The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1883-06-26
TIE WAR ON TROUSERS.

THE WAR ON TROUSERS.
There are signs of an irrepressib!e
conflict on the subject of trousers. A
small but indomitable band of agita-
tors have decreed that the trousers OF
the period are ungraceful and must
be replaced by the knee-breeches Of
the fathers. These agitators are too
discreet to neke their warfare incess-
ant. They appear at regular inter-
walls, each time with a little different
form of attack, strike their blow and
retire. Most Of the attacks have
been made by women, who have
sought to convert the masculine taste
byjrdicious appeals to masculine van
ity. The men have been told that
they would look ever 80 much more
picturesque and graceful in knee
breeches that in their present. style
of apparel they are too ridiculous
for anything" The Rev. Anna Oil
yer, who was one of the most radical
agitators, declared a few months ago
that the highest point of manly grace
and beauty would not be reached un-
til men resumed the dress of an old
time page. That opinion was raptu-
rously applauded at the time fof Its
utterance by the ladies who heard it,
but the men, for some reason or
other, failed to adopt the suggestion.
Possibly the fact that the weather was
cold at the time had some
thing to do with chilling the reform,
Other ladies soon after appeared,
and insured by the presence Of Mr..
Oscar Wilde, took up t. cudgels Wig
orously in favor of a more modified
phase Of the reform than the Rev.
Anna Oliver had advocated. They
recommended the sons of men to fol-
law Mr.. Wildes example and begin
not with tights but knee-breeches.
This suggestion was also coldly re-
oeived. 1t might have Jared better if
Mr.. Wilde had not been here as q
model of what theIreform was able to
do FOR q man. Whatever emotions Of
admiration that distinguished gentle
mans personal appearance may have
excited in the breasts of the gentler
sex, it is entirely accurate to say that
the emotions which a casual inspec-
ton of him awakened in the average
man were of different character. No
oae in the whole United States has ever
appeared who was willing to become
J follower of Oscar Wilde. He has
since confessed the failure of his mis-
sion by substituting trousers for his
own nee-breeches.
This discouraging failure depressed
The antitrousers movement for q time
but by no means suppressed it. 1t
broke out in q few quarter only q |
few days ago. This time a man is
aid to be the leader. The letter
;arries of Chicago fret got wind Of the
attack. The, heard that the post
master general was considering pro-
position to put all the letter-carriers
into knee-breeches, and like true sons
Of q free country they Immediately
an mitigation meeting and
protested. The burden of their pro-
test was that they would die rather
than be turned into dudes; that the
recommendation came from the Phila-
delphis postmaster, who is himself a
dude, and who lives in q city where
half the people are dudes, that out
West we are more Independent and
will fight to the bitter end; that there
can be no knee-breeches or petticoats
for us.
In our opinion this violent and
some what brutal outbreak will
quiet the reform for a month or two.
Chicago was not q favorable spot to
work upon. That was the city in
which Mr.. Wilde was called Wild
Oscar the Aesthetic and which he