The Opelousas courier., 1890-11-01

tept during his vacation days 1T Marsh.
field, and the pattern III his hat is still
preserved. 1t was wide and fat in the
brim, with a moderately high crown aud
but little bell in the shape. WebsteIs
hat was of silk. the material now used,
and the style was first shown in q hat
made by Townsend in London in 1885.
Tie utilized the silk plush which had
been invented in France, covering with
It @ body of muslin stiffened with shcllae
earnish. The silk hat speedily drove out
the beaver from general use, although
the latter has not been set aside yet, and
is sometimes seen in our streets worn by
q very old man who is conservative or q
very young man who is loud.
The charge Of the Light Bfigasc dur.
ing that war which Louis Napoleon, or
rather the Duke de Morny, provoked, in
order to consolidate the Second Empire,
was made by men, many of whom when
at home wore hats which have fixed tho
nickname Of ssstovepipes' on high hats
for the generation now passing awaF.
Perfectly straight up aud down, high
and perfectly fiat in the brim, they re-
scmbIed nothing SO much rs a section OF
sheet iron pipe. But the yonng men who
left the drawing rooms aud rushed to
India as fast rs transport or troopshi2
could carry them when tho news of thu
mutiny set the civilized world in flame,
wore hats which were almost ~ciriously
unlike those Of 1854. Trims that rolled
until they touched the baud, and bells
that overshadowcd the brims, with long
front and rear pieces, were the style then.
In some of the old prints of the relief Of
Lucknow hats are seen on the heads OF
rs gallent men as ever bowed. IIayclock
wore q cap with a fluttering cape of linen,
still called by his name, hanging down
behind to protect the neck.
The Civil War in this country camc at q
time when the sfstovcpipc" hat was once
more popular. The style seems odd as
one looks at the old pictures of Lincoln
and Seward and Stanton and Chase,
those giants who carried on the Govern.
Eaent during that period Of trial. Lin
coin wore d hat which was rather high,
with . straight brim and crown At the
beginning of the war, when all the days
of trial were before him, and when the
great news cam OF peace at last, the hat
was the same. Twice during the four
years the fashion had changed. but we
may well believe that The war President
had no time to notice the style. Davis,
of the Confederacy, wears q soft felt, in
many OF the pictures which are cxtant OF
him at the time. And when the Ger
man army corps drove the French before
them md girslled Paris as with an ever
tightening belt of steel tho mode hal
run once more to the extreme bell nth
the rolled brim.
Steadily since its first introduction the
high hat has made its way, until now it
holds a place from which it cannot BE-
lightly shaken. It is tllc ssdress hat,
ard more than that, il is the respectable
hat. Solid mon like it, and, oddly
enough, fashionable men arc not willing
to give 1t mp. Many judges OF hcadgear
hold that IL Is, after all, the best hat in
the world. and declare that it will never
bc supplanted. But while the man Of
the town admires the sssilk,a his liking
for it is as nothing to the devotion felt
by the ragamuffin for the ssplng hat.