The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-09-17
Why Dr. Mary Walker Wore
 Mems Clothing For Years

Tho fight she had te make was not easU Not only did street boys r,ttcu-czg hcF, but hcr own sex, or most uf tt, was mortified. Women made faCra at her In the street Once a woman Nh New York City set big dog ur tho littic doctor, but tho wo- mans husband, much disturbed by his wifc's action, paid Dr, Walker for the injury the dogs teeth did to he4. kld glove,
 Several times policemen arrested her for "maSquerOding In mems ClOthes''-ouce iu Chicago-but she had a good defense, Congress itself paeaod a measure be7towing upon her what had never been pivrn any wo- man bcforc-thc right to wear trous- CTS, Rut Cungrerss could not protect her further,
 As, for example, once when she was passing into the Womcu's Dress ing Room iu the House of Represen- tattvps in Washington, and a huge and huvly guard rushed after her, placed a heavy hand on her shoulder and yani,rd her out unCerem Oniously, Tt was some tintc before he would be- lieve that Doctor Walker was a man
 In spltr of her lifelong contention that women ought to have the vote, pr, walker wasn't popular with the suffvagtzsg, She was tpa queer, and the saffs, 80 long the target of ridi- Cule, had iN self-defence Co avoid be- ins rhunmy with the woman who actually did the things they were car featured as doing,
 Once. at a votCs-for-wOmea conven= ton at Oswego, in 1901, che was N, C. self eteeted from the building, This, however, wasn't because of the trous= CTS, bus because she had made an at tack on Susan E. Anthony, distribute ing circulars advising women not to furnish money To the cause on the ground that women had alrea dE the right Co vote, Dl, walker always hold t6at an amendment to tho CpnsIttu= ton was nos necessary 10 allow wo- men Jo vote, that the right was hers slr~sly,
 However, when she visited the blen- nial of the General Feteratlpn Of wonen'S Clubs at the Sevpath Regt- lneas Arraory in 1916. sha got quite an ovation from the w9xtcn Tn the corridors, who admired fSh badges tho one given by Congress fer bravery duyiaS the Civil war, and another
 
 ed oa her at q country fair for being -tho best dressed woman there"
 Also they wanted to know If she wore hgsIf-hose-o~ what2 The little loctor told then, that she did not wear half~,aeSe---She did not think them uarZsa enough, Tho shoes women wore she considered infamous, She wore stont, sensible footyear, and never had any trouble with her feet,
 Yc: tra sD1to of her crushing uf what arc generally considered natural fem :rSac vanitics, ShC he'd her own lit tic vanlties- Thcrc 3s eNSaDt a picture she had taken of herself laid ont as dead. with her coat and tic fas1i- dios1sly ara auEed and flowers scatter cd over her She wanted 10 know how she would look when she had passed out
 So Dr, Mary Walker went on her lonely, eccentric way through life, true to her own queer individuality as few human beings have becn> Once she barely escs ped being Jarred ana featsaer7ed by a band of noble Oswe~o voutlas who objected to her trousers, but she wasn't GaUnts1- She had plenty of courage as was shown by offering to sell one of her fingers to a woman who advertised to buy v4.- to be rTa11e5 on her hand in place of one she had lost Dr. HTal2Oor want ed dhe money to devote to tuberculosis patients but the advertiser refused 10 clinrh tho bargain
 One debr of IsraItude men owe Dr. Mary Walker which they ought not eo forget She was the inventor of The inside neckbsnd on shirts which protects the flesh from being rubbed by the collar button--The e Literary Digest