The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 28, 1901, Page 8

THE SUNDAY CALL Panama Hat Worn by Theogore Roberts of the Frawley Compafiy. hoto by Thors. HE very dernier cril The Panama hat! It is undoubtedly correct, and meu who would be up to date must own one, be it genuine and worth ten fives, or just a clever imitation, whose tag says two-fifty. t for twenty years has Panama straw been in such demand as now. One or two of the hatmakers who are - arbiters cf masculine fashion are respen- sible for the resurrection, and presumably South Anerican straw weavers are rising up ani calling those autocratic gentlemen blessed. The supply of finer grades of the straw is already practically exhausted, and though the cheap straw can be woven to order rapidly, the finer quality of Pan- ama cannot be produced in a hurry, no matter what the urgemcy of the demand / be. An expert cannot make a hat of the very b quality in less than'seven or eight months, and even the hats that are not so fine are a matter of moriths. Women do the weaving, the men never having been able to master the art in its perfection, though some native men do plait straw after a fashion. The industry is common in almost all the South Ameri-{ can countries, but the lion's share of the best Panama straw comes from Venezu- ela. The straw is woven from a marsh grass, and the quality of the finished product depends as much upon the quality of the grass as upon the work. Yor the best straw, the grass s careful- ly sorted and selected, only the finest stalks being chosen. Then the’ woman who is to weave it squats herself down ; WILL TOUR THE WORLD TO | TERACH ART OF HEALING SR - L g ='OUR noted American surgeons and make his end as comfortable as the drug physicians have just started cn a permitted. tf):lr of the world, the object of Tpa¢ was the situation in surgery the w -(h Is to demonstrate to the doc- world over until Dr. J. B. Murphy of Chi- tors of Europe and Asia the American eystem of surgery and medicine. Tic welcome which ‘will be accorded to them abroad will be real, for the quartet is headed by Dr. Nicholas Senn of Chicagn, who is regarded as the leading American surgeon. The other members of the par- y are Dr. D. R. Brower and Dr. Jacob Frank of Chicago, and Dr. Mastin of Mo- le, Ala. The tour is being made at the request of foreign doctors, who are anx- fous to see 2 competent exposition of the 4American methods of surgery and medi- cine. Dr. Daniel R. Brower is a famous £pecialist in nervous diseases. The othcrs are surgeons. Until a very few years ago no American surgeon or physician ased to think his education complete unless he had spent two or three years in the medical schools of Germany, England or France. At that time it was a superstition that the Euro- pean schools of medicine were superior to those of this country and that the sur- gical technique was better, Nowadays the situation is reversed. Every year finds more and more graduates of foreign medical schools enrolled iIn American in- stitutions, to which they have come to complete their professional education. This change has been brought about by the somewhat tardy recognition of Ameri- ca's place In the field of progressive sur- gery. The world owes the boon of an- esthesia to this country. Aseptic surgery, also, has been developed here to a point which was practically unknown abroad. Then, too, men and women used to Jic by thousands every year from a mysteri- ous disease w.lch began with a violent prostrating pain In the right side und ended in death within a week. American surgery established the fact that this dix- ease was due to an obsiruction of the ver- miform appendix, and it worked out the now simple and safe operation of removal of the appendix for appepdicitls. Bercre this operation was discovered people who died from appehdicitie were given death certificates which read “peritonitis,” or else “intestinal obatrucdon.” Before the present era of American sur. gery a wound in the abdomen was thought to be necessarily fatal. The internal or- gans are covered with a thin and exceed- ingly delicate membrane known as the peritoneum. Under the old regime, if this membrane was cut or violently bruised, perlwnm:. set in and the patient died. 1f & man was shot or stabbed in the abdo- men, 50 that the intestines were severed, it was then a surgical axiom that nothing could be done for the patient. He would surely die. The accepted treatment was $0 dose the wounded mar with opium and cago invented the Murphy button. Tins is a small device of aluminum by which di- vided intestines can be united. The de- vice was not then perfect, but it at once brought down the mortality from wounds of this character from 7 per cent to a little over 15 per cent. Then Dr. Nicholas Senn—the man who is leading the Ameri- can guartet of surgical demonstrators abroad—saw that this invention couid be combined with a discovery of his own, and so great was the devotion to science of the two men that they worked jointly for the good of humanity to produce a de- vice which should be perfect. This, they think, they have found in a device which employs decalcified bone instead of metal. Decalcified bone is ordinary bone from which all lime as well as the animal mat- ter has been removed. This, when used to join severed intestines, is absorbed by the tissues as soon as its mending work is done. The original Murphy button some- times remained as a forelgn body and caused trouble. Decalcified bone plates were first used by Dr. Senn in 1888, This somewhat lengthy account of the surgical wonders wrought by Drs. Mur- phy and Senn is given here because it was the maln reason which induced the surgeons of Europe to invite Dr. Senn and his colleagues to make their tour. Wounds of the abdomen are the most frequent, the most difficult and the most fatal of all the wounds which surgeons meet with in their work, In the American Civil War 68 per cent of all wounds were ®ounds of the abdomen, and of these $7 per cent died. In the recent war with Spain al- most the same percentage of wounds of the abdomen were obtained on the Amer- fcan side, but instead of a mortality of 98 per cent it was less than 10 per cent. The difference was due to American sur- gery. Similar method¢ were used by En- glish surgeons in the South African war with equally gratifying results. The con- sequence has been a tidal wave of appre- clation of American surgery, the first ripple of which has borne away Dr. Senn and his coadjutors to glve clinical de- monstrations of their methods. Almost every European country except England has asked the quartet to hold clinics in their capitals. The reason that England has not done so is because Dr. Senn is almost as well known in the Lon- don operating theaters as he is here. The English appreciated his methods almost as quickly as his own countrymen and have carefully copled his surgical tech- ninque. * The planned itinerary of the medical quartet began on July 4, when Drs. Senn, Mastin and Brower safled from New York on the steamship Barbarossa. Their first professional stopping place will be at Ber- lin, where they will pick up ‘Dr. Jacob Frank, who preceded the party by some day se he had*an urgent request to hold a special surgical clinic at Profes- sor Landau's private hospital for women in Berlin. This is one of the most fa- mous institutions in Europe. The four will stay at Berlin for several days, and, although the regular terms are ended for the season at the medical schools, a num- ber of special clinics have been arranged at which the distinguished American sur- geons are expected to demonstrate their methods. : If the regular itinerary is followed, Dr. Senn will next lead his party to Moscow, where both Dr. Frank and Dr. Senn have been requested to hold clinics for the benefit of the Russian surgeons. This will be Dr. Frank’'s second visit to Moscow, as he attended the session of the Inter- national Medical Association held there three years ago. At that time his methods attracted a great deal of attention, and it 1s sald that he remarked that the Rus- slans ought to see Dr. Senn, who origl- nated the methods he used. Sincé that time there has been a heavy Russian de- mand for the presence of Dr. Senn. About July 20, unless the plans of the party have been materially disarranged, they will leave Moscow for Irkutsk, traveling thither by the train de luxe of the Siberfan Railway. Irkutsk, it 1s hoped by the four, will be one of the places at which they will not be expected to hold a clinic, Dr. Senn and his com- panions want to spend ten days at Irkutsk, exploring Lake Balkal and hunt- ing and fishing. Thence they will jour- ney to Stretinsk and take a steamship down the Amur River to a fown with a name that can be spelled seven different ways, Lago Vestsch «w:k is one of them. Thereafter the quarcet will travel among Siberian towns with queerly spelled names untfl they finally reach | Vladivostok, which is the terminus of the Siberian Rallroad. ¥From Vladivestok they will go to Koreca, on thelr way to Japan, stopping long enough to pay &, visit to Seoul. Japan will probably show the four American surgeons and physiclans more honors than even the countries of Europe, for all the hospitals of Japan are ar- ranged on the American plan. Japan used to send all its medical students to Ens- land, some of them afterward going to Germany and France to complete their course. To-day very few medical students go to England, for Japan, which was one of the first countries to recognize Ameri- ca’s surgical supremacy, long ago dis- covered that the education given by the best of the American medical colleges was better for practical work than that to be obtained in Europe. The theory of sur- gery and medicine is splendidly taught in Europe, but for practice America leads. Japan, too, has reason to be proud of the fact that ghe has so closely followed American methods in medical science, for it has resulted in the little Asiatic coun- try numbering among its native born eciti- zens one of the most noted bacteriologists in the ‘world—Kitasato. To the labors of Kitasato are due most of the exact facts s be now known about the microbes of the bubonic plague, diphtheria and cancer. Kitasato is also the inventor of a great many instruments of precision and is the author of many valuable books and pa- pers on scientific subjects. The American surgeons will land at Na- gasaki and will go thence to Yokohama, where a serles of clinics will be held. The Willard Blackmore of the beside a big earthenware jar of water, takes a handful of grass and begins her work, under the surface of the water. Every inch of the hat is woven under water, this care being necessary in order to keep the grass molst and prevent its splitting and breaking during the plaiting. Day after day, and month after month, the woman sits by the water jar, work- ing with infinite care, and, in seven, eight or more, probably nine months, a hat is ready for the American or Englishman who has money to burn. Few Panama hats of fine quality are worn in South America. To be sure, little of anything is worn by a large part of the population, but even the hat weaving'element cannot afford the luxury of a fine Panama. In fact, few of the best hats ever find their way into the general market. They are picked up by individuals. English and American travelers, officers on trading ships or men-of-war, foreign Consuls or traders -buy the hats for themselves or for friends at home, and, of course, the output is comparatively small. It has been smaller than ever within recent years, for the demand has not been great enough to encourage the-industry, and it has been with the South American straw weavers as with our Indian basket weav- ers. The younger generation has not taken to the art so kindly as its forbears ~did, and there women who can compete with grandmothers in weaving skill. Even on its native heath a good Pan- amMa hat is expensive, one of good quality bringing about $40 in American money and often more, thoughyloosely woven, infa- rior straw hats may be had for almost any price, even as little as a few cents in our coin. In New York shops the price of a genuine Panama straw hat ranges from $12 to $150, but there are few of the latter in stock, and the $10 or $0 hats are about the limit of man’s extravagance. Many a wife is rejoicing over the ad- vent of tife Panama, and it's a brave man who dares to tell his wife that he paid $40 for his straw hat. Never again can he indulge in the scathing satire anent their * women's bonnets that is so dear to th2 average husband. Never can he point withk modest pride to the $ straw hat that has lasted two seasons and demon- strate, gently but firmly, to his wife that woman's extravagance in millinery is what is making man ‘bald and wrinkled and careworn. He has put a weapon into his enemy’'s hand, and she's no sort of woman if she doesn't use it. “Well, it's a love of a toque, John. Of course, $30 does seem a good deal to pay for one rose and a fold of chiffon, but are few of the young - then, you know, one pays for style. You remember the summer that Panama hats were the rage, you gave $40 for a perfect- ly plain one—not even an egret on it she will say. Oh, the men who buy Panamas are lay- Ing up trouble for thémselves! Still, they buy the hats and they retreat behind the excuse of durability. *A man doesn’t buy a hat because it is the fashion, even though it is a bit of mad extravagance. Perish the thought! He invests in Pan- ama straw at $40 per because the hat will wear forever. In all human probability, never again, in the course of his natural lifetime, will he need to buy a straw hat. Say he lives twenty years. One $ straw hat a season for twenty years means $100. That is two and one-half times the $40 expended” on the imperishable Panama. The number of men who are doing that sum to convince themselves and their, bet- ter-halves that a Panama hat at $40 is the cheapest thing they can buy Is legion. Of course they dan’t belleve it, but it salves their consciences to think they do. There are men who buy $150 Panama hats without a quiver and are unashamed, but they are the men who have unlimited money or unlimited credit, which is much the same thing. The finest Panama hat ever seen in this country, and probably as fine a specimen of the work as was ever turned out, be- longed to General Grant. It was given to him during his first term and was worth $500. Panama hats are bought by the import- ers In the ordinary native shape, with broad, flat crown and a wide rim slightly rolled. In the hat factories here they are bleached, cleaned and shaped to suit the prevailing styles, the Alpine shape being the superlatively correct thing this sum- mer. The cheap Panama hat, so called, worn by nine out of every ten men on the street, is a poor imitation of the genuine article. Many of these hats are not made of any- thing approaching Panama straw. ‘The rest are of French Panama straw. Great quantities of Panama grass are exported from South America to France, where the grass is split and woven into French or split Panama. Even in South America some split Panama straw is made. The grass is split so carefully that often no one save a connoisseur could tell the fin- ished straw from genuine whole grass Panama; but it is far inferior in durability and texture and is not worth one-fifth the value of the genuine Panama. Next to Panama straw in value comes a very fine quality of split straw manu- factured in Belglum. Some of these hats are expensive and the work upon them is remarkably good. Japan furnishes many of the straws that are used for men’s hats here. A new Japanese braid called Kurake is popular for sailor hats this summer. The Chinese do a good deal of straw plaiting, but pro- duce only inferior qualities, though they are improving In their split straw and it is beginning to assume some importance. France, Italy, Saxony, Belgium and Eng- land send us straw. Filipino straws are being worn to some extent here this season and have the merit of being cool and well-ventilated, but they are cheap and poor In qauilty. Porto Rican hats are coarsely woven and In- ferior, but there is talk of a development of the industry in Porto Rico, under the stimulus of United States capital and management, and hat makers belleve that a fine grade of straw could be made there. In Mexico the palma grass is woven into sombreros of varying qualities, but even the. best Mexican hat is not worth more than $25. The hat of this quality is finely woven, but has not the Panama virtue of lightness. On the other hand, the cheap straw sombreros, woven of wheat straw, are cool, light 2nd practically indestructi- ble, though coarse and inelegant in ap- pearance. The Mexican straw hats are finding a ready sale here this summer for the first time, and a certain type of girl looks uncommonly fetching under the high conical crown and broad curling brim. Women are affecting the Panama hats, too, but in the original dbroad-brimmed shape more often than in the Alpine. The lightness and durability of the hats make them eminently desirable for rough out- ing wear, but the tightly woven braid for- bids ventilation, and many a heavy hat is cooler than a Panama. The man who ¢wns a genuine fine Pana- ma seldom allows it to keep its trim Al- pine crease. He pokes it Into Informal shape and leaves the dents of his fingers in it just to show that it is the real thing, for a good Panuma is as soft and flexible as silk, while the cheap and imitation Panama keeps its hard and fa.. curves and must be treated with due considera- tion and respect. No straw is woven In this country. La- bor is not cheap enough to make the thing possible. The only really good straw ever made here was the old Mackinac straw, which was made at Mackinac and was at one time all the rage. Japanese Mackinac straw drove it out, and now none of the old Mackinac straw is Jeft. — s Japanese clinics are expected to be of great interest to'the Americans, as sev- eral little known diseases can be studied there. Moreover, some of the Japanese schools still maintain a few of the older dnd peculiarly Aslatic methods of treat- ment, and while some of these are a little - astonishing to foreign surgeons, it is ad- mitted that they have their advantages. These Chinese and Japanese have, for ex- ample, a most remarkable way of ‘‘set- - ting” broken ribs, which, while drastic, seems to be frequently successful. The human rib, it should be understood, is not often broken, as its structure and po- sitien renders a straight fracture very difficult, but they are often so badly bent inward as to be spoken of as a broken rib. 1t is very difficult for a Caucasian sur- geon to straighten out these inbent ribs, but a Chinese or Japanese surgeon, it is said, accomplishes the feat with facility and dispatch. First of all he places his patient before a roaring fire and heaps clothing about him until he is perspiring freely. During this process the patient's coverings are several times removed, so that he will not be able to tell when the maln part of the operation is to be performed. When the patient has quieted down and is indiffer- ent to the occasional removal of his wrap- pings,” an assistant, who has been await- ing the signal, suddenly dashes the con- tents of a great vessel of ice cold water over the patient. Naturally enough the poor wretch gives a great gasp of sur- prise, thereky gausing involuntary and violent inflation of his lungs and a corre- sponding action of the muscles of the chest. The result of that gasp is the desideratum of the Asiatic surgeon, for it applies strong pressure to the inside of the bent bones, thereby forcing them back to their places. It is such strange medical and surgical customs as this which the American doc- tors expect to study as some reward for the instructions which they may give to other nations. Both Asia and Europe have a good deal to show to America In the way of medicine and surgery. Dr. Senn's party wants to see as much as it can of their methods. After leaving Jap- an the party will spend a day at Victoria, British Columbia, and will later take the Canadian Pacific train from Vancouver for Chicago. The four expect to be away just three » ‘hs, Central Theat mmr: b;anmm :La er and His Panama Hat.