The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-12
THE MExIcAN AND HIS HAT.
Why He Spends Much Attention and Money on His Head uear.

why ne opeud6 muca AtIeatlo0 una Money on His Head uear. Washington Evening Star.
 While or a train in Mexico on my last trip to the country of the Aztecs a young American lady. upon whose astonisned gaze was flashed for the first time the fearfully and wonder fully made sugar-loaf Mexican hat. which is the first out of the ordinary object that greets the tourists eyes after he crosses the Rio Grande. asked
 me why Mexican men of all classes spent so ni-cn IiIonSy up~ ~H t.-e cSvSsi.4S , for stheir heads and appeared, lto take such evident pride in the great, wide brimmed, high conical-crowned shelter from the tropical heat and sun" said hat drummer to a reporter.
 When the American soldiers depart ed for Cuba or Porto Rico they wore the regulation army slouch hat, with a deep crease in the center. When they returned, heroes and veterans, they wore the same regulation hat, but with the peak of the crown pulled up to sharp point, pyramid-like, in a gallant, desperate attempt to initiate the Span- ish hat, which had caught their fancy and had struck them hard, and their wives, sweethearts and the public gazed awe-stricken and Teyerentially,
 but helplessly at the new style thus created here.
 And then the hat makers took 1t up
 for the ladies and this accounts Tor
 the present rakish style of ladies mill
 tary gray hats with mannish crowns.
 The main reason why the Spaniard
 and the Mexican devotes So much at
 tention ,tirne and money to his hat is
 ma h.A
 symbol of his standing in the cofnmu-
 nifty, and because 1t was the grandees of Spain who of all others at court pos
 sessed the privilege of sitting or stand ing in the presence of their sovereign with their hats on while the rest of the court uncovered.
 Naturally the hat became an object of respect and veneration, and the granGees vied with one another in the size of their brain covering, the fine ness and costliness of it's texture and the rich gold and silver commentators profusely worked thereon. The popu-
 lace, according to their respective means and position in life. emulated the example of the grandees,| and thus
 as time advanced. the big hat be- came the distinctive feature Of the dress of the Spaniard. as the mantilla COTTeSpOnucu OA tliS hSuu VA eAA> S~~> orita and the sonora.
 The time was when the Mexican placed his hat and his horse before all | his worldly possessions, spending as much as $500 or $1,0e0 for gold | trimmed, embroidered hat and as mu ;n more for. his heavy saddle and. bridle all trimmed with silver. and this pas sion is strong today. The higher classes of Mexicans have abandoned the su- | gar-loaf hat for city wear for the Eu- ropean style, as they have adopted long
 ago our ideas on clothes. though every Mexican gentleman has his native cos tune with it's gaudily-embroidered
 short jacket and flaring trousers and I hat to match. to be worn when the oc- l casion demands.
 "+.The other classes cling to the sugar foaf. hat. made principally of straw l l'6f a fiber peculiar to the country or l of felt ornamented with gold and sill yer cord. according to the means of the .wearer, or perfectly plain and cheap 1 They look odd to us, these Mexicans in their white loose shirts and trousers
 standing idly about in their sunllt
 adobe cities. as the train speeds on tt
 the capital. and picturesque lot they | truly are"