Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1916-04-27
CL0THEs IN CHINA
Where Women Wear Trousers
and Men Are Clad In Skirts.
A CURIOUS FASHION IN HAIR.

The Feminine Head is Decorated With
a Stiff Cushion That Demands Con-
slant Ventilation to Be Bearable.
Vogue of the Ear Ticleler.
Even though | came to China know
ing that they did things backward,
there are some customs here that |
just can't get used to. One is seeing
women wearing trousers. There are
more wonen wearing trousers in Chi
ma than there are people in the United
Statesmen. women and children. |
suppose there is no reason why things
shouldn't be thus, but it will always
seem to me that the pants are on the
wrong side of the house.
The ONE look like clothespins.
Their bodies are the same size all the
way down, and their feet are so tiny
that they go bobbing along for all the
world like jointed clothespins. The
women shave their foreheads, with
the timber line almost at the top OF
their heads, so that the little patch of
face below looks as if it Were trem-
bling under threat of an impending
snowslide.
Their hair is pulled and keyed back
as though for musical purposes. At
the back of the head d Chinese Wo-
man ears Il cushion of false hair, so
dressed as to show her rank, so that a
person skilled in the language OF the
hair can read her history, can tell her
present plans and her future ambi-
tons. y person up on hair can tell at
4 glance whether or not she is mar
ried; If so, how many children she has,
and If a widow. if she is willing to
open correspondence with Il desirable
party of about forty-fve-object, mat
rimony.
In this cushion Il Chinese woman
carries her head scratcher. Her hair
dressing is a preparation made of slip
perry elm. The person needing it can
run out TO the corner and wait until
the carpenter takes a plane and shaves
off Il few curlS. This the Chinese lady
sleeps into a thick, gummy smear,
lioAltt u VII IL lltIli anu USES IL ~
stilfen her hair.
This layer makes the top of her head
hot. so that every odd moment when
she hasn't anything else 10 do she gets
down under the mess and let's i'll some
air with Il darning needle. Her favor,
lite time for doing this is at the theater.
When the performance begins TO drag
Z cl1n patS out hon In ,,t,:t,,r ,,,N5l,- ,,,l
improves the shining hour by making Il
rift in the roof as she looks around
over the audience, ljghtly g~ossiping
about who are there. what they are
wearing and how awful they look.
Men in China wear skirts. Their
skirts are in Il garment that reaches
from their shoulders to their shins aud
looks like a nightgown worn by Il Cape
Cod deacon. 1t has a tasty slit mp each
side, 50 that on muddy crossings the
twinkle of masculine ankles may be
seen. When they want To catch a car
they have to gather up their skirts in
the good old fashioned feminine way.
Under their skirts they wear a pair
of drawers fastened at the ankles with
a bandage. with the ends tucked in.
When a Chinalnan has an important
letter or note to carry he unties the leg
of his drawers, stulfs it i'll and puts the
bandage back. The bandage works
loose. so that when he reaches his DIES
t~ination the note is usually gone.
The only pockets a Chinaman has are
in his SHIRT waist, which he wears I'm.
der his skirt. so that when he wants to
get Il dime he has to unbutton one side
and slip in a hand. Even though a
Chinaman wears skirts he has not yet
learned about the First National bank.
The Chinese are Il great nation to
think of the handy little tllings-things
that no other people iii the world could
possibly think of. You can run out or
to the street almost any time and buy
an ear ticker. Men make Il living
going around selling them. An ear
ticker is a little puff Of cotton on the
end OF a stick and is meant to combine
both business and pleasure-the bust
ness of cleaning the ear and the pleas.
ure of the tickling sensation.
His is not an easy life. for the ped
dler has to be constantly OF the watch
against tricky people who come up,
sample his ticlSlers. give their ears a
couple of good tiugles. tell the mar
that they dol't like his brand of tick.
Ter and SO on their way.
The peddler's ingenuity has devel.
opcd a way of polishing up the ticker
so that the next possible purchaser
may not know that the ticker has been
weighed and found wanting by carry.
ing along a little bowl of white pow
der. After Il ticker has been sampled
and declined he dabs the end into the
bowl. and it is bright, and fresh looking
as ii it We're new. If you went to buy
one you couldn't tell for the life of you
but that it was a new one-until YOU
had used it a time or two.-Homei
Croy in Leslie's Weekly.
Vanished His Own Coffin.
+ II F1so,,, J, :, g tCal1rir; vrnc ~ fnf thnS.