, 1890-05-24
A BOSTON RECITAL
A Man From the Hub Attends a
Glenrock Dance.
Was Novel, Interesting and Enjoy
able Throughout.
Picture of a Lively Young Wyom-
ing Town.

A branch Of the Chicago Il Northwest
ern railroad runs along the White river
in the northwestern corner of Nebraska,
almost within sight of the Black Hills.
crosses the divide to Running Water. a
large creek, and running up into Wyom-
ing for a hundred miles or more, to old
Fort Casper. located among the foothills
of the Rocky mountains.
About thirty miles east of Casper. at
the junction of Deer Creek and the North
Platte river, lies the little mining town
of Glen Rock. Three years ago the town
consisted Of a hole in a vein Of excellent
Ignite coal. At the election 252 votes
were polled here. Already there is the
''old town." near tho mine on the creek
bottom, where most of the miners still
live, crowded into little log cabins.
Happy Hollow" its admirers call it,
but Smoky Hollow is the name bestowed
upon it BY those living in the new town"
on the hill, where the business houses
are, and where the newspaper is published;
for in the West every hamlet must have
its newspaper. Newcastle. in the newly
opened coal field north of US, less than
two months old, already has d wide awake
local sheet.
When this to wn was laid out, two plats
were made by rival land companies; on
the ene nearest the mine the real town
was built, while on the other, owing to
liberal donations of town lots, stands the
railroad station, a mile from the nearest
house.
1t is a time honored custom to cele-
brate the discovery OF the coal
vein by an annual discovery ball. This
event came of the first of this week. 1t
was held in one OF the log cabins in the
Hollow. since there was no place large
enough in the new town.
In preparation. the partition dividing
the cabin. which. by the way. is a board
ing house, into two rooms, was removed
so that three sets could dance without
much dang err of collision. Their invita-
tions-in local ~parlance, ''bids"-were
sent to every one within a radius of thirty
hhiSF1 "hAO a kChSiai iuNAlaNiOu W ~
town TO purchase at 50 was printed 10
the local paper.
At s O'Clock the ball began to the mu
sic of an organ. two fddles and a banjo.
Square dances are the rule here, and the
caller, who is anybody and everybody
who will serve, is occasionally one of the
musicians. but generally one of the deanc-
ers. In the Orient the art of dancing
seems to consist in accomplishing much
with little exertion aud a great deal OF
grace; here on the front of the Occidental
the opposite seems to be the Casa
minimum of grace and a maximum of
eXertion; in both cases the thing sought
and obtained is fun. and nowhere is there
more fun than at a country dance in the
West.
The musicians scrape aud creak and
twang. The caller, who, to be successful.
must be something OF an improvisitor,
roars forth his commands. everybody
scrapes and bows, and then begins a reign
OF noise. The patter of ladies' slippers
miugles with the %clatter of the hob nailed
shoes and the clatter and clanking of the
high heeled boots and spurs. In one set
may be seen the sedato professor as
he is yclept, of the vii
lage school. His partner, nov
the reigning belle Of the
ball, seems to have forgotten that he pun
ished her only that afternoon for misbe-
havior. There, too. is the jolly doctor
and his portly wife, flying about like
creatures of the air; here another school
Rirl, far brighter than her teacher had
supposed possible, captivates a bashful
cowboy. About the wall. on benches,
boxes and chairs, sit the married women,
with their children and less active gentle,
men. Quadrilles, varied by an occasional
waltz or polka, go uninterrupte1ly on till
midnight, when a few sit down, the rest
stand up, to a good supper, as a rule well
cooked and abundant, and this supper
was no exception. After supper the
orchestra again tunes up, and the exer
cises begin again, to last till daylight,
when most offhe guests 90 home. Those
from tie more distant ranches generally
stay to breakfast.
The day following the town is very
quiet. The day after the ball is declared
to have been a success. and the young la
dies begin to inquire where and when the
next dance is going to be held.
Such is a western dance. They vary
little except in size and the number of
fddlers. We lave no other form OF en-
ioyment; no opera, nc lectures, rarely a
church and still more rarely a good
preacher. Girls leave school only to be
married; men work from daylight till
dark, and become so used to work that a
dance becomes only a new kind OF work
unnecessary and therefore enjoyable.
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