The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1920-09-01
MINISTER SAYS WOMEN
SHOULD LOWER SKIRTS
Calls Practice Shameful and Sees
Danger to Young Girls
y In Fashion

/ Women who dress to display the
curves and forms of their bodies
were roundly scored by the Rev. f.
d. Hatiher, news editor of the West
ern Recorder, at the Deer Park Bap-
tist Church in talk on 1.-The present
growing scandal of womaHs indie
fency in dress"
"A wave of careless. loose dress
ing is sweeping the country today"
the Rev. Mr.. Hatcher exclaimed.
Women are placing their physical
attractions on a plane higher than
that which they place their souls.
They are giving prominence to their
bodies; they are shamelessly exalt-
ing them in public"
The Rev. Mr.. Hatcher's text was
from Timothy: desire that wo-
men adorn themselves in modest ap-
parel with shamefacedness and So
briefly" In his sermon be quoted
from the Scriptures that the prophet
Isaih, pointed out the immodesty in
feminine apparel prior to the fall
of Jerusalem.
I'm the Streets the Rev. Mr..
Hatcher said, I'VE find that there is
lowering of the standards of wom-
anly dress. In all Christian lands,
the tendency of women to exhibit
their bodies always has been regard
ed as a tendency toward immodesty.
Yet we find this to be the case in
! the streets, on the trains and wber-
ever there is a public gathering"
The speaker declared that this
! tendency is positively startling. 1t
is spreading, too, he pointed out.
Just think of the young slip of a
girl who walks along the street
dressed in shortened skirt. peek.
! a-bee waist. and low neck blouse.
Fear for her. Try to divert her
from the path in which she is walk
! ing" he admonished.
In the city of Ephesus, where the
young preacher, Timothy, lived,
there was the same trouble, accord
| ing to the Rev. Mr.. Hatcher.
1.-The Apostle Paul." he said,
urged the women to go against the
current and appear in public only
in modest apparel. to clothe them
selves with a view toward modesty
rather than to aim at the preten-
lions and the spectacular"
The Rev. Mr.. Hatcher also de-
nounced the advertisements and IL
Illustrations that appear in some Of
the newspaper and magazines.
Whenever a woman is concerned
in any way" he said, 1.-THE adver-
tisement seeks to display her as
sensuously as possible. This is to
be regretted, for it works on the
mind, especially on the mind of the
young boy and the young girl who
read it,"
Asserting that he was not indict.
ing women in general, the Rev. Mr.,
Hatcher paid tribute to what he
called the bulk of society,"" the wo-
men who dress modestly, who con-
duct themselves discreetly, who
place the beauty Of the soul above
the beauty of the body.
who is to blame?" he asked.
"Who is responsible for this regret
table tendency, this excessive ex-
posure of the body? Mothers, ]
urge you to check your daughters
in the paths they are travelling.
Girls, / urge you to emphasize the
beauty of your intellect and of your
soul"
The Rev. Mr.. Hatcher explained
that his talk was based on observa-
tions Of the last two or three weeks.
He called attention to the careless
spirit displayed at dances, theater
parties and in automobile riding at
, night. After the sermon, he said
that he had not been to any bathing
resorts, but that If the dress there
is as immodest as he has been told
why, conditions are deplorable."
After preaching at the same
church next Sunday morning and
night, the Rev. Mr.. Hatcher will go
to Blue Mountain, Miss, to take the
pastorate of the Lowrey Memorial
Baptist Church.-Courier Journal