Heat and all the in-betweens have not been wasted upon me for I have learned one of the secrets of the universe, which is that if our clothes are in good health we are happy, but if they suffer our peace of mind is destroyed at once. I'm thinking of writing a volume for the Handy Psychology Series on "The Sensitiveness of Clothes" ov "Raiment in its Reaction to a Rising Temperature' or some such popular theme.
For instance, could there be some personal refrigerating device in. vented which would keep collars from wilting, coats or blouses from those distressing damp patches, organdies from stringiness, I'm well assured that we should all wear them, and no matter how many colds it might produce, or what personal inconvenience in the freeze ing line it might entail the thought that our costumes were looking their best and feeling happy, would un. doubtedly cheer our spirits, remove all inferiority complexes, and allow us to function at our highest efficiency.
Who has not ventured out on a hot day, cooled and sustained by the consciousness of a freshly ironed frock, crisply starched collar and cuffs and well adjusted complexion? As long as this mental concept of ourselves guyyived we did not mind the summer's'heat and found the errant breezes invigorating, A little brisk shopping and then to be confronted by the reflexion of a red-faced, crumpled female, with hair lankly plastered over a beaded brow, whose gown had acquired innumerable wrinkles, and lost the freshness of its ruffles, What thing?
Up to this moment we had been happy, We had not minded the temperature, had felt that Shanghai summers were by no means unendurable. But our clothes, our poor dear clothes, how they had suffered Our neatly laid-on local colouring, how it had shifted: In an instant we realized the tragedy of the situation, sultriness of the day, absence of breeze, imminent heatstroke, entire loss of personal pre-stage. Had only our clothes held out against the humidity we should still have been happy-
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in ourselves, but in our clothes. We were carrying on cheerfully till we realized our appearance, and then "copies"—we succumbed at once to heat prostration. Our costumes must be reformed. What clothes shall we
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.