The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-18
COUNTRY DANCE IN THE CATS
KILLS.
co,ducted by Jimmy, the Fiddler, and
~ the McAllister of Greene County.

- the McAlIister Of Greene County.
From the Nelc York sun.
..Dsnce with the man with the biggest
-. shouted the fiddler in the middle of
~, cheat" cotiIlon. Jimmy Smith had
me down from his lofty pedestal as
ortrcrat of the evening. and entered INTO
a. spirit of the occasion
~ natives of Hunter had been in
s--+ar of excitement for week
T5a contagion had spread among
81 SIMMER boarders. The event or
- season would occur that even
"a Grand country dance in the village
Iall. over Biddeli's general store. Jlhntny
smith the fiddler of Scribner Hollow, mad
81 engaged Jimmy boasts that be never
t'.oLe Inf one engagement. That was on
~ OCCASION of Josiah Lakes wedding at
crifin,s Corners, which felicitous event
o1cnrred in blizzard week in 1883, when OK,
borsa or iackass could not cross the noun
tain for six weeks.
ord Iasses clamored for admission to the
I'll Aaron Overbaugh was manager and
L. eeDa- Each person who entered was
Toonired TO ray 10 cents. Aaron wore his
C,I4edav clothes. and rivalled Ward McAllis-
~. in 1oliteness. The hall was soon filled.
The CITY visitors sat on the pine benches
tbat extended around three sides of the
rOOrn while the country AOAho
imnatient for the fun to begin.
There were no decorations in the hall.
nj lamps hung upon the wall at intervals.
a stage ten feet wide by eight deep was
eracted at one end of the room two feet
obove the floor On one side of it stood the
first piano brought to the village. 1t was
labelled "Murchison & Grelg." Talk OF
your harp of thousand strings! IL was
NOT circumstance to this instrument. The
niano was borrowed for this occasion from
an old family 1t had not been tuned since
+ha MEXICAN war 1t sounded like O boys
hanio three weeks after CHRISTMAS.
There were two wooden chairs in the hall
one for the fiddler and one at the piano.
Jimmy Smith as on time. He was greeted
with round of applause on entering the
hall and two women lifted him upon the
stage. The fiddler said "Evenin all, " and
got ready for business. Hetook off his hat
coat and vest. He dropped the right sus-
nender from his shoulder. that he might
swing the bow with his accustomed grace
DR., MAYNARD of New York, by request of
manager Overbaugh, consented to act as
master Of ceremonies for the evening A
pale Young salesman from, a Grand street
store, who mad been plunging into debt
during his two weeks vacation among the
hills was invited to play an overture. He
ratified off "Where Did You Get That
Hat?n to waltz time cast a contemptuoJs
glance at the poor old piano, and hoped off
the stage. NJboby shot him, for he did the
best he could with the instrument. The
country folks did not waltz, but three city
couples did the glide for fun.
Dr.. Maynard then requested the city
folks to subside and the villagers would
show them how to do a country dance.
While the sets were forming Jimmy was
tuning up. There was no further use for
the master of ceremonies, as the fiddler now
assumed full control Jimmy finally got
his Stradivarius to the proper pitch, and,
striking up at lively rate, sang out, "Al
er-roundp aud the sets circled alb ut with
a hop and a slide. To the tune of 1.-THE
Girl Left Behind Me-" the fiddler sang
the figures:
Take your partner by the hand and balance
down the middle:
Your left hand up, your right hand back,
Then sashee To your places.
The figures of the old-fashioned cotillon
were put through in rolllcking STYLE When
tie fourth figure was reached Jimmy an
nounced THE Cheat" He was chuckIing
over some surprises he had in store for the
dancers. Mr.. Smith had one oblique eye,
and none could take offense at his quaint
sayings, as it was not easy to determine
which one he was looking at. He yelled his
orders in rapid succession. "All ar-roundl"
Dance to cornersn "Swing the girl before
your dance with the girl hehind you'll"
Swing the man with the biggest nosel"
Dance with the handsomest mani"
A tall. rawboned yokel, with shoe
string necktie and trousers rolled up to pre-
vent contact with his CREASED boots, was
immensely tickled when he was selected on
the last call, He did double-shuffle in a
style that would have made Lolita envious
And then, keeping time to the fiddle, Jimmy
sang:
Dance with the girl with the hole in her stock
ing:
With the hole in her stocking, and her heel kept
rocking
Dance wi.u INC girl with the hole in her stock
81 ing;
Oh. dance by the light of the moon.
And each girl in turn said, law, you!"
when the imputation was cast upon her
that her hosiery was rent
In the middle of the dance the music sud-
denly ceased. Jimmy was rolled. He had
lost patience with meek little man who
during the whole figure had been trying to
eaten up, but failed. Rapping the base of
ms violin with the bow. he lectured the
little man severely, and began the figure
over again The meek man attemDted to
smile, but when he encountered Jimmy's
stern glance he was crushed and got a
1rlend to take his place.
AL the close OF the dance all were pant
ing and happy, except the meek little
man, VINO went down to the tavern
ana drowned his sorrow. The city Wis
tors mad got their 10 cents worth of
lun and gradually withdrew. The ball
went on till midnight, when it was closed
The fiddler announced that a Sc ect COM
pany would gather at Lexington the follow
ing week over which he would preside, and
ioialy took his departure Manager Over
paugh struck balance sheet. Having de-
quoted So for rent of hall, IS for the fiddler,
anu Ten cents Tor a broken lamp chimney,
ne came out SL90 ahead. His many friends
mad enjoyed themselves, however, and he
expressed himself to the effect that Hunter
nau reason to be proud of possessing in him
Inc McAllister of Greene county.