The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1892-05-18
WHAT A Hal SHOWS.
'Che Man Often Stamped by the Headgea
He Wears,

@A@N A1N 49, 49, -NN
ter that gives the important finishing
liam Shakespeare, speaking for Sir
Francis Bacon, says:
For the apparel oft proclaims the man. o.
Had he been speaking of the modern
habiliments of men he would no doubt
have declared that the hat always pro-
the man, and in tones that can
not be misinterpreted. The h~eadgear
is the first and often the only portion of
mans dress that impresses an OBJ
server. A mans hat is to him what a
headline is to an article in the news
paper. If it is unpleasantly shocking,
we care to know nothing further of that
with which it is connected; if it looks
inviting we are willing to cultivate a
more intimate knowledge of its sur
roundings We can tell by it as the
children of the nursery do by counting
the number of buttons of the waistcoat,
whether the wearer is a
Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief,
awyer. doctor, merchant, chief.
Nature in one of her most intelligent
moods designed the hat as the index or
a sort of a tag to be attached to the
wearer of il, whereby the world may
know what and who he is without hav-
ing to ask impertinent questions TO
satisfy it's consuming curiosity.
The hat and the manner of wearing
it is the perfectly natural and inevitable
product of the brain beneath it, and
shows the moral and intellectual soil
and seed it springs from as correctly as
do the fruits and flowers of the garden
or the weeds of the fence r More
properly it may be said that the style
or condition of u hat may be the result
of circumstances over which the wearer
may have no control, but the manner
in which it is placed on the head is the
true index to its owners character.
The same style of a hat on a dozen diff
ferent heads may express as many pre-
dominating traits of character. The
ordinary black derby hat worn fairly
and squarely or the head may not con-
clusively prove hat the owner is a fair
and square man, but it offers no sug-
gestion to the contrary. A man who
yea his hat in this manner is not
handicapped by his appearances; you
intuitively arrive at the conclusion that
he may be a pretty decent sort of a man
and you would not much hesitate to
trust him in any ordinary business ca
pacity. He Is not above or below the
common people. II he has idiosyncra-
sizes and freakish no tons they are not
worn publicly on the sleeve nor pro-
claimed by the In which he
e a his hat
Take the same sort of a hat and set it
well back on the head and slightly to
one side and the impression it creates
on the mind Of the observer is not al
ways altogether fiattering to the wear
err. No would guess hat the brain
only partially beneath it is particularly
noted for the highly practical, moral,
sober thoughts it coins. The man un-
der the hat worn in this way may be
wholly upright and scrupulously cor
rect in his moral beb avior and again he
may not be; there exists doubt in your
mind You feel quite sure that he is a
jolly, happy-go-lucky sort of a fellow,
who would be a pleasant companion on
an outing, but you are not quite certain
II he be the right sort of a person for
your younger brother to ehum with.
Still he might be, since all appearances
are more or less deOeiving.
Any sort of a hat brought down over
the forehead till the brim is almost over
with the eyes gives the wearer a sus'
picious look, and calls TO mind the old
Spanish sombrero-a broad, slouched,
Tapping affair-that was often Topped
down on occasions so as to serve as a
mask, and was well adapted TO a land and
age when serenades, ~jealousies and mid.
night stabbing were of common occur.
renee. You would be just a little afraid
to meet a man who wears his hat in this
way in a dark, lonely place. His mind
may be the home of honest and noble
intentions, yet you doubt it, and you
will not fail to give yourself the benefit
Of that doubt. The hat of the sporting
man has an individuality that is clearly
exclusive. There seems to hover about
it some of the associations of its weaFer
One can almost see spades and diamonds
outlined upon it OF hear the rattle o
dice when in it's immediate vicinity. NJ
wide awake observer could aver mis-
take its owner to be a minister of tn,
gospel or a leader Of the Y. M. G. A.
Sometimes men are not so bad al
they are painted-not so bad even al
they paint themselves. For example
callow youths will often affect the ha.
of the sporting fraternity, and assum
ing an air that says, 81 would rather b'
tough than tony" endeavor to persuad,
themselves and the world that they ar,
indeed real bad men," They reminC
one of the dude who, after declaring
81 am a howible wetch Of a wuff,
tainted dead away at the sight Of a toy
pistol The high silk hat covers a mul
titude of sinners and some saints !
has NJ meaning of a style that it car
wholly abrogate to itself. 1t is worl
by all classes and nearly all ages Min
listers and confidence men deacons an,
the n of fast horses, judges sn'
youths scarcely out of their snip perioI
all don it.
Rut while silk hats as a class are no