The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-01-20
~ Obe FTSf ~
6Ioman'S S Infantry

| copyright, 1909, by American Press Asso-
ciation.l
"You women wish the same rights
! as men. Then do the same dutles-do
military service"
1--WE are tired OF hearing you men
throw this up at us whenever we de-
mand the right Of suffrage. We toiH
do military service. You assume that
we cannot endure military hardshlps,
! We can do our part-that is, the light
er part. Our arms and accouterments
may be Of weight proporuonate to
our physique"
Such was the reply of Mrs. Susan
| Armstrong to the president, who In
his next message to congress transmit
ted the demand. An act was intro
duced creating corps of women to
serve IN such places as Mrs. Arm
strong had Indicated. They were to be
enrolled as infantry, though the intro
ducer of the bill disayowed any slur
ON the women from double meaning
Of the word. II they were found effec
tive as foot soldiers a corps Of cavalry
and one OF artillery were to be added
An amendment was introduced leav-
ing the selection of the uniform with
| the women enrolled.
The first regiment Of (women's) in
fantry was enrolled and instructed by
the secretary Of war to select its uni
form, after which Its officers would be
appointed and It's equipment furnished
by the government. Eight hundred
women met In council Mrs. Arm
strong was elected president, and the
meeting proceeded TO business. Miss
Owen moved that n committee be APP
pointed to design uniform. The mo-
tion was put and carried and the com
mittee appointed by the chair. 1t
was thon announced that the work
had already been done, uniform had
been selected and would be presented
to the meeting.
Miss Wrinkle, chairman OF the COM
mlttee read q description of the uni
form. 1t was TO be Of blue CLOTH
tailor made; Jacket faced with yell
low, skirt to fall three inches below
the knee, hat Of felt ON wire frame
crown, inverted bell shaped, four
inches high, brim one yard In diane
ter, ostrich feathers of suitable shades
to match.
When the description had been read
the president announced that the mat
ter Of its adoption was open to dis
cussion.
Miss Skinner--I should like to ask
what sized hustle is TO be used
Miss Wrinkle There will be no bus
tie. The uniform is to be for service,
not ornamental.
Miss Skinner Csharply)-Hm! With
no hustle perhaps some of us may dis
play figures by no means ornamental.
Mrs. Lathery-Will the chairman OF
the committee please inform us IL
there is to be a uniform hip breadth?
Miss Wrinkle-The hips are to be the
natural size.
Mrs. Latherly-Mrs. President, II the
hips are TO be natural size l would
suggest enlistlng only women with |
average hips. How would the rear
rank look with
The President-The lady is out OF or
der. Miss BlackmOre
Miss BlackmOre-Are there to be
two battalions-one OF blends, the 9th.
er Of brunettes? Certainly the bru.
nettes cannot be expected TO wear
blue.
The President-The members OF the
corps viii wear the uniform as adopt
ed.
Miss Skinner--I should like to know,
Mrs. President, II we are to be permit. |
ted to make our figures respectable, or
are we to be denied all pads?
Miss Wrlnkle-The secretary OF war
has estimated that our regiment can |
not be mustered In 10 the military
service without seryiceable uniform |
With our accouterments there win be |
no room for padding.
Miss Ferguson Does this deprive us
Of corsets?
Mrs. Matthew'S wish TO say right |
now II 1t does desire my name strlck-
en- OF the rolls. demand a corset. and |
a straight front corset
Mrs Kellogg AIRS. President, the
lady is talking nonsense. How would |
the straight front corset with rear pro-
tuberance look. / should like to know2 |
Does the lady wish something to- carry
mess kit on? Hd
Mrs Mathews-The vacant spaoe uny
der the rear of the corset might be
used for cartridges. I'm not so Inn
practical as the lady would suppose
SO therel
Miss simper 0ittering) the
straight front corset our corps would
look always In the position of charge
bayonet."
For some time the wrath OF various
members had been gaining ground,
and from this point there was dou-
bic class divergence. The fat women
..o....od