Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-01-20

whistle is sounded and the next four try it. and
SO on until every lady has stood upon the chair,
and every gentleman has taken his turn at
jumping. After that the whistle is sounded
again, and those who have found their partners
in this curious fashion waltz for few mo-
ments. The waltZes are always brief, Just
enough to give an exhilarating flavor to the en-
tertainment.
From this single illustration you can see
how an ingenious leader may plan any number
of curious features for the evening Another
that is almost always interesting is called "The
Shade" In this white curtain is stretched
across part of the room, the lights turned
down, and lamp or candle placed upon
table little way back of the curtain. Certain
of the ladies, who are selected by the leader,
seat themselves back of the curtain so that
their profles are cast in shade upon it, and the
gentlemen approach upon the other side and
pick out their partners according to the shade.
SOMEONE'S LEFT
"An amusir feature of most of the figures
is an arrangement by which at least one man in
every set gets left. A good illustration of this
scheme is the screen figure. This is similar to
the shade, except that, instead of stretching a
curtain across the room, a screen of fine tissue
paper is used. Four ladies stand in row way
at one end of the room at considerable distance
from the screen. Five gentlemen get upon
their knees behind it. The ladies cannot see
the gentlemen nor tine gentlemen the ladies.
At the sound of the whistle the ladies run for
ward rapidly, burst through the screen. and
fall in the arms of the kneeling gentlemen. AS
there are only four, and as there Is no possible
chance of selecting partner. one of the gen.
tlemen must naturally get left. If lady by
chance falls into the arms of two gentlemen at
a time, the choice, of course, is designated by
herself
''StilI anotherA CURE with this same purpose
may be called The Mirror In this the ladies
sit in row and each one holds before her face
a hand-glass. The gentlemen file past the
entire row at their backs and as they pass each
lady Can see the gentlemen, one at a time, by
his reflection in the mirror. If the lady sees
the face of gentleman whom she does not
care to have for partner she brushes her
handkerchief across the face of the mirror.
This of course obscures the reflection of his
face. l think the slang phrase. giving the
brush or getting the brush,' originated from
this figure. When lady sees the reflection of
the face of a gentleman whom she wishes for
partner, she holds the mirror STILL This figure
is generally employed in such way that one
man in the party is left out"
What does the unfortunate man who gets
He simply has to Sit down until the next
figure comes when he gets another chance"
What about faVors in the german?'
SOUVENIR FAvoRs.
"Favors are any kind of an article which a
lady presents to her partner or a gentleman to
lady in some of the figures to indicate that he
has chosen her for the next waltz, and they be.
come thereby trophies of the occasion. The
part of the room and are not brought to the
dance by the individual people. At the signal
for giving the favors if it is the gentlemen who
have to oestow them, they go to the table and
each one selects whatever it may be, a rose, a
toy, a little ornament, or, in the case of very
wealthy people, jewel. The lady to whom he
gives this favor becomes his partner for the
next waltz. The same rule applies when the
ladies bestow the favors. AS only a portion of
the gentlemen in the company select favors at
the same time, it thus becomes possible that a
particularly handsome or popular young lady
may be chosen by somebody as a partner in
each of the different sets of that figure and
the same will follow in the case of gentlemen.
The result is that after the german is con-
cluded, it seldom that any two persons have re-
ceived the same number of favors,
Among wealthy people these favors are gen.
orally articles of considerable value but among
more modest companies they are simply pretty
souvenirs of the occasion. In this set of mine
where we have no end of fun and recreation
the expense attending the makeup of favors is
borne by the ladies and gentlemen 1t was the
ladies' wish that it should be so. They organ
lied the club and insisted that whenever we
met for the german they should contribute
their share toward the expense. / do not see
why that is not very proper plan.''
"How is the leader selected for such eventsr'
This duty is generally imposed upon the
one man in the company who is regarded as the
most inventive, although it is coming to be now
so that almost anybody who has danced the
german several times can lead it successfully.
He is not generally debarred from the pleasure
OF dancing during the evening, for he has the
privilege of selecting at any time any of the