Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1884-02-14
PLAYING FOR THE DANCES.

aN0aHE
PLAYING FOR THE DANCES.
New York Sun.
A understanding little woman with a
somewhat worn face, but an agreeable
and constantly recurring smile answered
the reporters ring at the door of a small
house in Harlem recently. She led the
way into a parlor furnished with horse
hair chairs and sofa, ingram carpet and
cheap prints, and dropped mechanically
upon the stool Of a badgered piano. She
said, pleasantly:
II advertise in papers for engage
ments to play az parties because there
is more money In it than IN teaching. /
know that it is the general impression
that the musician is more br less looked
down upon at a party, but my expert
ence has been Just to the contrary. with
enc OF two exceptions. Al rare intervals
people who are IN the best society and
live on Fifth avenue send for me. Ii
is usually on the apur Of the moment,
when they want 30 get up a little i'm
promptu dance. On other occasions
they ALWAYS have three or four pieces.
1t is when / play for these people that
| feel my position most keenly. They
send u cab for me if they are in a hurry,
and pay me literally, bur it is the hard
est money to earn in the world: for they
treat me from the moment / enter the
house uail / leave exactly as they treat
their servants. They never for a mo
ment look at yon in any ether light than
as a mental"
Goldfish aristocracyl"
81 suppose so, and yet all the wealthy
society people act that way. /
shall never forget the first time
Mr.-mentioning the name of
q prominent residendt of Fifty
seventh street, sent for me. / had been
teaching little boys and girls to play the
piano for several years, and had gradu-
ally drifted into playing for dancing. I
had been at il for three or four months,
when n night q coach drove up to the
door, and the footman in liverv asked
for me. 1t was about 8 o'clock. / went
down stairs, and he told me his master
had sent for me to play for some good
people who happened ia after dinner. /
hurried on my things, and got into the
coach. | was afraid the footman would
get in, too. / was afraid of him, he
| looked so much like q policeman. He
Il ~ . oALN1A R1RC 6AA XVI uDOA bAO UOAa
1t was just beginning 10 snow, and the
carriage was delightful and cosey. /
began to think that playing
for dancing was very de-
| Iightful after all. When we got to the
house I was q bit surprised TO be taken
In at the basement door. Then the foot
man told q great big fat butlar who I was,
and the butter called me 'yOung woman, !
and asked me tofolicNw him upstairs. 7
began to feel wretched. Then =ss
taken nafo the little small music-rcom
adjoifAag the parlors, / had never seen
anything 30 gorgeous in my life. 1t
seemed like q f~airy-iand, but I felt awful
ly sad.
Il played q waltz, aud had stopped
for a minute, when the host stumped
into the room and said I played too
fast, / felt like CRYING, his
manners were so rude. After /
Esa prayed a little while ,snper one of
the daughters OF the house found fault
with my selections. One would have
thought. to hear her talk, that / was
a kitchen maid. / couldn't understand
how sny one SO beautiful and 80 richly
dressed could be so cruel.
after awhile they went down to up-
per | waited an hour. They sent the
Iootman upstairs TO watch me while /
waited. Then they came back and
danced some more. Atl2:30 the butler
came and said l could go. He had d
silver salver, en- which was q crumpled
W bill. He gave me this, and said his
master considered it sufficient. as I had
not come till late. Then he showed
me out of the basement door,
He was very kind. and offered to gel
me an extra shawl from the cook az il
was nnHaa %@sTy hhard but Irushed out,
crying like a goose, / had 10 walk way
mp 10 Third avenue in snow that was an.
kle deepin order to get the cars. Ididn't
get asleep till morning and suffered for
weeks from the cold / V went
again to that house, though I've been tc
many similar ones. The servants are
better bred than the masters
Where is it most agreeable to pIay?'
In the houses of plain, everyday
people. There are no nicer people II
the world than those who form whai
the English would call the middle elias,
of NeWYurk.n
7 AT Fergus Falls, ithe warehouse buildin,
| nj IN n0n AraLof