The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-11-10
HUNTERS IN BRIGHT RED.
Move, Law Proposed In the Vermont
Lc.isit;.,ts

Vermont hunters will be CARRIED in
/ bright red during the open season If
measure now pending in the Legis-
lature becomes a law. Representative
! Gillett of Richmond is the author of
| the bill, which provides penalty OF
500 for noncompliance with its pro-
visions.
Just how extensive or detailed will
be this uniform, the reader cannot i'm
agine from the dispatch. But it seems
vital matter. Thousands of hunters
would wear a red sweater, in the
woods at least, but would resent the
suggestion that they must wear pair
of red brooches. If it were left to in
dividual tastes with only the demand
that there must be something red
about the person when hunting the
woods would be transformed into a
phantasnagoria of shifting scenery,
pleasing to the eye, perhaps, but con-
fusing to the animals
why not be persistent, dignified
and expressive in the matter of cos
tune? The red sweater seems an es-
eential, but even this feature Of the
costume could stand modification. The
hunter might wear a red sash with
long tass els down the left side, AS for
trousers they should be red. 1t would
be a hardship if the law demanded
that they be worn, cuff fashion, AMI
reaching only to the top of the shoes.
Better should the law read that the
trousers should be worn as suits the
fancy of the wearer, thus allowing the
picturesque use Of high rubbers or
leather boots of the guide and exper-
fenced woodsman, as well as the rus
set high-topped shoe of the city sport.
The hat should be distinctive. 1t
could be a Turkish fez or the clipper
Fedora of the German Kaiser of the
hunting field The German hat is
brown, according to the impression
gained by the magazine where it is
pictured, but the Vermont hunters
hat should of course be red. But there
should be something else there. Would
not a lions tooth, a rabbits hind foot
or a pheasant's tail feathers be suit
headpiece. Would it not lend just
that sort of distinction that all cor
rect people, man or woman, desire IN
clothing? Red gloves are not nee
essity. No saneminded Legislature
this side of Siam would demand that.
1t would be pushing the joke altogether
too far.
The Vermont Legislature must pro-
vide, surely. for uniformity of uni
form. There can be no hit-or-miss
policy. There is only one way to
plan for this feature, and that is by
the appointment of a State commission
with power to enforce the law. This
commission should visit the homes Of
the hunters and follow them into the
woods. They should advise the house
wife as she laboriously tolls over her
husbands outfit and follow the hun
ter to insist that he provide a fresh
crease in his trousers at least once in
every "a hours.
The Governor OF the State has
great responsibility here. He must
name a commission which will meas
ure I'm to the highest ideals of char
acter; they must be men who can take
every insult without fiinching. But
above all else, they must be men who
are not color blind red as color IS
deceptive How the State would be
laughed at if special commissions
from other States of the Union, APP
pointed by Governors, We're sent to the
Vermont woods to study the practical
working of this new law and found
hunters there in uniforms of every
! hue of red from vermillion to orange
and purple, scarlet and crimson!
what effect will red costumes have
upon the innocent deer and moose OF
the wood? That result will naturally
give Vermont a reputation in the
world of science paralleling that which
she will receive in the sartorial world
and the world of sport. on hand, one
might say this The best animals
those worldly wise, inquisitive and
assertive, will look at the hunters req
trousers and that jaunty little hat
perched on the left side of the hunt-
er's head, smile (but not long enough
TO oblige the hunter with good target)
and run away as fast as their legs VIII
carry them.
But the younger animals, those the
hunter would not shoot If they came
up to his back door every morning
will be paralyzed with the first glance
What unsophisticated person or ami
NAL could stand such show without
being transfiXed?
mont farmers will welcome the law
because it will result in rivalry am
ong the housewives in the operation OF
THE third thought is this: Yer,
costumes. The farmers wife VIII
come to regard the fixing up OF hel
husbands red trousers and his little
hat as one of the delightful pleasures
of the household. 1t will take its
place with the canning of the toma
toes and the fruit and the sti1nglns
of the dried apples. Happy VIII d.
that farmers wife who with her der
touches and precise sewing wins th'
Ipraise of her neighbors or that OF th'
commission on Uniformity OF Costume
and Regularity of Practice when the!
visit her house. The Vermont house
wife is proud of her talents. This II
: her great opportunity
n. 4 N....s xsae a