The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-07-21
THE STOVE-PIPE HAT.
POINTS FROM A DISCUSSION IN A
LEADING SCOTCH PAPER.

LEADING SCOTCH PAPER.
How Victory Msy Porch Upon Tall
SILK Hat Testimony of Three Wit
nesses-valuo of the Stove-Pipe In Pro-
noting Morality.
During the rast few weeks the columns OF
the leading paper in Glasgow have been
opened 10 correspondents who desired 10
present arguments for and against the wear
n of The tall silk hat. 10 judge from the
number Of letters that have been published
on the subject, one would suppose that hun
.lreis Of people had devoted the best part OF
their lives comsi iering tho merits Of the pro-
per covering Of the heads of men, aud that
nearly ell vi them had come to the conclu-
sion, q: ter diligent study, observation, and
icction, that tho tall silk hat possessed ad-
ventages over every form Of headgear that
had bcen worn in ancient or modern times
A commercial traveller states that when
he first took to the road be wore suit OF :,
light tweed cloth and O soft slouch hat
These he thought would be very comfort
able, well suitcd for travelling, and sufi-
GENTLY dressy for person engaged In his
occupation His trip was not successful,
| though he abstained tronAall the vices COM
mon to "drunmers" and. attended strictly
| to business. The few bills of goods hs sold
were to small dealers Of somewhat doubtful
commercial standing. He was 80 dis
couraged by his failure to secure
trade that he was thinking Of giving
up tue business when an English com.
mercial traveller suggested to him that his
dress was not in his favor He recon-
mended him to discard his tweed sack and
low slouch hat and to wear in their place
black frock-coat and shiny stove-pipe, and
to try shis luck again" He followed the
advice and succeeded far beyond his first
anticipations He was welcomed at places
where he was not received before, and gem
orally made large sales.
THE VALUE OF GOOD CLOTHES
This statement is followed by ono from q
prosperous city merchant He writes that
he entered the house of which he is now
the manager and senior partner as an office
boy. He at once resolved ITO work himself
up to the highest round" if that could be
accomplished by study, care. industry, and
the exercise Of all the ability he possessed:
His progress was slow at first, but he at:
tributed this to the fact that he was young.
When he became a man he dressed plainly,
ordinarily in tweed clothes and low hat SO
as to save ell he could Of his salary. He
made himself useful to the house and was
more than once assured that his services
were duly appreciated Still nothing was
said to him about taking him into the firm
or giving him an interest in the business.
Becoming discouraged at his prospect Of
| advancement LIE concluded that he might
as we'll spend more of his salary in dress
and in making q better appearance. He
accordingly appeared at his place Of busl-
ness one Monday morning in black broad
cloth suit, while tall silk hat was on his
head He entered on his duties as usual
and no remarks were made about his
change Of dress, but more customers ad-
dressed him than was customary, and be-
| fore the week ended he was invited to be-
come member Of the firm ,.
A German commercial gentleman tenn:
porarily residing in Glasgow adds his testi-
mony in favor Of the tall hat He states
that merchants from London and Paris
are better received in Berlin than are those
from Glasgow and Edinburgh, and he is ih-
clined to think that the preference to them
! is due to the tall hats they wear, as the
soft hats worn by the Scotchmen present d
very cheap appearance
The testimony OF these three men appears
to be sufficient to establish the value of the
tall hat in the world Of trade and COM
merce. Its value in promoting respectable
ity and morality is declared by many per-
| sons
FROM A MORAL STANDPOINT.
A woman states that she has for many
years observed the men taken to station
house by the police, and that not one in 30
wears tall hat Another has noticed
while travelling that the men who wear tall
hats behave in more dignlfed, respectful
| and refined manner than those who wear
caps OF low hats Tue former are not ad-
dicted to the use of profane or low Ian
! guage. . A lady who has given much attcn-
! tion to the matter of dress thinks that no
covering for the head is so becoming or
tasty as the tall silk hat and she regrets
that they are SO expensive and so liable to
! cause headache end badness This letter
calls out communications from physician
and dealer in secondhand goods. Tho
doctor states that the tall hat is the most
healthful covering for the head, and de-
| clares that the men who wear them very
! rarely have tho headache If the hat has a
ventiiator in the top Of it the wearer is not
/ likely to become bald. 1t causes the top Of
/ the head to be surrounded by air, which is
! the poorest conductor Of heat, thus keeping
! it warm in winter and cool in summer
| The dealer in secondhand articles Of dress
states that he pays more than twice as much
for cast OIL silk hats as he does for felt hats
! that originally sold for the same price. He
thinks if they were generally worn that
dealers would pay half price for them when
they had seen six months service. They
would be cleaned UP and shaped so as to
conform to the lut?st styla Finally, tho
testimony of professor Of science and navi-
gator is given in regard to the value OF the
tall hat as life-preseryer He says it Is
more serviceabie in case Of sripwreck than
any buoy he las ever experimental with.
1t now seems evident that the stove-tlpe
hat is tho most potent agent in every de-
partment of progress and reform that we
possess. We now understand why there Is
so much wealth, refinement, culture, and IN
teliectu:.l activity III Lonlon and Paris
The men who live i'll these cities generally
wear stove piye hats In view or the testl-
p.ony that has been given Oil the subject ID
SCENES likely that we have not yet dis
covered half the virtues OF the tall hat
Chicago Times
Curta;lcd Diet as u Cure.
DR.. C. T. Page Of Ro:ton, seems intent
on supplcmenting the solution OF the drink