The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-07
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One of the considerations urged in op-
position to the candidacy Of Mr.. James
G. woodward for the Office Of Mayor o.
Atlanta was that he could not wear
spiketan coat and grace reception" The
supposition was that he could not wear
spilSetan because he is a wOrkingman.
and that he could not possibly grace a re-
ception unless he wore a spiketan
Firstly" as the Rev. Mr.. Chadband
make text of the subject, it Is altogether
erroneous 10 suppose that all working men
are ignorant of the ethics Of the spiketail.
Some of the SWEETEST beaux in Washington
drawing rooms are young men who work
for a living. Some of the nobbiest and
most beautiful of the statesmen who
grace the national capital and its society
were once working men. There is James
Hamilton Lewis. Nobody would have the
nerve to say word derogatory to his ap-
pearance in a spiketan; yet he was once
a laborer in a lumber yard. Amos Cum
mings also fits his spiketail as If the fash
ion were created for him. Cummings was
once a printer at the case. just as the
Mayor-eect of Atlanta Is. Jerry Simpson
began his public career sans socks as
well as spiketal. yet he acquired both,
and adorned them in the wearing Other
instances might be named if it were nee
essary.
We do not know how Mr.. woodward
stands on the question of coats. We have
not been able to find the subject eluci-
dated in his platform or any of his speech
es. But there are several eminent author
tiles who may be quoted as holding that
a spiketan is not necessary to the grazing
of an occasion. One of them is His Honor,
Mayor Zeigenhein, of the city of St.
Louis He says a Prince Albert is good
enough for any Mayor TO wear to any
function, however swell it may be. A
committee informed him not long ago that
he would be expected to attend the ball
of the Yelled Prophet in full dress and de-
liver the keys of the city to the mythical
king of the carnival. The Mayor replied
in effect that if the king did not want
the keys bad enough to accept them from
a man in Prince Albert coat he could
do without them.
Another authority is the Hon. Joseph
w Bailey of Texas. He is a stickler for
the Prince Albert in preference to the
spiketan, for his own personal use. The
spiketail, TO his mind, Is too suggestive Of
dudes and the fiummery of foreign courts.
The coat he wears, as a matter of fact,
gets its name from the lamented Prince
consort of Queen Victoria; STILL it has by
common usage become quite a democratic
coat. and is probably now more affected
in the United States than in England.
A still more radical anti-spiketail advo-
cate is the Hon. Frank Steunenberg, Cow
ernor of the state of Idaho. He will not
wear frock coat of any sort. His ideal
runs to pea-jackets. The most that he is
willing to concede to fashion is single
breasted, four-button SACK but the tail
must be short. He also is opposed to col
lars and cuffs detached from the shirt.
If they are sewn on. all right; otherwise
they don't go, reception or no reception.
Mayor Woodward, therefore, will have
ample precedent upon which to base what
ever action he may choose to take re-
specting the cut of his coat. Still, we
predict that he will disappoint his ante
election critics by wearing the conven-
tional dress suit, and doing the honors of
the city cleverly. Atlanta does not en-
ploy a Mayor as a glass of fashion and
a mould of form; nevertheless, printers set
great store on the correctness of the
form" Their training teaches them to
do that.