The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-03

tv. Are these proper pictures to put out for
the public to look at3 to say nothing OF the
propriety of females appearing. in public in
dress like that 1t is shameful"
am obliged to take the testimony OF these
actors and managers and friends Of the thea
tre-testimony confirmed by the board fences
end the show windows presenting pictures
showing the way the play actresses dress: 1
snppose those are accurate pictures If they
are not they are swindles, getting people lnto
the theatres with the promise OF spectacular
nudity that they do not perform. Ii those pic
lures are accurate they show the damnable cos
tunes of play actresses; II they are 1alse
nv friends, all this familiariZes the public
mind to improper apparel Your common
sense tells You that. All that depresses pub
lie conscience as to what is allowable
and as to what is right. The parlor and the
drawing-room are to-day running q race
with the theatre and the opera bouffe, and
they are nearly neck and neck in the race,
and though the parlor and draWlng-roon
NAV be a little behind now, they are
catching up very fast, and the prooaDlllgy Is
that by the time they pass the stand 5ney y
narlor-that one-helf of pandemonium VIII
Clap their hands because the .parlorr Is
ahead, and the other half Of pandemonlum
will clan their hands because opera houfe Is
ahead. charge you in the name of God; on,
Christian woman, neither by style OF dress
nor adjustment of your apparel administer 10
this awful evil. Show me the fashion plates
of any city from now back to the time Of Of
EngsnS Fs and If FraHie ~ ts Sf yoa Esx What
the morals Of that age, or that year.
There is no exception to the
rule. Modest apparel the sign Of good society,
Immodest apparel the sign of a con;amlnated
and depraved society. But my friends 1
not only reprehend the boldness Of fashlona,
BILE indecency, against which pulpit and
platform and printing press ought to huri
their red-hot anathemas, but also reprehend
costliness of costume beyond cur means.
When say that you cannot dictate to me
and cannot dictate to you, for | do not
know what your means ara. But th is dress
ing beyond ones means is an evil nl1mlta6ie
and ghastly. Arnold attempted to sell this
country in the time of the Revoluti n. What
for2 70 get money for his home wardrobe:
The attempt to keep snowy wardrobe and
great establishment is taking many more
business men to ruin than all other causes
combined Go into the history Of the past
fifteen years and see how many in this way
have been led to the watering of stock, or as
bank president, to perjure themselves about
assets, and business men in various depart
ments conspicuous going down in their at
tempt to keep up great home establishments
and splendid wardrobe. Why should we 60 to
those cases when you and I know scores
of men and scores Of women, who are at their
wits end from January to December in the
attempt to keep up as great establishments
as.their neighborsaud as splendid wardrobes.
Our politicians at Washington may theorlze
until the expiration Of their official terms
about the best way Of bettering the finances
80 %ba h1rtI ta11 ,,1o that
until we, the people Of America, learn to put
on our heads and backs and hands and feet
no more than we can pay for, the evil
will 20 on. There are young
men in banks and stores on
limited salaries, in this attempt to keep up
great wardrobe, almost dead in the effort to
provide the diamonds and the cashmeres and
the apparel far beyond their capacity to fur
nish, and they have nothing left except that
which they spend for their cigars and their
wine suppers, and they die before their time,
and they want us ministers Of the gospel to
come and preach about them, as though they
were the victims Of early piety. Heightened
funerals they will have. with silver handles
at the side gloriously polished, and afterward
it will be found out that even the undertaken
has been chealed out of his legitimate
expenses. Do not send for me to preach
such mans funeral sermon, for will blurt
strangled to death by his wifes ribbons. 1t
is deplorable-this nation Is being dressed to
death. You are not surprised that a public
building in New York cost millions Of dollars
more than it ought to have cost when you
find out that the man who gave out the con-
tracts paid $1,000 for his daughters wedding
dress. I have been told that for years gone by
cashmeres of 81, 900 worth have been no rar-
ity on Fulton street, or Broadway, New York.
I have had it from good authority that
there are s, 900 women i'll these two cities who
expend on personal array s2,000a year each.
What are men to do in order to provide such
wardrobe beyond their means2 There is only
one thing they can do. Steal! That is the
only respectable thing they can do Tens of
thousands of business establishments during
the past twenty years have foundered on the
wardrobe. Temptation comes in about this
way: A man naturally thinks more of his
own family than of anybody else's family,
and when they spend the whole evening de
scribing the superior array of the family
across the street-people they cannot bear to
look at-the father and the husband is put
back upon his pride of family and Upon his
gallantry, and while he does not actually
translate his feelings into plain language he
goes into extortion and issuing Of false stock,
and skilful penmanship in the signingof other
mems names at the foot of promissory notes,
to the penitentiary, the wife to the sewing
machine and the children to be taken
the the "poor relations" Oh, for some
SHAKESPEARE to write the tragedy of
human clothes. Act the first of the tragedy:
Plain but beautiful home Enter the newly
married couple. Enter all simplicity of man.
ner and behavior. Enter as much happiness
as ever enters home. Act the second: Dis
content with circumstances, and enter Jeal-
ousy. enter envy. Enter desire for display.
Enter queenly dressmakers. Enter French
milliners. Enter all kinds of costly expendi-
lures. Act the fourth: Tip top Of society.
Enter the princes and princesses Of New
York and Brooklyn life. Enter all magnifi-
cence of plate and equipage. Act the fifth:
Winding up Of the whole affair. Enter the
assignee. Enter the sheriff. Enter
the creditors. Enter humiliation,
Enter the wrath of God, and enter the con-
tempt Of society, and enter Death; Drop the
silken curtain on the stage. The farce is
ended and the lights are out. Will you for
give me if put in terseSt shape the truth
that there are thousands Of men in America
who must forge, and lie, and perjure, and
swindle to pay for their wives dresses? I
will say it, whether you forgive me or not.
Excessive discipleship Of costume and
worship of the world are the foes Of
Christian benefcence, and I tell
you what you know before that the simple
fact is men and women put SO much money
on their houses and their stables and their
equipage and their dress that they have no
money left for making Of the world better,or
alleviating human suffering. The Christian
man cracking the back Of his Palais Royal
glove enclosing his hand tight enough to put
penny in the poor box. Women at the story
of the Hottentots weeping copious tears into
S25 pocket handkerchiefs and putting two
cents under the dollar bills Sc far that no one
l,,tf that; INA