Scarecrows Shock Jersey's Fair Sex

Dummies Are Indecently Clad, Say Women.

Skirts Are Six Inches Too Short and Wealthy Neighbors Steal Usable Clothing.

NEWARK, N. J., May 20. – The attention of the State Committee on Public Safety and Morals has been called to what is believed to be a menace to public morals, namely, the costumes worn by scarecrows in Newark in particular and Essex County in general.

The first letter sent to the committee comes from the North Nutley Housewives' and Housekeepers' Protective League and reads:

"To the Committee on Public Safety in Newark,

"Gentlemen: Your attention is called to numerous and sundry scarecrows within the limits of your fair city and the costumes or lack of adornment worn by said scarecrows. Many of them have skirts over six inches above the ground and their garments, or rather lack of garments, is enough to shock the most violent movie fan. We trust you will see that the limbs of these necessary evils are properly covered. Yours, &c., MIRANDY DRAPER, Secretary."

Wealthy Neighbors Rob Scarecrows.

The communication received immediate attention and the committee soon found out that the minute any sort of usable clothing was put on scarecrows it was stolen by some of the neighbors, many of them living in wealthy sections of the city.

The high price of scarecrows this year is the worst kind of profiteering. In many cases the prices of scarecrow styles for 1920 are fully 300 per cent above what they were before the war. They, in turn, rise the price of corn.

The latest fashion sheets have come from South Jersey, where it is assumed they were stolen from Philadelphia, the home of all rustic styles.

Burlington County, N. J., comes to the front with the suggestion that scarecrows be draped, dressed, or merely smeared with tar paper of one inch thickness. It has been found that crows cannot see black because it is their own color, and that they fly straight into the paper and dash their brains out.

No Second-hand Hats.

As far as hats are concerned as an addition to the beauty or usefulness of the scarecrows this season, there is no such thing as a second-hand hat. They will all be used, either as is or as dyed.

Positive information comes to the committee from Bennie Norwood, the Caldwell, N. J., newspaper man, that one post-war gardener there has dressed his scarecrow with a full dress suit, plug hat and "biled shirt," and that the suit or any part of it has not been stolen as yet.

There is no denying that it is a puzzle what to stuff the scarecrows with. Hay is now on a part with platinum, and fathers-in-law or prospective fathers-in-law are presenting their sons-in-law-to-be with loads of hay as wedding presents instead of small farms, as was the case before the war.

Anyway, the scarecrow situation in Essex County and elsewhere is serious.

--The Saturday Blade, Chicago, May 22, 1920, page 7.