Evening star., 1898-10-05

Soldiers Origin Often Identified b,
His Headxear.

From the st. Louis Glote-Democrat
When the recruit gets his new campaign
hat he notes its glossy gray surface and is
loath to crease it's 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
iDdentation. 1t is surprising to discover the
| almost limitless shapes into which the felt
domes and rims can be shaped by the men
who idle away 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 almos.
any position desired. OF course, there is
an accepted style for everything which the
soldier has learned to recognize 'regu-
lation." @sFor infantrymen the regulation is
simple creaGe in the crown with a straight
rim. Regulation 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 bit of
bright ribbon to 1t, and struts down the
company 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 and
fantastic styles in campaign hats you must
visit the band quarters. There is something
eccentric about the army musician, any
way; II he doesn't wear eyeglasses and
football hair he has 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 bat
tlements of castle. Fanciful letterings il,
India ink pieces of tinsel and bright pins
or buttons embellish the headgear, and
these embellishments are only removed I'M
der 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 rakiSn look.
His is the style of turning the rim up be-
hind and down in front To the men of
the Sth New York many of whom came
from that mystical place called The Bow
cry" 1t 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 out from under the edge
Of the down-turned rim.
AS type distinctly different from that
OF the effete eaSterner Is the man from the
rar west, perhaps member of Grigsby'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 a pin
or the bright brass souvenir medals which
are haWked about the camp Industrious
ly- The campaign hat in shape and appear
ance shares the feelings of its wearers
When the soldier goes to dress parade the
rat shakes out the creases and takes on q
dignified '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 1t. too, felt the indignity of being
put at such humble. disagreeable tasks un-
der the guise of "soldierin'." When the
soldier feels happy and gay his hat sets
nigh 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 a trip
to the city and a liberal patronage of the
Illicit distillers who hover about the camps
the hat wobbles all over the head 1t never
comes down over the eyes, but alternates
between 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 here dust and perspfra-
ton make sorry figure of him. The hat too,
gives up the struggle of keeping up his per-
sonal appearance. The rim droops and the
crown falls in erratic shapes Some time the
army band will chant to the old campaign