The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1903-09-12
JUDGED BY THEIR CLOTHES.

The new arrival at the summer
hotel always finds the second day
| more difficult than any other. tne
first is usually occupied in arranging
the rooms, unpacking the trunks and
getting ready for the campaign. By
that time the guests know that the
new arrivals have had plenty of op-
portunity to get themselves into con-
dition to look their best. So there is
no reason why they should not look
all right by the second day.
They know that the inspection will
begin seriously when they do go down
to breakfast that morning and will
continue at intervals during the day.
After while they will be accustom-
ed to it.
"Nice-looking people," remarked
one woman on the piazza as mother
and two daughters appeared. They
had arrived the night before.
"I haven't had chance to look at
their faces" said the other woman,
who was staring hard at them, "but
like their clothes"
The three advanced with an effort
to appear at ease. They were fol-
lowed down the piazza by the eyes
of the women gathered there in
groups. Mid-August had brought
new arrivals to the mountain hotel,
and there were many unfamiliar
gowns to be inspected and classified.
"Well-cut duck skirts the girls have
on" said one attentive observer of
the new party, which seemed as a
whole to have made good impress
sion.
yes" assented another, who was
able to get a closer view as the
two sat down next to her. "Their
clothes are all right. But isn't it Gu
rious that they have no personal or
naments on? Not one of them has
even stickpin.
The piazza buzzed with discussion
of the new arrivals. Their progress
had started it. AS one group after
another was passed, the talk began
before the women were out of hear
ing. Their plain dresses bore the
1t was decided that such a begin
ming was promising. But 1t was me-
cessary to wait until evening before
it was possible to decide whether they
were we'll dressed.
That night they came through the
ordeal with triumph. They wore
gowns smartly, they were not over
dressed, and their simple jewels put
to confusion the woman who had
commented on their lack of "person-
al ornaments"
The three were sitting on the piaz-
"a again that night when some tired
travellers landed from the little steam
er in front of the hotel and passed up
the steps into the Office.
Aren't you glad, mother" said
one of the two girls, "that other
women have arrived tonight? They
will have to be looked over in the
morning?"
Nothing so much infames the or
dinary feminine interest in dress as
hotel life. In the summer it is the
most engrossing topic, and in the
winter hotels it comes next to bridge.
In her home woman sees dress and
change of it much less frequently.
In hotels there are twice as many
women as she sees ordinarily about
her, changing their clothes twice as
many times. 1t takes strong-mind-
ed woman not to have her thoughts
directed altogether to the subject of
costume.
Hotel life as a permanency has been
considered disadvantageous from the
point of manners before this. One of
its least admirable influences must be
the importance that young girls are
led to lay on dress. If the amount of
discussion they heard made them
tasteful and careful in dress its harm
might be mitigated, but, as a rule,
there is merely the tendency to over
dress that survives.
Many of the persons who live per-
manently in New York's hotels find
their only opportunity to wear elab-
crate dress while they sit in the cor
ridors or the palm rooms," that
were presumably invented for the
purpose of allowing the guests the
opportunity to wear their gowns be-
fore an audience. The same restrict
ed opportunity to exhibit their dresses
is all that is available to many of the
most richly dressed women at the
GUNNER hotels-NezO Xo,k SIN.