The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-14
BALLET EPICUREANS.
DAINTY APPETITzs INVARIABLY
ACCOMPANY EsTaETIS HEELS

costly oupOer5 81 re " OE-0 OFsE-
Champagne a,d the Rolero-Pates
and the sraatslle-Trufn ss and the
Gavotte-An Epicure's Experiences
and Four Little Dinners
Copyright $500
NEW YORK, Oct Z There are said 70
be three iafal.ible wars Of getting rid Of q
fortune, remarked a "a 7eled msmbsr Of the
Four Hundred whs i als0 veteran first
nizhter. Il remember Oncs hearing Gen.
James Watson Webb say thai the re nedy
for superH1oas wealth was either 70 run q
theat4r, start a newspaper o. Sc: u2 stand
ing army; but think fourth may easily
be added
And that is-r' inquired,
Get acquainted with a queen OF the
ballet and take her out to dinner occasion
ally. You smile; but let me assure you that
it is b. no means the leas. costly experiment
Of the four. personally happen TO know
Of at least half dozs1 fortunes that have
been gobblel up by those dainty epicursans
who. when they find susceptible worship
err seem 10 be under vow 70 eat him to
death as quickly as possible"
| Your reflections seem to be tinge1 lit
|
ence," / remarked. Wont you tell me
about itI"
"We ll,n be said. settling himself to the
| placid enjoyment OF a mild cigar, my ac-
! quaintancs with ballet queens began some
twelve years ago. Havi & Inherited from
my father q comfortable income, with a
town house and handsome summer house
at Tarrytown, felt at % that | should
travel a bit before settling down. In four
years did Europe pretty thoroughly. In
1877 l was in Madrid. Spain was at that
time gradually recovering from the agita-
ton caused by the Carlist strife, and the
country was, as a whele. wretchedly poor.
Yet the theaters hourishsd. 1t is a
popularity OF Europe that, no matter how
its people are affected by war or other ns-
| tional misfortunes unless it comes TO the
very worst. the theaters keep open and
supply the amusement and rela Ration neces-
| sary TO prevent The public raj ID from be-
coming morose. At least that is my phil
osoohy Of the matter.
| "O0e night with several friends / at
tended a performance at the Nacional.
After the play, which was a light French
piece of some sort-ths distinctive Spanish
dramas Of Lope de Vega aud Calderon
having long since yielded to the foreign
| inhuence-we had the baile that matchless
and really unequaled dance which | con-
slder superior In elegance AMI action to any
| other feature of the modern ballet. It Is
generally danced by Andalusian girls and
is regarded as the chief part Of the evenings
entertainment. Mind you, it isnG what
our cultivated classes might call an ele-
CANT dance, by any means. There is moth
ing Of the stateliness of the cotillon, the
slow grace of the mazurka or the freely
movement of the Italian tarantella in it
but 1t Is, to those who have ssea it acted as
| have done, the true expression Of the
1 AFlnr len arV.la l. t.. -
the whole body participating instead of the
| legs merely. The pair Of lovers are all
a-glitter in gold and silver; the woman is like
a dark-skinIed ghost in geSsamer; every
| limb seems elastic and her whole body as
she DANCES seems the senslIous exponent Of the
emotions Of the mind. The Spanish clergy
have repeatedly tried in vain to suppress
the bale on the ground taken by our own
preachers touching the round dances here,
that it was improper; but they have failed,
| and court at Toledo, before which a num-
| Der Of dancers were once summoned was
converted when it saw the dance performed
under the shadow OF justice. The story
goes that all the staid lawyers cast aside
their wigs and gowns and joined in the
| revel
"Well, after the play was introduced to
Senorita Marcella, the gaditana whose
delightful dancing Of the bale had charmed
nae while in the theater. 1t is useless for
me to attempt to describe her. Imagine if
| you ca1 a graceful, fawn-like creature,
half girl, half woman, not over feet 6 in
ches tall, but giving the impression of
hight while in motion. Her feet, which l
particularly observed, we're short and
| plump, with a high, we'll instep, not
| pinched or contracted, and the ankles prob
ably a trife puffy, but very neat The
limbs were incased in open-lace hosiery,
and the shoes were the quaintest satin
affairs Imaginable, low cut and revealing
| the whole form of the foot and ankle. The
gaditanas abhor the French boot whose
| long, slender poise is the admiration of
| northern Europeans. Spanish ladies as a
| rule are ex remedy chary of showing their
feet, but with the professional dancers it is
| different, of COURSE
Our party supped at little semi
| oriental cafe, on a plaza near the
| theater 1t was the first time | had ever
had experience with the gastronomic tastes
| OF a premiere. What with thin meats,
| poor sauces and a superb bundance of pep
pers, | imagine that some of our party
which was rather cosmopolitan one-dined
rather Enthusiastically. Not so the senior
| tia, however She ordered the most expen-
sive wines the cellar afforded, with a charm
ing grace, and her portion of the pisto, or
| meat omelette, was washed down by
draughts each Of which, here in New York,
would have sufficed to pay for an ordinary
dinner. Chicken and rice, poached eggs
and a quisado or peculiar stew were fol-
lowed by the most delicious salads | ever
tasted, the latter being compounded by the
plump olive tinted hands of Marcella her
self. Thea, of course, numerous bota of
tiue old Spanish wines followed, and when
we finally lighted our cigars, looked at
the gaditana who was shipping her choco-
late between the puffs of her cigarette, and
wondered whether the present were a sam
pie everyday occurrence.
'Marcella knows how TO sup loosely
observed young government official who
was Of the party. Her feat, her eyes, her
castanebs. and her appetite have emptied the
pockets of half the wealthy young gallants
in Madrid
(which, as l shortly afterwsrd learned,
vas quite true. for her OK pensive tastes ia
that quarter had become a proverb in the
capital
WAS this gifted gourmet so beautiful,
thenF | asked.
mo; ste was delightful, though, as many
little women can be. She had not the SUI
perb physical charms of an Italian ballerina
l encoun cred i'll Naples and whose dancing
and playing seemed to my impressiona ole
mind the very personifcation of grace and
beauty. But heavens! how Guilia could
eat! was terribly disllusioned to see
her fairly devoGring the macaroni aud
truffiss, 10 say nothing Of the CHI am