The Marshall republican., 1911-02-24
A Singular Dress
Parade
A Story Of the Future
By SADIE OLcOTT
Copyright by American Press Assoc
citation. 1911.


ter Of womsn's suffrage came to a
head, woman agreeing to accept all du.
ties Of citizenship the same rs men.
A battalion Of volunteer infantry
was organized by the government ny
IN experiment, under command Of q
major. Trouble began MS soon rs the
matter Of uniform came up for con-
sIderation. The brunettes strov for
a deep red with black facings, while
the blends favored either pale blue
or pink. The matter was voted upon.
and. the brunettes being In the ma.
jority. the red o a pattern for the
suit WINS 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
In this matter had been continually
growing. II was therefore found i'm.
possible to agree upon n uniform hat.
ear any shaped head covering she
pleased.
The members Of the regiment were
ordered TO rendezvous In camp. The
quIrtcrmaster. n man who had been
charged with the work Of establishing
the camp. provided only such equip
ment M he has been used TO provid.
Ing Tor men. During the morning ~
the date OF assembly the women sol
dlcrs came iocking I'm. the quarter.
master receiving them and instructing
them In the uses Of the equipment.
What was his CONSERVATION TO see
vans. wagons. carts. without limit
drive M loaded with trunks. vellses
and other articles Of baggage. The
hat boxes nlone. most of them prodi.
gious. occupied more space than the
belongings Of n regiment Of men.
lie tclegraphed at once for 900 hos.
pltal tents. which gave cnch woman
one for her baggage. Fortunately the
tents arrived while the weather vas
yet fine. and mo- damage was done 10y
exposure. 4 dress parade was ordered
for . o'clock IN the afternoon. and pco.
pie locked In from city and country e.
see this popular military ceremony.
When the call sounded aud the line
was formed Il was plain that much
must bc done for uniformity. Here
anil there "A blond had ~disreyarded
orders and had her uniform made oi
pink or blue. Some who were what Is
commonly called spindle shankcd had
their rousers made to reach the foot.
But the greatest lr%regulnrlty was In
the hats. There were small inverted
sugar bowl hats. Chinese conlcal hats
hats with enormous crowns. hats with
small crowns. hats with brlms Us larg,
as cartwheels. Then there were feath
crs pluckcd from every bird from th'
humming bird to the ostrich. The gov
crnment inspector from Washington
put on a pair OF spectacles. and ms be
cast his eyes along the line his brow
darkened. But he had orders from
the Inspector general not TO be toe
rigid with the battalion. which from
the nature OF the case needed n great
deal OF latitude.
The troops having been brought "a
an open order and n parade rest. he
walked down the front OF the line. Al
the first glaring breach Of uniformity
he reached he made n few remarks
He did not repeat them. The soldiers
whose apparel he had found fauiI
with began n defense. which lasted
| fifteen minutes and was not even dis
continued when the inspector moved
on.
A. n. ...aAl alAn1 M tho roar Vat,
position might be noted by the woman
he was behind putting her hand TO he
back hair.
Having gone through the inspection
perfunctorily he assumed his origina
position. and the major commanding
was directed TO put the battalion
through the manual OF arms. Her frs
order was Attention" the secon'
shoulder arms.' At the latter ordel
every musket went M and every h..
OF extra size was knocked on and roll
ed ON the ground. \ brisk breez'
blowing NJ the time carried many o.
them away. rolling them owe the pa
rado ground.
The situation vas very embarrassing
10 the commander. How 10 get tn
hats back ON the women's heads In
VOWED n puzzle. To break ranks dur
Ing Il dress parade would be unmili
tnry. yet the hats could not be per
mitted 10 remain the sport OF the wind
There were boys looking on WHIT
might be hired TO chase them and picl
them up. but only the women knew
their own hats. The crowd looked OK
pectant. There were some jeers. Tn
Inspector stood in II soldierly attitude
with arms folded Decisions amoni
soldiers cannot be long delayed, ant
the major was forced To act.
stack arms
"Break ranks and chase hats!
There was u scurrying over the iel,
by women who Were fat and wome
who were lean. tall women. shor
women-indeed, all shapes. The IN