The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1883-02-21
HATS In AMERICA.
Observations Of mn English Traveller az
Onr IIeRdwcar.

During my recent travels in America
writes an Englishman who has been making
tour of the United States) l hive been al
times fairly overwhelmed by the contempla-
ton of some of the head-coverings have
seen, and more especially among the sup.
Elementary classes, If may call them SO,
of the American people. Following the
course Of empire westward I found that
after leaving the mulatto States passed
through the red Indian to the Chinese on
the Pacific, and then, going south, travesed
The Mexican till came to the negro, and,
through him, got back again to the mulatto.
The Chinaman, it may be, buys second
hand hat, and, after ironing the brim out
fiat, wears it with decency. red Indian
begs or steals one, aud, after cutting out a
hole in the crown, stuffs the orifice with
feathers and walks around the camp with
much complacency. The mulatto, having
found one lying about, washes it, ties blue
ribbon round it and wears ii on Sunday.
But the negro meets with an old hat and
straightway puts it on TO as much of his
head as it viii cover. He does not try to
improve it or to ornament. When he first
saw it lying in the road it was san ole hat,n
out once his it becomes a new possession.
and never grows any older until he finds
another And in America, scattered up and
down the States, there is prodgious mum.
Der of them lying about, especially in the
West and most especially in the mining dis
tricts. 1t seems to be point of honor
among miners not to wear second hand hats,
for if they choose they certainly need never
buy one. Perhaps they suspect old hats to
be only some stratagem of the enemy to get
Them into quarrel over claim, either to it
Or to something else. At any rate, whatever
the reason, they never touch them any more
than coyote will touch dead Mexican.
(rho 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." however, does not frequent
mines. or he might revel in new old hat
every day. He prefers civilization aud the
result, in the matter of his head covering. is
very striking. His appreciation of the indie.
pendence of American citizenship leads him
into the most complete recklessness There
is nothing that he will not put on tho top of
his head-proyided there is only enough of
it to assure him that ii once formed part of
cap or hat and that he can balance the
fragment on his head. In Texas and Arkar.
ias his originality excels itself-he turu.
anything into hat. / saw negro sitting
Ia
of q luncheon basket on his head and tied
around his chin with red ribbon. He was
singular person, for he accepted the re-
marks of my companions in the kindlost
spirit possible, and told us that he had IAN
,ther hat" at home. This was only his
working day hat. The Indian has very
marked tastes, for he prefers the "stove-
pipe" hat. II without n crown 80 much the
better. Next to this is the gray felt, the
light color having superior facilities of adorn.
ment. He begs for fragments of ribbon or
or the metal ornaments used as trade marks
IN cakes of chewing tobacco, and trims the
crown with them, while he adorns the brim
with fringes of his own contrivance The
labels off sauce bottles make chaste orna.
ments for bats of this kind. The Chipaman
is pronounced unitarian He understands,
moreover, the real object of hat in warm
climate, and does not hesitate, therefore, at
any width OF brm. When working in the
sun, ~ cav them in gangs on the South.
ern Pacific line, he wears construction
that looks something like laundry basket.
Speaking roughly, hits increase in brim ns
security to life and property diminish. II
was man without hat that stabbed Buck
inghsm This is true oil the world over,
whether we ara among tho wide turbaned
Kookas in India, the fat-hatted bnnditti Of
Italy or the cowboys Of Arizona and Texas.
The umbrageous brim Of the hat Of the
Arizona cowboy" the white Indian" as he
Il called, and he Is indeed more terrible to
meet than the red-is the flag, as II were, OF
his characterization to laws. He Ia no res.
pecter of limits, aud expresses general abb
horrence of discipline by the license which
he takes in hats. A narrow brim savors to
him of q cramping civilization. He refuses
to be cribbed up under ordinary head gear.
Nothing is too wide for him. If he could he
would put prairie on his head.