The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1911-03-02

head, woman agreeing 10 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 9
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 blends 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
In 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 were
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 be had been used to provid-
ing for men During the morning Of
the date Of assembly the women sol
diers came docking In. 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 up loaded with trunks. vaIises
and other articles OF baggage The
hat boxes alone. most Of them prodi- |
gi0us. occupied more space than the
belongings Of 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 o'clock in the afternoon. and PEG
pie fIOcked in from city and country TO
see this popular military ceremony
When the call sounded and the line
was formed II was plain that much
must be done for uniformity. Here
and there a blond had disregarded
orders and had her uniform made OF
pink or blue Some who were what IS
commonly called spindle shanked had
their trousers made 20 reach the foot
But the greatest irregularity was in
the hats. There were small inverted
sugar bowl hats. Chinese conical hats.
hats with enormous crowns, hats with
small crowns, hats with brims as large
as cartwheels- Then there were feath-
ers plucked from every bird from the
humming bird to the ostrich The gov
eminent Inspector from Washington
put on a pair OF spectacles. and as he
cast his eyes along the line his brow
darkened But he had orders from
the Inspector general not to be too
rigid with the battalion. which from
the nature OF the case needed a great
deal Of latitude
The troops having been brought to
an open order and a parade rest. be
walked down the front Of the line At
he first eIaring breach Of uniformity
be reached he made a few remarks
He did not repeat them The soldiers
whose apparel he had found fault
with began a defense. which lasted
fifteen minutes and was not even dis
continued when the inspector moved
n
As he passed along at the rear his
,osition might be noted By the woman
le was behind putting her hand to her
,ack hair.
Having gone through the inspection
lerfunctorily he assumed bis original
'ositiOn. and the major commanding
Tas directed to put the battalion
trough the manual OF arms. Her first
rder was Attention" the second
Shoulder armsr' At the latter order
very musket went up and every hat
Z extra size was knocked OF and roll
d on the ground A brisk breeze
lowing at the time carried many Of
hem away. rolling them over the pa
Ide ground.
The situation was very embarrassing
} the commander. How TO get the
ats back on the Women's heads in
olved a puzzle. To break ranks dur
e a dress parade would be unmili-
ny. yet the hats could not be per-
lifted to remain the sport Of the wind
here were boys looking on who
light be hired to chase them and pick
lem up. but only the women knew
leir own hats. The crowd looked ex-
sctant There were some jeers. The
spector stood in a soIdierly attitude,
ifh arms folded Decisions among
'ldiers cannot be long delayed, and
e major was forced to act.
stack armsr
Break ranks and chase hatsg'
There was a seurrying over the field
: women who were fat and women
DO were lean. tan women. short
all shapes. The fat
les fell on their hats and crushed
EN-; the tall ones on STOPPING to pick
} their property were knocked over
the short ones.
Finally the hats were recovered, the
'men '.fell IN" and the ceremony pr
eded. When the band paraded the
um major. who had been selected.
course. for her height. produced a