Mamise

“ To be cold when one is despondent is a fearsome thing. Mamise woke in the chill little cottage and had to leap from her snug bed to a cold bathroom, come out chattering to a cold kitchen. Just as her house grew a little warm, she had to leave it for a long, windy walk to an office not half warm enough.
The air was full of orphan leaves, and Cossack whirlwinds stampeded them down the roads as ruthlessly as Uhlans herding Belgian fugitives along. The dour autumn seemed to wrench hopes from the heart like shriveled leaves, and to fill the air with swirling discouragements. ”

“ Then followed a day of drudgery at the loathly necessities of her stupid work.
Detail and delay are the tests of ambition. Ambition sees the mountain-peak blessed with sunlight and cries, “That is my goal!” But the feet must cross every ditch, wade every swamp, scramble across every ledge. The peak is the harder to see the nearer it comes; the last cliffs hide it altogether, and when it is reached it is only a rough crag surrounded by higher crags. The glory that lights it is glory in distant eyes alone.
So for poor Mamise. ”

“ In some of the cities the entire populace went with bandaged mouths, and a man who would steal a furtive puff of a cigarette stole up a quiet street and kept his eyes alert for the police.
Whole families were stricken down and brave women who dared the pestilence found homes where father, mother, and children lay writhing and starving in pain and delirium.
At the shipyard every precaution was taken, and Davidge fought the unseen hosts for his men and for their families. Mamise had worn herself down gadding the workmen’s row with medicines and victuals in her basket. ”

“ As quickly as I was able I dressed myself in the same clothes that I had worn on the day of the boar-hunt—a jerkin of strong sewed leather, a doublet that would keep out both wind and rain, breeches of soft deer-hide, knitted stockings of our home-spun wool, a pair of shoes that were oiled and worked until they were as pliant as the skin upon my hand—plain clothes, but strong and lasting, clothes that would draw no comment either for their richness or their meanness. ”

“ During the period of waiting for the tree to fall, I had made a needle of bone and taking an empty flour sack proceeded to manufacture a pair of legs which, with infinite pains, I stitched to the waistband of my long lost trousers and added wooden pegs to insure stability and strength to the flimsy ravelings. In order to form a fair idea of my appearance, one must imagine a youth with a six weeks' growth of hair and beard, a shirt that had to be taken off once a week to wash, a black band around his waist, to which was stitched and pegged parts of flour sacks. ”

“ Mammy's everyday attire consisted of a calico short-gown, with large figures, and a stuff petticoat, with a cap whose huge ruffles stood up in all directions; made after a pattern which I have never since beheld, and in which the crown formed the principal feature. But this economical dress was not for want of means; for Mammy's wardrobe boasted several silk gowns, and visitors seldom stayed at the house without making her a present. On great occasions, she approached our beau-ideal of an empress, by appearing in a black silk dress lace collar, and gold repeater at her side. ”

“ The despotism of fashion is not recognized in mountain camps. A pair of linen trousers, a hunting shirt, and loose necktie suffice for a hygienic summer-dress. In the afternoon remove the necktie and roll up the sleeves. It can do no harm to imbibe fresh air by all available means and let the cutaneous lungs share in the luxury. Nor is there any excuse for the widespread fallacy that it is dangerous, even in the most sultry nights, to remove the bed-blankets. Kick them into the farthest corner if they become too warm, and sleep in your shirt and drawers, or under a linen bed-sheet. ”

“ It has become so from the heat of our bodies, which, leaving it, was kept from passing into the outer air by the non-conduction of the blankets, and of the feathers or hair with which the bed or mattress was stuffed.
Since clothes are only a supplement to the skin, being to man what wool, fur, and feathers are to other creatures, the most natural substances for human wear are the spoils of those other creatures. From the earliest times man has robbed the beasts of their skins in order to increase the protective power of his own less efficient heat-retaining cuticle. ”

“ Hence it is desirable that the covering of the body should have a rough surface, so as to entangle in it particles of air, which becoming heated, and being unable to rise, form a sort of warm atmosphere round the body. It is an advantage, moreover, for garments to be loosely woven, so that a certain quantity of air may be entangled in the meshes of the material, and for the same reason, instead of the clothes consisting of one very thick garment, successive layers of clothing are and should be worn, as a considerable amount of air is then imprisoned between them. ”

“ The trunk, especially the abdomen and pelvis, is covered with numerous layers of clothing, an extra amount being caused by the overlapping of the upper and lower garments. Very frequently, the amount of clothing upon these, the most vital parts, is excessive. At the same time, the limbs are sometimes almost in a state of nudity. A single cotton garment, or at most one of thin flannel, is the only protection afforded to the limbs beneath the skirts, which often serve no better purpose than to collect cold air and retain it in contact with the limbs. ”

“ The skin, it must be remembered, is elastic, and gives with every movement of the body, hence the material of clothing should also be, as far as possible, elastic. In being elastic, the woven material out of which vests and drawers are now made possesses a great advantage over ordinary flannel; while they stretch to every movement, they fit to the figure sufficiently well to prevent their weighing particularly on any one portion of the body, their weight is distributed equally, like their warmth, all over the body. ”

“ After violent exercise undergone by the wearer of a woollen vest and cotton or linen shirt or chemise, while the vest may only feel slightly damp, the other garment is found to be literally wringing wet. Woollen undervests also become sticky and greasy, because, the evaporation of the skin being hindered, it takes on the form of water, and causes the scales of the skin, which when dry drop off, to adhere to the clothes and to the body, thus clogging up the pores of the skin. ”

“ Originally, in the time of our savage ancestors, clothing was worn chiefly as protection from cold at night, so that all the earlier forms of clothing were of a more or less blanket-or cloak-like form, and wrapped, or swathed, the whole body without fitting closely to the limbs. It is interesting to remember this fact, because even our most highly civilized forms of clothing still show this same tendency. The skirt, for instance, is simply a survival of the lower end of the blanket, which has never been cut down to fit the limbs. ”

“ Clothing should be warm, but not heavy; it should allow free transpiration, so that the breathing action of the skin may not be impaired, and it should be absorbent of moisture. All these conditions are fulfilled by wool; but the exactly opposite characteristics are possessed by those cotton and linen materials of which infants' clothing is, on the present system, chiefly constructed. Further, clothing must not hinder any of the natural or acquired movements of the body. ”

“ Just as it is desirable, in the interests of health, that wool should be used exclusively for clothing during the day, so it is that the surroundings of the body during the night should be of wool, and the bed or mattrass, being, as it is generally supposed to be, stuffed with hair, wool, or feathers, should be cased in woollen material. ”

“ In cold weather this article of dress is sometimes applied on the outside of the common covering mat, and as this is, from long wearing, or some other cause, frequently not the most cleanly, the outer garment in many instances conceals what is not well suited to meet the eye of cleanliness or delicacy. The hair, whenever the dress mats are worn, is well powdered and pomatumed, in which feathers, sharks' teeth, pieces of bone, European buttons, beads, bugles, &c. &c. are fastened, instead of broaches, or other ornaments. ”

“ In the narrow streets with their old-time houses the men wear big hats, embroidered waistcoats and four coats, one on top of the other; the inside one, as large as your hand, barely covering the shoulder-blades, and the outside one coming to just above the seat of the trousers.
“The girls, tall, handsome and fresh have their bosoms crushed in a cloth bodice which makes an armor, compresses them, not allowing one even to guess at their robust and tortured neck. They also wear a strange headdress. ”

“ A material of loose texture confining much air in its interstices is warmer than same amount of clothing material closely woven. Wool or cotton carded and spread out in the shape of a wadding and held, will make a warmer garment than the same quantity spun and woven, and similarly covered. ”

“ Thus, after violent exercise, a cotton or linen garment next the skin hangs against it damp and clammy, and is a frequent source of colds; so that for such violent exercise as cricket, boating, or tennis, flannel next the skin, and that garment rightly called the "sweater," has been wisely adopted by the male sex. ”

“ Let mammas look after their little girls as much as they please, to prevent it, it is sure to happen to every one some day or other. Now does it not seem at those times as if the whole body were contracting itself—and when people are shivering with cold, have they not a shrunk, shrivelled look? When the weather is very hot, on the contrary, our bodies feel as if they were swelling and stretching, and one seems to take up more room than before. ”

“ I have already given what seem to me sufficient reasons for maintaining that wool is the natural and most healthy substance out of which to manufacture clothes. Clothes in their action should be merely supplementary to the skin, and care is required to enable them to properly perform the functions demanded of them. They should be light, warm, permit free transpiration, or, in other words, ventilate well; they should exert no pressure on any part, and they should be free from all poisonous particles, whether of dirt or of dye. ”

“ At first I thought a waist that tapered from the arm pits would be an added beauty, if only these ladies would be taught how to acquire it. But I lived long enough among them to look upon a tapering waist as a disgusting deformity. They considered a large waist a mark of beauty, as it gave a greater capacity of lung power; and they laid the greatest stress upon the size and health of the lungs. One little lady, not above five feet in height, I saw draw into her lungs two hundred and twenty-five cubic inches of air, and smile proudly when she accomplished it. ”

“ The women wear blankets, which they tie or knot over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm out. These serve to cover the body. They wear a neat well-shaped outer garment of skin. They gather their hair over the two ears, making a frame which looks like an old-fashioned headdress. ”

“ Here then it becomes apparent that special care is required in the selection of clothes, which can exercise a strong influence, either for good or evil, on the performance of the skin functions, and here we find that wool, which is the natural clothing of man as of the lower animals—a statement to which I shall recur hereafter—provides for our necessities. ”

“ When a child is to be nursed the mother merely pulls out one of her arms from the roomy sleeve of her parka and pushes it down until the breast is exposed. The breasts are pendulous and cylindrical, like those of the Tlingits. ”

“ Meanwhile others have been busy making the new garments in which the body is to be dressed. Every part of the garments and the fittings of the casket must be new, the mattress, blanket, pillow, overcoat, coat, waistcoat, trousers, socks, wristlets, leggings, head-band and all. ”

“ After a sojourn in the ice-lands, he returns to civilization with a new concept of the value of dress. At last he can stand still without being reminded that his feet are chilly; he experiences the peculiar sensation of walking about in an airily light suit, in glove-tight boots, without helmet or mitts. It gives him such a delicious feeling of freedom that his energy is unbounded and life is a very pleasant and easy thing. ”

“ One of the great steps in personal cleanliness and therefore in culture made by our forefathers, was the adoption of a linen tunic next the skin, the “short” garment, or shirt. Again, a piece of cloth wrapped round the body and held up by a girdle forms the skirt or kilt, and the way in which Eastern women fasten their skirts together between the feet for convenience of walking, shows how trousers were invented. ”

“ A piece of the roller should be cut off every day, so that its loss being gradual, it shall not be missed. Here, as elsewhere, it is of the greatest importance to remember that all sudden change is dangerous.
Too tight clothing may press upon and irritate the breasts of young infants and produce enlargement of the mammary glands, which may even go on to abscess. This is often caused by a binder which is too broad, or slips up, or by a string of the dress tied too tightly across the chest. ”