THE COST OF CLOTHES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIV, Issue 14707, 7 June 1920, Page 7

THE COST OF CLOTHES.

! We learned quite lately that there j had been a. big drop in the prices of clothing in' the United States.- One of the factors which produced that resultwas the practical protest widely entered against current prices. What was done is thus described by the New York Sun Indications yesterday were that within a few'more days the entire country will bo dressed up in overalls in_protest against the cost of the dressier kinds of clothing. There were unmistakable evidences that tho fad has taken hold in New York, and reports from Chicago and cities nearer and further away "told of Mayors and Police Commissioners and Sheriffs, as well as business men, appeared right out in public in tho ill-fitting garments. As a matter of fact; Chicago reported itself in tho overall grip with clubs springing up all over tho town. Department stores were doing a l-ig business. From Newark, N.J.. camo tho news yesterday that the Adelphus Club, an organisation of lawyers, had discovered tho "creased" overall. The members of the club appeared in garments into which the crease had been sewed. At about .the same moment the wireii brought the tidings that down Portsmouth, Va., the Rev. Edward K. Benton, pastor of a prominent Methodist church, had announced that he will preach in overalls to-day and tliat men similarly attired and women enveloped in bungalow aprons will receive his especial benediction and welcome. Judge Kennedv of the Common. Pleas Court, in Cleveland, Ohio, gave judicial sanction to the new fashion by appearing on the bench in an unpretentious outfit of denim overalls and jumper. Prosecuting attorney, deputy sheriff, bailiffs, and clerks of the court wore similar unostentatious garb. So far only one protest, outside of clothing manufacturers and dealers, is on record against the overalls _ idea. This was voiced by Governor Bickett, of North Carolina, who assailed the movement as one likely to, work hardship to farmers and othersj who wear overalls all the time, by forcing ,up the prices of the garments. The stand of the Governor was approved by the Southern Dry Goods Association, which sent him a- message stating that nothing more impractical than the overalls clubs had been conceived since the "Buy a bale- of cotton" movement was started in 1914. ;

Out on the Pacific coast editors joined the clergy and the judiciary. Members of the staff of one morning newspaper, from chief to office boy, are pledged to' overalls . during working hours, beginning to-morrow. In Salem, Ore v the Post Office employees, except carriers, have adopted the utility costume unanimously, and, the carriers have wired Washington asking to be permitted to do so.

Overalls clubs have been organised] by 500 employees of the International Time Recording Company of Endieott, N.Y., a suburb of Binghamton; by more than a hundred clerks and officials of the Williamsport (Pa.) division of -the Pennsylvania Railroad; by the . employees of the State Capitol in Austin, Tex.; and in Sharon, Pa;, the penalty of, being ducked in the river is the price club members must- pay for violation of the sacred pledge. No member is exempt under the by-laws, even on nights when he goes to see his best- girl.Willie Collier, who is playing in "The Hottentot" at the George M. _ Cohan Theatre and who is no laggard Tn matters of sartorical elegance, won a new claim to publicity when he appeared at j the matinee performance yesterday in tastefully cut denims: The first musical comedy chorus in the city to take iip the idea went on the stage at the Maxine EU'ott THen+re in "What's in a- Name." Loud cheers greeted the innovation. Every student in the University of South Carolina has donned the brown : , or cotton drill, and an_ "Old Clothes" Movement" has; even developed in Yale, where the correct attire for students is given in a late issue of the University's periodical as "sweater, coat, -and trousers, of any old materials, army shoes or becLrcom slippers, and last- year's hat." " . The cost of a pair of overalls is normally three" dollars, hut- in conseauence of the great demand the price is already double*} in some places.