Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1885-04-20

ShOiSt SOuSluu0 W SAOoo ouu ECSiOoS
the room to the sound of the
piano well played, / see no harm. Ifa
company Of people all Of whom are known
to the host or hostess as respectable, move
round the room to the sound of musical in
strum rents, / can see no harm. ] for q long
while tried to see in it harm but / never
could, and ] probably never will I would
to God men kept yourg for greater
length oftime. Never since my school-boy
days have loved so well as now the hilari-
ties of life. What if we have felt heavy
burdens and suffered multitude of hard
knocks, is it any reason why we should
stard in the path of those who, unstrung by
life's misfortunes, are exhilarated and full
of glee2
God Gless the Young!
They will have to live many day if they
want to hear me say one word to dampan
their ardor or clip their wings, or to throw
q cloud upon their life BY telling them that
it is hard and dark and doleful. 1t Is no
such thing. But while we have right to
the epjoyments of life, we never will coun-
tenance
Sinful Indulgences.
] here set forth group of what might be
called the dissipations of the ball room. In
some Communities these dissipations con-
tinue all the year, while they do the chief
work in summer atthe watering places and
therefore the subject has wide application.
They swing an awful scythe of death. Are
we to stand idly by and let the work 90 on,
lest in the rebuke we tread upon the long
trail of some popular vanity? The whirl-
pool of the ball room drags down the life,
the beauty and the moral worth of cities.
In this whirlwind ofimported silks goes out
the life Of many good families. Bodies and
souls innumerable are annually conSumed
in this conAagrstlon of ribbons. This style
of dissipation is the abettor of
pride, the instigator of jealousy
the sacrifcial altar Of health
the defler of the soul, the avenue of lust
and the curse of the town. The tread OF
this wild, Intoxicating, heated midnight
dance jars all the moral hearthstones of the
city. The physical ruin is evident. What
will become Of those who work all day and
dance all night2 A few years will turn
them out nervous, exhausted imbeciles.
Those who have given up their midnights
to spiced wines and hot suppers and ride
home through winters cold, unwrappe1
from the elements, will at last be recorded
suicides.
There is but short step
From the Ballroom to the Graveyard.
There are consumptions and fierce neural
giss close on the track. Amid that gilt
tering maze Of ballroom Splendors, diseases
stand right and left and balance and chain.
A sepulcbrsl breath floats up amid the per
fume and the froth of deaths lip bubbles
up in the champagne. Many of the bright
EST homes are being sacrificed. There are
smilies that have actually quit keeping
house and gone to boarding, that they may
give themselves more exclusively to the
higher duties of the ballroom. Mothers
and daughters, fathers and sons
indipg their highest enjoyment
u the dance bid farewell to books, 10 quiet
culture, to all the amenities of home. The
Tatber will, after while, 60 down into the
over designations. The son will be tossed
about in society, nonenity. The daughter
will elope with a French dancing-master
The mother, still trying to stay in the gilt,
.er, and BY every art attempting to keep the
color in her cheek, and the wrinkles of her
brow, attempting without any success all the
arts of the belle-an old firt poor, miser.
able butterfly without any wings.
These dissipStions extinguish all love Of
usefulness. How could you expect one to
be interested in the alleviations OF the
worlds misery, while there is question to
be decided about the size Of glove, or the
shade Of a garment? How many of these
men and women of the ballroom visit the
Door, or help dress the wounds Of returned
soldier in the hospital? When did the
world ever see perpetual dancer distrlb 1T
ng tracts2 Such persons are turned in
lpon themselves, and it is very poor pas
ure.
This gilded sphere is utterly
Bedwarfing to Intellect and Soul.
This constant study of little things; this
larrassing anxiety about dress; this talk OF
fashionable infn te e,imals; this group that
imper and look askance at the mirrors and
yonder, with iDfnity of interest, how that
ne geranium leaf does look" this shriyel
ing up OF man moral dignity, until it is no
more observable with the naked eve; this
akipg of a woman's heart. that God meant
hould be filled with all amenities, and
it until all the fragrance and
implicitly and artlessness are squeezed out
( il; this inuuisition Of small shoe this
trapping up OF mind and heart in a rutiie;
his tumbling down Of a soul that God
meant Tor great uplittings! | prophesy the
piritual ruin of all participstors in this
ivalry. Have the white, polished, glisten-
ng boards ever been the road to heaven
Y hat at the fash of those chandeliers hath
indled a torch for eternity? From the
able spread at the close OF that
xcited and besweated scene, who
rent home to say his prayers
A Horrible Scene,
To many, alas, this life is a masquerade
all. As at snch entertainments gentlemen
md ladies appear in the dress OF kings or
,ueens, moub tain bandits or clowns, aud at
he close of the dance throw of their dis
,uises. So, many all through life move in
mask. Across the floor they trip merrily.
rhe lights sparkle along the wall or drop
rom the ceiling-a very cohort of fire.
The feet bound. Gemmed hands, stretched
,ut, clasp gemmed hands. Dancing feet
espond to dancing feet Cleaning brow
,ends low to cleaning brow. On with the
lance! Flash and rustic aud laughter and
merry-making! But the
auphter of death comes over the
imbs and blurs the sight
lights lower! Floor hollow with
epulchral echo Music saddens into a
1sil. Lights lower. The maskers can
ardly now be seen. Flowers exchange
heir fragrance for q sickening odor, such as
ONES from garlands that have lain in vaults
fcemeteries. Lights lower! Mists ill the
oom. Glasses rattle as though shaken by
ullen thunder. Sighs seem caught among
be curtains. Scarf falls from the shoulder
{ beauty-a shroudl Lights lover Over
be slippery boards in dance OF death glide
salousies, disappointments, lust, despair,
'orn leaves and withsred garlands onlg half
ide the ulcered feet. The stencil OF suok-