which my American friends do not share. It is very curious
that what is considered as indecent in one country is thought to be
quite proper in another. During the hot summers in the Province of Kiangsu
the working women avoid the inconveniences and chills of perspiration
by going about their work with nothing on the upper part of their bodies,
except a chest protector to cover the breasts; in Western countries
women would never think of doing this, even during a season of extreme heat;
yet they do not object, even in the depth of winter,
to uncovering their shoulders as low as possible when attending
a dinner-party, a ball, or the theater. I remember the case
of a Chinese rice-pounder in Hongkong who was arrested
and taken to the Police Court on a charge of indecency.
To enable him to do his work better he had dispensed with all his clothing
excepting a loin cloth; for this he was sentenced to pay a fine of $2,
or, in default of payment to be imprisoned for a week.
The English Magistrate, in imposing the fine, lectured him severely,
remarking that in a civilized community such primitive manners
could not be tolerated, as they were both barbarous and indecent.
When he said this did he think of the way the women of his country dress
when they go to a ball?

It must be remembered that modesty is wholly a matter
of conventionality and custom. Competent observers have testified
that savages who have been accustomed to nudity all their lives
are covered with shame when made to put on clothing for the first time.
They exhibit as much confusion as a civilized person would
if compelled to strip naked in public. In the words of a competent authority
on this subject: "The facts appear to prove that the feeling of shame,
far from being the cause of man's covering his body is, on the contrary,
a result of this custom; and that the covering, if not used