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TUESDAY, MAY , 119 I Swcx, x, , o Jgfc yis;a Corset or a Necessity?, Doctors Disagree on Its Effects History Shows It Indispensable It Makes a Woman Look Young And the Decision Is Left Man Commissioner of Internal Revenue Whether or Not It Shall Be Taxed as a Luxury, By Marguerite M OOCTS Marshall WHAT re corsets? Why are corsets? The cosmic problem of Cbe corset has Just been left on the door rWzSkktrrPf iavu, wou-znaae oorrccuy snapca corsets are a jfi&K3 ' luxury? I doubt If the well-dressed American woman tffiffi W,H concede that Every dressmaker, every fashion ty P7 magazine, maintains that the properly fitting corset Is the foundation of the successful costume. Personally, I should Ust corsets as a necessity, albeit a painful, a hated necessity . save, perhaps. In Greenwich Village. Since corsets are one of the properties of So Man's Land, how can any male, even a male Revenue Commis sioner, define or diagnose them? f What does he know about them? lias he ever endured their steel bondage? Not Ms the secrets of the prison house. And yet men always nro try trie to regulate corsets, or denounce ..them, or abolish thorn. Only last 'summer some slant mas culine Intellect suggested that Amer- Jean women 'win the war not with .but WITHOUT corsets. The War Industries Hoard announced that all available steel must be used for ships, and the corset manufacturers bad to enter a sharp protest 'The corset 'won this contest, however. Its position seems as Impregnable as Its structure. i Ere was possibly coraetless, al though there Is nothing; to show that ..she did not make some stiff, rigid, .corset-like garment out of smnlt treo ..branches. In order that her , fig-leaf skirt might set better. The Venus de Mlto never wore a corset but what's , the use of being a goddess It yon can't ,.gt away with a thing or two7 It Is 'certainly a fact that tho humon fcolles of ancient a recce and Homo wore supports of the corset order, con- striding too abundant embonpoint, r whether appearing above, at or below the waist. Excavations In Crete showed that .'J.000 years ago women of thut Island .xwere wearing not only corsets but -hobble skirts. In the Middle Ages -armor was worn by ladlea as "well an knights. Some stays were constructed of crossbars of motal securely riveted to each pther and fastened to a strong framowork. This Is tho description of nnother corset of those times: "It Is made of two sheets of solid metal, with holes punched out to make them ,'llgMcr. These metal sheets support the back and are hinged to a sort of ulrass made of four bands of metal, running parallel to the ribs, strength ened nt the sides ,aml in the centro by bands of Iron wrtlch nre fastened to , the framework above and below, while 'the hrensts uro held In by a circular case mude on the same lines." Lines Js probably right! any womun so nt 'tired would have" ull the llneur supple , pees of a figure In Euclid's geometry. 'SUe Itnllan beaut.es of the ItcnnlM usance were corseted. French women of fushlon always have laced tightly; ln faot. Calhorlne le Medici ordered that all women of good birth and breeding should reduce their waists to the abnormal slxe of thirteen Inches i tho site of a boy's collar. The cor- set went over to England wlUi tho . conquering Normans. Almost as ancient as the corset has been the war waged against this gar ment it has had foemen worthy of Its steel. The noman Terence wrote n diatribe about It such as might have been penned by a modern natlr ,1st on sartorial follies. Bo ardently .did the health authorities of his time 'abuse the corset that Charles IX. of France tried to suppress It, and his brother, Henry III.. Issued an edict prohibiting the use of It. In those days the corset was rolled the bus- qutne and was made of Btrong linen fastened to a busk or wood or metal, so that It could be drawn ns tightly as possible.' KccdlrBs to say, Jrje royal edicts were smilingly dis regarded by the beauties oi inc uay Queens have been no more suc cessful In 'conducting an ontt-rorset campaign, In the happy days of '1910, when royalty could take Ufa much less seriously, Qucei Elizabeth of Itoumanla Joined Queen Alexandra ;' of England In a crusudo ugulnst , corsets. They refused to wear , corsets themselves and urged thfelr subjects to follow suit J Hut the uncrowned queen Dame i Fashion, even In thoso years t when crowns were crowns, had th r nuttiest tine to tciiiimnu uiit-Kine .'nad English, Italian and Roumanian t women, Ilk their sisters In other elylllxed tworM, kept a Luxury in the Hands of a Mere step of Daniel C Roper, Commissioner of Internal Rev enue, In Washington, who poor man must decide If comets are or arc not underwear. In the former case, they aro subject to the luxury tax If they cost moro than 13, 'which means that every well-corseted woman must pay the tax. right on -wearing the "Instruments of torture." Innumerable doctors have con demned corsets. Ir. Dudley S. Sar gent of Harvard, has even urged that they be abolished by the d rus tic method of adopting trousers. "The wearing of trousers," he says, "would do away with corsets, whloh alone ought to commend them to thinking -women. The evils of the corset are too well known to, re quire comment" Tight corsets for -women are con stnnt cause of backache and stomach trouble, according to many physicians. "Half the divorces in civilized countries are caused by cor sets," says Dr. Maud U. Dunn. Dr. Moses Htern of Philadelphia ran for Mayor a few years ago on an anll- coract plank -forbidding women under thirty to wear corsets In order to do away with race suicide. Some physicians, on the other hand, ray that woman Is helped physic ally bv a. nronprlv tnutla and flttm! corset. "The woman of to-day Is vastly better oft In corsets than without thorn," Dr. It. W. Ixvett, Instructor in orthopedics at the Hur- vard .M'dirul Hcliool. has said. Dr. Mury Ilalton, one of New York's iM-st-kninvn womon nhvslelans. oncn explained to mo that the nverago woman of to-day, particularly ufter TB" h..ki C'. nnd Is likely to rcqulro surgical at tention it sno goes uncorseted. "Women never will give ud cor sets," a corset speclailst assured me recently, "becnusu tho modern, 1919 corset mnkva a woman, look YOUNG. t 1m cut low ut tho ton. It eliminates the hlpH, It laces up tho front and Is u comfortable, neccssnry support" To tho question, "wny nro cor set?" n French costumcr has re pllctl: "Take a way tho corsets nnd cverytning elso woum inn to pieces. Huro cnougn, mat scanaaious in Soptember Morn was uncorseted. Ho In thu name of tho late Anthony Comstock, lot us nt once nnd forever put corsets In the necessity ciassi hey aro necessary to preserve uo- cency, or at least, u. unions. The Oldest Puzzle in the World TAKE A PENCIL AND SEE IF YOU CAN SOLVE IT r HE mare or luliyrlnth is inc oldest puzzlf In the world. Now u labyrinth Is a collection of walled path", or paths edged by thick hedges so high that It Is Impos sible to see over them, that run In a ircular direction. To solve tho puzzle It In only necessary to got to tho centre of tho circle. Hut this Is not as easy as It sounds, for many of tho paths ure nothing tut "blind alleys," while others take wrong turnings which lead bock to the entranco in stead of tho direction In which ono wants to go. Thcro was a very famous mazo built In Egypt near I-aHe Mo iris, probably as long ago as 2300 II. C. Ac cording to Herodotus, the famous Greek traveller, It had 3,000 rooms half of them ulxive ground and half below. It as destroyed by order of the Caesars when Homo was mUtresi Of tho world eighteen centuries uro and only fragments remain. Another even more famous lab rlnth was on tho Islund of Crete. Ac ord Ing to Greek legend this was Imllt for Minos, King of Crete, on the mide, of the earlier Egyptian nrue. hut was much smaller. In it wan kept the Minotaur, a rtpulsivo looking aiilnml that somewhat resembled a bull. Th, story goes that every year en youths and i-cven maidens whom Minos compelled the Athenians to send him as it tribute were driven Into this labyrinth to feed t'in mon ster. And this went until Thsseim, one of the youths sent In with the last party, dlscou -ed the clue to th labyrinth and killed the mlnntaur. The labyrinth actually existed, hut tho tulo of the nilnotuur 1s of rourwi only Jcscud. A dlssram sf this eld lahy rlnth accompanies this article. Take a pencil and see If you can get to the centra. Four Brigadier Generals Hodges, 34, MacNair, 35, Johnson, 36, MacArthur, 38, Establish New Record in U. S. Army History OvrriJtit fcr TM Prn raMMfec Oo (Tfc Nt Tort Erutof World,) A FEW days ago there arrived on the Aqultanla Britain's youngest Ilrigadler General A. C. Crltchley, who Is only twenty- elffht years old, who won bis distinc tion In the Air Service. America's youngest Brigadier Gen eral in the World War, and tho first American to receive tho British Dis tinguished Service Order, Is John N. Hodges, who was thirty-four years of ago when Gen, Pershing promoted him to tho rank of Ilrigadler General. Hodges Major Hodges then was one of the "Fighting Engineers," ns signed temporarily to tho Fifth Brit lsh Army, who stopped building bridges and railroads for the moment threw down their picks and shovels. seized suns and rushed to the aid of the British In holding the ltocho near Amiens In the dark days of March, 1918. It Is now Major Hodges again, for he has returned to his permanent rank, having finished the Job he was specially 'loaned out" to do. Ho Is now down on the Mississippi Itlvcr at Memphis, looking after construc tion work since bis command was mustered out Hodges was born In Ilalthnorc. Feb. IS, 1881. Ills promotion to the Ilriga dler Generalship was made June :o, 1918, a ferw days after ho hud rrjolnetl tho American forces In France fol lowing his gallant exploit with the British. He was graduated from the Mili tary Academy as No, 13 In a class of 114 In 1905. His high grade on grad uation caused him to be selected for the Engineering Corps. When the war broke out he was a 'Captain of tho 6th Engineers nnd (located at Washington Barracks, ..i i. t. i- .i,n.n.. " v ' T V r' J n thereafter and went to I ranco Dec. 5, 117, with that rank. On Feb. 11 jj,s organization was transferred to the Bntlsh.Army. and ho was given command as Lieutenant Colonel Hedges and three companies of tho Cth Engineers were building bridges back of tho British front when the storm broke on March SI, 1918, as the Germans began tholr "March to Paris." How they discarded their tools for rifles and helped our Allies stavo off disaster Is a matter of his tory. The American Engineers and their young commander wore actu ally In line March S3 to April 3. When the tlrst German onrush was halted Hodges and his engineers were again found working on bridges to be ready for the next attack. Meantime! DIAGRAM OF THE ANCIENT PENCIL AND SEE IF YOU CAN There nre sovcral of these labymths in existence to-day, notubly ono in Hampton CourU, the old puUce not far from London, England. T!i"n theio la ono at Versailles and another nt Hchevcningun In Holland. The mazo at Hampton Court wan built by King William HI. in the seventeenth century. It In formed of very high, close-cllpped hedges, and Is still kept ui and open to the public, who derive miich uimit.cmeiit from It Many romantic stories ale told uliniit it, one of tho best of wlui.li Is tho tale of two brothers who wore both In luve with the same girl. In order to decide which should have the lady they took part In a novel race. Thej were bllr.dfs'.ded and led '.o the c'n'r? of the labyrinth. Hero tho bandages Tho cluo to most labyrinths Is aim were removed and tho two at once I ply to turn to tho right tho moment a set off to find the entrance, the Idea choice of any two turnings la offered. " n.r autx"c mw Trrrr?rnTiPT n"nnSt Led American Armies in ma J. .1. ki wonr.PA ,fwir DrtxacUv; acnerl he had been promoted to Colonel. They wero called back to the Ameri can Army on June 12, attached to the 3d Division of the 1st Army. He returned to the United States on Sept 4 to assist in training an Infantry division at Camp Devcns, which he would have taken to Franco had not tho Boche quit meantime. Ever since Civil War days there has been more or less discussion as to who was the youngest General of that conflict Tho War Department has never attempted to settle tho matter by any official statement, but all available Information Indicates that Gen. Nelson A. Mites, who at tained the rank of Ilrigadler General on Slay II, 1881, at the age of twenty four, was the youngest General officer. Probably not before, nnd certainly not since, hasnny one so youthful reached this grade. .Tho next younger man of the pres ent war to become a General officer for the emergency was Brig. Gen. Isley J. McXulr. who was born on May 28, 1883, nnd Is therefore Icsm than nlno months older than Gen. Hodges. . McNalr went to France as n. Major In tho 1st Division In June, 11)17, and has been there ever since. Ho became Ilrigadler General on October 1, 1918. Ho graduated from West Point In 1904, us Np. (1 in hls,clasM and was re cently awarded thev Distinguished Service Medal for his remarkable work in training tho artillerymen of the Ex- CRETAN LABYRINTH. TAKE A GET TO THE CENTRE OF IT. being that tho ono who got out first should bo freo t woo tho maiden without interference from thu other. Thu race began early In tho morning, but it wnH not until late afternoon that thu younger brother staggered nut thoroughly exhausted, to bo fol lowed In t -n minutes by the elder Up was so overcome by fatigue and the knowledge that ho had lost the con test that ho fainted away. When the pour fellow recovered the two went hume together, and determined that after all, as the race was ho close, they would nut abide by the result but both would tr their hardest to win tho girl's low. Hut. sad to say, she nMtleil tjio question by refusing 1 ttim ivotu i i Under Forty DRIO. QCN. A.C. CRITCHUCV 9m. ftv Service pedltlonary Forces. Wo have It from Gen. Pershing that Gen. McNalr "was largely responsible for Impressing up on the American Army sound prin ciples for the use of artillery and for Improving methods for the support of Infantry." Gen. Pershing knew McNalr back In the days of tho flare up with Mexi co. The latter was on the border with "Landing on the Landlord" This Tenant Had Plenty of Seconds in His Corner, and His Footwork Was Clever, but the Landlord Had the Wallop and an Iron Jaw and Kept Coming Back for More By Will Mack CVijnjlil, 1U10, bj Tin I'ms I'ubtUIiii Co. ITh New Yorx Kitnirf World.) OU never know how much rent ou can pay until you try. .What if the landlord docs ralso your rent? You can raise It right back! Just pretend It's poker. Keep a calm countenance and pre vent a murderous glare from show ing In your eyes. Ho is having stored up against him tho wrath of a pillaged populace. All you aro losing Is money. Follow my lead: Two years ago I rented a flveroom apartment for $30 a month. Tho lease expires next October 1st. Tho rooms were not lurge even when they wero empty. In fact. It was debated whether the twin beds should bo set up In ttia clothes closet and my wlfo's gowns and my suit hung on tho chandelier. I solved the dlfllculty by draping my things over a chair. Ws had to send back a erfectly good bird dog that we brought with us from our homo town of Hddvvllle- on-the-Fort-Wnyne-Road. Hb was broken to quail, grouse and snipe, but a chronic tall-wagger. We 'could not stand to have htm brushing the silverware from the din ing room side table on to the baby grand piano In the drawing room every time one of us said, "Nice old Sport!" But our reward came In vacation time when we re-vtslted the old folks and I Illustrated with two motions of my hands the shape of a box a foot square, and said: "That's the slzo of our rooms In the city!" "Fifty dollars a month!" my mother and father exclaimed In horrified uni son. That amount would rent the town hnll of Eddyvllle for moving plcttiro purposes. My wife glowed with pride as If to say: ".See what a rich man I've made of your struggling son? Ten dollars a loom!" Two wecUs ago I light-heartedly approached tho owner of our build ing with a proposal that he renew my lease for unother two years. "Wo arc inuMng only one ear leases" ho explained, gently. "Well, If that's tho btst. go ahead!" I agreed, magnanimously. "Tho rent will be sixty a month! he announced, soltly. "Not for me!" I assured him, some what warmly. 1 went down-town to Interest my crunles In u tirade against what 1 be lieved to bo a iinilltecriiiK landlord Tho tlrst one I met was a luwyer friend. "Don't pay the thief a cent!" he World War the 47th Flold Artillery and was at Vera Cruz In 1913. Ho went across tho border with Pershing In 1918 la the chase after Villa. He has served as Instructor In the School of Fire at Fort Bill. Ho was one of tho highly trained officers sent abroad In tha early days of the war to lay Uie groundwork for the great army that was to follow. Gen. McNalr Is married and lives In Minneapolis. He became a Second Lieutenant of Artillery on Juno 5, 1904, and a Captain on July 1, 190S, Ho went abroad as a Major and received a Colonelcy June 26, 1918, Tho next youngest Brigadier Gen eral was Hugh S. Johnson, a Regular Army man, who recently resigned from the service after serving con spicuously as Assistant to Gen. Crowdcr In working out the draft system and later as assistant to Gen. Goethals In the organization of the Purchase, Storage and Tronic Division, which co-ordinated the huge work Involved, In the purchase and shipment of supplies to the army, as well as handled the troop movements. Gen. Johnson was born Aug. 6, 1881, nnd -he was thirty-six years old when he attained his rank In the summer of 1918. Another young Brigadier General was Douglas MacArthur, who was only thirty-eight when he received the Distinguished Service Cross for conspicuous gallantry under fire. Gen. MacArthur comes of fighting stock, and was born Jan. 26, 1880. advised, feelingly. "You'll get a dls- dosscss notice from him, operative In five days. In the mean timo nave some one visit you and become sick abed. With a doctor's certificate you can stay In -tie apartment as long as the Invalid doeo." "What'U tt cost mor I asked eag erly. "My fee would be ten dollars; the doctor's twenty. You see, he runs some risk!" "And the sick person would cat about forty dollars' worth of gro ceries a month!" I murmured. 'Tm not that much embittered against this particular blackguard of a land lord." I hurried home to permit my wife to share this new indignation of mine. "By the time that bloodsucker gets a new tenant," 1 declared, I mildly, "he'll wish he'd listened to reason." The real question," she assured me, bitterly, "Is now to get a new- landlord!" 'Til run out after dinner and dig up a dozen!" I boasted. After spending all the spare time of three days, I mad the remarkable discovery that there were no new TWO MINUTES OF OPTIMISM By Herman J. Stich i-r,rH.ht mt. h tm Pnn Publlihlni Not Proportions But TWO laborers were quarrelling beneath a largo lifting magnet over head an electro-magnet that could lift thirty tons 60,000 pounds of Iron. One of tho laborers held In his hands a short pinch bar. Tho other held a heavy shovel. As the electro-magnet operator approached the machine both laborers raised their tools to ward each other menacingly. Instantly the operator switched on the electric current. Tho two mem stood as if transfixed, clutching, ties pcrutely ut their weapons, which were held aloft as by some Invisible hand tt was not a giant's hand It was the product of a dxcarPs Ulca. Just because a man Is big doesn't mean that he will supply the weight of tho argument. Tho prize is not won by dint of sheer size. Napoleon was a dwarf. Also Caesar, Alexander and Hastings. Single microbes have wrought more devastation than billions ot bullets. The typhoid hiclllus has Incapacitated more armies than have cannon. Tho mouse i's far more destructive than the mammoth, while grubs have ruined far moro crops than have cyclones. Apparently trifling fallings have foundered more futures than have conspicuous lacks, Dlgncss too often precludes greatness. Witness Russia and China. Tremendous powers come packed small and concentrated. You can pulverize a mountain with pittances of dynamelln and paroxyllne. The most colossal bucket is emptied by tho most Inconsequential leak. Insignificant Infections dally overpower towering Hercules. TUo tree that scccrrfully battles with brt surenmhs in saw and gnaw. Not proportions but POTENTIALITIES count. ' By Florence Elizabeth Summers WMg UlutfraUon by Natalie Fontaine Stokes. iXntf T-ILIi DERE, I) I been to Red Cross Working nicklcl Thcyro awful down please to wash my hands before I fooled with tho bandages. They scrgicat dressings but I hoped tho doctors would put on more than that when they operated, but they dont dress themselves In them, they put cm on tho fello that the Boche has cut up. I knowd my hands was clean cause It being Monday Id been washln all morning but I washed em an dldnt argue or explain. Then they told me to go over in tho corner an stretch. I went over an started strctchln my arms an they all commenced to laff. I dldnt know what at" I thought the strctchln was a good Idea cause you had to sot still so long foldln the rags. But It waant myself that I was supposed to stretch, It was the cloth to make the things to dress you fellos In when the Germans leave you on the battle Held blecdln to death. Why dldnt they tell me to stretch the cloth? How Is anybody goln to tell? Thats the way It went with every-thlngr-nothln made plain. They say the Red Cross Is a sign of mercy. They showed mo mighty little. Dldnt explain nothln then laffcd when Id' dono somethln wrong. All the women talk about Is babies an Hoover cornbrcd. Mrs. Joo Backncr was braggln about how hers never cried. If I hadnt been no more human than she was Id have told (landlords on the market I hastened back to my old one "I'll take the apartment at sixty a month!" was my humble decision. "Sorry!" he remarked, happily; "I rented It ten minutes after you left the other day. I thought you didn't want It-" "Hat I fooled you!" I said, gloat ingly. "Yep; you did!" ho acknowledged; but there'll bo a vacancy on tho floor abovo you Oct. 1; same number and size of rooms." "Sixty?" I inquired, cautiously. "Sovcnty-flve!" he answered. "You think I'll pay that?" I d; manded savagely. "Nope!" he replied. "I've fooled you again!" I, fairly shouted; "I'll take It!" When I told the Missus what I'd done, her eyes shone like stars, "Oh-h-h-h!" she exclaimed, Joy ously, "that saves fifty dollars' mov ing expense. A couple of men for a day or two to carry up the piano and to forth won't cost more than twenty five, will It dearest?" "I hope not!" I, said yearningly. "And Just think!" she added In awe and admiration, "we'll be paying flf- tten dollars a room!" Co. (Tba New Tor DitrJni World). Potentialities Count ftVwould put on more 'Xm'H today. Spcakln of somct there. When I got thcro her It waV because she never! at home to hear It. They li doors from us. Tho kid wlM have to go West for consul as long as It keeps up Its luo Uce. I went In the parlor last nl played "A Maidens Prayo? made me awful blue, That ways your favorite song. Thanks for tho swuggor Hope you didn't take my rui for a hint. Maggie SamH gotM tiioso cross gun pins toaay- knlttln on some sox for you. Yours till Niagara falls MAI Tlx tf.uuilrlA tenrn of IlKHK lit 1.1 mllnnl in form A Little Gil V 1 s a rasniom Thine This To Be in Style Milai Must Invest in ft'"' By Margaret Yuu just must invest ii for your new coat sul .. . . . I . n n. 1 1 1 . m . t a iuiui nuoiv wiiiivh. coat. A little gilct Is n dazzllay. particularly when it is mn ono of those gorgeuus mctolWft tirp-jj cuded ribbon lengths. Hlazli and silver nnd hectic dyes, the modern maid present n front to tho world, even tt. hlnIMI-fft ran deepest of Indigo serge surail. li; around her. JUL, . Indeed, every well regulated an up-to-date coat suit opens Uflgverit, gllet and opens up at the saM jlm-tV. such endless possibilities oCjftllvertf and different gilets that ltVsjjJ jre-H-dcr nil the femlnlno world jrfahMpljt gllet mad. Now that Sister Susie haoeasedl sewing shirts for soldlerajsxehe -iif fncnflohlu 1 1 1 a t. .nnt'ini. nn nAitA gncis ior ncrseu oui oi ouuamq opofiy in tno ramuy scrap nag. fascinating little vestees th? such charm and piquancy! severest suit are posltivclyeojveil out of nnytning una cverytnmjr. -v Wool nnd silk Jersey, bipid ecM broldered In vivid yarns; braadclotli stitched In silk, or even stenciled Int. a bold design; linen and plquj&rafls cullncly buttoned, plain anjydOfie. wun peari, sneer, rniiy, rcreMweafs falra of hand tucked iuffludyj4jlae.sl inserted organdie nro out .affeWrt mo nrty-seven varieties, Titer ;&retj quaint llttlo changeable tunta,wal coats that present a double fron.t-Q.n4B show a dainty Inset ot IvorVj-.toneil ' batiste, lavishly tucked, ruffled aF lace trimmed, like a much bVitt&4Jh shirt front of tho long ago mttTajf'eSj Still othois aro quilted UkTs, iWt spare room bedspread andsotWr4u. have eruptions of colored beadstta (iftf Its decoratlvo touch and ofteiAsJilt' ot ilium painiing vies Willi meisinw; liar treatment of tho fiica above ,iht gllet. , It is perfectly obvious tliatvto the proud possessor of ono gll docsnt at all suffice The rea'dj Olliuit nuiiiiui ut-jis tb wiiuio CUIICO tlon, one for each day in tho el ,ui amy uro uur suns an vested i uur ono-picco trucics nun sopor Moiikps too aro being dona simulated gllcts. Capes hav fronts ana, yes, tney navo erg vaaea tne rcaira of the under