The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1885-09-23
DRESS AND MANNERS
IAs Travelling sals.nsa !. . cni.n,-
PFoalEIea. A..ufaas.r Country Eslt.

Ths Travelling saiesnan = . ciyiiln,-
ProalEieus Assurance Country Eo,t..
pooaiyn EaEial
Tho most striking feature Of the I'm.
melse crowd Whi,h came to town 70
view the Grant funeral, seems to have
escaped the general notice. Tho people
had come from all over the country,
and Jet they displayed little or no eyi.
dences Of provincialiSm. Among the
half million or million Of visitors,
nearly oil were 90 we'll dressed and
quietly hammered that they looked as
though they had come from neiRhboE.
ing cities rather than from villages and
the back woods An ingenious explana.
ton Is that Il Is entirely due to the
travelling salesman. He Is said to be
the great ciyilizer Of America, and &
responsible to q large degree for the i'm.
proyement in the appearance Of the
people who are remote from tho great
cities This Is moi my own opinion 81.
aetly, but II Is one that l have often
heard expressed.
The manners OF tho drnmmers have
met have not always been loyable and
worthy OF imitation. They are an
agreeable lot Of men, and when one
meets them out Of New .ork they seem
much more important than when they
are encountered here. Tho most sur.
prising thing abont the drummers To be
met on the road, particularly in
the extreme west aud south,
Is tho fastidions and elegant
manner In which they dresa Until o
year or so agoI had always supposed
that commercial travellers, when 6uSily
engaged In going from town to town
and fairly living on the tailtoad trains,
wore rough travelling suits, blouses or
some sort Of serYiceable but not expen.
Slse attire. This was very far from the
true condition Of things. 1 found that
they Travelled in palace cars constantly,
and that nearly all Of them dressed with
an amount Of pfetension and elegance
that would do Justice to q broker IN the
stock exchange. Patent leather boots,
immaculate white ties, perfect fitting
clothes and gloves and neat umbrellas
were found among them everywhere; in
word, the best dressed men 10 10
found west Of Philadelphia arc IN.
questionably the travelling Salesmen.
Perhaps our country cousins have
copied them In the way OF attire. II
so they had good models. When L
comes 10 manners II Is an entirely dlt.
ferent thing. The assurance Of thetray.
cling man Is prodigious; nothing ever
staggers hin, and be does the most az.
traordinary things with calmness and
colnpla6ency that set other travellers
aghast. Lie invariably acts as IL he
owned the railroad when be Travelled,
and, The Is bright, talky and anus.
ing, he is invariably on good terms With
tha porter anil the sleeping-car con.
ductor When three or four New York
travelling men meet in q sleeper the
oth0r travellers amount to very little:
somehow the drummers manage to got
the best Of everything. Bottles Of iced
beer are brought out Of the refrigeraturs
for them, while the other passengers
must DO content with condensed milk
and queer coffee, and they en- oy luxu.
ries that the millionaire traveller, despite
the most liberal tips, can never hope to
gain. l7' ff sQ.
Their influence In the matter Of dress
Is unusually potent when they happen
to be travelling for q clothing house.
The great New York and Philadelphia
clothing houses send out small armies
Of clipper young men, who Scour the
country thoroughly and establish
branch stores for the sale OF their ready
made clothes from one end Of the coun.
try TO the other. They have taught
the farmers and their boys 10 wear
business suits Of light material and
light color In the summer, and have
taught them much In the way Of what
Is seasonable in attire. There was
a time when the ambition OF
every farmers heart and the desire Of
every hired man was to possess q sto'e.
pipe hat a long black 6roadCloth coat
and apair Of heavy doeskin trouierS
Thus equipped they wandered about
the streets Of New FORK on their visits,
almost melting under the rays Of the
sun. aar4 'ei ~Gl it-.6
Less than ten years ago, at this sea.
son Of the year, the streets we're alive
With Just such absurdly dressed ylsi.
t9rs, and an occasion like that ofth fun.
efal Of Gen. Grant brought counttymen
to town who were grotes3uely and un.
comfortably clad and who advertised
the fact that they were provincial In
every angle OF their curious clothes.
all that Is changed now. The visitors
TO New York from the country can
scarcely be distinguished from the aver.
ago run Of New Workers themselves,
except, perhaps, that the countrymen
have ruddier and healthier faces.