National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1885-01-24
ELISE HATHAWAY ON HATS
SOME REFLECTIONS on MEMS HEAD GEAR
SUGGESTED by THE STRIKE.
The Modern Man to Fly to the Mlllncr for
Relief from the StoVe.Plpc Famlne-Fash.
ions 90 Suit Every style OF Masculine Beauty
or Hide Any. Previously Prominent Defect.

Ions 20 Suit Every style Of Masculine Beauty
or Hide Any. Previously Prominent Defect.
l believe IL Is Thsckeray who says 1--WE
may call it a swart sombroro' or % silkou
helm to storm impervious and lightsome
as the breezy gossamer,' but in the long
run perhaps IL is as we'll TO call II hat"
1t seems to me that Thackcray is for once
wrong. If one can even in words throw
little poetieal glamour around mans
hat IL Is an act of charity to do so What
article of use or ornament could possibly
need poetry's softening touch more than
the stiff, rigid, ungainly structures which
men perch complacantly upon their heads,
apparently serenely unconscious of their
total lack Of beauty Of form, fabric, or
COlor2
Nor do they seem TO be at all aware
that uniformity in hideousnoss Is an ag-
gravation of II. Whom man buys a hat
the first and gravest question in his mind
is "ls 1t exactly like the other fellow'sr'
the second, "Does II fit my head?" and
the third, How much does it cost ~
These three cardinal points satisfactorily
settled the hat is bought, rooted firmly
upon his head, and thereafter not wave
VI lIuuDlb TNllh hCEOhh hlh pGhIoluA bAtahb
as to his headgear.
Looked at from any point OF view this
mode Of procedure is all wrong.
NO LOVER OF THE PIcTUREs9UE
can gaze upon procession Of stylish men
without cold shivors running down his
spinal column. They are so sweetly OBJ
livious Of the fact that their headgear is
not modelled on the most approved princi-
Tatna nf nj frxr aud nlnnunpa What ~
IL does make one look as If he were all
nose, and another's ears stick out from
his head like tho handles of o jug? DO
they endesvor to vail these defects by q
judicious arrangement of tho Mussel-
mans picturesquely folded turban or the
cavaliers shadowy brims aud gracefully
dropping pumes? Not they. They plant
tho conventional abomination of funereal
Derby or sepulchral stovopipe upon their
heads, blindly unconscious that IL does
not shield from the weather the perfec-
| tions of an Antinous. Could they once
emulate the example of tho renowned St.
Patrick who, as history relates, swan
across the channel with his head in his
toeth, and so obtain an impartial view of
their own appearance, it might modify
their views.
But it is not alone for its unfortunate
able. l do not stop to allude to its an
noying habit OF tumbling out of the rack
in tho cars with hard bump on your
head, nor to tho agonios that its utter in
disposability, IL l may coin q word +,
causes its owner when 1t persistently rolls
out from under tho scat IN front of him
in church, or when his neighbor tramples
upon 1t at tho theater, but pass on to
graver considerations. There are deeper
questions underlying this subject than
those of appearance or oonveniencs. This
| painful and tiresome uniformity, which
renders it possible for man to wear tt Q
same hat all winter is striking st one of
| the leading industries of the country. If
men of taste and fashion wore
DIFFERENT HATS ON DIFFERENT ocoA-
sIoNs.
as to the theater or to church, to play
billiards or to make calls, to funeral or
to wedding; if they had hats of various
shapes and colors to suit their different
moods and costumes, there would necos-
sarily be larger demand than there Is
at present. and we would not read, as we
do in the recent papers, that at the -four
principal hating centers-Norwalk and
Danbury in Connecticut; Newark, New
Jersey, and at BroOklyn-the shops, II
run on full hours, can turn out enough
hats in six months to supply the country
for year. Would this be the case If some
thought aud invention went to the pro.
duction of each hat, IL men of cultured
aud refined taste demanded originality OF
design and delicacy of execution, instead
of tamely accepting hats turned out by
the thousand, as precisely alike as If cut
with a cake-cutter? True, it is less ex.
pensive for the individual, but are We
not bound to consider the greatest good
of tho greatest number. And Is not the
prosperity Of the factories Of greater i'm
portance than the little psltry economy
Of an individual man?
This subject has been strangely neglect
ed by sociologists aud political economists
There seems to be no Gllusion to 1T in thI
works Of Mill, Spencer, or Carlyle. Per
haps their very silence is a confession u
their incompetence to grapple with 81
deep a theme. An evil which has so Ions
been deeply rooted in society is not to b,
destroyed in an hour. But sRnguint
minds are saying now that thOy see IL
certain indications tho dawning of
brighter day. The principal hopeful
augury is that
THE HATTEgs HAVE STRUCK
They themselves have seen tho demoral
izing effects of this steady aud unvaryinI
stream of Derbies and stovepipes, anC
from motives Of philanthropy, as we'll a
self-proteetion, have resolved to oeas,
their production.
In q short time tho thoughtful observer
will see the result of this step. Th
male population of the country is nov
provided with winter hats, but in fey
months the spring will be upon us, neces
stating the purchase of new spring hats
OF course no man with any pretension Il
self-respect can wear the same hat tw
seasons. After tho leftover stock iron
last year is bought up where will tn
would-be purchaser turn2 The halter
will close their doors and he will
, thrown hatless upon the mercy Of col
world, or-worse fato-of hot one. II
might brave the cold spring breezes, bu
to go bareheaded-
"Neath the blazing star of Sirius
When the pOstmen slOwlier Jog,
When the OK becomes delirous,
: And the muzzle decks the dog"
. ..s,lI hn fanIg ha tan,nt;n., D.n,iJon..