Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-12-05
MILADY'S HIGH
HEELS DEFENDED
Health Commissioner Takes
Issue With Dress Reform
ers; Corsets Approved

New Yorlx.-Dress reformers and
health experts are confronted to-day
with opposition from DR.. Royal S.
Copeland Health Commissioners,
who asserts that the much discussed
and criticised styles in women's $
dress are not inimical to health.
DIR. Copeland declared yesterday
in the most positive terms that thin
silk stockings, flimsy underGarments,
high heeled shoes and low neck
dresses are not the health wreckers
they are said to be. The statement
by French physicians that the raw
ages of influenza last winter were
greatly aggravated by the wearing
of sheer silk stockings was chal-
lenged by DR.. Copeland and un-
equivocally denied.
Statistics show that the mortality
among men caused by influenza, said
DIR. Copeland, greatly exceeded the
deaths among women. DR.. Copeland
also called attention to the fact that
unmarried women are the principal
devotes to the extreme styles In
stockings and all other items of
clothing, and that health reports
show convincingly that influenza
claimed more victims among mar
ried women than unmarried. DIR.
Copeland said that women can safe
ly wear whatever they desire.
There is something wonderful
about the resisting powers of the
human body" he explained. Mature
has adapted the human animal to
life in every cline and under every
condition of civilization or barbar-.
ism. Our powers for adaptability
seem unlimited; we conform to ev-
cry variety of dress or undress."
City Women Live Longer
Woman lives and thrives whether
conforming to the refinement of
modern dress, said DR.. Copeland, or
garbed in the simple costume of
the early ages. He also asserted
that the city woman lives longer,
with her silk stockings, high heels
and V-cut dresses, than the woman
on the farm who pays less attention
to the demands of changing styles
He said that the variety of city life
and the change of costume is a
healthy preventative of the monot- !
ony of existence that is so often fa-
tai to woman, and that it certainly |
conduces to maintaining mental
health.
I'm my more than thirty years |
experience in the practice of med |
icine," said DR.. Copeland, II have /
seen almost every vaunted theory |
regarding woman's dress thrown in |
the scrap heap of discarded med |
ical ideas. 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"
The High Heelcd Shoe
He placed the high heeled shoe in !
the same category. We heard that |
the spinal column was to be thrown |
out of gear; serious nervous disor- |
ders and even mental arrangement |
were to result from the high heel |
But while the doleful predictions
and the discussion went on unabat-
ed, the average of patients admitted
to the sanatoriums and aSylumS re-
manned constant"
DR.. Copeland said that the ocu-
lists have not grown rich because
women persisted in wearing the styl- |
to ruin their eyes, and he seriously |
doubted If the use of cosmetic or |
powder caused any serious harm.
The only fad Dr. Copeland balks !
on is dyeing the hair. and he said !
that many of such hair preparations |
contain harmful ingredients.