SINCE Eve in Eden donned her costume of fig-leaves and thus ushered in the era of clothes, the vagaries of woman's apparel have been little short of amazing. And as the responsibility for the necessity of that first primitive costume was of direct satanic origin, so his diabolical majesty has ever since enacted the rôle, tho behind the scenes, of chief designer of female fashions. In no other way can the extraordinary vogue of absurd styles and freakish fads in feminine attire be accounted for.
In this consequence of the original transgression, it would seem that our erring mother had paid full toll for her folly, if, scanning the on-coming ages, her sorrowing sight beheld the shame and suffering of her children, those daughters of doom who, in every time and clime adown the years, have been the brunt of ridicule, of pity and commiseration, of chaff and scorn, even fit subjects for quip and cartoon, for burlesque and caricature, on account of the nonsensical garb the fashion fixers have ever foisted upon them.
If you think this an extravagant statement, just take a backward glance at some of the relics in this regard, along the path of history.
If I were to write a modernized dictionary of English in the light of facts, one of the definitions would be, in part: "Fashion—a system of torture for the female sex."
Let us conduct a sort of inquisition, and see if this be not so.
Begin at the foot of the ladder. Take the savage tribes supposedly least restricted by the demands of conventional attire. True, there is ample waist room, and the feet go—and grow—unrestrained. But there is the fatal idea of adornment. Nature is not to be let alone. Hence we hear of hideous nose-rings—not to mention ears—O, no, for that fashion is quite civilized(!). Also we are told of lip-sticks, thrust through in the same manner that dainty ladies endure in the ordeal of ear piercing—only the latter is less barbarous, you say, while those horrid savages—how crude and vulgar they are!
Then have you read of the neck-stretching rings—how in one tribe of Africa a belle is not considered "finished" in her accomplishments for the required social entrée until she has enhanced her personal charms by the addition of several inches of neck, this effect being produced by wearing a series of snugly fitting rings, adding one above another as the process of elongation progresses?
In civilized countries, the equivalent for these barbarous implements is known simply as the high collar, or stock, being further designated as "stiff," and still more aptly described by some as a "choker," and differs from the savage sample in that it is worn by both sexes. But in the degree of discomfort afforded, the two articles are quite equal.
There have been some attempts also at improving the shape of the skull, as evidenced by the Flathead Indians, who cause the frontal bone to look like a Dutch roof, too familiar to require further description.
Still barbarous, you exclaim. But I have seen in late years, upon the heads of the most highly(!) cultured ladies, a certain form of hat that, while it does not in reality change the size of the skull, in effect produces just that appearance. I refer to the hat of a few seasons past with a superimposed crown—a hat upon a hat, the under crown fitting the head, as necessity demands, and the extra or upper story resembling nothing more than an inverted milk-pan, or butter-bowl, according to the shape,—whether flat on top, or rounding upward like a beehive. Let a visitor from the planet Mars look at such a hat from above, and his first impression of earth dwellers would be that the wearer belonged to a race of big-heads.
The hat of large brim, if it be not overly wide, has some points in its favor—it makes an excellent sun-shade, for instance. But the absurdly enlarged crown—what can you say for it? I'll tell you the thought that used always to force itself upon my mind when those hats first came in—What consternation would seize Miladi if her cranium should suddenly develop in circumference to fit the measurements suggested by her hat! And worse yet—what horror if to madam expecting motherhood a child should be born with a head of dimensions proportionate to her new spring hat!
Shocking suggestion! you exclaim, and indelicate, too. But let us see. Is truth ever indelicate? Have you never read of Jacob's experiment with the "ring-straked" rods and the cattle of Laban?
Surely here is a physiological law—"By beholding we become changed into the same image;" and I tell you honestly that I think it behooves us as women, especially as mothers, shaping human destinies, to "be not high-minded, but fear" lest in our mad pursuit of folly, we bring some dreadful judgment upon ourselves and on our children.
The above illustrations are from regular descriptions of fashion plates. The one on the left suggests a hanging stocking foot; but, reader, it is only a part of a "lovely" train. And these things are called "art," and are considered graceful and lovely and—indecent.
By an easy transition, we may pass here to another instrument of torture, the arch-contrivance, perhaps, of designing demons, for destroying human health and hence happiness. Name it?—The corset, of course. Why "an easy transition" from the paragraph above?—Because of a certain mother, criminally foolish in her devotion to fashion and the corset—it was in the days of the deadly old hour-glass shape now happily passing, praises be—who brought into the world a poor little knock-kneed child, a cripple all his life, tho otherwise a most beautiful boy, and possessed of unusual brilliance of mind. O, the shame of it, and O, the sin! And such are the whimsical moods of old Dame Fashion, that she would now inform Mrs.—that her poor, pinched-in waist was not good style at all, only hideously ugly and unnatural. Thus far has the world progressed. So this devotee was worshiping only a wooden idol after all; but the sacrifice to her false god still survives, eking out his days in anguish,—sad memorial of his mother's folly.
It is a comfort to know that tight lacing is no longer fashionable—so many simple souls are thus saved from torture and disease, since for no other cause could they be induced to abandon the practise, tho their very lives were crushed out in the process.
Let the skilled physician tell you, in his superintendency of a great hospital for women, how many capital operations he has performed, how many treatments administered for displaced viscera, all due to the curse of the corset.
But thanks to athletics, and the agitation of the hygienists, as well as of a few real artists in the matter of dress, the free flowing lines of the human form, erect and untrammeled, have become the foundation for most of the newer fashions.
But opposite forces are clearly at work in the matter of fashion as elsewhere. The pendulum swings swiftly to and fro. You think it is all certainly getting better, then up bobs the old dragon again!
We have surely gained on the corset question; but what of our skirts?
Lately the skirt seems to be the favorite point of attack for the arch-enemy of sound sense and simple beauty. We have survived the hideous "hoop" affair of our grandmothers, happy to see the failure of a recent attempt at its revival. We have outlived the indecent "harem" or trousers skirt, and disengaged our steps from the entanglements of the "horrible hobble," as it has been well named. We have even rid ourselves of the voluminous folds of the old "gathered" garment, fulled into a tight belt at the waist, also the many "gores" of the now obsolete "bell" and "fan" shapes. Through all these evolutions we have gradually thrown off our shackles, until, for a year or two now, the sex has enjoyed that highest product of the designer's skill in the skirt line—the modified straight skirt, of medium length—not the tight-as-the-skin, top-of-your-high-top-boots absurdity—O, no! but the straight cut, yet wide enough for comfort, short enough for cleanliness, but sufficiently long for modesty. These beautiful and beneficent elements may Heaven preserve. And we say it reverently; for the freedom, and lightness, the simplicity and economy in construction, and the neat and trim effect in appearance, are all genuine blessings, and blessings may be very properly prayed for.
But the forces of evil are not content to concede the vantage-ground thus gained. Things are really getting too good to last. We need taking down a peg or two from our position of comfort and common sense.
Since corsets—at least the worst sort—are gone out, and low necks are most universally worn, so that at two vital points freedom for the sex seems really accomplished, and the present skirt is, the best yet, and also we have the lovely high-waist, one-piece costumes, with their simple flowing lines, built on the model of the classic Grecian draperies, really something must be done—thus the enemy cogitates. So what now!
The pannier skirt! "Hip-bags," Lady Duff Gordon calls them. And let it only be whispered—the return of the hideous old bustle is hinted. Horrors! What are we coming to? But the panniers—of all the senseless, absolutely useless, and inexcusable attempts at ornament for civilized womankind, this seems to lead. Useless? Not quite.13My little daughter tells me of a cartoon I wish I had seen—perhaps you have caught its lesson already—one fair lady blossomed forth in her new spring gown a la pannier, but practical soul, she put them to good use, for instead of a perambulator, safely tucked away, one on a side, with only curly heads in view, were her two youngest offspring. So here you have fashion allied to utility—a good combination, surely, and all the more commendable because so rare.
Lady No. 2 had been on a shopping tour, and came home with a pannier load of bundles on each hip—certainly convenient, if not graceful. Mrs. Malone found herself at the market, having forgotten her basket. "Sure," said she with a broad Irish grin, "now it's me kin be tellin' me ould man what's the use in thim new-fangled panniers, afther all." So saying, her purchases were safely stowed away, protruding carrot tops and onion stems gaily waving in the breeze as the good soul ambled homeward.
Amusing? On the surface, yes. But how does it set, my sisters, as a sex, to furnish the material for those cheap jokes? We may protest, but we never seem to improve, at least to the extent of becoming exempt from such shafts of ridicule.
From waste-basket hats with feather cluster trimming, we progress only in a circle, soon to arrive at some newer foible, to furnish another text for the jester. So long as this is so, do we deserve anything better? When one recalls the various fashionable extremes of past and present, might we not well consider that we get no more in this line than our follies earn for us?
Take the recent styles in hair-dressing, to say no more of the absurd hats, as their character is pretty generally recognized now, on their merits, and a wave of decided improvement seems to be setting in, tho the freaks still flourish.
Then those fish-tail trains—tho why a train of any sort, especially as a street-sweeper, the use formerly made of that accessory? and the half-and-half effects—one side of a costume in white, say, and the other side black, or other contrasting colors; and as to sleeves, we have escaped the old four-yards-apiece balloons of two decades ago, but now they are tiring of the dainty and sanitary short and demi-short length, and are making them down to the knuckles again, with sundry puffs and frills.
Thus the zigzag. Prevent it?—Of course not—no more than we can prevent the Chinese from binding their baby-women's feet. But we can protest. And we needn't bind ours, nor even stalk around on our toes in Parisian stilts, which is much nearer home.
To be sure, these extremes are for the ultra-fashionable, and many of them do not reach the blessed plain people at all—so much the more blessed thereby. But they have an influence, and ultimately work radical changes.
Now the question is, To what extent will you allow yourself to be swayed by these arbitrary and unnatural efforts to invent eternally some new thing, so that there is little rest or peace or comfort in living, only one new thing after another, destroying all poise and stability of character, and threatening bankruptcy to the ordinary purse whose holder attempts to keep the fearful pace?
The plea and purport of this article is that every woman, while not despising true beauty of apparel, and fully appreciating the importance of good style, will take a firm stand against these freak innovations and revivals of antiquated fashions of less enlightened ages, and by her example and her voice emulate the principles of sanity and simplicity, of genuine comfort and convenience, in all matters of dress, to the end that the best in present-day styles be preserved, and that such new developments as may come shall be along the lines of nature and true art, as to cut and finish, as well as to adornment and color harmony. What say you?
A Letter of Interest
By Editor
NOTING in a secular paper an item concerning Mrs. Julia Lamb, of Denver, Missouri, which mentioned her great age, clear mind, and long experience in Christianity, we wrote her, and asked her if she saw the falling of the stars in 1833, and regarding other items referred to in the news note. Mrs. Lamb is the mother of eleven children, her direct descendants numbering eighty-nine, covering five generations. She was a passenger on the first steamboat which sailed on Lake Erie; and saw Lafayette when he visited the United States in 1824. In answer to our request, we received the following letter, which will be of interest to our readers:
Denver, Missouri, June 27, 1912.
Milton C. Wilcox,
Mountain View, California.
Dear Sir and Brother:
Your letter of inquiry received, and I will gladly give you what information I can.
I was born in Halifax, Vermont, in 1817. In 1824 I moved to Ohio. We lived in Mount Vernon. I well remember November 13, 1833. We were awakened by the ringing of bells about four o’clock in the morning. All the city was excitement. It was a calm, quiet morning, yet the stars seemed to come from the southeast like a snow-storm when a wind blows.
They continued to fall until sunrise, when we could no longer see them. It was a grand sight, never to be forgotten. Many thought it was the day of judgment. It impressed me greatly, causing me to study God’s Word. From this study I was convinced that it was a fulfilment of Matt. 24:29 and a sign of the Lord’s soon coming.
I was converted at the age of thirteen. My parents were Baptists, but there was no Baptist Church there. I united with the Methodist Church. I was not baptized, as their only mode of baptism at that time was sprinkling, and my Bible did not tell me that this was baptism. Ten years later I united with the Baptist people, and worked with them for thirty years. In 1875 I heard the Advent truths for the first time, and accepted the Sabbath. My companion and I united with the Church of God, and contributed writings to the church paper, Bible Advocate, for many years. Nine years ago my companion died, in his ninety-fifth year. I was quite feeble, and felt that my work was done. I wished to go to my rest. My vitality was so low that I was cold all the time. I was taken very ill, and was given up to die. My suffering was great, and we went in prayer to God, asking relief. The suffering ceased, and I lay in a stupor all night and until evening the next day, when I sat up, and with arms extended, continued in exhortation for two hours. I was not conscious of what I said until I said “Amen.” I told them that I had been with Jesus, and described the beauties of the new earth; that He had sent me with a message for the church to prepare for His soon coming. He gave me the assurance that I should live until He comes, and this hope has sustained me through the storms of life which have come since.
New life came to me. I rested well, took nourishment, and recovered without medicine or stimulants of any kind. I give God all the praise. Three years later I fell, and have been unable to walk since. I have been highly favored of God in having loved ones to care for me. I am well, and eat heartily, three times a day, of cereals, milk, and fruits. I have taken no medicine for years. I have times of rejoicing, and the Lord lifts me up and fills me with His Spirit and causes me to shout His praises. I’m claiming His promises, and my soul is resting in His love.
Your sister waiting in hope,
MRS. JULIA LAMB.
May her blessed hope in Christ’s coming be realized.
The Law of Love Chart
A beautiful Ten Commandment chart for the home is the new Law of Love. The place of the law, and its relation to the gospel, are most attractively shown.
This is printed on cloth, size 24 x 38 inches, price $1.00; printed on paper, same size, 50 cents.
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By the Paradise Valley Sanitarium Training School for Missionary Nurses, twenty consecrated young men and women who are willing to devote their lives to the Master's service.
This school affords a most thoro and up-to-date training in all departments. Its location is ideal. Its climate is the very best, warm and sunny in winter, and cool in summer. New commodious home for nurses just completed. Class begins October 1, 1912. Write at once for illustrated booklet. Supt. of Training School, Paradise Valley Sanitarium, National City, Cal.
Mountain Sage Honey
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Please send for sample (also price) of Aquasun honey, the ripest of all honey. Recommended for stomach and kidney disorders.
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Immortality
By Editor
We would recommend as a brief help in study of the immortality question, "Is Man Immortal?" Apples of Gold Library, No. 86. Single copy, 2 cents, post-paid; $1.00 a hundred. This office.
Those who are making an investigation of the Bible teaching on immortality should secure the tract "Thoughts for the Candid," Bible Students' Library, 47. Single copy, post-paid, 2 cents; 50 cents a hundred. This office.
Bibles
By Editor
Bibles.— Remember that we are headquarters for anything in the Bible line. We shall be pleased to send you our catalog of Bible selections on application. Pacific Press, Mountain View, California.
Sabbath
By Editor
The day of the Sabbath confuses many honest inquirers. What day is it? or is it any particular day? These questions are carefully answered in "The Day of the Sabbath," Apples of Gold Library, No. 50. A copy of this little help, post-paid, 2 cents; $1.00 a hundred. This office.
Second Coming of Christ
By Editor
Thousands believe in a second coming of Christ, but are confused as to how He will come. The sixteen page tract "Manner of Christ's Coming," Bible Students' Library, No. 124, will assist greatly in a careful study of this subject. Single copy, post-paid, 2 cents; $1.00 a hundred. This office.
The Apples of Gold Library tract No. 45, "Historical Facts and Incidents Relative to the Sabbath and the Sunday," presents the most vital points from history in chronological order. They are the facts that one longs for in his study of the Sabbath. Single copy, post-paid, 3 cents; $2.00 a hundred. This office.
Doubtless the tract "Elihu on the Sabbath" has brought light on this question to more earnest inquirers than any other tract published. It is a simple, logical review that we can heartily recommend for your personal study and distribution. Price, $1.00 a hundred; single copy, post-paid, 2 cents. This office.
An outline of the messages presented in the Revelation, and especially the one mentioned in the fourteenth chapter, is clearly given in Bible Students' Library, No. 188, "The Gospel Message for To-Day." Price for single copy, post-paid, 2 cents; $1.00 a hundred. This office.
Prophecy
By Editor
A small work which you will appreciate as a help in the study of the prophetic Word is "The Sure Word of Prophecy," by Pastor M. H. Brown. Primarily it deals with the prophecies of the book of Daniel and their fulfilment, shedding forth the light that this book contains upon present-day movements and conditions. Price, 10 cents. This office.
Whether fully acquainted, or partially so, with the history given in Daniel 7, you will find its careful outline in "Waymarks to the Holy City" intensely interesting. It is what its name suggests, a tract pointing out the events which are truly waymarks of prophecy. Single copy, 2 cents, post-paid; $1.00 a hundred. This office.
As a brief work to assist in the study of any phase of Christ's prophecy relating to His second coming, we can recommend nothing more highly than the pamphlet "An Exposition of Matthew 24." You will appreciate its simple, thoro, direct manner of explanation. Contains 94 pages, and costs only ten cents, post-paid. This office.
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Like the Leaves of Autumn
By Editor
From the Dollar Package
Five each of these represent about one fourth of the tracts furnished in the Dollar Package, to aid you in your study, and in your efforts to assist others.
It was a tract that sent Dr. John Scudder to India, where he gave his life to medical missionary work. Seven sons and four grandchildren followed in his footsteps. Of this tract a son in India years later wrote:
"Precious tract, written thirty-seven years ago, how wide and wonderful are the influences which have issued from between thy humble covers! Who can estimate the value of a tract?"
Ought not such incidents to inspire all to faithfulness in the use of these silent messengers?
"Like the Leaves of Autumn"
is a new booklet filled with experiences, methods of work, and complete tract lists, free on request.
The complete list in Dollar Package is —
Gospel Stories
5 How Esther Read Her Bible
5 Back to the "Old Paths"
Bible Study
2 Topical Bible Studies
2 Bible Baptism
2 Justified by Faith
Health and Temperance
5 The Name
5 It Doesn't Pay
2 Simple Treatments
Spiritualism
5 Spiritualism: Its Source and Character
Millennium
2 The Temporal Millennium
Prophecy
5 Heralds of His Coming
5 Waymarks to the Holy City
The Law
2 What Is "Done Away" in Christ?
2 Relation of the Law to the Gospel
2 The Perpetuity of the Law
2 Ceremonial and Moral Law Distinguished
Second Coming of Christ
5 We Would See Jesus
5 Signs of the End
Immortality Question
5 Is Man Immortal?
5 "Tormented Forever and Ever"
5 Rich Men and Lazarus
Sabbath Question
5 From Sabbath to Sunday
5 Seal of God and Mark of the Beast
5 New Testament Sabbath
5 Who Changed the Sabbath?
5 Elihu on the Sabbath
5 Day of the Sabbath
10 Which Day Do You Keep? and Why?
5 Sunday in a Nutshell
Do not delay your order for the Dollar Tract Package. You will be pleased with the assortment. If ordering by mail or express, add 25 cents extra.
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Unsolicited Papers
By Editor
N. B. We send no papers from this office to individuals without pay in advance. When persons receive copies without ordering them, they are sent by other parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. Persons thus receiving copies of the SIGNS are not indebted to the office, and will not be called upon to pay for them. Please read the papers you may receive, and hand them to your friends to read.
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Bible Versions Used
By Editor
Our authority is the Bible, the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. When the Common (“King James” or “Authorized”) Version or the American Standard Revised Version is used, the version will not generally be designated in reference. Any Bible quotation in this paper, therefore, differing from the Common Version, unless otherwise indicated, will be almost invariably from the American Standard edition of the Revised Bible, copyright 1910, by Thomas Nelson & Sons.
For further particulars, subscription rates, etc., see page 15.
"For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved."
Christian Unity in Christ
By Editor
For the unity — oneness — for which Christ prayed, we earnestly pray. We believe it possible, because we have repeatedly seen it demonstrated, for a third of a century. Where there is no vital difference in belief among little churches, why should they not unite? What sense is there in three small churches in a little community trying to support three pastors at a "poor, dying rate," when one could serve all? We sympathize with the earnest work, but we do not sympathize with the methods which are used by the Federation of Churches. The only Christian unity is oneness in Christ.
The Bartenders’ Six-Day Week
The Rev. William Nat Friend, pastor of the Howard Presbyterian Church, and chairman of the Industrial Activities Committee of the San Francisco Church Federation, has pledged his support to the bartenders' union in its effort to secure a six-day week for all employees of saloons in San Francisco. It would be much better if the two hundred saloons of San Francisco where bartenders are working seven days a week, and all others where they are not so working, were closed every day. This law, however, is not so much designed for a Sunday law, but simply to secure one day of rest in the week. The object of it, however, in the end is a Sunday law.
Seeking to Restore Old Babylon
THE Turkish government holds the territory where once stood the old and proud city of Babylon. It is affirmed that since the Young Turks have taken hold of the government, they are trying to inject new life into the old system, and make their nation somewhat modern. Among the things they have in mind is the restoration of the territory of the ancient Babylonian kingdom to its original fertility and fruitage. In carrying out this plan, a British engineer, Sir William Willcocks, has been employed to draw up extensive plans for irrigation. The dream of restoring the old city on its old site to all its original splendor enters into the project. Alexander the Great made a big attempt to carry out a similar project, but was not successful. It has been the dream of many another. Concerning old Babylon a Scripture prophecy reads as follows: "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged." Isa. 13:19-22.
The foregoing prophecy was uttered about 2,600 years ago. It was given nearly 150 years before the city of Babylon was overthrown by Cyrus the Great. It has met with a most marked and literal fulfilment thus far. It will be interesting to watch the developments of the present projects. God erected in ancient times some great monuments to His ability to read the future accurately and definitely. The prophecies concerning Babylon form one of these imposing monuments. But there are a great many people who do not believe the Bible, while there are many others who, while claiming to believe it, do not know what it contains. It is not surprising that these should enter into a scheme to rebuild old Babylon in her great valley filled with tempting alluvial soil. But those who both believe and actually know the Bible, will not invest in the enterprise.
Lower-Cost Schoolbooks
One relief has come to the people of California in high living times: The State Board of Education has made a reduction in the price of school-books, the reduction affecting twenty-three books used in the primary and grammar schools of every county in the state. It would be a fine thing if there were some board that could reduce the price of living.
Diseased Foods and Vegetarianism
By Editor
The facts given in the article entitled "Vegetarianism or Flesh Eating" on page 10 are worthy the serious attention of every reader. The greed for gain drives men to offer as food a class of material in such condition that it can only result in disease and death to the consumers. The government inspector ought to be able to bring such things to an end suddenly. The publication of the facts ought to create a public sentiment that would prevent exposing such diseased foods for sale. But if the evil thing can not be prevented by any of these means, we can at least take warning, and thus be saved from eating such products and from the results that follow.
