Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-02-17

HISTORY OF THE BUsTLE.
Its Gigantic strife for prodigious Ex-
~cellence-1he Impetus Which IIas
Borne IL I through successive
Stages of Growth.

NOW We uoH mean the great DuSl-
ness hustle which belongs to the early
fall and inter- trade, nor the great
hustle of the humming and whirling
marts of manufactur NJ energy. We
mean the great hustle of modern fash
ion.
Nothing has outstripped the hustle in
its gigantic stride for prodigious ex-
cellence. 1t is p%aradoXical hat this
'outward form of fashion, which has
never been literally in front, has still
left all other modistic rivals behind.
We can recall when this startlingly
reproductive fruit received the distinct
impetus which has borne it through
successive stages to the present extra
ordinary condition of development.
The hustle got n |wondrous impetus
from an accident and alarm of the
war. We have i~ntently observed its
onward march toward immensely for
more than twenty years; and, now that
il has grown large enough to compre-
bend this commentary. We pay to its
historic origin u respectful compli-
ments.
The hustle of the war period in the
south was cut crcscent-Shaped, was
hand-sewed. and was then padded
through an open end W tn cotton or
sawdust. 1t was a modest, unobtru-
sive hustle in its tanners and when
properly adjusted was quite invisible to
the wearer and nearly so TO the world.
Like certain lunar cclipses. it could be
viewed only from a very limited area.
When Sherman's Christian battal-
ions were beating through the back
ways of Georgia and the Carolinas it
was deemed, for prudential reasons,
best TO deposit domestic treasure, such
rs money and valuables. where they
would not confront these patriots. 1t
was not ut first suspected that the sol
diers would appropra ate these effects,
= but IT was feared that the gilt bric-a-
brac, and brooch. and bracelet jewelry
might attract their admiration and inn
pede their march by tempting them to
stop and examine the precious wares.
When brought into full relief by
powerful field lenses it was at last
seen that >hcrmau's Christian battal-
ions were an army of incontinent
kleptomaniacs, and that new ingenui-
ties would be in constant need TO es-
cape their Keen and acute methods of
detecting the secret places of hidden
treasures. Hiding places were num-
erous in truth, but their instincts for
stealage were quite rs diverse and quite
rs many.
AT this crisis the hustle played a his
toric part.
1t became a safe-deposit vault for
mperiled jewelry possessions.
Both cotton and sawdust bustles
were now brought into a new use.
They were ripped and rid of their
waste, and then were rewarded but
this time with small wares and valued
gems. Two abnormal effects followed,
the first being a disturbance of the
symmetry and gravity of the former
hustle, the second being a marked in
crease in its proportions. This made
t the more observable, and this, too,
led TO its eventual detection by certain
Of the soldiers, which discovery Gull
minated in the theft of many bnstles
together with their precious and
highly-prizcd contents.
What was next TO do?
Shrewd and resourceful maidens
soon fell upon another device. There
was continual peril of loss while the
bustles were worn in their allotted
places upon the person, but there was
hope of escape for them f they could
be successfully concealed else where.
But where, oh where? In the housep
No! for Sherman entered with lurid
fagots in the woods. No! for his
marauders roasted upon the boughs.
So the noble women resolved to bury
her trlnkets in the fields. The broad
acres thus became the depository of
their charms and treasures, and the
earth covered up their-bustles.
See yonGer dune where the tassled
stalk is nodding to the breeze and you
hear the rustic Of the corn bladeP
veil, once you could hear the rustic OF
the hustle, See those tiny hills whence
the hopeful germ of the happy potato
is looking toward the sun. Well, those
little hills were once sown broadcast
with those beautiful suggestions of
dromedarial architecture known in the
parlance of worldly fashion as-bustles.
What became of them?
We cannot answer for them all, Nor
can we repress the thought that had
they all taken root and ripened and
risen in luxuriant loyliness what q har-
vest of bustles there would have been
But, like other tender and precarious
vegetation, bustles had to take their
chances-and more too.
Some o fthSn, as before, fell to the
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