Evening journal., 1911-02-02
A Singular Dress
Parade
A stony Of the Future
BY SADIE oLcoTT
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911.

ter of woman's suffrage came to a
head, woman agreeing to accept all du-
ties OF citizenship the same as men.
A battalion Of volunteer infantry
was organized by the government as
an experiment. under command OF a
major. Trouble began as soon as the
matter of uniform came up for con-
sideration. The brunettes strove for
a deep red with black facings. while /
the bIonds favored either pale blue
or pink. The matter was voted upon,
and, the brunettes being in the ma
jority. the red won. A pattern for the
suit was adopted, the trousers being
very full and reaching only TO the
knee. Since the FIRST decade of the
century, when women began TO wear
hats of different shapes. independence
I'm this matter had been continually
growing. II was therefore found i'm
possible TO agree upon a uniform hat.
and each woman was permitted to
wear any shaped head covering she
pleased.
The members Of the regiment we're
ordered to rendezvous in camp. The
quartermaster. a man who had been
charged with the work OF establishing
the camp. provided only such. equip
ment as he had been used TO provid-
ing for men. During the morning OF
the date OF assembly the women sol
diers came hocking in. the quarter
master receiving them and ihstructing
them IN the uses OF the equipment.
What was his CONSERVATION 20 see
vans, wagons, carts, without limit
drive up loaded with trunks. valises
and other articles Of baggage. The
hat boxes alone, most Of them prodi-
glous. occupied more space than the
belongings Of a regiment Of men.
He telegraphed at once for 500 hos
pital tents. which gave each woman
one for her baggage. Fortunately the
tents arrived while the weather was
yet fine and no damage was done by
exposure. A dress parade was ordered
for 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and peo-
pie hocked In from city and country to
see this popular military ceremony.
When the call sounded and the line
was formed it was plain that much
must be done for uniformity. Here
and there blond had disregarded
orders and had her uniform made OF
pink or blue. Some who we're whnt ia
commonly called spindle shanked had
their trousers made to reach the foot.
But the greatest irreguarity was in
the hats. There were small inverted
sugar bowl hats. Chinese conlcal hats
hats with enormous crowns. hats with
small crowns, hats with brims as large
ms cartwheels. Then there were feath
ers plucked from every bird from tn,
humming bird to the ostrich. The gov
ernment inspector from washington
put on a pair Of spectacles. and as HI
cast his eyes along the line his brow
darkened. But he had orders frou
: the Inspector general not to be to
rigid with the battalion. which fror
, the nature of the case needed a grea
denl Of latitude.
The troops having been brought {
, an open order and a parade rest. b
walked down the front OF the line. A
the first glaring breach OF uniformit
he reached he made a few remarks
He did not repeat them. The soldier
whose apparel he had found faul
with began n defense, which laste'
fifteen minutes and was not even dis
continued when the inspector move
on.
, As he passed along at the rear hi
. position might be noted by the womai
he was behind putting her hand TO he
back hair.
Having gone through the inspection
, perfunctorily he assumed his origina
, position, and the major commandin
was directed TO put the battalio
, through the manual Of arms. Her nrs
, order was Attention" the secon
Shoulder armsw At the latter orde
every musket went up and every hn
, OF extra size was knocked of and rol
ed on the ground. A brisk breez
blowing at the time carried many O
them away. rolling them over the pa
rade ground.
: The situation was very embarrassin
to the commander How to get IN
! hats back on the women's heads n
. volved a puzzle To break ranks dul
Ing a dress parade would be unmil
tary, yet the hats could not be pei
mitted to remain the sport Of the wine
, There were boys looking on VIII
/ might be hired TO chase them and pic
them up. but only the women kne'
their own hats. The crowd looked e.
pectant There were some jeers. TIL
inspector stood In a soldierly attitud
with arms folded Decisions anon
soldiers cannot be long delayed, an
the major was forced TO act.
"Stack arms!~
"Break ranks and chase hats"
There was n scurrylng over the iel
8 by women who were fat and wome
who were lean. tall women, sho
women-indeed. all shapes. The II
ones fell on their hats and crushe
g them: the tall ones on STOPPING to pic
up their property were knocked ov'
Ia by the short ones.
Finally the hats were recovered. Il
women "fell in" and the ceremony pr
"a ceeded. When the band paraded n
drum major. who had been selecte'
n OF course. for her height produced
II very marked impression on the s2e
= tators. Her headpiece. the size an
shape Of a -four barrel. was surmoun
ed by n plume resembling a column I
smoke. Indeed. those who gazed upC
it w0U obliged to look at the sky I