St. Paul daily globe., 1889-02-10

An imp OF Germany
Brought up in France.
found the paternity correct, and
that the German word waltZer means
to roll, to welter, and [ at once had to
remember a public entertainment L
once assisted at in StraSsburg, where a
burgomaSter of about 800 pounds
weight and fair fraulein of nearly the
same proportions ''weltered" around
the hall, much to their own qualification
and also to mine. and [ may decidedly
add that this three-sided amusement
was not at all immoral.
But searching more deeply into the
biography of the waltz find that, how
ever innocent IN itself, it is closely al
lied to some very dubious characters.
The Greeks considered it the apprOpri-
ate dance Of SilenuS and the fauns, of
Bacchus and the BacchanteS; in Africa
the MoorS adopted it from the SayageS
around them and called it the Chica;
they carried it into Spain, and when
they left it there it became the fan
dango and assumed more decorous ap-
pearance than it had thought worth
while before. In the West Indies and
Spanish America the Spanish waltz is
deeply colored with the heredity of its
Moorish prOgenitOr and is not danced
by faStidi0uS women.
From these excursions we come back
TO the French yalse, as danced to-day in
Paris, Vienna. London, New York and
other centerS of modern civilization,
and, knowing all that we have just
learned. we look upon our plausible
friend with new eyes, and wonder if the
world has grown So much more moral
than it was in the days of Boabdil ell
Chico, or if our own contemporaries are
so much more ascetic than other men,
that the dance once risque has now be-
come quite harmless and innocent.
From books we turned to living au-
thOrities, and, without alarming their
innocent minds, questioned a great
many girls and young women upon
their own ideas and experience. Most
of them exclaimed, with round eyes:
ANY harm in Waiting? Why, of
course not, unless one has heart dis
ease, like poor Birdie, or lame ankle,
or something"
Sometimes, however, girl more SEN
sitiYe than the rest, would confess that
nothing can be more disagreeable than
the way some men waltz. holding you
so close, and staring, and-oh, l don't
know, they're horridp' Something
like this was said to me by at least a
dozen pure. pretty mouths, and [
silently noticed the style, physical and
mental, of the girls who said it. They
were Hebes every one, and with moth
ing of the Minerva about them, the dar-
lingS.
My inquiSitions among my male
friends were naturally more guarded.
but found several brothers who wished
their sisters did not waltz, and several
young husbands who had tried more OF
less etfectually to prevent their wives
from waltZiug with any man but them
selves.
Absorbed in the interests of morality,
[ pursued my examination into the sober
ranks of the fathers and mothers, even
the grandfathers and grandmOthers of
the dancers, and here [ found disap-
proval, yariouSly expressed and OH vari-
Gus grounds, almost unanimous. One
dear old gentleman wagged his bald
head at Inc, chuckled roguiShly and
whispered:
Jolly good fun for the boys, my dear,
and [ only wish | was young enough to
try it; but don't know that morality is
its strong points"
And his wife. when [ asked her, said,
with quiver of the head that rustled
her capStringS:
Think of waltzing? Why, l think it
IS shameful for girl to let any man
that comes along put his arm around
her waist and hug her up to him. What
would modest girl think if he did it
when they were not waltzing, although
| have my suspicious that when they
wander off into cOnServatorieS, and
gardens, and boudoirS. and shady
places, directly after dancing, the
Young men do once in while practice
up little for the next waltz"
''Oh, no, no, my dear madame" pro-
tested |, as gravely as possible; surely
no such horrid scandal as that is posi-
bie!"
"Well, don't know, my dear, don't
know; but [ have always remembered
what dear Miss Edgeworth says:
''Sir, she's yours
You have brushed from the grape
It's exquisite blue,
From tine rosebud you've shaken
Its pendulous deW
What you've touched you may take
Pretty waltZer adieu.'
'Uu. MISS TuSGNUIIu Wdo Ill Oiu
maid fifty years ago, MOTHER" inter-
posed my hostess, perceiving that L
hardly knew how to meet this wholesale
denunciation. And to my mind the
old-fashioned German waltz, as we
called it. as l learned it thirty years ago
had no harm in it. Our minds were
more taken up with doing our steps
correctly. and making that final eX-
3raordinary curve in correct time, than
anything else, and our partners never
got so warm that they had to use hand
kerchiefs as well as gloves to keep from
soiling our bodices. This new deuX
temps. as they call it, is to my mind
Just horrid. 1t only reminds me of my
two little tots in the nursery. hugging
each other as tight as they can and then
spinning round until they drop. I've
forbidden Charlie and PuSs to do it any
more, but Ethel and Zoe go to dances
almost every night, and the dancing is
only that"
{" 10 the pure all things are pure"
cried mocking voice at the door, and
naughty Ethel, who bad been listening
behind the portiere, came dancing in