Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-03-01
CLOTHES LEAD TO DEATH.
Every Garment Worn Helps to Induce
Disease.

Disease.
Clothes may not make the man, accord
ing 10 the old maxim, but according t
a Well-knOwn Chicago physician they may
unmake him with facility that ought t.
turn the fool-killer green with envy say:
the Chicago Tribune.
Go into the big, modern furnishing
mousse, said he, and you can scarcely
put your finger upon an article of wear.
ing apparel that isn't either murderousl,
menacing or insistently detrimental Il
health. In fact. you might arraign al
clothing with a good deal of common
sense and consistency.
In the first place. we breathe through
our bodies just as truly as We breathe
through our nostrils. You may prove this
work his lungs can do will keep hin
from smOthering to death. Then, just &c
the extent that clothing interferes with
the functions of the skin, to that exten,
it is theoretically detrimental.
Among all the murderouS forms OF
dress undertaking takes the lead and oI
this cotton and linen garments are this
chief offenders. The cotton shirt espe-
eially is vicious thing. When it has be-
come damp from Precipitation it is vir-
tually alright, and a draft striking il
converts it into a cold storage lining
which could not be better designed fol
pneumonia. A garment of genuine WOO
takes up this perspiration and the
warmth of the body under it evaporates
the moisture.
"Flannelette in this category of under.
wear is especially vicious. There may be
no thread of wool in it, and the careful
combing out of the inner cotton fibers OF
the garment makes only a still further
receptacle for clammy moisture from the
body. Chronic colds. sore threats and
even consumption may result from the
continuance of this kind of undergar-
ment.
THE ordinary vest, worn by all malt
kind, is one of the most insidious of MUIR
derous garments. The vest of a winter
suit is especially heavy in front and is
made of wool; at the back it is cotton
farmers satin, or perhaps thin satin.
Such 4 combination could not better fur
Their all lung troubles. Under the shoulder
blades "A. mans lungs are much nearer to
the surface than they are in front and
much more likely to be attacked by con-
eestions that follow cold. If men had a
proper regard for health they would insist
that their tailors make their vests of the
same material all the way around.
The ordinary silk muller is particu-
larly vicious thing. 1t may keep one s
collar clean. but likewise it may send one
to Il place where collars are not needed.
Muitling the throat at best is certain t.
advance the possibility of throat and
lung affections. The mufiier is something
that is easily forgotten, and for man
who is used to it to go out without it be-
tween November ! and April is to invite
an almost certain inflammatory attack in
the throat or lungs. Indeed, no matter
how carefully one may seek to drop the
thing in the spring, it nearly always gives
him at least parting cold.
The macintosh is another horror. II
this climate Il comparatively warm rain
may follow period of freezing weather in
almost any winter month. As / say, it is
only comparatively warmer; the Their
mometer may register only 50 degrees
but If the rain is heavy enough the man
who has been wearing an ulster that is
half an inch thick puts on a macintosh
and goes out to freeze to death. He is a
likely subject for pneumonia always.
The fact that the rubber rain coat is wa
ter tight is only another of it's evil as
poets, as preventing action Of the pores.
Footwear always has been detrimental
to the general health. No portion of the
body is more eXacting in the matter of
free pores than are the feet, yet they are
covered often in cheap stockings, colored
with poisonous dyes, and then crowded
into tight, pointed-toed shoes that
squeeze them out of all semblance to a
natural foot. The inside line of the feet,
which should be perfectly straight. be-
comes crooked around an enlarged joint
the big toe is turned in and half of the
natural functions of the feet are
strangled Then when a rubber sandal
or, worse, an arctic overshoe-is drawn on
! the foot the work is complete.
THE high heel in women'S shoes Is
especially vicious. 1t throws the toes into
the tips of the shoes. cramping and
crooking them and making the natural
springiness of the foot wholly impossible
Recently the rubber heel has done much
to mitigate the evils of heels ON hard
paVementS.
Even the stiff hat has hard reputa-
ton; by COMPRISING the blood vessels
supplying nutriment to the hair this
blood supply is cut off and badness is one
of the results.
ITO a man working at a desk a high
collar may affect the eyesight bring
| about stopped shoulders If the man in.
| sSts upon sitting up straight at his WORT
he has to look down at the pen or book
| at such an angle as to strain his eyes, II
he stoops over his spinal column may he
bent permanently out of shape. In any
| case, too, the collar interfereS with the
| supply of blood to the brain.
The ordinary shirt cuff is one of the
most murderouS things of all mans APP
parel Our grandmothers knew some
| thing when they knitted the yarn wrist
| ers' of fifty years ago. A pair of then
| was worth more than an overcoat pulled
| on over starched cuffs. The wrist is the
| most susceptible part of the body to cold
| and the fiaring cuff invites every blast oil
J winter. chilling all the blood in the body
l in a few minutes. The cuff is good
thing in hot weather, but menace to
health in winter.
| The glove in cold weather. too. is a
INicious interferer in the circulatory sys'
| tenn A mans fingers will freeze in
glove twice as quick as they Will uncov'
| cred. all because the pressure prevent:
circulation. For warmth a kid mitten
| fleece lined. Is the only sensible hand Gov