Evening star., 1925-04-27

The grind" in American life is at
mate men" deplored in two public
statements by professional observers.
The issues raised furnish the subject
of some heated talk, which has ex-
tended to all classes of people in all
parts of the country. Have soft hats,
silk stockings, pearl-colored spats, lilac
pa jamas and embroidered bath robes
caused the disappearance of the he
man in real life, leaving his only sur
vivor in the movies? Is the condition
called "Americanitis," a product of
too much hurry and hustle. causing an
excessive number of deaths between
the ages of 40 and so? The press
records the answers that have been
made.
Df.. Charles Gray Shaw of the Uni
versity of New York is responsible for
the charge that the herman is slipping
out of the picture. I'VE know con-
cedes the Columbia Record, that the
man is inclined to be the domestic.
Modern men marry for the sake of a
home, with its dog, radio set or
graphophone. while women approach
the welded state with the idea of get
ting a companion or lover. Men
taurant check. Now girls carry their
own money and frequently pay the
cashier Women used to consider mar
riage the grand terminal of their life
tain's ambition. Now they recognize
it only as a flag station. Mere man
came into the picture this year in the
most colorful of Springtime pagea1Hs
With layenders, powder blues, London
smokes and other pastel shades. he
ran the gamut OF pulchritude. untfi
woman, once queen of the season at
Atlantic City, was thrust into the
background. The next step, we sug-
gest, will be the shingle- headed women
and the long haired men. We are on
the way, and it will be a wonder day
when we get to where we are going.
On the other hand there is nothing
in history or in modern examples OF
distinctly masculine types to support
the attack upon modern man, accord
ing to the Atlanta Journal which
submits these facts: well, Mr.:
James J. Corbet, Mr.. Benny Leonard
Judge by their pictures, take great
pride in personal appearance. but we
are yet to be convinced that any Of
these worthless are suffering FROM
Termination. In truth, George WasR
ington, Napoleon Bonaparte, the Duke
Of Wellington and other notables of
the long ago were much fonder and
more addicted to ruffies and laces,
satins and cilks than any OF the pres
ent generation. The modern man
may smoke many cigarettes through
an amber holder. His grandfather
took snuff from jeweled boxes. The
fact of the matter is that in colonial
times the men dressed far more like
women than do the men OF today. yet
In looking back at their achievements
who is there to say that they were
wanting in sturdiness?"
History is summoned to the res
cue, also, by the Twin Falls Daily
News, which says: But good heav-
ems, man! Didn't men of the heroic
Elizabethan age wear all such frip-
perry, and much more. not merely in
boudoirs, but in public? 1t must take
more than silks and laces and rain
bows to destroy virility.'
The critics condemnation of un-
starched shirts and soft colors brings
heated reply from the Louisville
Times. "Sioux braves did not wear
stiff collars" says the Times. They
had their faults, butz2they were not
effeminate in Red Clouds day. An
Afghan or an Ashantee. whose neck