The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-09-28

FOr twenty seven years Professor sheldon has
been teaching Washington people how to dance.
In that long period he has had as pupils many
who have since become distinguished in one
way or another
The Professor has also been an actor in his
time, and has an endless fund of interesting
"reminiscences.
81 was born way back in the 'twenties," he
said. ~ don't take much interest in politics
now, and haven't voted for twenty years, but
one of the earliest things l remember having
taken part in was when helped carry the hicl-
ory pole, on which we hung the flag celebrating
Jackson's election. Politics were as corrupt
then as they are now. l remember the time
supported a mans family while he went over
into Pennsylvania to do some 'pipe-laying' for
William Henry Harrison. The election in
Pennsylvania took place in October, and they'd
get all the New Workers to come over there and
vote and when the New York elections took
place in November the Pennsylvanians would
do the same for their neighbors. They called
that 'pipe-laying,' and if helped corrupt the
Government by supporting that mans family,
I'm sorry for it.
"I've been dancing ever since 1888. L made
my first appearance on the stage In 1887 at the
Coates street Theatre in Philadelphia. l took
small parts, and the only pay we used to get
was the privilege of sitting up in the pit after
we'd played our parts good actor in those
days didn't get over three or four dollars
week. I've seen the elder Booth play
Richard III' for benefit and there wasn't
over fifty dollars in the house. l danced on the
stage principally. Sometimes [ took part in
the cast. | got to be pretty thoroughly
quainted with nearly all of the old-time actors,
and taught good many of them great part of
what they knew about dancing. | remember
the elder Booth very well. He used to be q
hard drinker, as every one knows, and they'd
have to shut him up SO he'd be sober when it
was time for him to appear on the stage.
"Ned Forrest before he became an actor,
earned his living dressing skins in a Philadel-
pha furrer's shop. Ned had habit of recit-
ing his pieces during working hours. One day
the boss came in and asked him why he didn't
stop tritiing his time away with such nonsense
Forrest jumped up on his bench and began
shouting Shakespeare with so much vim that
| the old man was overcome, and said that man
! who could talk like that oughn't to waste his
! time cleaning hides. We had great gang of
the boys in Philadelphia then. Theatre fellows
wernt like they are now. Every man was in
life for the best he could get out of it, and the
way we would rob each other at our Sunday
night poker games would have whtened the
hair of the present day actors Sunday morn
ings we would gather in saloon and initiate
every man that would come in. If he'd
show any objection to treating crowd of
| twenty or more we'd make the place hot for
| him.
Sin 1858 my partner, Hood, and started the
| custom of giving matinees. We were playing
| Cinderella and the Glass Slipper at that time,
and our matinees took like wild-fre. Very
soon after other theatres took up the practice,
and pretty soon it became general custom.
81 have taught dancing in this city for the
past twenty-seven years. During that time
have taught the children of Gen. Sherman,
| three children of Gen. Grant, Nellie, Buck and
Jesse; children of Gen. Oliver o. Howard, Gen.
| Dent, and Secretary McCulloch; niece of Gen.
| Rathburn, who, it will be remembered was In
tha hon ha
assassinated, and number of other children Of
prominent families. Harry Rapley, the mana
ger of the National Theatre, was one of my
pupils.
| old dances are being revived nowadays and
passed off as entirely new," continued the Pro-
| fessor. "EYery season there comes out at least
one new dance, and very often there are more.
| The men who introduce these dances as new
seem to forget the existence of q man who has
been dancing for fftyodd years, and | find
| great many that are very old friends. Round
dances We're not much in favor back in the 'ff-
ties and 'sXties. The dancers then thought
| square dances much more dignified, and their
parents objected to round dances on an over
stringent sense of morality. Frequently they
had thirteen or fourteen sets of quadrilles and
| only one waltz set. In consequence there were
not very many round dances in existence then,
! but there were some approaches to round dances
in the figures of the quadrilles and these furnish
the dance manufactures of the present day with
| u
latest dances are some l danced in the square
| dances fifty years ago. The 'Yorke,' for in
stance, has grown very popular and it has more
fathers than history, but in book have here
published in 1868, / find the same dance de
scribed under the name of 'schOttische quadrille'
The Vesuvianne is also new dance, but in re-
alty is about as old as the YorSe. Several years
ago when the racket was the great dance people
thought they had struck something entirely
original, but it can be found in my little refer
! ence book here. It's the same way with nearly
| all of them, and while l don't believe there's
nothing new under the sun nevertheless believe
that there haven't been any new dances for some
time'
Professor Sheldon has desks and pigeon-holes
literally full of old dance-cards programmes,
circulars, newspaper clippings, etc. One of his
dance-cards bears the name of Anna Dickinson,
the great female lecturer. They are interesting
in their get-up generally, but one of them rather
outstrips the others in this respect. 1t is dated
Philadelphia 1882 You turn over from the
title page and the order of dances to find on the
last page these rules and regulations:
"Gentlemen are requested not to take their
places except at the sound of the bugle.
"Gallopading positively prohibited,
"Gentlemen are requested to accompany their
ladies to the supper-room Ladies pass tO the
right and gentlemen TO the left of the table with
out crowding.
"Gentlemen will please seat themselves oppo-
site their ladies and remain standing until they
are seated and the covers of the dishes are re-