The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-01-09
WINTER MANNEs.

the English.
WINTER FLANNELS.
Our Colonial ancestors left us as q
part Of their domestic legacy many
habits and some customs that have
been cherished with filial piety for
many generations. and we have come
to regard them AZ q part Of the I'M
written laws Of our existence. Among
them might be mentioned some Of. the
pernicious products of the Kitchen.
such as the hot 'sriz'' biscuit washed
down with ice water. and the hominy
floated in hogs grease; while in the
lesser atrocities may be classed pie for
breakfast, fried meats and the con-
coction known in the restaurants as
''stew and Dump" SO says Surgeon
Banks Of the United States public
health service. In a measure these
are local punishments. for our stom-
achs being the first line Of defense
bear the brunt Of the assault. Only
the brave deserve that fare. But
while these relate to the sustenance
Of man the patient descendants Of our
worthy forbears have carried q load
OF other customs none the less repre-
hensible because they seem to be
practiced with some semi-intelligent
application. To be sure we continue
to plug up our windows in winter, or
double-sash them to prevent any
ventilation, and then pile on the fuel
till we reach 80 degrees triumphantly
and sit and stew in that Incorporate
zone day after day, week after week.
and month after month. We have
come to regard that as a comfortably
heated house. for winter, and yet
when we get 80 degrees in summer.
natural atmospheric heat in the shade,
we puff and fume and mop our brows
and call it a suffocatingly hot day.
1t took many generations of protest
ing victims to relegate the insanitary
feather bed to it's merited desuetude.
Even now. in many Of the remoter
districts, this Leviathan of our sleep
an amoeboid grasp may yet be found
doing its lethal work on a generation
that knows not its capacity for evil.
Even SO we have become the lega-
tees of our grandsires in that iso-
thermic obsession concerning ELAN
nels," meaning Undertaking in gem
eral, by which we delude ourselves
that we are cheating the doctor and
the undertaken. AS a matter Of COM
fort. cleanliness. convenience and COW
er we have come to wear in our civil
lied life a suit Of clothing under our
street apparel. and it is to this under
clothing that the public health service
turns its attentioNiH this brief bstl-
letin of protest. r.
Designed chiefly as an inner gar
ment to hold the Notes.-The :and ex-
foliations of the skin, and Of tex
ture suitable for constant laundering
to ensure cleanliness, it has become
the chief vehicle for many mems
hygienic hallucinations. The large
and increasing class who carry in
their wardrobes several seasonal
varieties of Undertaking, alternating
from the imperviously thick to the
gauzily thin ''flannels'' is q source OF
wonder to that other class who won
der what it is all about. It cannot be
said that 1t is the leisure-sated indi-
viduals who affect these varying de-
grees of light, medium and heavy
underclothing. and are prepared to
confront any range of weather on
man is so surfeited with this flannel
fetch that he is a regularly consistent
devotee Of it's false and fraudulent
worship.
The idea is simple and the fall easy.
He looks out of the window in the
morning and finds the wind easterly
and the sky cloudy. Pedestrians in
the perspective have hands in their
pockets, and the old faithful Their
mometer is consulted as the infallible
underclothing gauge. 1t has fallen a
few degrees since yesterday when he
wore light weight. Inference
medium" weight for today. and me
dunn" it is. At noon, sun comes out
the wind shifts to southwest and q
rising temperature begins to show
| considerable caloric units Our bril-
liant hygienic expert begins to per-
spire and on the shady sides Of the
| streets feels a chilly sensation. Now
1t is either one or the other to meet
the situation, heavier flannels to coun-
teract the chill, or lighter weight tc
check the perspiration. He toddles
home, gets heated in the walk. be-
comes hotter in the house, and decide:
on light Undertaking. Everything
| goes on comfortably until night. wher
there is a sudden change again, cole
''norther" drops down, and the las
shift of the day is made to the heavy
weight, and our scientific dresser Ii
satisfied that he has executed severa
successful flank movements on tn,
weather. Next day or two he has +.
slight infectious ''sore throat" or cold
as a result of overheating and hi
draft" and relates to his wonderinl
friends how he got it-"made a mis-
take in not putting on my heav.
weight earlier in the day" And h
believes it-as the colder the day tn