The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-26
CHARACTER IN THE ARMY HAT
A Soldiers Origin Often Clearly Indi-
Gated by His Headgear.
CFrom the st. Louis Globe-Democrat

CFrom the st. Louis Globe-Democrat.)
When the recruit gets his new cam
paign hat he notes its glossy gray sur
face and is loath to crease its tall
crown for fear of spelling it." For the
first four or five days he wears the hat
straight up from the RIM" as the boys
say, without crease or indentation. 1t
is surprising to discover the almost
linitless shapes into which the felt
domes and rims can be shaped by the
men who idle away the hours in their
tents. With the aid of q dash of water
the 81 cents worth of felt with which
every man is charged can be made to
remain in almost any position desired.
OF course there is an accepted style for
everything which the soldier has
learned to recognize as regulation"
For infantrymen the regulation is a
simple crease in the crown with a
straight rim. Regulation for the caval
ryman is for his hat crown to be pulled
out to a point with three little holows
in the felt made by his fingers in MAX
ing the point The would-be funny
man" of the regiment is the one who
vets his hat, then pulls it out to
sharp point, possibly attaches a bit of
bright ribbon to it, and struts down the
company street for his comrades 10
laugh at him. 1t is the "dunce-cap"
style, and much affected by the men
who become prisoners in the guard
house
If 1t is desired to find truly artistic
and fantastic styles in campaign hats
you must visit the band quarters There
is something eccentric about the army
musician, anyway; if he doesn't wear
eyeglasses and foot bali hair he has a
hat calculated to arrest attention. Per-
haps the crown is sunk in at the top,
and then the edges looped up at inter-
walls with bright-headed pins or brass
lacks. Again, the crown may be so ar
ranged that it represents the battle
ments Of castle. Fanciful letterings in
India ink, pieces of tinsel and bright
pins or buttons embellish the headgear
and these embellishments are only re-
moved under threat of grave discipline
when the men appear at guard mount
or other occasions Of ceremony.
The eastern man has a style which,
over some casts Of countenance, give
the men a logged look, but on others
a rakish look. His is the style of turn
ing the rim up behind and down in
front. To the men of the 9Th New York
many of whom came from the mystical
place called 1.-THE Bowery" it gives a
look of what young lady from Chat
tanooga said was "really-well-we
really devilish. you know, and no other
word will express it," Some bad eyes
have gazed out from under the edge of
the downturned rim.
AS type distinctly different from
that Of the effete fastener is the man
from the far west, perhaps a member
of Grigby's cowboy regiment. He has
way of pulling his hat far down over
his eyes and looping up the rim at the
side or behind with pin or the bright
brass souvenir medals which are
hawked about the camp so industrious
ly. The campaign hat in shape and APP
pearance shares the feelings of its
wearers. When the soldier goes to dress
parade the hat shakes out the creases
and takes on a dignified full dress
look When man goes out on a polio
Ing detail, picking up sticks and dig
ging trenches, the hat takes unto itself
indentations and creases. as though it,
too, felt the indignity Of being put at
such humble, disagreeable tasks under
the guise OF "solderin'" When the SOL
der feels happy and gay his hat sets
high on his head, showing much of his
forehead. If depressed and homesick,
the hat crowds down close about his
head often depressing his ears out
ward. After trip to the city and a
liberal patronage of the Illicit distillers
who hover about the camps. the hat
wabbles all over the head 1t never
comes down over the eyes, but alter
mates between one ear and the other, or
slides clear back on the head until the
rim rests on the nape Of the neck. After
soldier walks three or four miles
along the dusty government roads here
dust and perspiration make a sorry
figure of him. The hat, too, gives up the
struggle of keeping up his personal APP
pearance The rim droops, and the
crown falls in erratic shapes Some
time the army band win chant to the
old campaign hat.