SHIRT AND BREECHES 167 



closed it is the warmest for any given weight. 

 In contrast a coat or jacket is open at the 

 bottom, the front, the neck and the wrists, so 

 that four times the weight is needed to produce 

 the warmth of a shirt. 



Military dress is always a belated copy of 

 the civil costume in each period. 



It is designed by a contractor whose motive 

 is to obtain the handling of public money. 

 It is approved by a military official who has 

 never done a day's labour or a day's fighting 

 with the weapons of the enlisted man. Hence 

 the persistence of the Roman tunic which 

 excels all known garments in cost, weight, the 

 cramping of the lungs, and the disabling of the 

 arms and shoulders whose perfect freedom is 

 needed for wielding weapons and tools. For 

 working or fighting it has to be removed. 



The mounted civilian rides for pleasure in a 

 coat, the mounted soldier rides for duty in a 

 tunic, the range horseman rides for a living 

 and wears a shirt. By the exercise of human 

 reason the range man protects his vital organs 

 at a fourth part of the cost, weight, and en- 

 cumbrance to which the fashions have sub- 

 jected the sportsmen and the soldiers. 



Breeches. The dress of a gentleman has 

 always been that of the mounted warrior. 



