The Forrest City times., 1898-01-21
HARTOGS DEFINED.
Definition OF Term with Whi0h
Americans Are Not FnmiIinr.

What are hartogs? For the defni-l
tion of this admirable word we must
turn to a contributor TO a recent Globe.
"Clothes," he wrote, that are less i'm
posing and more comfortable than any
others are hartogs. To be old is not
sufficient; nor is it enough .hat they
are easy. To be hartogs they must COM
bine both these merits. Good clothes
when they grow baggy and faded be-
come hartogs; bad clothes. never. In
ferior and ill-fitting clothes become
merely 'old clo.' The derivation OF
hartogs is a secret. but all phlologists,
and all who, like Mr.. Stevenson, have .
love of lovely words will recognize In
the term neologue of singular fitness
and attraction. Think about IL for a
minute or two, and you will realize that
clothes of the kind described above
could not possibly be known in any
other way. They are hartogs-just
hartogs, and nothing else. Old clothes
of the common type one thinks of with
out affection, but hartogs are beloved.
= Anything is good enough to cover
nakedness; hartogs do more-they con-
fer cheerfulness and irresponsibility;
they fit the wearer for freer life.
Yet IL must be understood that
hartogs are never absolutely disrepu-
table, never so old that one cannot meet
the Wears wife without shame.
In ordinary life, however, the wearer
of hartogs disdans coats and mackin-
toshes, except in extreme stress OF
hA . s. . l.. l.. n 4
heaven and the might of the sun that
have made hartogs what they are; the
indoor life produces a very inferior re-
suit. Your best hartogs are stamped
by the universe itself You cling to
hartogs because you love them, not be-
cause you cannot afford others-they
must not be associated with poverty.
= = Some persons mark Sunday with
them. They are the garb of the wise
traveller. You meet hartogs on Hell
vellyn and among the Langdale pixies:
you recognize them in the Black Forest
and on the Gemmi you are aware OF
them in the Trossachs and beneath the
smooth rotundity and swelling undula-
tions of the South Downs. Natures
best lovers WOO her in hartogs"
This definition should be exhaustive
enough for any intellect; and yet lit
tie may be added. 1t should be said. for
instance, that few women have enough
courage to achieve hartogs. The mass
dare not. There are also men who dare
not, and there are men whose position
is against it. Bishops, probably, have
no hartogs
OF all hartogs the coat is the most
dearly priced. One cannot feel affec-
tionately toward a waistcoat; there is
nothing lovable about waistcoat; but
coat becomes friend, a brother. Men
have worn coats for decades. A satisfy
ing coat is worth its weight in platinum,
because it is so rare. The waistcoat Is
within the compass of any tailor, and
passable trousers are to be bought
where you will; but a coat is different.
Nothing is quite so disgusting as the de-
termination of ones tailor to have his
own way in the matter of the coat You
order dozen personal touches; you
stipulate for no pads in the shoulders;
for deep collar, to turn up in wet or
cold; for extra pockets inside; for no
lining in the back; for no fashionable
antics in the cutting. And the tailor
smiles and smiles. None the less is he
villain, for when the coat comes homo
II Is precisely what you struggled to
make certain it should not be. A tailor
who will obey to the letter is more than
rubies. Hence the lovableness of 4
truly good coat.-Cornhill Magazine.
THE FRENCH A CURIOUS PEOPLE