Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1890-01-14
CLOTHING AND HEALTH.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE MATERIALS
FOR OUR GARMENTS.

Health, Comfort and Half Clad Fashion.
Excellent Hints About Keeping Warm
and Coel-Our Clothes Serve to Gauge
Or Control Our Mental States.
Of all Gods created beings, the only one
whom he has neglected to clothe is man,
said Lucy NJ Hall, NJ. D., in an address on
1.-THE Promotion of Health This omission
upon the part of his Creator at once sepa-
rates and distinguishes man from other iv-
ing creatures. At the same time it is neces-
sary for him to provide himself with some
artificial covering in place of the hair, fur,
feathers, or resisting epidermis which tho
inferior animals possess as natural ap-
pendage.
The Importance which attaches to this
Unprecedented portion of our bodies is not
Of recent date.
Beginning with the story of our first par
ents, we find all through the Scriptures men
ton made of the various garments and adorn-
ments of the men and women who figure
there The rainbow hued coat of Joseph,
even the far from frivolous garb Of John the
Baptist, have all been deemed worthy Of
record in sacred history.
The fact is that our clothes, through asso-
ciaticn, become part Of us, help to identify
us-even in some peculiar reactionary way
serve to gauge or control our mental states.
DRESSING APPROPRIATELY.
The felon feels degradation in his prison
stripes which he could never understand in
his ordinary dress.
The action of young lady who repudiated
perfectly courteous assumption of acquaint-
anceship upon the part Of gentleman, be-
cause she had "only met him in her bathing
suit, was grounded in a true psychological
principle. She was not the same person in a
brine soaked apology for a society garment
which she was in her conventional attire.
Let the most brilliant gentleman in draw
ing room suddenly perceive that his boots are
muddy, or that his cravat is awry, and the
chances are that he will become awkward
and tongue tied.
In one of Lord Beaconsfeld's novels fash
ionable tailor is made to say: "You must
dress according to your age, your pursuits,
your object in life 1 am dressing two
brothers now, men of considerable position.
One is man of pleasure, the other will
probably be minister of state. They are
as like as two peas, bat were to dress the
dandy and the minister the same it would be
bad taste; it would be ridiculous. No one
gives the trouble that Lord Byzantine does;
he has not decided whether he will be great
poet or prime minister. You must choose
nay lord tell him. 4 cannot send you out
looking like Lord Byron if you are to be a
Charming or Pitt" Lastly, he adds: IAN
men should avoid the shabby genteel No
man ever gets over it. You had better be
in rags"
That the great statesman had most vivid
comprehension Of the effect of clothes, both
upon the wearer and the observer, is mani
fest, not only in the language of his novel,
but in the extraordinary costumes he affected
during almost his whole life.
The materials chiefly utilized for clothing
are cotton and linen Of the vegetable sub
stances; skins, hair, wool, silk, down, feath-
ers, of the animal Minerals, as metals,
glass and various stones, are much used as
ornaments Cotton, wool, linen and leather
are the most abundant and useful materials,
and they form the principal part of the
clothing Of the great mass Of the people.
Air is, as we all know, a bad conductor of
heat and Of electricity. So the warmth and
electricity of the body are conserved by a
covering which contains much air in its
fibers. Water, on the contrary, is good
conductor of heat and electricity, and just
to the degree that the air in the fnterstices of
any material is displaced by water it becomes
a vehicle for the rapid oonductm of these
away from the body Wooden holds larger
quantity of air among its fibers, and viii
transmit through them larger quantity Of
moisture without displacement of the air
than, any other material Silk stands next
in these respects. Wooden clothing is espe-
o;- IL. IF
EXCELLENT HINTS.
In q moist and changeable climate Like
ours, where rheumatic affections, catarrhs,
sensitive throats and bronchial tubes are 50
prevalent, an especial effort should be made
to maintain healthful equilibrium OF the
temperature OF the skin To effect this.
wooden or silk underclothes should be en-
ployed summer aud winter. Not patch OF
an undervcss, covering neither chest, shout
ders nor limbs, but garment which viii
clothe these as well as the trunk
A lady with one thickness OF linen over her
arms and shoulders will tell you that she is
half dead from the heat. The thermometer
stands at Sc degrees in the shade. You place
your hand upon the perspirIng skin; it Is
clammy and cold A poor sufferer, her joints
swollen With rheumatism, said to me on .
not summers day: II perspire 50, and suffer
50 terribly from the heat that it is as hard to
bear as nv illness The touch of her skin
chilled me like wet ice. You should wear
light wooien or silk garments next your skin
] said; no haif way business, but all over,
from neck to wrists and ankles" 1 had hard
work to convince her that she would be made
more instead of less comfortable by doing as
/ advised, but finally succeeded, and with
tae happlest results
There Is great variation in the amount OF
clothing which different people require
Some seem 70 be almost ilse1sib8s to cold
Others, ike poor barry Gill, their teeth they
chatter, Chatter sail Special directions
must. therefore, apply TO special cases. bG.
certain broad rules can be land down FOR AL
Light WOODEN OF six underwear, suitable
for midsummer, is 10. warm enough for
spring or fail wear; ana for winter Sill
heavier grade IS nee;ed. Partially worn WIZ
ter garments can often be wisely utilized for
intermediate service; otherwise new ones u
suitable thickness should lie provided Many
persons make the mistake Of wearing under
garments in winter which are too thnk
These are Eksiv 10 be al Of vpossn material
which, very closely woven and very heavy
70 begin with has scrEnS - the vGsAxng-
They impede the kealsaful Interchange be-
tween toe air ard the rsrs7r atsocs Of the
skin: the latter reahsorbs into the Circulation
II. poisonous matter which It has esseyed 70
throw OF; it exhalss peculiar sscXly odor;
the cu.aceoys nerves lose tone and acton:
taer convey their disturbed impressions 70
the great centsrs and AL portions of the En-
tritive and eii1ainetive systems suffer IN cen
sonsncs
/ have seen the most denrnved physical
conditions result fresn the wearing of very
heavy, closely woven sznness. whoa after q
tex washsncs. lad become si-ncsx iAperviC1s