Tri-weekly journal. (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1847-188?, 1847-07-10


A PARTISAN BAL MAsoUE." Here is an er-
tract of letter from highly respectable citi-
zen of New York, written in February last. the
revelation of which will not be lost upou
American readers:
"Did you ever see a "Bal Masquep' OF
course not. Well, have been to one
J-s, Mr.. J--s and l ''put ont" at
twelve o'clock one night which is the hour at
which they commence. The "Bal" was at the
Academic Royale," the great French opera
house; very large and splendid building. On
those occasions the stage and pit are convirted
into one vast floor for the dancers; the orches-
ira, composed of over two hundred performers,
led by the celebrated Musard, being elevated at
the further end of the stage. On our entrance
we promenaded the saloon, already quite filled
by ladies in masks and dominoes. Ladies are
all required to be masked, which is generally
accomplished by little black mask covering
the nose, with opening for the eyes, and leav-
ing the forehead, mouth, and lower part ofthe
face uncovered. The gentlemen do not mask
so that the ladies have greatly the advantage,
inasmuch as the little mask have mentioned
completely disguised and conceals them, so
that it is entirely impossible to recognize them.
In this saloon everything was dec mt, and GO
ing on regularly and in order. We passed
from here to the floor, where the dancing had
already commenced; and wish it were posi-
BILE for me to convey to- you an idea of the scene.
Men and women in all sorts of dresses, of all
colors and shapes, in chapeaus and caps of all
conceivable forms, filled the vast area, and
were occupied in the most lascivious dance you
can imagine. Picture to yourself girls in trow-
sers of crimson. purple and other colors, fitted
closely TO their well developed limbs; generally
Short and trimmed with lace at the bottoms,
so fairly to exhibit their pretty ankles, TO the
best advantage, setting closely to their waist,
with nothing but shirt above, showing their
pretty busts perfectly; their hair ''worked I'M
der lin way to which believe only Partisan
BARRIERS are competent,) so as to resemble boys
hair exactly; and then after you have got this
picture complete, hang these girls around the
necks of the men, closely Rugged and then set
them to dancing some exaggeration ofthe Pol
ka, in comparison of which the waltz is moth
ing; then imagine the most glorious music from
the best orche stra in the world, and you will
have some idea of the grand Bal Masque of
Paris. The men Chose on the floor, Imean,)
are dressed in all sorts of fantastic costumes
Among them notice two dressed in imitation
of our Indsns. The "Pienot," IS they call it.
white shirt and trawsers, with long white
cap, (precisely by-the-by, as the clown in the
Ravel pantomimes always wears,) seemed TO be
rather the favorite, and saw more Of that than
of any other one. Our tickets admitted us 10
all parts of the house; so we went all over it,
to see what we could see. Mr.. J--s talks
French, and became acquainted at previous
"Bal" with young girl in boys clothes Of the
kind have described, whom we met in one of
the boxes. Acquaintance, however, is quite
immaterial, as every one speaks to whomsoev-
er he pleases However, she accosted me in
very good English with "How do you do?"
'Very well, said |; chow have you been?"
"Qui, yes" said she; "aoiH you kiss me?" Of
course declined, alleging the presence of SO
many people as a sufficient apology; TO which
she replied, that made no difference; fact of
which was already very well aware, as all
around were women on the mems laps, kissing
and hugging, etc. etc. These two sentences
were all she knew of English. Do you see
now what "Bal Mosques" are made of Do
you wonder that corruption pervades Partisan
life almost universally? The ''Bal Valentino"
is another place of similar character, which l
have also visited; though here the participators
are in their ordinary dress Here, as at the
other, the performers are chiefly Of the grisettes.
] etc.