320 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



thing different " ? Why judge it by the form it takes 

 in its most indiscreet and extreme inanit'eslations ? 



Compare it with the slcirts of earlier fashions — 

 the hoop-skirt — the elaborate draperies that accom- 

 panied the bustle, the full skirt that was stiffened 

 into enormous size by crinoline and horsehair lin- 

 ings, the plaited skirt with yards and yards of excess 

 material, the trailing skirt that gathered dust and 

 filth from the street. In any such comparison the 

 modern skirt is a triumph of common sense, comfort, 

 simplicity, neatness, and health. 



By " the modern skirt " The Companion does not 

 mean the dangerous and ridiculous " hobble " skirt, 

 or the skirt that has to be slit at the side to enable 

 the wearer to walk; but the skirt that clears the 

 ground by two or three inches, and contains only a 

 half or a third as much material as its predecessors. 



The new fashion does not distort the figure. For 

 the first time in many years, women wear no absurd 

 hump in any part of their toilet — no bustle, no puff- 

 ed sleeves, no ruff, no pompadour. With the lighter 

 skirt has come also the one-piece dress, which allows 

 the weight to fall from the shoulders. That is a great 

 gam. 



The whole tendency of the change is away from 

 the distorted and the artificial, toward the freedom, 

 simplicity, and beauty of the Greek costume — a ten- 

 dency not imitative but adaptive. As such, the change 

 has much to commend it. It is in the abuse of the 

 new fashions, not in the use of them, that immodes- 

 ty lies. 



The above reminds me that nearly all my 

 life I have been protesting against the 

 absurd and silly fashions for women's dress. 

 When I was in my teens I sometimes quar- 

 reled with my sisters, and with girls with 

 whom I was intimately acquainted, because 

 of tight lacing simply because it was " the 

 fashion." Then when bustles came in vogue, 

 where they could not afford a manufactured 

 bustle some of the girls wore folded news- 

 papers. Then when hoop-skirts came in, I 

 scolded more, especially when they were so 

 large that a woman could not get through 

 an ordinary doorway without tilting them 

 up. The fashion of " tight lacing " I have 

 objected to all my life; and I had almost 

 forgotten it until the Youth's Companion 

 mentioned it, that tight lacing seemed to be 

 finally out of fashion. God grant that it 

 has gone for ever. I believe the best au- 

 thorities in regard to the care of these bod- 

 ies of ours say that nothing should be tight 

 enough to impede free circulation ; and right 

 along this line for the best development of 

 health there must be abundant ventilation. 

 I have had considerable to say recently in 

 regard to ventilating the feet. Whenever 

 your feet get hot and sweaty, it is nature's 

 "protest, and a demand for more air; and 

 so with other parts of the body. Now, if 

 the modern style of women's dress is going 

 to give them something sensible in that di- 

 rection, and is going to give the mothers of 

 our land better bodies, and enable them to 

 give the world healthier children, shall we 

 not thank God and be a little slower about 

 criticising and finding fault? 



Last, but by no means least, the modern 



skirts are a saving in cloth, and in that way 

 it is a saving in expense. 1 think Mrs. 

 Root said that some of the former fashions 

 required three times the amount of cloth 

 that is used now. And besides the money 

 saved, there is less weight to be carried 

 about. Not very long ago I spoke of get- 

 ting rid, not only of every j^ound but of 

 every ounce that can be readily spared in 

 going about your work, especially in mild 

 or hot weather. Old people especially will 

 find their strength will hold out ever so 

 much better or longer when they get rid of 

 useless clothing or useless weight in the 

 clothing. Select something' that protects 

 from the weather, and which weighs just 

 as little as possible. In fact, I would not 

 mind jDaying a pretty good price for some- 

 thing that gives protection with the least 

 possible avoirdupois weight to be carried 

 about. Notice how farmers get rid of sur- 

 l)lus garments when working in the harvest- 

 field. Of course, we do not all work in the 

 field in that way. But all of us should have 

 some muscular exercise every day of our 

 lives, and all useless clothing should be laid 

 aside, and, so far as possible, let us have 

 tliis exercise out in the sun and open air, 

 with just as little clothing as comfort and a 

 reasonable degree of decency will admit. 



"Running a Bill." 



It seems economical, but really it is not. You feel 

 that because you are not parting with cash at the 

 moment, you are temporarily saving money; and you 

 are usually sure that when the bill comes in you 

 will be better off financially than you are at the 

 moment. Of course this idea is delusive ; you find 

 on the first of the next month that the bills are 

 larger and the accumulated fund less than you had 

 expected. 



Running a bill is subtly demoralizing. When you 

 open a new account, you are scrupulous to pay the 

 bill very soon after it is rendered; you wish to im- 

 press your creditor with the fact that you are an 

 uncommonly desirable patron. After a while you 

 feel that he has learned this fact, and you let him 

 wait for his check while you impress a new set of 

 creditors with your punctuality — and solvency. So 

 you keep putting off and putting off the creditors 

 who are " old friends " until finally it becomes a 

 scramble to prevent their sending in an account 

 headed by that discouraging item, " Bill rendered." 

 When you sink into the "bill rendered" class, you 

 have entered the second stage of indebtedness. The 

 third is marked by the receipt of dunning letters, 

 the fourth by personal visits from collectors, the 

 fiftli by menacing communications from lawyers. 



It is difficult for men and women who have the 

 habit of " charging" every thing to put aside money 

 for investment. They have adopted a costly way of 

 living. The ability to purchase what you will, al- 

 tliough your pockets are empty, is an expensive lux- 

 ury. The shops that permit charge accounts are 

 the shops that ask high prices; a charge account 

 usually means that you pay from five to ten per cent 

 more for a thing than its cash value. 



If you adopt the pay-as-you-go principle, you will 

 considerably reduce your own high cost of living. — 

 The Youth's Companion. 



