A SOFT COLLAR.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 76, 7 April 1913, Page 6

A SOFT COLLAR.

IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY: ■; OR. GILRUTH AND HIS CLOTHES. Or. Gilruth, the Administrator of ; the Northern Territory, when in Melbourne, was asked if the statement, was true that he compelled members of his administrative staff to wear uncomfortable uniforms in hot weather, while he attended church in his shirtsleeves. “There is not a word of truth in the statement. It is ridiculous,” he replied. “I have never made any rules whatever with regard to dress. Those who know me know that it is not my style to do these things. When Dr. L. Bevan, of Adelaide, and formerly of the Collins street Independent Church, was passing through Port Darwin, he conducted a memorial service in connection with the death of the late Captain R. F. Scott. “It is a common thing for the ladies of Port Darwin to wear shirt blouses, and I saw them going to church in this attire. If it is good enough for them, I concluded that a shirt with a soft collar was gA>d enough for me to attend church in. I did so. I have no intention of being uncomfortable when Igo to church. I say this without the faintest disrespect to the Church and whtat it stands foi. My ideas as to dress in the Northern Territory conform to the needs of the situation. It is admittedly a hot climate. Why should we not make life as comfortable as we can there? So far from enforcing uncomfortable attire upon the members of the administrative staff, I have encouraged an opposite rule. “At the ‘at home’ given by me some time ago , when my residents were the guests of Mrs Gilruth and myself, the men presented themselves iff singlets and without coats. It was, perhaps, carrying things a I.u f 0... but. there is no denying

the fact that it was easy and comfortable. Neither my wife nor myself had the heart to take exception to this mode of attire, and these guests were as warmly welcomed by us as any of those who were more magnificently arrayed. It was a cosmopolitan gathering, and neither the time nor the occasion to lay hard and fast rules. The officials really wear just what they like, and I think that in doing so they are obviously shoving common sense. The future of no man in the Northern Territory will he jeopardised by insistence on the wealing of a stiff collar, a stiff uniform, or even a stiff demeanor.