The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1885-10-30
A BALL WITHOUT A MAN.
Young Ladies in SwaIIo w-TaileJ Goats and
Knce-BreeChes.
L~PNNadoInhla News.l

There was a ball at tue P~enusylvani
Female College 'ast week-a ball The Xix
of which is not ofton seen. The irrevereu
youth who listened near .the e"a,r1lc. t.
the grounds said . then p&rty' was Y .ag
on, and G companion who claimed to pas,
sess superior knowledge deu..i this, ~
planning that che gir.s ware just laying
dudes." Up on top Of the hi from t4s
long windows Of the Ch2n.I .a"oe "a !. IL
only seen when tue yyuuS ladies a., q.
home. Within the chapel tie floor US
cleared and every bench pushed back. /
on the little stage at the east end a. ..-
Chestya was seated. Under the M. 70
lighted chandeliers c e1v Jlcoag y
moving, and as the -l1,.c Of q wa
sounded. swaycd of in the ~ola-two-tbre-
step Of that favorito dance. The costumes
were brilliant and the SEEM remarkable.
Everybody was young cd everybody was
' handsome.
st q first glance a spectator could not
but help notice the men. They didn't seem
to be quite the usual thing. Snooth.facei
youths they were, ell Of them with bangs,
and most Of them blessed with mors back
hair than the average young man can
handle with any degree of grace. Their
Earb was not exactly the regulation. The
black swaI ow.tal c at, the standing COL
lar, the exposure of snowy linen and The
black waistcoat were according to s,aui-
ard. But the brooches were something
new. They were made Of some sort Of
striped stuff and stopped at the knee.
From there down to the patent l~eat-e-s
the limbs were incased in black silk stock
ings. The carriage of these g~allants WIS
strange, too, and, on a second glance, the
remarks Of the youth at the entrance could
be understood. These boys were girls. II
was the annual ball of the college stu
dents, and one-half of them were
masquerading in male attire. Not q
real man was in sight-except the
musicians, who don't cOunt-but
there were'plenty of limitations, and right
honestly did they fill their parts. To be
sure, some of them needed coaching in the
matter of handling crush hats and lolling
Ia the dcorways, but the majority of them
had seen enough of the simon pure to go
through the motions without a break.
The ladies-that is, the ladies who were
appearing in their own character-wer5
dressed in the height of style. The asser-
tion that women won't dress for women
wouldn't have had half a chance at tn
college last night. Low neck and short
sleeves were the rule, trains longer than
their wearers were common, and jewels
flashed in powdered hair. 1t was full
dress for a certainty, The rules that are
in force in ordinary social a~ssemblages of
this kind were strictly observed, and
there was a due solemnity about the
affair. Only in one place was this
infringed upon, and that was
where the dignifed lady principal and her
corps Of assistants stood watching the
proceedings. They were privileged char
acters, and laughed until handkeEchiess
were necessary to wipe away the tears.
I "How was this thing fixed? How did
you decide who should be gentlemen and
who should be ladies2" was asked of one
bright-eyed little lady who sat waving a
fan almost as big as herself.
30 all the girls wanted to be boys. It's
such fun, you know. / had no chance. III
was too little, and all the other little girls
were put off in the same way. Then the
big girls drew lots, and that's how it was
fixed. Amt il fun2,
It was fun, at least so all the partici-
pants seemed to regard it. The music
started early, and was ringing until the )
early hours Of the morning came, and
through it all not a ma was thera-