| Show TIIC BAllXJB OF THE DUCKIE5 Important DronuncJamentoa have been uttered against certain articles of womens dress The pope oicce issued a propaganda concerning the absurd dress that adorned the feminine iiead some generations ago a French law was recently enacted regarding corsets I sets in Chaucers time tme the English au thorities took steps to prevent the ex travagant wearing of gewgaws and we all know the nature of the famed Connecticut blue laws Even as far back as the days ol Paul the preacher it was demanded that womens heads remain covered in public places especially in church but probably the most unique law ever en forced regardIng feminine apparel re re lated to buckles I is the more In teresting to air this bit of antique e gality in view of the present astound ing popularity of the offending article of jewelry artcle Here is the story Strife was bitter between Athens and Atlens Aegiae War or rather a series of petty fights was the accepted attitude In one such engagement the Athenians were triumphant A small body of the soldiers marched into the little town of Aegiae to be met by an infuriated mob of women both matrons and maids These members of the gentler sex unclasped the girdles from about their tunics and belabored the incom ing militia with their metal buckles demanding de-manding as they did so the lives of brothers husbands and sons The soldiers hesitated to return the attack But resistance of some sort was necessary as the encounte was rapidly assuming proportions of a serl ous affray So they fled down ser streets Into open arches and cellar ways relentlessly pursued by the en raged women who used their long winding sashes and lassoes and long lessly struck the flying enemy with the dangerous gold and silver ornaments The soldiers were slashed oraments ftnd cut wherever an inch of flesh was unpro tected and presented itself a target for the markswomen Finally exhausted the Grecian Ama zons desisted but not before the buckle fray had become so serious an affair that i became one of the sensa lions of the Say A hearing 01 the case was had before the Judges The women pleaded that all was fair in love and war but the jury and men in general determined to take such convenient weapons out of feminine possession Probably they were not only amazed but alarmed at the ferocity of these female warriors and resorted to the cloak of law in order to shield themselves from possi hla equality or rivalshlp At all events a verdIct was rendered r hAM forbidding Aegean women henceforth forever to wear buckles henceforh I as part of their attire Their gowns should be fashioned the judge decreed in such a manner that these heretofore neces sary ornaments would be omitted from the calculation I was the bitterest judgment that could be passed on these beautiful women K proclaimed to the world their unwomanllness and v unwomanIness held them up as examples at whom other oth-er women might point the finger of scorn And they did for the Athenian women had the gold and silversmiths mold their buckles of finer make than ever These they wore with great pomp and pride to triumph over their male relatives opponents HENRY STERLING |
