The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-05-14
BUFFALO BILL AT A BALL.
HOW THE HoTED SCOUT MADE HIS
DEBUT m CHICAGO SOCIETY.

HOY Ds THa 1 e en1o aSR9s soaIsT7.
Attending n Ball al General Shori-
dan.s Observation-Disclosures by
aSpike.Tail Coat and White Kids.
"By the way, the worst I was ever
scared was right here in Chicago" said
the Hon. William F. Cody, otherwise
Buffalo Bill" to a Chicago reporter.
"Soon after the fire General Sheridan,
General Arson Stager, and a lot of those
New York Union club men, along with
James Gordon Bennett. came out West
hunting. 1 had served under General
Sheridan as Il scout, and when the party
got out in my neighborhood he had me
take charge of them. He had q big
hunt, and they were all so pleased that
when they started to 60 away the gen.
cral called nc in and said:
"'Codv, we want you to come East
and see u.s.
81 couldn't do it, said I. 4 haven't
got the money to take me down to
Omaha, and l haven't got any clothes
to wear after I would get East
".That's no excuse he said; 'we
want you to come. We nave been your
guest here, and you have treated us well.
You must be our guest now. We will
fix these little things for you
Gle had been my old commander, so
l said: All right
81 then conducted the Grand Duke
Alexis hunting party, and the duke gave
me that celebrated breast pin. When we
got back from that trip l received some
passes General Stager had sent me. |
then began to look upon my trip East as
a thing I was in for. had never been
cast of the Mississippi, and the prospect
bothered me. But l began to fix for it
like a little man. I had got some blue
flannel of the quartermaster, and my wife
made me a suit Of clothes. You've seen
these clothes that wives make, haven't
YOU? You know how they fit2 Well,
that was the cusscdest suit of clothes any
man ever put on. But l oughn't to make
fun of them, for that dear little woman
did the best she could-she was worried
lust as much as | was. Well, l put them
on and started. I hadn't time to wait
for an overcoat, so | wore my buckskin.
Icame here and then visited all the East
ern cities. | had a rip-roaring time.
None of the boys were ashamed of me,
and l reckon I went into the best society
on that trip.
"Nhen I got back here to Chicago,
Mike Sheridan met me at the depot and
took me to the house. Said he: Cody,
we are going to have a ball tonight, and
YOU are going as the generals guest
We'll, l had sense enough to know that,
as the general was a single man, he was
a high flyer with ambitious mammas, and
that the ball would be entirely too big
for nv blue flannel. l told Mike so, but
he said that he would fix that. | didn't
want to show my disrcspcct to the gen.
cral, SO l said that I guessed I'd have to
60. Mike took me down to II of those
places where they have special suits of
clothes to rent, and rugged me out. 1t
was one of those spike-tailed coats, the
first one I had ever seen, Il low-cut vest,
q great white shirt-and that Alexis pin,
tight doc-skin brccches, a plug hat, and
a pair of white kid gloves. Heavens!
but wasn't l q whooper, | thought to
myself. ,
1.-THE dance was out ut Riverside, and
it was a pretty cold night in the fall.
After we started, and when Mike wasn't
watching, l pulled the buck-skin coat on
over the dress suit. When we got to the
place Mike seen me, and 1 was so ashamed
that I hustled the coat off and stuck it
under the fence. Then we went
in. The ladies hal all heard l
was coming as the guest of General
Sheridan, and they all wanted to see
Inc. 1 went into the room where they
were-a whole regiment of the prettiest
women l had ever seen, and they all had
long trails to their dresses. Thinks to
myself: Bill, this is pretty rich for Il mar
of plain blood, but you'll have to sail in
Just then l began to sweat. | tried to
wipe my face, but the gloves was so little
l couldn' close them to clasp my hand
kcrchief without bursting them. Then
the sweat began to run. Thinks I, maybe
I'd make some kind of a break anyhow if
1 went to wipe my face, so III let her 60.
II wa standing there with my fingers
stiff as ramrods, and the worst feeling
over me that any man ever felt when the
general took my arm and led me through
the crowd, introducing me right and left.
The way the ladies smiled l knew | was
too big a man in their eyes to look bored
at anything. So l tried to smile, but the
harder | tried the worse off l got, and
the general led me up to 4 little plat
form, where he gave me an introduction
to them all at once. The sweat was then
running through the fingers of my gloves.
The ladies, THEY'LL bowed, and then the
general tod me | would have to dance
with them. I'd danced out On the plains,
and when he said that thinks | to my
self: Bill, you're all hunkey on the
dance He made some engagements,
and l stepped down to the young lady
who was first on the list and put myself
in shape.
1.-The music started, and they all
whirlcd off but me. The lady looked
swcctly into my eyes, and asked me what
was the matter. l told her l couldn't
hear the caller. 1 was waiting for some
man to sing out balance ALL, when she
said: Why. we don't have any callers
here l felt like falling through the
floor, when she told me to come on and
she would show me through. tried it,
but it was the awfulest dancing any
man ever done. I'll tell you l was glad
when the band quit playing. / sat the
lady down and then beckoncd to Mike.
lie took me out, and sat in q hay-mow
till the dance was over"