The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-08-17
The TURNING OF THE SUN T. HESSIAh
DRESS.
AbbeviIIe Man Writes from Germany.

Marburg, Monday, July I.
The twcnty-first of June, casually noted
as being the longest day in the year, pass
cs for the rest, about as quietly as any
other day with us. But the German farm.
erS, or rather peasants celebrate the day
with considerable eclat, marking it always
with a red letter. The celebration is
called the Turning of the Sun, which is q
better name than solStice.
The custom Of making holiday of the
twenty first is time honored, but haven't
found out yet how far back it dates. The
peasants assemble in the nearest town,
where they amuse themselves dancing or
drinking, Or sitting and smoking. Before
| 1898 the custom held for the students and
now the cultured people have given the
day to the memory of the Man Of Blood
and Iron. In every student town and in
many that are not student towns there is a
! Bismarck tower, a massive structure OF
stone bearing Bismarck's coat of arms,
erected by student or public subscription.
On the twenty-tirst, in the afternoon, you
hear band music and regular tread of stu
dents marching behind. These are frater-
mites parading in honor of the former
statesman. There are on such an occasion
about eight brass bands and some seven
teen hundred and fifty students on parade.
At about nine o'clock the MarburgerS go
up to the castle on the hill around which
tho town IS built to get good view Of the
Bismarck tower, about u mile away, on the
crest of another hill. Soon torches are
seen glimmering around the foot of the
hill, and a thread of light works it's way
up the hill towards the tower. From the
foot of the hill to the top is a good half
mile, so it takes some time for the line Of
torches to Chamber up. AS soon as the
thread reaches the tower it begins to wind
itself up into ball, which grows slowly
foot of the tower. Then from top OF mon
llnent shoots up a blaze, giving it the ap-
pearance Of q great torch. A cannon shot
rolls out and its boom is sent back from
every hill for miles around. From the
torch-iield comes clear and strong the
strains of national melody, Germany
above ALL" They all sing. More than
that, they all can sing. There is only one
man in Marburg that know Of who can
not sing; and that one, paradoxical as it
may seem, Is young poet-has indeed
published volume, the first edition Of
which is nearly all sold. But to get back
in front Of the Bismarck tower. After the
song the ball begins to unwind itself and
thread it's way slowly back to the town
where the burghers are lined up all along
on either side of their way. They march
through the town to the barracks where
they throw their torches down in a heap
and disband, not to go to bed Of course,
but to find something to quench their
thirst withal.
1 wish could describe the Hessian cos
tunes. No one can know what is possible
in the way of impossi BILE dress until he
sees a Hessian woman dressed up for Sun
day. Bright colors, from the little hair
box down to the stocking strings which
hang down some six inches below the skirt.
The word hair box calls for explanation.
The HeSSian women wear their hair in a
tight wad on the top Of their heads. This
knot, or wad, is stuffed into gaudy little
silk-and-bcad bedecked box, which is held
on by ribbon tied in a monstrous bow un-
der the chin. In order that no lock may
get free and look natural, they dampen
their hair before fixing it. SO tightly is
the hair drawn into this knot that the roots
yield to superior force, and the good danes
get bald in front and around the edges Of
where their hair ought to be, thus giving
them the appearance of having very high
fOreheadS. have not been able to find out
how they succeed in in tieing their hair up
so tghtly-may be by holding themselves
up by the hair with one hand and spinning
themselves around with the other. That
people of some years should choose to
spoil their looks in such way is allowable,
Of hair dress ON little girls barely out Of
the cradle is shameful. The neck piece Of
the waist is an attempt to leave out no
color, and always q successful attempt.
The waist, usually of velvet, Is Of some
such color as red, blue, or green, and very
close fitting. The skirt is not usually Of
the same color, but fall behind in bright
ness. These are worn in the old hoop skirt
style, except that the skirt is about foot
shorter than the ordinary skirt. White
WOODEN stockings with their gaudy bands
hanging down, small shoes with big buckles
complete the costume. Everybody, wheth-
CT studying German or not, knows the ex-
preston "SchoeneS maedchen Just why
those two words should be used together
is not apparent unless we go outside Of
HesSe> for ali explanation. The HeSSian
maedchen has a bearing like q bale Of hay.
She stands like post. Isn't there some
thing good to say about the poor Hes
sesches maedchen p Well, anyway, it's
the mems fault, for if the men didn't ad-
mire this sort Of dress the women wouldn't
wear it. There is also another reason.
The Kaiser likes to see his people keep to
their old customs and landmarks. So that
there are people after all who like it. He
should retain this mode OF dress, and like
good subjects that they are, they love and
respect their Kaiser enough to obey, or
rather carry out his wish.
1t must be made clear that only the peas
ant women dress in this fashion, and that
of the merchant class, and from there on
up, the German women dress more senSibly
than any others. Here let us close may
be we should have stopped earlier.