Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-10-07
Extremists say

of the legs Of woman Extremists say
that it is atheistic to hide the legs of
woman. Their argument is that God
made woman and he made her legs. If
! woman is ashamed Of her legs she is
ashamed of Gods work and therefore she
is in a way an atheist.
This doctrine has actually been preach
ed from many Il pulpit, and was advanced
at the Chicago Worlds Fair by Mrs.
Helen Ecob. wife of the Reverend DR..
Ecob of Albany.
The Rational Dress league DEGREES
that it's members shall wear divided
skirts. These garments of emancipation
may be long or short, but they must not
drag upon the ground: neither must they
be of a nature to injure the body as it
is claimed the tight waist and the cling
ing skirt must inevitably do. at oa
The Rational Dress League, which is
presided over by Lady Harberton, and
includes such members as Lady Henry
Somerset, the late Frances 4lWillard,
Lady Randolph Churchill and others of
note will gather on that day at Hyde
Park corner and there will form two
groups. All will wear garments Iaof
emancipation, and all will ride bicycles.
Starting from Hyde Park corner, they
| will wheel to the Queens hotel. where
there will be a grand meeting and a din
ner. The Viscountess Harberton will
preside, supported by Madame Sarah
Grand and Mr.. and Mrs. Hall Caine, all
of whom are in sympathy with the meet
ing. So FL
Gu of regard for the weaker vessels,
those who are in sympathy with the
movement but who lack the courage to
follow it, there will be no restrictions as
to dress for those attending the festival,
but it is thought that nearly all Will wear
the Rational costume. Prizes are to be
l q wa rlp6 for the two DrPttl0St. most WO-
man-like and sensible dresses which come
within the scope of the rules Of the Ra-
tional Dress league. The display will
be a remarkable one and men may envy
Mr.. Hall Caine, who has been asked to
be one of the judges.
When Mrs. Boomer started upon her
crusade against the dresses worn by wo-
men, it must be remembered that hoop
skirts SO large around hat a woman
could scarcely turn in a room were Worn,
and corsets so tight that it was Utmost
impossible to breathe. Mrs. Bloomer
rebelled and designed a garment that
consisted of Dantalettes to the ankles,
over Which was worn a short skirt. This
she wore in the street. In the evening
she went to a ball in a similar costume
made of silk. The bodice was cut low and
she wore the rim of the bodice trimmed
With flowers. Being young n good
looking she was naturally the center OF
l All eyes, AIT 1le III ~ AO SAS
ated a great sensation.
The next day the papers said that Mrs
Bloomer's dress was not delicate, tc
which she replied:
Il IF delicacy requires that the skirt
should be long, why do our ladies a dozen
times a day commit the indelicacy OF
raising their dresses, which have already
been sweeping the sidewalks, to prevent
their dragging in the mud of the streets:
Surely a few spots of mud added to the
refuse of the sidewalk on the hem OF
their garments are not to be compared tC
the charge of indelicacy to (which the
display they make might subject them
Horace Greeley, who nstitutlonally
fought all woman's rights movements
if they seemed unwomanly to hind
lscribes it thus:
Ut was. an attempt to substitute for
! the cunbrous, announcement, inelegant, in
many other respects objectionable dress
(which then and has since prevailed, one
of a light, graceful and convenient char'
acter."
He also remarked thai in no part o.
the world, perhaps, would such a reform
have been attempted but in n where
for some time, women had been endeaVor'
ing to assert an independence and al
individuality hitherto unknown. But
like many other reformers, Mrs. Bloom
err. we are assured, lived before her prop
er day. In the pleading she made TO
the proposed change in her magazine sh|
defended it from the charge of beinE
either immodest or ~inelegant. She toll
of the picturesque dress of the Polish la
dies, with high fur-trimmed boots AM
short tunic skirt.
In England the general opinion eX
pressed was favorable to the garb Whel
described. 1t was pronounced elegant
convenient and in no way open to tn
charge of indelicacy.
But, according to Robert Chambers, a
American lady lectured on the subject /
London in the autumn of 1851. and ere
ated something Of a sensation. Sh
wore, it seems, a "black satin JACKIE
skirt and trousers and urged upon Ene
lish ladies the adoption of the new cos
tune" But this reformer and her TO
lowers succeeded only in raising a laugi
EVEN in America" declared Mr.. Cham
beers, 1.-The bloOmer costume. as 1t wa
called. speedily became a thing, OF tn
past" ,
Mrs. Boomer herself, even remotel,
never dreamed that a steel steed Woul
shortly be created, and that 1t would n
yolutionize the situation. Mrs. Bloom'
herself chung to her idea more firmly 6
time passed ~. She always lived Yer
quietly, and to the day OF her dea'
many people were unaware mai ploone
We're named after an actual woman.