The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-10-27
SOLDIERS HATS.
6y Their shape and POise You May
Tell the Origin of the
Wearer.


When the recruit gets his new cam
paign hat he notes its glossy gray
surface and is loa h 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 dis
cover the almost limitless shapes into
which the felt domes and rims can
be shaped by men who idle away hours
in their tents. With the aid of dash
of water the 81 cents worth of felt
with which every man is charged can
be made to remain in almost any po-
sition 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. Regu-
lation for the cavalryman is for his
hat crown to be pulled out to a point
with three little hollows in the felt
made by his fingers in making 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 rib
bon to it, and straits down the com
pany street for his comrades to
laugh at him. 1t is the Ounce cap
style, and much affected by the men
who become prisoners in the guard
house.
If it is desired to find truly artistic
you must visit the band quarters.
There is something eccentric about
the army musician, anyway, if he
doesn't wear eyeglasses and football
hair he has a hat calculated to arrest
attention. Perhaps the crown is sunk
in at the top, and then the edges
looped up at intervals with bright
headed pins or brass tacks. Again,
the crown may be so arranged that
it represents the battlements of a
castle. Fanciful letterings in India
ink, pieces of tinsel and bright pins
or buttons the embellish the head
gear, and these embellishments are
only removed 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, gives
the men a logged look, but on others
a rakish look His is the stle of turn
ing the rim up behind and down in
front. To the men of the Eighth New
York. many of whom came from that
mystical place called The Bowery,'
it gives look of what a young lady
from Chattanooga said was ''really-
well-well-really devilish, you know.
and no other word will express it."
Some bad eyes" have gazed from I'M
der the edge of the down-turned rim,
AS type distinctly different from
that of the effete easterner is the man
from the far west. perhaps member
of Grigsby's cowboy regiment. He
has a way of pulling his hat far down
over his eyes and looping up the rim
at the side or behind with a pin or
the bright brass souvenir medals
which are hawked about the camp so
industriously. The campaign hat in
shape and appearance shares the feel
ings of its wearers. When the soldier
goes to dress parade the hat shakes
out its creases and takes on a digni-
fled full dress" look. When a man
goes out on a policing detail. picking
up sticks and digging 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 soldier feels
happy and gay his hat sets up high
on his head, showing much of his fore
head. If depressed and homesick, the
hat crowds down close about his head,
often depressing his ears outward.
After trip to the city and liberal
patronage of the illicit distillers who
hover about the camps the hat wob-
bles all over the head. 1t never comes
down over. the eyes, but alternates be-
tween one ear and the other. or slides
clear back on the head. until the rim
rests on the nape of the neck. After
a soldier walks three or four miles
along the dusty government roads
dust and perspiration make a sorry
figure of him. The hat. too. gives up
the struggle of keeping up his personal
appearance. The rim drops and the
crown falls in erratic shapes. Some
time the army band will chant to the
old campaign hat.-St. Louis Globe
Democrat.