Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-12-04

mothers of the little butterflies"
The arrest was a sensation the result
was an ovation. 1t was the first time
that Fourteenth street had been
treated 70 a genuine thrill for a long
time, and the most was made of il. 1t
is even rumored that a French hbret-
fist talked amicably upon the subject
to a Rullman librettist But this is
mere gossip, and should not be relied
upon.
The Herald reporter made his way
through the rain to the stage door of
the academy, on Fourteenth street.
The curtain was down on the first act
of Lucia. On the farther side of the
stage there is an ante-greenroom, in
which about fifteen little girls in
wraps, w~aterproofs and cloaks were
gathered. -Four or five mothers
moved among them, the minimum of
mammas simply showing that the de-
cision about the ballet was a sudden
and recent one, and that the news had
not travelled to the homes of all these
little " papillons." The reporter asked
a plain-faced woman, who was closely
wrapped in a shawl damp with rain,
whether she desired her child to dance
in the ballet. She answered that she
did. This was the expression of
opinion given by every matron present,
Poor things" said one, it is recre-
alton after being in school, 1T is
not so hard as being in school" said
another. But the children, let us
hear them. Do you like this ballet
business? Are you content to con-
tinue your butterfly ~existence?' So
said the reporter to the girls.
The 'yes hal came was not ex-
actly a howl, but it was powerful
enough in a falsettO sense to drown
the noise of the storm that wa making
a grimly irregular accompaniment to
the orchestra of Signor Arditti. The
chubby children crowded about the
reporter as if he were a commissioner
of charities and correction on a regu-
lar tour, and seemed very much inter-
ested in the event. liza vote had been
taken among them the society for the
prevention of cruelty to children
would have been defeated.
As for my little girl, remarked a
mother in a plain shawl, "she is always
doing something like this" And here
the woman with the pinched features,
and no more suggestion naturally of
dance about her than there is in the
sphinx, executed an attempt at a waltz
movement that no doubt brought up
memories of her youth, when such
things were both possible and de-
lightful.
Besides Mile Marie Muller, who is
twelve years old, there are twenty
four little girls who have attracted the
attention of the society for the pre-
vention of cruelty to children. Their
names are Annie Stickley, Harriet
Kenney, Louise Firmen, Alice Youth
er, Bertha Hancock, Hattie revert,
Lily Gotlier, Hattie Bullwinkle, Su-
san Bickel, Josephine Muzzer, Pauline
Drescher, Rosa Mccormack, Dora
Troemel, Lizzie Keans, Dora Edwards,
Kate Arnoux, Louise CrOlius, Nettic
Harper. Kate Drescher, Annie Dunz,
Lizzie Firmen, Julia GilrOy, Pauline
Goennel and Oracle Koch. The re-
porter saw nearly all of them, and in
no instance did he hear a word of
complaint as to the rigor Of the ballet
exercise. On the contrary, there
seems to be a genuine and universal
: desire to go out on the stage and dance
! whether the society for the prevention
of cruelty to children was willing OF
, not. As the mothers began to arrive
! the children prepared reluctantly tC
depart, and many a tiny butterfly,
! huddled up in waterproof or shawl
! sighed, as she passed along Fourteenth
street, in the rain, for the glitter and glare
: of the stage-for the music, the warmth
! of the house and the gossamer wings
: at the shoulders. The ballet went on
all the same, with Mile Malvina Cav
! alazzi and the other premieres in their
! roles.