The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-05-04
DANCING UNDER MILITARY PROTECTION
How McAIlister Would Have man
aged the Ball.
United States Troops Would Have
Surrounded the QuadriIIe
And Made People In the Supper
Room Behave Themselves.

New YORK, May 3.-Mr. Ward McAllis-
ter. celebrated for his selection of "Mc-
Allister's Four Hundred, has returned from
Washington, where he celebrated the cen
tennial. Since his return McAllIster has
been telling how he would have made sue
cess of the great ball if his place had not
been usurped by shat man Fish," How
the crowd would have been handled If Nc
Allister had acted as general, he told to a re-
porter as follows:
81 would have had the doors of the supper
room open at s O'Clock, when the ball room
was open. A vast number of people would
then already have eaten, and there would be
no signal for fearful charge Of ten thous-
and at certain time. Then would have
had only one way by which people could get
into the supper room, and that by the Broad
way end. Entering once, there would be no
return. would have had lines of soldiers
on each side Of the passage, whose duty 1t
would be not to allow any one to return, not
even waiter Once past the door there
would have been no getting out except by
the exit at the other end of the room at
Seventh avenue. Here again would have been
lines of soldiers who would not have allowed
any to enter that door. There could then be
no fighting and mobbing between opposing
crowds at the doors. Further, would have
allowed only enough people in the supper
room at one time to sit at the tables. As
avenue exit, at an electric signal the
Broadway entrance would have
been opened for exactly fifty persons,
and no more. In this way, considering that
people had been at supper all the evening.
crowd OF 10000 could have supped in more
dignified and leisurely way, and all have had
plenty long before the ball was over Then
would have had at certain intervals, prob
ably three times during the night, line of
soldiers vito locked arms to march through
the whole length of the supper room, firmly
but gently forcing every one to leave This
plan is in common use in the huge public
balls in Rome, and is thoroughly effective
without being unnecessarily effective, and
might add that all the soldiers at my ball
would have been regulars. The gay young
militia who were in Fish's ball were every
bit as good, you know, as anybody. there, in
their own opinion. Regulars would not have
drunk champagne or got tipsy. Besides,
regulars would have obeyed orders. If
they'd been told to stand in certain spot,
they'd have stood there for month. If
they'd been ordered not to let a person past,
they would have been firm, silent and digni-
fed in obeying all their orders.
Another fatal mistake of the committee
was in not receiving the President as |
planned. would have had a small semi
circle OF troops in front of the Presidents
box, In which the ladies and gentlemen of
the quadrille would have stood awaiting the
arrival of the President. In the center of
the ballroom floor would have had small
square of soldiers, within which the mayor
would have stood. The manager of the ball
would have brought the President into this
square, and the mayor would have received
him IN fun view of the whole ballroom. AS
soon as the President reached his box trum-
peter would have announced the quadriHe,
of soldiers before everybody's eyes, and this
square and the semicircle in front of the
Presidents box would have been the only
places from which the Tpeople would have
been excluded" 4"