The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-09-18
A HOM|LY ON TROUSERS.
Castings for the Neither Extremities
of Notable Characters at
the Capital.
Natural Affinity of Presiden
Arthur for Pants That Were
FaultleSs.
Generations of Executive Legs-From
George Washington to Senator VOL
cott-Freaks in Trousers.

WASHINGTON Sept. II .-Some men are born
for trousers. others achieve trousers, and
others have trousers thrust upon them.
Who that ever saw President Arthur can
forget the beautiful folds of his trousers!
Neither large, nor small, with no bagging
at the knee, but falling gracefully upon his
shoe, they were inded beautiful to behold.
Such trousers were not simply due to the
tailor's art. They showed his natural atiln-
ity for trousers, and while the experiment
might have been attended with danger,
there is, nevertheless, strong probability
that Mr. Arthur would have made pair OF
Bowery "hand- med downs" look quite re-
spectacle. OF all the presidents Of modern
times, he was the best clothed as to his
neither garments.
His great predecessor, Gen. Garfield,
achieved trousers. His tailor was good. the
cloth was i'll good taste. but the wearer gave
little attention to the matter, and even ap-
peared in public once in trousers frayed at
the heel. Hayes trousers were barely re-
respectable, while Gen. Grant was utterly
indifferent to his. Trousers were thrust
upon him.. He really had no taste for them.
President Harrison's trousers are respec-
table and good always, but they are full OF
wrinkles and of so commemorative Il color
as to be nonentities in the trouser world,
and President Cleveland's legs were incased
in broadcloth Of n stiffness and newness
OF appearance that showed woeful su5or-
dination Of the weafer to the tender mcrcles
of the tailor. This is q fatal mistake. A
mans trousers should show the combined
thought of the wearer and the tailor.
Neither cum accomplish them alone.
From the buckskin breeches of George
Washing to the artistic trousers of Senator
Wolcott, of Colorado, what an evolution!
A piir of the former may be found on exhi-
bition in the patent oifice-almost as broad
as they are long, things incomprehensible.
Gust az they were III his day lneXplesslble,)
except to boys and blcycllsts. but sena-
tor Wolcott's trousers are easy to take in.
They make themselves felt They are
of fashionable co!ors and fashionable
shapes. There is suspicion OF crease
down their center on Sundays and on
week days they bag but slightly. Perhaps
he calls them pantaloons, but, strictly
speaking, trousers are more recent in date
than pantaloons, the latter referring more
particularly to the long trousers which
have socks attached, ana which we in our
day put small boys into as night garments:
and call. in our vernacular, 'panties."
Nevertheless, ''lf,' as french writer says,
''the word pnntalon, which appears to come
from a certain character in Italian comedy,
is comparatively recent, the masculine gar
ment which it designates is at least one OF
high antiquity"
The house has better legs for trousers
than the senate. The senators are too t old.
Their legs are too thin or too fat. The
happy medium is seldom struck. The de-
partment officials. on the other hand, sit at
their desks 80 long that the horrible bag
cling of the knee is unavoidable.
For pair of short legs we'll clothed per-
haps Representative ONeill, OF Pennsy Iva
MIA is the most conspicuous example. just
as certainly as he is the man in congress
who wears the handsomest cravats. He is
little man, but he is an inteltlgent-look-
ing little man, and he has not dlsdained to
bestow some of his brains upon the perfec
ton of his trousers.
The handsomest trousers in the house
belong to Representative Gibson, the hand
some man who represents the old families
of the eastern shore of Maryland. He ap-
peared in pair the other day of the love
Hest pearly-gray, and fitting him magnifi-
cently-not wrinkle or crease IN them.
The elegant Harry Bingham, member from
Pennsylvania, always wears good trousers,
too. William Mckinley, Jr., wears inof-
fensive black trousers. entirely unobtrusive
in appearance, and fitting him only passa-
bly, we'll. Many of the congressman wear
and their trousers are stiff and rendered
ungraceful by falling over high boot tops.
If we add to this the offense of sometimes
wearing trousers that are too short, the
horror of the scene to we'll trained eve
can be imagined.
see "Billy" Mahone's trousers, and they are
worth inspecting. Generally they are
black, although he sometimes wears gray,
ind they are made on pattern of his own.
Around The waist they are tight, and then
they taper outward and then inward until
HOO H.
They are more like the old g-top trous-
ers than anything else. A man of individ-
uality is BOSS Billy" and his trousers are
q sign thereof.
The really fashionable trousers are not to
be found abundantiy at the capitol. They
don't belong to the diplomats, however.
Their trousers are seldom very good. The
foreign tailor at home can't make them as
we'll as he can here. You have your choice
between the bags of the Englishman, the
stiff shapeessness of the German, or the
over preciseness of the Frenchman. It is
true that our tailors in America are gener-
ally foreigners. and it is equally true that.
to a certain extent, we copy foreign styles,
but there is, nevertheless, sufficient
stamp of nationality infused into the gar
ments to make them different from any
other country's. and far more shapely and
tasteful
Yes. there is thought in good clothes.
Who does not remember the noble maXims
for dress of the incompatible Pelham!
There is no diplomacy more subtle than
that of Dress There is story told in one
of the departments that illustrates this
fact perfectly. A certain young man who
wished to be appointed chief of bureau.
He was naturally a tremendous swell.
When he was in his element he wore a sim
cle-barreled eyeglass; his shoes were always
of patent leather; he put his trousers be-
IL. ,p.-ht t.NyN
serve the crease in them; he never crossed
his legs. or even bent in them. if he could
help 1t, and in this way he kept away the
drearded baecing at the kness; he carried a
cane all full of knobs, and each knob was
tipped with silver; his hats We're the result
of intellectual concentration, and his era
watts showed unmistakable evidences of
genius; he was swell and no mistake. But
before he had the interview with the cabi-
net officer from whom he expected to ge.
employment, he went to one who knows
him we'll, and taking him aside, said:
"What sort of clothes does secretary -
wear?''
.'Oh," was the reply, che hates clothes
He keeps a coat till 1t falls to pieces. 1t is
entirely to the prayers and entreaties of his
wife and children that We owe the apology
of necktie that he puts on. He had {
series of buttonholes on his shirt collar
when the weather is warm he let's out a reel
or so; and his trousers! Oh, horrors! They
resemble nothing so much as couple Of
meal sacks strung together.
Enough" said the exquisite, II under
stand" And he went and put on the shah