Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1889-07-25
MAN AND HIS Hat.
It's Proper Management and Infallible |
Sign of Good Breeding.

thoroughly, or 1t comes hard, and is
always skittish possession.
A mother habitually indulgent to
her children called her eldest born--a
boy of 10-back when he had left her
on street corner. The lad covered
under the severity of eye and accent:
''Never dare to leave me in the street
again without raising your hatT she
said. at is token of respect you
owe to every woman, and never forget
that your mother is womanr'
The reproof was double -barbed. As
sociation with mothers and sisters is
excellent practice in an exercise that
cannot be allotted without injury to
him who takes the liberty.
1.-The fellow" who mods cavalier
welcome or farewell to his sister at the
window, or in the street, will. with the
most gallant intentions, some day, in
fit of abstraction, or when hurried by
business into forgetfulness of his COM
pany manners, nod as carelessly to
some other fellows sister, and score a
point in favor of the rival whose hand,
from the force of early habit and long
usage, moves involuntarily toward the
cap-brim at the approach of any
hoihh w iiooC idtO 10 W Hill.
A nod is not bow.
To nod to woman is open disre-
spect
The mother who carves the two sent
ances and the import thereof on the
mind of her boy builds so much better
than she knows as to merit the graft
tude of her sex. The bob or duck of
the covered head which salutes COM
rade of his own gender is barely par
donable, even in America. Students
in foreign universities would be sent
to Coventry were they to practice it
on meeting in corridor or thorough
fare. Equally general in the older
lands, where external courtesies rank
higher than with us, is the custom of
dotling the hat on passing a lady
stranger or acquaintance on the
staircase or in the halls of hotel or
other public building. In witnessing
the effect of the neglect of the gracious
little ceremony in the country that
furnishes the best husbands in the
world, it is impossible to restrain the
regretful sigh;
"These things ought We to have
done, and not to leave the other un-
done!'
The undoing is carried to a graceful
excess as we descend in the social
scale. The lower we 90 the more
scantyis the observance of the etiquette
and moraltes of the hat, until we
are forced to consider the important
adjunct to the outdoor toilet as an al
most infallible barometer of breeding.
Respect of the rules regulating its
management in refined circles is the
last sign of better days and better
manners with which the decayed gen.
tleman parts. When his hand forgets
the way to the hat-brim he is very near
the foot of the hill. What a slangy
lady once called in my bearing "the
hat-trick,' is likewise that which the
self-made man of plebeian extraction is
slowest to learn. have seen million
aires forget to remove their hats in
superb drawing-rooms.
One of the most mortifying expert
ences of my earlier married life was
the visit to our country house of dis
tinguished man, than whom the state
held none abler in his profession. We
had invited several friends to meet
him, and the dinner given in his honor
had passed off smoothly The lion
roared in perfectly satisfactory man
ner, winning universal admiration.
Coffee was served on the veranda, and,
the evening being cool, the great man
called for his hat. He might have
asked permission from the women
present to assume it, we thought, but
orators must preserve their vocal
chords from rust. AS the chllness in
creased, we adjourned to the library,
where fire had been kindled. There,
in the assembled presence of our
choicest neighbors, the great man
wore his hat until the hour of separa-
toni The recollection is an agony.
The inference, born out of subsequent
discoveries, was inevitable. He was
commoner of the commonalty and vul-
gar ingram. 1t ought to have been
impossible for him to commit such
breach of good manners in any cir
cumstances. The varnish of surface
and unaccustomed-courtesy, like other
cheap and patent dressing, requires
frequent renewal, and cannot be war
ranted to wear.
AS grateful contrast, offer another
authentic incident. A true gentleman,
driving through the country with his
wife and children, stopped at a small
farmhouse to inquire the way. A
child on the front seat of the carriage
had view of him as he knocked at
the door.
"Papa's talking to a lady," chirped
the little one. 81 can't see her, but
know, because he took off his hat
when the door opened, and is standing
with it in his hand.n
The "lady" followed him to the
steps as he returned to the carriage.
Her sleeves were rolled up to her
shoulders; she wore a shabby calico
gown without collar. Her hair was
unkempt, her arms and hands dripping
with suds. Her parting directions
were shrilly grammatical. The man
who appeared beside her as a prince
beside a sert, stood with his noble
head barred, as in royal presence.
"How could your" queried the quick
eyed occupant of the front seat. "She
wasn't bit of lady"
"ohe was woman M boy; and a
gentleman is always gentleman for
his own sake"
Men can do no end of pretty things
with their hats" sighed belle to me-
"The tactics of that useful article
(masculine) are science-one of the
fine arts. Yet two-thirds of them don't
half appreciate their privileges in
that line, or suspect their possibili-
ties. "
L saw man who calls himself
gentleman kiss his betrothed the other
day, with his hat set as immoyable on