The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-11-23

graphed on the spot and an elaborte account
OF the villainy turned in at headquarters.
No words in the feeble vocabulary Of the
writer can picture the detailed horrors con-
tatned in repOrt which dealt with a case
when young man was discovered with his
arm around the waist Of his companion as
the two wheeled along in the full glare OF
the electric light on the Boulevard
It seems strange that IN view Of all this
care there should be just as many short
skirts and boomers on view as there we're
six months ago but it is the truth.
Miss Smith started the decollete gown
crusade for this season just before the Horse
Show opened, when she drew some dreadIul
word pictures of the wickeduess Of the fash
ion. Unfortunately for the industrious cru
sader her knOwl dge of the Horse Show was
limited. otherwise she would have known
/ that the New York woman never ATTENDS
that function in a low cut gown and Il she
did she would certainly contract speedy
case OF pneumonia.
THE CYNIC AND THE CRUSADERS
Just what form the war viii take this
winter has not yet been made Known
When Mrs Grannis first began her crusade
some unk5nd Cynic observed that ne nos
tility to the decollete gown was due to the
fact that she could not becomingly appear
in a costume of = at style because Of the
niggardliness Of nature in proportionlng the
Grannis physique. And the same cynic has
more recently cited the fact that the oppo-
sition Of Miss Smith TO the wheeling girl
was probably attributable to her own great
amount OF aNO1rQuDOlS- MISS cIlAtH d. once
denied the accusation. saying that she was
not too fat to ride a bicycle; that she only
weighed 1875 pounds
It can be readily seen from the accom-
Danying pictures Of gowns. sketched on
Monday night last the opening of the opera
season that they are cut as low as ever, and
in a greater variety Of ways than ever be-
fore
If thev saw the originals OF these the sigh
probably sent shivers through the modest
frames of the two crusaders Yet the wear
ers of these gowns are women OF Wnom lne
world at large speaks highly
For instance, there was Mrs Levi F.
Morton in a black velvet gown cut low,
with V-shaped cOrsage- Mrs. Morton
of the state. is distinguished for her chart
table enterprises and her devotion to church
work.
Then there was Mrs. Calvin Brice and her
handsome daughter, Miss Helen Brice, both
in low cut gowDs Mrs. s. Van RensseIaef
Cruger famous N the literary world as
plain Julien Gordon, was there, too, IN
gown which would puzzle the unlnltlatea
to how it was fastened about the
shoulders. so scant was the material
Mrs Theodore Havemeyer. who gives tens
of thousands each year for ph1anthroplc pur-
poses, and who is regarded as Verlta0le
angel from Heaven by shOpkeepers because
she never asks the price of anything she
buys was there. TOO in gown cut lower
than any Of the others
Unfortunately none OF the ladies Of the
Vanderbilt family were in their boxes, be-
cause of the recent death of Mrs William
H Vanderbilt, otherwise the two crusaders
could have seen how the feminine members
of the richest family in the country wear
their evening gowns And the absence of
the Vanderbilts made many blank spots
ia the glittering Horse Show. There are
but thirty-fve boxes in the tier, and four
of these are owned by members of the
family.
But enough material was in hand to keep
the two crusaders busy for several months
- md haf of
and indignation can be looked for at any
moment. GRACE WINNIE