The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-01-14
CONGRESSIONAL NECKTIES
Tho Styles in Favor Among Men
Who Are in High
Offices.
Men Adorned With Profuse Whis-
kers Sometimes Wear No
Tie at All.
A Member with More Gorgeous Neck
near Than Would Have Satisfied Sole
mon In All His Glory.

near Than Would HAve SAtisneO SoA0-
mon In All His Glory.
CONGRESS 10 upon us once more M every
thing that relates to the members OF 'nis
illustrious body is of interest to the pcoplo
Of Washington. 1t is q knowledge o. thls
fact that prompted . writer for the Star 70
investigate what is perhaps the snlailess
garment that men wear and see how the
minds Of the great statesmen of the coun-
try are displayed in this particular.
Crayat or necktie, which is correct? Ora
vat i. the more old fashioned, and to many
sars it sounds better, but if the thing that
Il describes il not tied about the neck and
nv consequences q nsoktie. what Is u! In
old times this part of a mans attire used
to be a neckerchief or a stock or = neck
cloth. In the same way the neither gar
nspts used to be brooches or lnexpresslples.
Now thew are pantaloons or trousers. ana
even to some people pants" Similarly
what used to be always a cravat Is now
quite as often called a necktle,
should a man under any circumstances
not wear a necktia? That is = question, but
IL is a matter of fact that a few OF the men
who may be called statesmen do nos wear
them. About the Hobbies and, for hat
matter. on the floors Of congress one oc-
cassionally encounters = man Who cersalhiy
thinks himself a statesman, ana Who Is u
statesman in the eyes OF some other people
besides himself, who wears q neat, cream
collar ard does not wear a cravat. Ihls
individual usually has q long. full bearo,
ana he invariably ~flatters himself that no
ors knows whether there is = piece OF SILK
~ satin back Of it. 1t is q delnslon. There
n.ver vas n beard SO thick but the turning
az the neck revealed the presence or abb
aance If the cravat. Even Senator Coke,
IL Texas, whose beard IS as opaque as 9
beard we'll can be, could not hide his collar
hutton unless it were covered. as 1t for
+rnatelv ia. by q slender piece OF neck
His necktie is modest enough.
and 50 are the neckties OF most q our
great men, but some of them are self-as-
ssrtiye in this particular. %.
red crayat of fine blazing hue. neatly tied
in a sailor knot and descending gracefully
nader his waistcoat, and Representative
O'Neil. ef Pennsylvania, has worn q Grim
son cravat for the last fifteen or twenty
years-nott the same one, OF course, put as
ona vsars out or becomes soilsd its place is
tak.n by another that might be q twin
brother. M#. 4.
But there used to be another member Of
the houRo-poor fellow, he was snowed
under by an ungratefui constituency after
two brief terms-that wore cravats OF SUCH
delight Of all his colleagues. Each day le
would appear in a fine csavat and nobody
would sec it again for a month or more.
He never appeared in tho same cravat tvs
days in succession but once. and that was
when there was = continuous torty-elgh1
hour session of the house and he wasn't al
lowed to % home. One Of the pages Of the
house Ike. u q record. and discovered that II
took thirty-three days for the M. q. to &C
through his stock Of cravnts. On the
thirty-fourth day he would pc observed
wearing the same crnvat that men az Wort
speech he selected his most gorgeous cravat
to wear upon TINT day, and the same mis-.
chievous little page Tint kept q record 81
his cravnts used to be always able to tel
what days the membar intended to speak
merely BY looking to see which one OF hls
thirty-three crayats he had on. When he
left there was no one to take his place. ano
over since then congress has been reduced
to a commonplace stage that gives no pleas
ure to the Indies gale y or to the little
pages who play about the speakers desk.
What can anybody tell OF Mr.. Crisp, tbs
new SfGdEeV, Dy LIS ueChUAc: 1 . any
severity lurking in the noat manner II
which this plain, modest piece of silk = is
tied? When people looked at Speaker
Reeds sailor-knot cravat two years ago il
looked innocent enough. but before con
gress had adjourned it looked like every
thing else pertaining TO MT. heed.-uncom
promising and aggressive. MIR. Crisp
cravat is q narrow piecs OF silk, neatly tlec
in a bow-knot. His collar turns down arc
his neck is not at all a bad one.
But how this ordinary and conservative
necktie will be rega ded in two years time
it rs impossible to say. 1t may tie a mos
popular piece of silk and admirers may be.
for pieces of it to keep and cherish, but i
may, on the other hand, bs execrated.
lhe statesmen who wear whltS cravat!
are not unususl. Senator Pugh, of Aln-
bamn, wears one all the year round, thu
disprovinR the statement OF tho late JOSH
Billings In his "Almanu1,' wte.e tier
used to be the aBso ton under tho month
of June. mo cravats worn IL Alabama dur
ing this monitor any ether" enato
Pugh wears his cravat i'll Alabama as we!
rs in Washington. 1t preserves it's prope
bearings, too, which ID more than can L
said of many oratorlcal bow knots. Yer
often, as the speaker warn.s u to his worl
his cravat rises too. until it climbs up be
hind above the coat collar, and lnceniousl
works it's way round under the orators lei
ear. No matter how fins &ho speech ma
DC, uuAeT blSSb ClECutuSbSlCa5 lGs IN Hph I
fall fat. An audience ca es mora abor
trifics of this kind than it docs about any
thing else. Two things should a speak
be su = of before he starts to make b
speech. First, he should see that his CIR
vat il tied and pinned ana that it cunn,
get loesa, and thsn no should make certai
that his cuffs won't break away when /
begins TO SWING his arms.
Now, Senator Dawes, Of Massachusett
wears II plain black necktie md turn dow
collar and IA diamond pin In his shirt bosor
His neck is aafe and he can get warm sbo,
tho Indians and talk with safety, 80 far
this is concerned, but Lis cuffs gre n
always to DO depended u. on. Sometim
they break loose, and tho write remen
beers some years ago seeing him wrsst
with thu cuff of his right arm during q lol
speech in the senate in q way that W
painful to behold. He would make an Gil
phatie gesture to accompany mn equally er
phatic sentence. and be fore the peri
would DO reached no would be desperate
clutching at that Grant cuff and endeuyc
ing to get it buttoned, or at any rate
prevent its flying off and striking the nc
OF the presiding officer. Such IN accide
would not be likely to happen to Senat
Brios, the new senator from Ohio, for
cuffs certainly look secure. He wears
good cvavat, too, and is altogether Il fl
looking man.
There ia doubtless & great deal of Gu
osity about tho famous Senator PETER,
Kansas. A man with such q big bar