New-York tribune., 1896-10-25
!. MODERN GESSLER.
D,cpIrTE OVER HAT IN
swrrzERLAND-THE HAT IN
WAR AND POLITICS.


,... ,eem destined to play an ,'"po,'an' role
Ha'. -, If Switzerland. Six hundred years
IN tn. ..frsal of her legendary nero william
ago INV ,1 his own headSear 10 the nat OF the
Tell " Governor Gessler. whlch 'he iat'er had
Ausu u'." q mole in the marketpiace' is asserted
pa"'' Ion the origin of the saheu'hary s'rug-
10 IL" ,,h resulted in the oNerthIo" vi io'cish
sN ond in the recover Vi .N"'o"" uo
WA oo To-day switzerland - !" '"e ','''es
pendence ..ic conflict with Uruguay and has
o9 all diplomatic ih'e''o"e WIN '"a'
broken ." ;na, republic in consequence OF the
eo"| ., Of its Envoy EXtraordhar. anu "'n''eF
!efusai u 20 doff his hat to the Chief of the
Il,;o, War Department. Inv .'"'',~ "."
Helve''a" s.so nature of the traditional storm In
,aacup. and which appea'S s''.s ~ ,le
the 'e".rr ,or is worthy of brief description
sehs' 20 show how disturbing All eieHeh'
IN order i" ,o,,a in international politics.
mere nat ~ 49,, the I-ruguayan Envoy at Berne
IT seein' -. ~ the name Of Nine. who heid
was -. p. General in the army OF his country
the lam 90. ,,ilitary uniform, he figured las,
Arrdseu " =, ,rnual manoeuvres OF the Hell
year at '''' = u,o,;r,ental charger and an order
vetian Aii"'' -, tho Swiss authorities at his
~ pei"e :, tho case of every other foreleh
officei p'''N ...ros took place near Zurich and
year 'ic iI hov,,p travelled thither from
Genera Liza IN Colonel Frey, Chief OF the war
Berhe' "ii g. tho same facilities and courte-
Depai M. hon shown him twelve months pre-
sizes '"" ,.ei,ed how, 7. curt refusal
wous''' .,o ridiculous preteXt that he ala not
baseu ui :; Uniform when he made MS apph-
haPpe" ,,..o.,,ined nevertheless. to witness 'he
ca'ion tho general hired horses Tor MS
mano'" ,.,. con and for himself ana. arrayed
daus". .,;r. rode off to the mimic oattie-
IN Z" large crowd Of spectators was al
heid' ,,,,,oa ""' or his way thither he passed
reaoS Co. containing Colonel Frey Chief OF
the o"i r,,r,p,ent. and inasmuch "a the latter
the wa 80 hin, with such marked discourtesv'
hau ,ara any notice of him. TO put the
"e - in main English. he cut hln''
hia'''' ,vprn TO DOFF HIS HAT.
,a his little party had not been
z,o-e than quarter of an "oui "r'
moie oBcer cantered up to him and de-
.,o,ded in the most imperious anu ass
n'e"u .xn, na should Immediately ride to the
easstaff. where Colonei frey n'' '""0" W
""e. rd salute the latter: that is to say, don
-, hot The envoy Indignantly iei"'e" ~ w
,.,h,rc of the kind, explaining 'ha' ''id'"uV"
,ho colonel had declined To accoiu iiii" 'ne
s.o,,arv courteses due 10 MS rdiih as se"e' q"
n,.s attending the manoeuVeS not IN d NH
,,o-, capacity. but merely as CIV N'''n
onscsr rode back to the Cher oi 'he al DeP"''
want with this message ana shor'S di'ei wal"
.crad Of military police surrouhoeu ''ie u'p'oNa'
squ"u san,,ad him that they had instructions to
onnel him to leave the manoeuNie "e'" az N'
o,,o,.a hin, bv force if he failed TO comply
with their behest The general ana 'iS N'''u''"
.,.reunon returned TO their hotel ana on redch-
,rS perne he addressed stronS! "oroeo pro-
,os, 70 the Federal State Department Receiving
No answer or apology. he compiled Win the III
s,ructions Of his Government to break OH oipio-
matte a,ions with the Iievetian Repuphc' ahd'
having closed the Legation. has retired 20 Lon
don II is fortunate under the circumstances
,hat ,-ruguay and Switzerland so far apart
otherwise the world might he calico upon u
witness another one Of those bloody wars Which
history teaches have originated IN disputes con-
cerning hats.
Last spring at Moscow serious hltch IN 'he
.oron, ,t;on festivities arose In connection with
this question of hats. At the grand levee. held
a, the Kremln it was stipulated that every
person. whatever his rank or creed. should un-
cover before the car The Ameer OF Bokhara
nit TO this decree in spite Of his being Moslem
But the Ambassadors of Turkey. OF Persia and
Of China absolutely declined to tare their heads
and kept away In fact none OF them were
present either at the ceremony OF the coronation
or at the levee in consequence OF this difficulty
Had Russia been less powerful nation, this
diplomatic contretemps might have led TO serious
results possibly even to bloody conflict. such
in Spain and Portugal by disputes about hats
Thus. one OF the most sangunary instructions
that marred the reign Of Charles III OF Spain.
costing thousands OF lives and compelling the
fight OF the King and Of his Court from Madrid
TO Seville. original ID with the issue OF a royal
edict to the effect hat must pin up or else
remove altogether the huge tapping brims OF
their hats. The Spaniards although willing to
submit to every other form OF monarchicai
despotsm absolutely declined to obey the Kings
commands in the matter Of hats and announced
their readiness to sacrifice their property and
even lives sooner than yield; in one word. treat
Ing their hats the most vital point OF their
honor conscience and principle. Finally, after
much bloodshed, the King was forced 10 consent
TO compromise whereby every one within the
walls Of Madrid agreed wear his brim pinned
up, While outside he was at liberty 10 let IL
slouch.
THE HAT IN PORTUGAL
Blood likewise flowed In the streets Of Lisbon
about the same time in consequence Of the is
sue OF a decree by King Joseph not only order
Ing the banishment Of all Jews orthodox as we'll
a. converted. but likewise insisting that all
Portuguese citizens protesting the Catholic
aith. who had any Hebrews among their an
cestors. should wear white hats so that the
faint" Of their blood might be signaized with
view to subjec,ing them to ostracism. AS
there is hardly single family Of any impor-
tance either In the aristocracy bourgeoisie or
Portugal that does not have a certain number