Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-05-10
THE "cARMAoMolE..
Cow the Old AIR L. Sung and Danced B
the Comm unis:s Of Paris.

Cow tho Old AIR L. Sung and Danced b.
the Communists OF Paris.
The Carmagnole." it will be re-
membered. is the song sung by the old
women. the tricoteuses. as they danced
round the sc:ff LII in 1888 1t is a
song of fierce and fearful import Its
old words were revolutionary and
sanguinary, but new verses have been
written that have an economic rather
than a political bearing; They breathe
war to The middle man. the sweater"
to those who build fortunes with the
labor of others. and do not them-
selves produce any thing. Even the
chorus is sometimes changed. and in
stead Of ..Dansons Ia Carmagnole'
we have "Dansons In Communarlc."
TO dance the .'CarmagnOlc" elective
ly it is generally customary to select
some youth with loud. sinister. con.
tralto voice. The youth takes his
stand on the stage or high platform.
A woman. with regular features
tall. commanding figure. is then
called upon 10 take the Lad
in the dance. 1t is prefer
able that she SHOULD have tiyhi-fit-
ting. severe. plain black dress, devoid
of any sort of ornaments. If she has
abundant fair tresses. these are al
lowed to fall down the back. This
simplicity may be taken as homage
paid to the naturalism that pervades
modern schools Of thought The
black dress is cmblcmatic of mourn.
ing for the brothers who still languish
in prison or who have fallen behind
the barricades. But perhaps the red
scarf of the commune is loosely
fastened across the breast, and in any
case Phrvgian cap. after tho model
worn in 1898, with its wild tassels
dangling from either side. is carefully
poised on the head, and this COM
rletes very effective and classical
costume. A woman thus dressed
forms the center OF the dance. She
stands absolutely alone, and does not
deign to take 4 partner. Har partner
is the huge red flag which. with strong
arm and determined gesture. she holds
aloft. The boy with the sinister voice
then commences to sing the first verse
of the "Carmagnolc." There may be
several thousand persons present. and
yet the silence is such. the attention so
intense. that every breath is
drawn with precaution for fear
of making II noise. But when
the verse has been sung and the
chorus is reached it is taken up by the
people at first with Il slow, low MUIR
muir. The central figure commences
to turn. and circle of four men and
women holding hands go round her in
the contrary direction. Then there is
another larger and yet another still
larger circle. till tho largest of all
touches the wall on either side of the
hall. These circles within circles all
go round in reverse directions; the
first to the left. the second to the
right. the third TO the left. the fourth
to the right, and SO on, while the
woman in black. with her red flag
standing in the center, turns slowly
round and forms living pivot. AS
the crowd turns it sings louder and
louder. till a. last, in frenzied excite
ment. what with shouting and stamp
ing. they make the walls shake, the
windows vibrate. and the very stones
themselves tremble on their founda-
tons and seem to participate in the
revolutionar y dance. 1t is at once an
impressive and threatening sight. 1t
is ut such moments that one NAV
realize the ex liability of the French
people. and. on the hole, if l were
Jay Gould or R,thschild I should
prefer not to be recognized while the
''Carmagnole" was sung. -Paris Let
ter to Philadelphia Telegraph.