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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1920)
2 THE SUXDAY OEEGOXIAX, PORTLAXD, AUGUST 1, 1920 Wo Prote st nst due s "Go Home and Put On More Clothes!" Is the Emphatic Order of Church and State to the Ultra-Fashionable Women Whose Tendency It Is to Wear Even Less Than Ever. '1 V V iosT:;? .; ' kl v- .V.& p -fife-- -: mi mm Vi i A' BY FRANK DALLAM. In this yar ot graca 1920, an era at revolution, an epoch ot general Insurgency, a harvest time of tradition turned topsy turvy, there haa oome within the last two or three weeks the most amazing of al) reforms. It Is a rebellion which men and I women of superlatively fanciful . mind never dreamed of. The whole thing la per plexing, puxallng,. baffling. As the cele brated mystery-monger of Baker street might have observed to hla equally cele brated collaborator. Watson : "What do you make of this, doctor! Men and women actually risen In protest against the ex treme styles of sleazy, abbreviated, trun cated, perforated, amputated gowns and frocks now prevailing. S a matter of fact the entire world haa risen In protest against oh, well, you can't pos sibly be shocked after all you've been looking" at recently If the homely, old fashioned Saturday night bath-tub word Is ' used against nakedness. There's the naked truth about this newest revolution. In short, the world and his wife have about reached the oonviction that the ut most end of the limit has been achieved in the proposition of sparse raiment for women. This is a condition worth a little study. Why should it be? Of course, there are a lot of men with no poetry In their hearts and no eye for beauty in their heads who will say: "Well, it is about time they reached the limit," and there are some women of acid mind, bitter mien and vinagerish tongue who will say: "The brazen hussiee! Thank heavens, I never wore anything like some of the terrible costumes I've seen in public." But that is not the point. The big idea in this insurrection a la mode, as one might call it, is. HOW and WHY did the women who started this vogue of highly ventilated garb come to be a factor In the ending of it? To repeat, 'tis a query meriting research Of a truth, for a couple of years or more, the man who has walked down the main thoroughfare of any one of ZOO or more cities you might care to mention, the poor man haa been re duced to Ihe jaled and blase frame of mind afflicting the London bus con ductor v.hose fat fare was slowly and ' timidly laboring her way down the eteps from the top of the vehicle. " TJrry up, ma'am," he ordered testily, "legs ain't no treat to me." Ordered Out of Church. Here and there from publicists, preachers, uplifters and reformers in these cities there came occasional re monstrances about the trend of fash ions, but no one paid any particular attention. However, audacious femi ninity carried the frd so far in her daring ., a w.t.y wi muu I know remarked tio oilier day that clothes had become "positively indecent ao mocking. A woman can't get married in them and she even can't get a di vorce in them." Her gloomy conclusions, though lighted by the spark of epigram, were based upon the surprising action of a New Orleans priest of the Catholic , church in turning away from the cathedral door a young girl oome to be married; and upon the succinct words of an Ohio judge wbo fired a fair plaintiff in a divorce action, with about half of the more or less petti coated spectators, from his court room until they oould go home and insert themselves in a few more lay ers of skirts and camisoles. Although the Catholic church has ever been watchful against the faint est suggestion of Immodesty in ultra designs, the decision of the New Or leans rector was both drastic and unexpected. Fr. Antoine of the his tories St. Louis cathedral, down in the picturesque Vieux Carre of the city, it was who in ecclesiastical indigna tion at the apparel of the bride-elect bade her begone until she could re turn properly clad to approach the altar. Embarrassing scene and dra matic one might almost say melo dramatic after the formulae of the old feverish Theodore Kremer thrillers. There was the expectant bride-to- be; the bridegroom was waiting in the chancel; the wedding guests were assembled, all supposedly good church people. Now it must be understood that Archbishop Shaw of New Orleans had issued a short time previously strong instructions to the rectors and pastors of his diocese as to what styles of women's clothes would be permissible in the churches. These instructions were duly read in all the parishes and it would seem as though the young woman about to be married must have known all about the regu lations. When she was on the point of moving for the altar on the arm of her father a shaft of liarht sud denly revealed the airy quality of the gown she wore. Immediately Fr. An toine spoke a few hurried words to the girl, ordered the sexton to put out the lights and retired to the sac risty. "I think that something should be done to warn others," said Fr. An toine later in discussing the affair. tnia girt, tne oaughter of a wealthy parishioner, came " to the church In such a dress that I was stunned. Abovj the waist line it was nothing but a piece of gause. I had the lights turned out so that her shame might not be seen by everyone and in the darkness I let her leave the church to go home and put on an other gown in which she was wed at a subsequent hour. It was a warning to all Catholic women. Those who transgress will be treated likewise. Fr. a.toiae'a action was succeeded 1 V ' ' 1 te ll , "fci ' ----r! - - i -"eaiw'v.iK-a i i i-f-si.- :' r-:r . I j lit ? C- - ..M..- 1 Km is present the seven veils of Salome. An array of feminine friends trooped into the room and the judge's eyes blazed. The frocks of the friends were as por ous as that of the principal in the speedily by that of Fr. Roth of St. Theresa's, who next day posted this notice in the vestibule of his church: 'Women who wear low-necked dresses or who wear sleeves so short as not to cover the neck or who other wise do not wear sufficient clothing, may not enter the church." He also asks women to refrain from dresses cut lower than the hollow of the throat and from tight skirts. He forbids transparent hosiery and all gossamer garments unless the trans parency la nullified by an under piece. So much tor tne reform in New Or leans. Further west. Phoenix, Ariz., baa felt the same influence. A notice signed by the rector appears on all four doors of St- Mary's church in that city saying: "Entrance into this church is forbidden to all women wearing low-necked dresses." In all the years that man has at tempted to meddle with affairs of the opposite sex, especially in the pro cedure of regulating attire, he has succeeded only in being derided and ignored. But this time there is sig nificance in the very eagerness with which the news of the New Orleans protest against nakedness was tele graphed . far and wide and by the unanimity of opinion evoked by the discussion of it. Other denominations than Catholic gave it unqualified indorsement. It was taken up in a meeting of Metho dists in Chicago and a fervent amen was appended. The tendency of fash Ion was decried in the session of the Baptists In Buffalo. The Presbyte rians are on record as against the .flimsy apparel. And, while ao ex-ca thedra pronouncement has come re cently from the conservative Episco palians, prominent leaders in the Church of Kngland have thrown ear nest pressure upon the dress crusade. Rev. H. J. Mathews, rector of the famous St. Martin's-in-the-Fielda in London, when asked what ha thought of the New Orleans episode (all the London newspapers having printed full account of the affair) not only denounced the present immodesty of women's dress but condemned all j freaks of fashion. "I should have done the same as Father Antoine myself." he said. 'Why come to church at all if one wishes deliberately to be immodest?" Father Jarvis of the Church ef St. Bthelreda, which is well known to American Catholics who havs visited in London, added: "I am much pleased to see that Father Antoine acted so decisively." What the judge Said. Hard upon these expressions of dis favor from the church comes the thunderous voice of the state, spoken through the medium of Judge Frank W. Oeiger of the common pleas court of Springfield, O. It is immaterial that the displeasure of the state was not garnished with the dignity of speech marking the anger of the church; the common end is attained. According to the Springfield papers, Judge Qeiger was hearing a divorce action. It was a warm day. The plaintiff came into chambers wearing a fetching costume which, while per fectly correct according to the lights oX the modiste, recalled to tne men case. No juryman in the land could England rector already referred to. have kept his mind on the fine points of law. amid such scenery and the judge knew it. Maybe he couldn't do it himself. "Get out!" he gasped. "Go home'. Beat it! I know it is a hot day and all that, but I don't care if it is hot ter'n hades. More respect must be shown the state of Ohio. You women hava got to wear more clothes when you come into this court. This thing of pek-a-boo waists and see-more skirts has got to stop." The order was obeyed instanten. While his honor's words may not have been recorded in the judicial chron icles of Ohio, they nevertheless con stitute a noteworthy example ot the revulsion of sentiment against the fashions. Reverting to the position of the churches on the dress question, and while touching on the . subject of courts, it ought to be recalled that last spring while the Presbyterians were holding an important gathering in Philadelphia one afternoon. Elder Bryan of Lincoln, Neb., dropped into meetin' unexpectedly. Being called on for a few appropriate remarks, he obliged. Among other things he said it was not at all improbable that at some not far distant period there would be written into Oie constitution of the United States another amend ment regulating morals and dresa When you pause to reflect that it was this same Elder Bryan who had quite a long finger in stirring up the 18th amendment, that Philadelphia proph ecy takes on decided color, i la tae Interview with ta Church X the Rev. Father Mathews went on to say that this thing of short and thin skirts was. "like many of the murders. suicides and robberies of today all a result of the war. People are still out of proportion, so to speak. We are still morally off our balance." Mountain Railway Runs on Steel Cables. " Thirty-Mile Aerial Line Surmount Traffic Problems. ANB of the world's most famous ae J rial cableways covers the stretch of 0 miles between the mountain cities Mariquita and Cajonea. In southwest ern Colombia. In the near future the company now operating it will extend it 30 miles farther over the extremely mountainous country to the city of Manlzales. and it will then be the longest in the world. Little aerial. vagones (ears) are at tached to the cable at certain inter vals and each of tbem carries three cargoes, or to make a specific illus tration, six bags of coffee. Two bags of merchandise constitute a cargo, as these bags are suspended 'from each side of the pack mules that bring them up the narrow mountain trails to this cableway shipping terminal. The usual weight of each bag is about 125 pounds, thus making a to tal load of 760 pounds carried by ingle aerial wagon. Passengers are not usually carried, though some ad venturous enes have placed bamboo peles between two wagons, strappd their saddles on the poles and have ridden te taaix destination. . However. they had to be positive that the cable way would run long enough for them to reach the end of the line, or at least stop in a high spot where the cable ran close to the ground. In any event these adventurous travel ers always carried a coil of rope so that they could slide down if the ma chinery happened to get out of or der and left them stranded high in the air. Three 10-horsa power steam en gines are required to keep the cable in motion, rid indicators ring In the power station whenever it is time to attach another wagon to the cable, necessarily the cableway is in a straight line between the two cities, and consists of one endless one and one-half inch steel-wire cable that winds around enormous drums at each terminal point As this steel wire is extremely hard and tough the drums are made of softer metal so that they take almost all the wear, for it is much easier and less expensive to renew one of the drums than the 30-mile stretch of cable. Popular Mechanics. Canadian, Customs Increase. OTTAWA, Ont- Canadian customs collections for June were 118,831,813, compared with 813.672,914 for June, 1919. For the three months ending June they were t5S.l40.6J6, as com pared with 839,362,604 tar the same period last year,
