The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-09-21

Jewish rabbi of Spain and Egypt, Mai
monides, A. ID. 1135 to 1904. in his most
Important work. "The Guide OF the
Perplexed," Chapter ~, states that In
the books Of idolaters It was command
ed that men, In the worship Of Venus.
the Ashtaroth Of the Phoenicians.
should wear the dress Of women. and
that women. in the worship Of Mars.
the Moloch Of Moses time. should put
on the armor OF men. Macrobius, u
grammarlan OF the fifth century A. d.
cites Thilochorus, who died r. c. 260 as
stating the same thing, and giving as
the reason therefor that 1t was to show
that Venus was equally esteemed by
both male and female. 1t was not un-
common. indeed. for the ancients to
confound their gods and goddesses.
making them sometimes male. some
times female. Venus was represented
by the Cyprians as Of masculine size.
wearing a beard. carrying a sceptre.
but 5Fessed as a woman. The Syrians
woryhipped her attired as man. The
Romans had both a male and female
Fortune and an armed Venus, as Lac
tantius shows. Like god, like people.
1t was no wonder that the worshippers
OF such deities sought to initiate them
as far as possible. This has always
been true In the history Of religions.
So It came about that In religious wor-
ship these heather We're accustomed to
wear a dress different from that prop
erly belonging to their~sex.
-:lI:-
But the bloomer costume Is not with
out It's defenders. Says the Cleveland
World: 1.-THE bloomer is bound to take
care Of ITSELF The old women in the
pulpits and out, on the boards Of alder
men and the sewing societies, who are
worrying over 1t, might as well f1nd
something else to be nervous about. be-
cause they can neither hinder nor help
women wearing anything that fashion
DEGREES they shall wear. The bloomer,
or its equivalent, Is the natural evolu-
tion Of the freer woman; not because
she is any more Of a man than she
ever was. but because her greater free
dom as woman requires habiliments
adapted to her new activities. She has
as much right to ride the bicycle as she
has to ride on horseback. or in a car
riage. or q street car. That being con-
ceded, her right to wear a garment that
Is not dangerous. dirty and inconveni-
ent goes with 1t. When her right to
battle by the seashore or river bank
was conceded, the proper garments for
the purpose evolved themselves. In
spite Of protests from press and pulpit.
In spite of ridicule and denunciation.
she donned garb which left her free
to swim and dive and did not endanger
her life as her primitive bathing dresses
did. Precisely the same stuff got IT.
self uttered against the bloomer. But
1t won the game and now at all water
summer resorts a woman without a
suitable bathing dress that was once
stormed at and laughed at Is looked
upon as a guy, and pronounced. as
much of back number a 8 II she should
appear in the dress of her grandmother
on the streets. 1t will not be long be-
fore the new costume will be accepted
as the dress for the occasions that suit
1t, and women will no more dare to be
seeh without 1t than they would dare
to be seen at ball. a reception, or
dinner In street costume. Convention
determines 1t. Women will strip them
selves to the last inch that lies between
usefulness and decency and be as much
respected as they now are when they
do so in what Is called "full dress"
Boomers or the like have only to be-
come conventional to cease to attract
attention. When they cease to attract
attention they will cease to be sug-
gestive. If women had always worn
short skirts no gang Of corner loafe :
would spend their time as they now
looking at them lifting their skirts at
muddy streets crossings. 1t is suggest
iveness, not drapery, that Is scandal
GUS and lewd. If women can stand the
ridicule that has been lavished upon
their absurd fashions, like the hoop
skirt. the pannier. the low-cut dress.
they can manage to endure the stupid
talk that Is aimed at a sensible. ap-
propriate and really modest costume"
-:Il:-
There is plenty Of good sense, by the
way, In what a woman journalist says
in Womankind. 1.-The woman who
meets men in business in a sensible
: way, thinking no evil" she writes. "in
ninety-nine cases out OF 100 will be
treated respectfully and kindly; indeed
she will find men much kinder and
more considerate than women in busi-
ness dealings. Tn the possible hun
dredth case, where a man shows him
self beast or puppy (by the way, l
believe a puppy is beast also. but will
let It go at that, 1t Is very weak wo-
man who cannot maintain her dignity
and teach her insuiter valuable les
son at the same time During the
years In which was earning my living
by newspaper writing I was frequently
in tenements, cellars through the
slums, among chained and guarded
convicts--and in drawing rooms. the
worst places Of all, sometimes, my
lady--and almost Invariably have
found men In rags, stripes or broad
cloth, kind, courteous and helpful. In
threading my way through narrow by
ways in search Of some item OF news,
] have stopped to ask questions Of the
denizens thereof and never yet have
] found man so drunk that he did not
manage to claw his hat off his head
while he answered me In respectful,
though somewhat tangled up language.
Il am not declaring that all men are
saints; In business they will crowd
and supplant women, which they have
q perfect right to do II they. use honest
methods. Men are just as good, just
as honorable, as generous and as
worthy Of trust and confidence as the
women. It is time that this cry of
working women against men be STOP
ped ia woman respects herself she
will be respected; and this Is the testi-
mony Of those gifted with beauty as
we'll as ordinary plain people like yours
truly. We find what we look for In this
world; II we look for evil we find 1t,
II for good, our search Is doubly. re-
warded."
AN -I|:- =
A man who has made a careful study
of women and their ways declares In
the Philadelphia Press that beauty de.
pends not uponvthe owner but upon the
perceiver; that It IL far more subjective
than objective; hence in sense the
world Is overfiowing with pretty wo-
men, however plain they may appear to
the average observer, for somebody IL
fond OF almost every woman and sees
her in her best and most favorable
light. The fact that men wonder how
such and such women who are decided
bands confirms this theory. since nc
man marries woman whom he con.
eiders ugly. She may not seem ravish-
ingly beautiful even to her lover, but
we may be assured that she ID at least
pleasant to look upon to his vision. In
abort, there An no absolute atant1ard nf