il the paIaboc
iNit'Nttth VI ntuali IA lNAuilA hifutiHttisu tne
phenomenon.
The result of this remarkable acoustical prop
eTty of the parabolic hat is that the actors ON
the stage of a theateT hear nearly everything
that is laid among the auGterCe The liglttest
whisper breathed into psaSbulic hat los dis
Greet lover or an intimate friend is perfectly
audible on the STAGE. The babel of souacs
during the ehb. ccieS Is SOURCE Of Immense
amusement L. those employed on the stage and
WHO have leisure TO stand at the wines ana lis
ten 10 the conversation Of the audience IL
must be confessed that remarks Intended only
for particular ears thus often become the prop
erty Of a dozen actors or STAGE carpenters, but
let Us hope that the amused listeners viii prove
discreet. Perhaps when the ladies are appraised
of the acouztical properties OF these hats they
viii 6e eager To discard them and - return TO
smaller and safer hats. but such result would
ne extremely unwecone to the dramatic pro-
fessi0n and TO the confidential friends of actors
who are occasionally admitted 10 the stage to
share the entertainment afforded by the para
bOiic hats.