The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, March 08, 1920, Image 4
Established 1844.
The Press and Banner
Abbeville, S. C.
The Press and Banner Company
Published Tri-Weekly
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Telephone No. 10.
Entered as second-class matter at
post ?ffioe in Abbeville, S. C.
Terms of Subscription:
One year $2.0C
Six months 1.0C
Three months .3C
Monday, March 8, 1920.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF DRESS
In recently glancing over an American
newspaper of some thirtyfive
years ago, we stumbled on an
article by Oscar Wilde, the Britisher,
on "Thp PhilosoDhv of Dress." This
article appeared a short while after
Wilde's visit to America and before
his popularity waned.
While Wilde is usually thought of
by Americans for his affectations of
masculine costume, his knee breeches
and wearing the large chrysanthemum,
yet as his article of years ago
shows, there was the soundest arti >tic
philosophy in his general theories
of dress.
While we do not deem ourself
authority on everything a woman
wears, we do pride ourself on the
fact that we believe we know when a
woman is sensibly dressed and when
her costume is becoming and especi**
"* *A ?-? rli'cfnvfinn nf
any wnen it requires nu uwtvuiuu v...
the body to wear the costume. It is
the fact that the new style of feminine
fashions seems to us to conform
considerably to what Oscar Wilde
plead for years ago that we are
giving extracts from his "Philosophy
of Dress."
In his plea against any distortion
of the figue by pinchinir in the
waist or cramping a foot he say.;:
"A waist is a very beautiful and
delicate curve?the more delicate,
the more beautiful; and not, as the
milliner fondly imagines, an abrupt
right angle suddenly occurring in
the middle of the person. Size ha?
nothing to do with beauty. This, I
uarc say. ssoms u v?rtv uuvwuj
osition. So it is. Aii truths arc perfectly
obvious since one So* them.
Sine? is a mere acciutui of existence;
it is not a quality of beauty ever. A
great cathedral is beautiful, but so is
the bird that flies around its spinnacle
and the butterfly that settles
on its shaft. A foot is not necessarily
beautiful because it is small. The
smallest feet in the world are the-;,
of rhe Chinese ladies, and they are
t^e ugliest also."
Wild^ next argues for vertical
iine^ in dress, as long as possible, as
against horizontal lines. The waist
-l l.i U ~ Rvniwl nilffpfl
M1UUIU UC piawcu J
sleeves should be avoided because of
the dwarfed effect they give the
figure, such sleeves as were disliked
by Petruchio in "The Taming of the
Shrew," who questioning the laiior,
says:
"What's this? a sleeve? 'tis like a
denii-cannon;
What, up and down, carv'd like an
apple-tart?"
Wilde again referring to the general
structure and the human figure
lays down this principle:
"That first and last rule to this,
that every separate anile oL appall
is to be suspended from the shoulders
always, and never from the
waist. Nature, it should be noted,
gives no opportunity at all of sus
pending anything from the waist's
delicate curve. Consequently, by
means of a tight corset a regular
artificial ledge has to be produced,
from which the lower garment may
be securely hung.
"Where there are petticoats tiiere
must be corsets. Annihilate the former
and the latter disappears. And I
have no hesitation in saying; that
whenever in history we find that
dress has become absolutely monstrous
and ugly it has been partly
of course, through the mistaken ides
that dress has an independent existence
of its own, but partly, also
through the fashion of hanging the
lower garments from the waist.
"In the sixteenth century, for example,
to give the necessary com
pression Catherine de Medici, th(
high priestess of poison and petti
coats, invented a corset which maj
be regarded as the climax of a careei
of crime. It was made of steel, had <
front and back to it like the cuiras!
of a fire brigade man, and was se
cured under the left arm by a hasj
7 "
and pin, like a Saratoga trunk. Its
object was to diminish the circumference
of the waist to a circle of j
thirteen inches, which was the
fashionable size, without which a1
I
lady was not allowed to appear at
tho court; and its influence on the,
health and beauty of the age may be j
estimated by the fact that the nor'
ma! waist of the well grown woman
; is an oval of twenty-six to twentyeight
inches, certainly."
The New York Tribune in com-1
''? ? 'Phiinsonhv of
mentmg un ?? mn: _,
'Dress' adch:
'There are still bail lines in dress,
but the 'ledge' against which Wilde1
declaimed seems to have pretty well1
disappeared?and with it the bulky
, petticoats that caused it. Fashion is
never to be trusted long. Eternal i
vigilance is the price of beauty and'
common sense in dress. (Man, alasl'
has not even begun to achieve'
i either.) But we think, on the whole,]
,-the dress of woman has taken a long!
; step forward in the thirty-five years j
\since that distant 188") when waistsi
jwere still wasped, sleeves puffed andshoes
tight beyond all rea?on or I
use." I
,j ______?;
, 'PREMIERS CHANGE
| ECONOMIC POLICY
TO SUIT FRANCE
Paris, March 5.?The French foi*-|
eign office announced today that the i
economic decisions of the council of;
premiers, with regard to Russia andj
Germany, had been modified to meetj
the French viewpoint.
The text of the economic notes will
>e given out soon.
| The French government had taken j
!the position that the European eco-j
'romic party, as agreed to by Pre-j
liiers Lloyd George and Nitti, will
'lead to the rehabilitation of Ger-j
many'.>! industries more quickly than1
France's according to an authorita-j
t'v? statement today.
The government's position may be!
outlined as follows:
:
Germany's industries were little'
affected by the war, because German
territory was not invaded extensively.
Hence, German manufac-l
turers face a much easier problem I
than do the French, for, the French
assert, France's greatest industrial
cities were laicl waste and her factories
wrecked with typical Teuton
thoroughness.
Should the proposed economic poli
v be nut iii effect a rapid rise in I
the value of the German mark is j
Mire io follow, because German industry
will come rapidly back to-1
ward normal. The French franc, on j
the other hand, cannot increase in)
value until France has rebuilt the'
,devastated areas and has her fac-j
'tori?* again in operation.
As to Russia ,the French feel that!
ithe policy of the allied premiers'
show a lack of. knowledge of the
1 ;.i ?lt.iution. Before Russian com-;
merce ar.d outside nations can be
ideveloped to any extent the French!
hold, Ilu:' 'an railways must be rebuilt.
This, the French assert, will
lcquiru at least one billion francs
and i;ix months' time.
And, further, the French do not
believe that Russia has extensive
stocks of cereals and raw material
to supply to other countries. Russia,
they point out, have emphasized that
promised that she can supply food
stocks in any quantity. The soviet?'
they point out, have ebphasized that \
Russia needs manufactured goods,1
particularly farm machinery, and!
!that they stand ready to pay for!
these products in gold and precious!
stones, not in food stocks.
; If the allies conclude peace with'
the soviet government and prepare j
for full resumntinn nf trade rpln-l
tions, they declared France, Italy I
and Great Britain will find them-!
selves with another big consumer on I
their hands, while that consumer!
will not be able immediately, at'
least, to supply those proods which
the allies most need.
Public and press joined with the1
officialdom in condemning the allied
' plan. The newspaper saw ' in it a;
- dangerous tendency to deal with Europe
as a whole, instead of letting!
> the vanquished pay the price of
1 what the b rench consider their Tony
" in starting war.
> CO-OPERATION IS
PROVING HELP TO
FARM PRODUCTION
Washington, March 5.?Through
- co-operative societies, farmers now
- are selling approximately $1,500,f
000,000 worth of produce annually,
r according to reports to the national
i board of fajyn organizations.
' Board officials today were making
- plans for a drive on congress to lift
) restrictions they say anti-trust
livvs impose on farmers who wish to
extend their co-operative activities. ,g|
The purpose of the co-operative!g
movement is to sell form produce cli-jM
rrct from farmer to consumer. This.g
tends to reduce living costs, farm; g
board ofllcials said.
r ninvp- 3
Many iarni "w *?- ?- s=
i.tents r.ow arc saving consumersj M
.from in to 20 per cent, boar;! offi- 'M
{ . ==
,cials said. Despite this reduction tojg
consumers, the farmers arc receiving H
I J ==Z=
an increase of from 15 tn 20 per.jj
cent in the price of their products. :B
This comes through elimination of jj
the middle man.
The co-operative movement is be- g
ng extended to cover the marketing ,?g
of raw staples as well as table pro-< jg
duce. In Kansas, farmers co-1 ??j
perative societies own and operate '?j
300 wheat elevators. This gives them! M
an advantage in dickering with mill-J 5
ers. 15
In several western states the co-j||
operative societies have begun to ar-1 gj
I
quire interests in flour mills thus I g
eliminating the middle man, accord-j 5
Jii'g tu tnu iupui w. . -j?
The co-operative movement is'g
proving an influential factor in IM
keeping the rural population on the ?g
farm, according to reports to the ??
board. In Kansas, where it ha? boe.i jj|
nost developed, the drift from farm I J|
o city mill ?. ]e;\; pronounce:1 thr.r. |j||
in many agricultural states, con.-u^ j jg
bureau reports indicate. Kansas, the j ^
census bureau reports show, ha|jl
ess absentee landlordism.
COUNTY TEACHERS MEET
(Continued from Page One.) ? ?(
this county last year was several M
collars less than the general average j|
of the state. He also emphasized th( gj
fact that of the recent equanzauoi =
appropi-iation of $150,000 passed b\ jjg
he general assembly, Abbevillt jjB
county would receive practically |j
none, as one of the conditions re j p
quired, was for a school district t< '
maintain at least eight mills specia !
tax. By not having progrrssiv ! S
school districts the county \\ ml Jjj
i ose $5,000, probably, next year a j J
lily one district in the county ha , g
unformed to the eight mill specif ig
tax condition.
The speaker also emphasized th. ?j
, ieed for consolidation of the school ?j
: n thv county, stating that there ig
1 vc re '! i one-teacher schools still i? j H
| he various districts. It is possible, jjl
.nd would be beneficial both from < J
inancial and general improvemen' : W.
I ( ===
tandpoint for many of these school.-Jg
o be consolidated.
Mr. Gunter gave a brand new an is
prints to drive home the noint of th> j H
outstripping of this county by other -1H
more alive to the needs of better I jjf
educational methods and better ;H
schools.
"A rooster was one day strollingjE
bout his barnyard and came upon <i||
goo.se egg lying on the ground. He m
s;opped in amazement, then began I ?|
to examine the immense white ovallS
more closely by handling it and roll- pi
i lg h about. Having satisfied him- j gi
elf that it reaily was an egg, Ik*is
ounded the assembly call. When all I III
all his hens had appeared on the
li#? hade them look at the egg.; =
Then he calmly but impressively j |gj
said, "I don't mean to be criticising, j HI
but I just want to showN you what j P|
some folks around are doing."
Ii is hoped that the point \va> i ^
seen by the teachers present and j H
hat they all returned to their i IS
schools with a determination to do: j||
heir part toward bringing Abbe- j B
ville county out of the depths andjlj
setting her upon the high pinnacle of Jg
progressive and successful eduea- jai
tional methods.
It was decided to hold the next S
meeting of the association in thcjS
court house the first Saturday after-1 s
noon in April at 1 o'clock instead of f=
2. This decision was reached after B
the consensus of opinion among thejHl
county teachers was ascertained, t.u | J
city teachers' declaring any houi 1B
convenient for them. A splendid ami ig
helpful program is to be given at the | ?jjj
next meeting. It is proable that some B
actual class room methods Avill bejS
I demonstrated by having small clasps jg
f pupils present to give a recitation. 5
i The nresident stressod the point gf
j, .... r .
that while only those actually .>n- g
gaged in educational work are rli- M
gible to membership, yet it was per- M
fectly permissible and indeed de- H
sired that any parents or trustees of g
'schools attend the sessions of the S
association.
The teachers experssed their ||
I thanks to Capt. Perrin, clerk of m
court, for the use of the court =
house for the meetings and for the jp
interest he exhibited in their com fort
during the meeting.
I
j The R<
] D
Four Ab
Stores
| - GRC
A n assortm
\ your pantry a
I when the cook
I folks" will enjc
This store is
j both staple anc
! est quality, at i
Large shipn
received, inclua
Peaches, i
\ Pineapple.
| Catsup, Salad
| Crab Flakes, "
I Mince Meat.
| Lobster, Fish F
j Lima ^Beans, ?
\ Asparagus Tij
| Pork and Bea
| Peacock, Brer 1
j NationallBisai
j "Aunf^Mary's'
!
I
: ?
| Come in and it
Rosen
smmmm?h
WW???
innnlin?'/ir IVI/w*
IdCMUCI g lVICl
epartment Stores
ibeville, S. C.
KERY STORE.
ent of our cannei
nil save you from
fails to arrive, and
>y the change.
full of good thin
I fancy groceries oi
Tiost reasonable pn
* 7
merits ot canned
ling;
\pricots, White
Dressing, Chili Sat
'Premier" Salmon,
toe, Tuna Fish.
itrlngless Beans, P<
>s, Canned Sweet
ns, Van Camps Si
babbit, and Karo ?
it Company's Crac
!_>/ CUU.
ispecf our sfocfe, oi
THE
Kpira Mftr.
Pa I
\jV. |
|
artmnets
i cir\nAc in 1
JL gWUO III p
a "panic" |
the "men j
gs to eat; |
: the highices.
I
goods just |
???
Cherries, j
ice, Olives. ?
Sardines, |
eas, Corn,
Potatoes, |
oups. |
>yrups. |
kers. p
I
r
r phone 38. gg
V
8
Co. |