The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1891-01-10
THE HATS OF STATESMEN,
Some Remarkable Tiles of the
Past and Future.

That cmlnentIY respectable old
plug hat that may be said to be al
most landmark to people who live
in New York and Washington, and
that has such world wide celebrity,
that glorious old tile of Senator
Evarts, is, perhaps. the most famous
hat in America to day 1t has been
pcrtinently asked, where did he get
it? The extraordinary thing about it
is not that it looks old, but that it
never looks new. There used to be
an old German in Berlin who had ex.
actly the same sized foot as the old
Emperor William, and, as the Kaiser
objected to wearing new boots, this
subject was made to break in all the
Emperors footgear. He came to
be known as boot stretcher to his
Majesty, and he received a snug
pension for his service. Is there an
individual hidden away in New York
or Washington who has the same
sized head as the senior Senator
from New York, 10 whom each new
hat is given and who is made to go
forth and engage in rough and-tum-
BE fights for lew weeks, in order
that the hat may get the appearance
which the Senator insists upon its
having? Ofcouyse, Mr.. Evarts does
get new hats. One hat wouldn't
hold together forever, but the uni
form antiquity OF his hats, can only
be accounted for on the theory above
propounded.
There is another hat in Washing
ton still more remarkable than Mr..
Evarts, although it is not nearly so
famous. Hiram Price Hill be re-
membered by people whose memory
is minute, is a member Of Congress,
for number Of years from Iowa, as
subsequently Commissioner of In
dian Affairs, as a temperance orator
and a man with affiliations for the
woman suffrage party. He has a
semi Quaker silk hat; broad of brim
and fiat Of crown, It's style has
never varied in the slightest. Pro-
baby he gets new ones from Phila-
delphia, where things are slow TO
change, but it is rot precisely
Quaker hat, but rather a hat with
Quaker proclivities. Was a hat of
that shape ever the fashion? If so,
it is easy to see that Mr.. Price, hav
ing been pleased with what was
once a stylish tile, has failed to
change his views, Just as Colonel
Newcome, having bought fine
dress suit in his youth, refused to
change the opinion of a lifetime, and
maintained that it was still a fine
dress suit up to the day of his death.
Suits might change, but he would
not.
Looking at row of hats on pegs
against the wall, how easy it is to
describe the heads that belong to
them. The young fellows brown
derbY,th old swell's carefully brush
ed silk hat. the Western gentleman's
slouch hat, the old beaver of the
countryman, are all easy to distin.
guish as part Of the people that own
them. There's character in hats,
too Who would not defend his
"honah sah!" If he had on a soft
felt hat with tapping brim of gen
erous width? And especially pug
nacious is the man who wears one of
these hats of delicate cream color.
Could the owner OF the old beaver
hat be anything but a dignitied old
man with firm belief that the times
are deteriorating2 And would not
the owner Of the carefully brushed,
conservatively-shaped silk hat be
an elderly gentleman, with white
side whiskers and a black frock
coat? The old brown derby, shiny
around the brim and full of dust and
dirt, with crown black and greasy
locks and an unshorn face, and the
terribly-crushed and disreputdble
looking silk hat is the natural accom-
paniment of the gentleman who oc-
casionally sleeps in his hat.
SOME DIPLOMATIC HATS.
It is a rule among Oriental people
that the head should be covered as
a malls OF respect. Accordingly,
the members of the Chinese Lcga
ton wear a skull cap. of beautiful,
brilliant hues usually, and having the