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THE SUXDAY OEEGOXIAX, PORTLAXD, AUGUST 1, 1920
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"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.
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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
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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,