Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-06-29
A QUEER LONDON SIGHT.
How People Of An Grades Enjoy IN o.
cassonal Harmless street Dance.

How People Of An Grades Enjoy IN o.
cassopal Harmless street Dance.
Especial Corrpspondencc.l
LONDON, June 10.--The strangest sight
that have come across In London h one
that don't think could be duplicated
anywhere in the world, and you will see
IL every fair evening In nearly all parts
Of London, from Rag Fair to Regents
park, and in fact In almost every street.
About sundown, AZ the stores and busi-
ness houses begin to close, the hand or
gans are out in full force, and no police
man hustles them along or otherwise Ill
treats them, and they stand along BY
the smoothest stretch Of pavement they
can find and begin TO play. They al play
one tune. II Is sort Of jig tune Of
country dance and quite catching.
Hardly will the man start the crank
when you will see the nearest four per-
sons stop and begin to dance rather
pretty and quite complicated step, and
then they will take hold of hands by
twos, advance, retreat, cross over and
balance, all In perfect time and with
evident enjoyment
Ninety nine times out OF hundred
tho people who dance are utter strangers
to each other, and they are for tho most
part respectable people, clerks, shop
girls, milliners, etc, and often have
seen women dance with little babies in
their arms. Sometimes there will be
three or four "sets" dancing together,
but more often only one. Few stop to
look, as the sight is so common.
a
custom, and that it was quite proper, for
it excited no comment. and as soon
as tho four had danced out their fig.
ure they went their way with scant
ceremony in tho way of leave taking. 1t
was but bit of harmless amusement,
and no one thought it in any way wrong,
neither dancers nor spectators. and no one
presumed upon tho fact of dancing as
vis-a-vis to try TO force further ac-
guaintance.
Sometimes the dancers would be all
girls; often quite elderly persons, both
men and women, and they would each
and all fall into set at once without the
slightest ceremonynnd dance with vim
and gusto that only equaled their grace,
for the dance is very pretty and graceful.
One evening, just before dark, l had
been u short distance to post some let
ters, and on my way back came to where
man was playing tho familiar tune,
and there were three girls all impatiently
tapping their feet. saw that they ex-
pected me TO join, and hurried by, look
ing about for acquaintances; and seeing
none, l joined them, but tho step was
beyond my power, and had to give
it up.
know Lady H Mary Duffin- Har-
dy), who Is well known in America, and
she and her pretty daughter danced four
or five Figures" as they called them, with
a couple of shop girls right in Oxford
street one evening, after which they en-
tered their carriage and drove away.
Another time saw n jolly faced old
Englishman, real type of tho English
place and dance with pleasure within a
stones throw of the British museum.
Afterward saw him in Westminster,
where he was pointed out to me as q
prominent member of parliament (Mac-
Donald Cameron). should not be bit
astonished to know that his royal high
ness and perhaps her royal highness
joined in one Of these innocent sidewalk
dances, and, in fact, feel sure that his
royal highness has, But imagine, will
you, n Fifth avenue girl dancing on the
sidewalk with the first person she meets
to the music of "A hand organ! The skies
might fall, but that would never happen,
and yet it is harmless amusement and
little pleasure in ugly London.
MARY brennan