OCR Text |
Show B I 'EXTRA VAOANCE IN DRESS. H It is generally understood when H extravagance is complained of in H .matters of dress that it must be the H iadicS who arc the guilty parties, M ahdtfiere is little doubt that they H .have much to answer for in many in H -stances in this respect, but is not our desigh to add-to the vast amount of B literature that has been manufac- H tu red on the subject of woman's B weakness in dress. It is to the H male sinners that we have a word to H say. Since the opening of the B i Branch of the State University at HH this place the dress proposition has H assumed formidable proportions. Before, that our young men were B content to appear on our streets in H their working clothes during the B week days. They did not deem it H Accessary to put on a fancy shirt b and their "Sunday-go to meeting" H suit every time they had an errand B down town. Hut now the fashion is H ' changed, with the exception of a m few of the older ones. A stranger in H passing through our streets these L times would be led to suppose that H . ours was a city of gentlemen 'of leis- H sure whose fortunes were made and H who had little else to do than march HB t 4"rupand cown on dress parade, or k, " stand about the stores and smile oh Bvv, -''""' ' tho fair sex as ihey pass by. Al- f-"- though we hear occasionally of the dignity of labor, and the respect that H the world has for the man that earns B his living and builds up the country H by the exejeise of his muscles, etc.; H it is becoming more and more ap- H parent that in our city the less pco- B , pic look like working men the bet- BbVBI ter thev are resnected. not onlv bv H 'tliose who have a less laborious H tncans of making a living, but by H 1 many of their own elass, and it is to H j ..- this fact that the dress craze is at- H t. $ tributablc to a great extent. It is B"'f natural that people should like to Hj M appear to as good advantage as pos- H fl sible, and once havingascertained the H J -' drift of public opinion as to what is H ' ' required to plape them in the best H light, they at once proceed to act H upon H If this state of affairs gets no bet H tcr as fast in the next few years as it H - has in the past, it will soon not on H ly bea disgrace to look like a working H man, but it will be very unpopular to B . be a man that works, unless the H - work is of a very genteel character. H Probably the worst sufferers from H. , this extravagance and false pride are H . the fathers and mothers, who arc put H to their wits end to provide suitable B' apparel for their offspring who must B Y ecP UP w'tn procession or be social H ' outcasts. B Instances have come to our knowl B edge wherein people have to subsist B on starvation rations and live in B cabins in order to be able to pro- B vide clothes for their children to ap. B pearon thestreets like the rest of the H gentlemen and ladies who, in many H cases, promenade the streets with H - sneers of contempt for the aged and H the workman in his overalls. We H do not hesitate to say that the mcr- H chants arc somewhat to blame in H this dress matter. If, they would H adopt the "pay as you go" policy, H many people who dress well on "the H interest of what they owe" would H , v Have to be less extravagant, and it is H possible that under siich conditions H the majority might b: found once H more dressed in conformity with B their means and interests. 1 ; Clean, respectable apparel is alt 1 right, and where young people arc - attending school it is right and proper that hcy should be dressed ' neatly, but this' docs not necessarily ' mean that they should devote all ' their assets, including their brains, ' to the subject. ! The sensible view of the matter is ! that the man who has to work on ', the farm, or at any of the trades or ! other manual occupation should wear ! clothes that are suited to the busi-', busi-', ncss, and when it is ncceesary for him to appear on the streets in passing pass-ing to and from his labor, or in the discharge of any of the duties incident inci-dent to his calling, he is taking the only consistent and common sense course by wearing clothes suitable to his calling. When the dress craze becomes so exacting as to require re-quire a mechanic or farm laborer to put on his best suit in otder go to the store for a ponud of nails or a bar of soap, it is time to stop throw off the yoke of fashion and enlist under the banner of common sense |