The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1919-12-06
COPELAND DEFENDS
FEMININE FASHIONS
Thin Silk Stockings Good for Health,
He Says; Also
Corsets


The ladies may take ii from DR..
Royal S. Copeland. Health Commits
sioner of New York that himsy silk
Ihosiery-and flimsier silk ct ceteras
and so forths and so ons-are alto
gether compatible with long life and
buoyant health, and that to assert
! that the graveyards and nut asylums
are filled with the wearers of tight
lcorsets and high heels mis-states the
ase grossly.
DR.. Copeland was led to discuss the
ms and outs of the femme wardrobe
yesterday when one of his Office force
showed him an article by learned
French savant stating that the wear
ling of thin or no hose in Paris last
winter was responsible for much Of
the influenza which ragged there. Dr.
| Copeland gave the matter a nom.
ent's thought, perused some statis-
| tics for his memory's sake, and is
sued his dictum as follows:
The motion that silk stockings
and the influenza are related falls to
| the ground in the light of the fact
that in last years epidemic mortality
=
lamong men than among women. Ado
| to that that after more than thirty
years experience in the practice of
lmedicine | have seen almost every
yaunted theory regarding woman's
| dress thrown in the scrap head of
dicarded medical ideas.
Bless my soul, if the dear ladies
want to wear silk stockings or high
heeled shoes or aught else that ap-
peaks to the feminine heart let them
indulge the desire. There is some.
thing wonderful about the resisting
Ipowers of the human body. Nature
has adapted the human animal TO live
in every cline and under every condi-
tion of civilization and barbarism. Our
powers of adaptibility seem unlimited
we conform to every variety Of dress
and undress.
'In spite of doleful predictions, the
lamentations of the prophets and all
the preachments of the wise. fair wo-
man lives and thrives whether garD-
ed in the costume of antiquity or in
accordance with the refinements OF
modern dress. The city woman with
her silk stockings and himsy dress
generally lives longer than her sis.
ter on the farm, where the dull mono
tony of old fashioned country life
was so often fatal to womankind. In,
sanity certainly has always been
more common among the hard work
ing housewives of the rural districts
than among the dwellers of the city
"A generation ago we used to hear
much of the harmfulness of corsets.
But it is unlikely that many women
shortened their lives by the wearing
of the much discussed tight corset
Then we heard of the danger of
the high heeled shoe The spinal
column was to be thrown out of
gear; serious nervous disorders and
even mental arrangement were to re-
suit from the high heel The high
heeled discussion went on unabated
but the average of patients admitted
to the sanitariums and asylums re-
mained constant
Later the face veil, particularly
the one with the big spots, in the
train of which impaired vision and
even blindness was to follow. But
our dear sisters continued to wear
the wells and the oulists grew no
richer thereby.
Finally there have always been
those who have fought against cos.
metics and face powders. Personally
l prefer a clear skin, but if | were
woman and wanted more color in my
face | am confident / would use lit
tie rouge. | doubt exceedingly if any
serious harm has ever resulted from
the use of cosmetics But when it
comes to hair dyes | must balll and
admit that many hair preparations
contain harmful ingredients.
Activity, human interest proper
diversion and the whole life of the
city takes the individual out of self
and supplies interest in other mat
ters than aches and pains. This pro-
longs life and adds to happiness
while we ar alive Wherefore let us
not discourage the wearing of silk
stockings