The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-05-06
FOR SWEET CHARITY.
Young Men and Maidens Danced the
Hours Away.
THE BALL IN AID OF THE EYE AND
EAR INFIRMARY.

City Hall Gaily Decorated for the Occasion
Calico Ball Made the Pretext for
Many Bewitching Costumes The
Amusing Backward Quadrille-People
Who Danced and Their Friends Who
Looked On.
The spirit of charity brooded over the city last
night, while her votaries, radiant from the
blessed consciousness of well doing and cheer
full giving, gaiy INDUCED in the revelries of the
dance, or witnessed the pretty spectacle,
the financial benefits from which are to
be devoted to that worthy object the Eye and
Ear Infirmary. for what is man if he have eyes
and see not, ears and hear not? Portland
seems endavoring to establish the regime of
philanthropy within its limits, and it will not be
long before she will achieve the object all SUBJ
lime, judging from her numerous benevolent in
situations and societies. The charity ball
for '92 scored an unvarying note of
success from the first strains of the orchestra
for the Introductory march to the final chord
for the extra. But it would have been difficult
to have been otherwise, the affair being under
such skilful and efficient management as Mrs.
Philip Henry Brown Mrs. George M. Moore,
Mrs. F. e. Boothby, Mrs. j. Z. Blabon, Mrs. W.
S. Eaton, Mrs. Seth L. Larrabee, Mrs. E. E.
Holt, Mrs. G. S. Young and Mrs. w. Fl. Stew
ems, who were untiring in their efforts. The
floor was under the direction of Mr.. Nathan
Clifford, assisted by Messrs. Wadsworth
Noyes, Frank True, Harrison Davis, Philip
Deering and Will Eaton.
The hall was brilliant with lights and floral
decorations and draperies. At one end rich
portieres were drawn aside disclosing a dainty
tea room presided over by Mrs. A. A. Strout,
Mrs Seth L. Larrabee, Mrs. Albert Webb and
Miss Prindle, while in another part card room
was at the disposal of those who were weary Of
the dance.
Especially should be mentioned the 16 mem
bers of the "Little Women who contributed
towards making the evening one Of rare pleas
ure by dancing the "Bellamy Quad
rifle, which is a humorous reference to the au-
thorship of the well known book Looking
Backward and which proved most amusing
and entertaining feature. The young ladies
wore quaint Kate Greenaway gowns of cheese
cloth, secured at the waist by sashes, the pre-
vailing colors of the frocks being pink, yellow,
blue and red. Their faces, or the apparent
backs of their heads, were entirely obscured by
AluSC uiVo bOUhCbc VI tllC
beneath which hung two bralds of hair. On the
back OF the head was fastened a mask which
represented girls face as closely as possible.
When these 16 young ladies, whose heads, faces
and bodies, appeared in the right and natural
positions, although the arms below the elbow
were pointed the wrong way and the feet turned
backward, entered the hall, the effect was In
describable and bewildering.
Nominally it was calico ball, but the word
'scalco" seemed to have rather an elastic mean
ing, as the gowns included cotton backed sat-
ms, cotton velvets crepes and Bedford cords.
Tinsel trimmings replaced passementerie and
nets took the place Of tulle, while ribbons were
deliberately festooned on many of the gowns.
Notwithstanding the humbleness of the mate
rial employed in the gowns, the deft hands of
the modiste transformed them into visions of
may loneliness. Among the daintiest gowns
were those worn by Mrs. Lucien Snow, which
was of dotted white muslin, festooned with rib
bons; Miss Louise Brown, nile green delaine,
black velvet trimming; Mrs. F. E. Boothby,
gray challie; Miss Maud Perkins, white foriat-
ed with brown; Mrs. George Young, gray nuns
yelling; Miss Mae Milliken, light blue, COM
bined with white; Miss Susan Milliken, white
dotted muslin; Miss Alice Harrington, light
blue nuns yelling; Miss Clara Prindle, white,
with green ribbons; Miss Hattie Fassett, pink
cambria and white lace; Miss Marcia Knight.
white lace and yellow ribbons; Miss Nina Fas-
sett, white spotted muslin; Miss Emma Jones,
black chalhe, foriated with lavender; Miss
Madge Bachelor, a Russian blouse of white.
over pink cambria; Mrs. George Moore, layen-
dar crepe; Mrs. W. FL. Stevens, white muslin,
sprayed with brown; Mrs. Seth Larrabee, gray
challie; Miss Nellie Little white dotted muslin
garlanded with lavender ribbons; Miss Mona
Deering, ecru nuns yelling; Miss Carroll, old
rose crepe.
The gentlemen all wore the conventional
dress suit. The floor directors wore
blue striped shirts, with single large
lapel buttons of the same. Among the gentle
men were Messrs. Nathan Clifford, sWadsworth
Noyes. Ilsley Moves, George Moves, Frank
True, Frank Mcdowell. VIII Eaton, Walter
Emerson, Elias Thomas, Jr., Will Thomas.
Frank Staples, Lucien Snow, William Senter, VIII
liam H. Stevens, F. E. Boothby, Colonel Booth
by of Waterville, W. S. Eaton, Mr.. Pierce of
Augusta, Henry Hinkley, George Cram, Edward
Jones, Mr.. Loring, George Knight Charles
Gushing, Albion Little, Willard Keith, Harry
Higgins, DR.. Somers, George Moore, Seth Lar
ldpec, LuWdTo "A. NoyeS, EIuobG v. MITCHELL, u.
S. Blabon, George Young.
Although all of the society people did not
participate in the dance, the rows in the gallery
showed fair representation of Portland's four
hundred.
Noticeable among those in the gallery were
Mrs. John Marshall Brown, Miss Mollie Brown,
Miss Walker, Mrs. John E. Dewitt, Miss De-
Witt, Mr.. and Mrs Augustus Stevens, Miss Ju-
lia Stevens, MIR. Robert Walker Mrs. E. A.
Noyes, Mrs. Walter Emerson, Mrs. Darius In
graham, Miss Alice Ingraham, Mrs. George
Noyes, Mrs Caroline Brewer, Mr.. Albert Rol-
Inns, Mr.. Herbert Payson, Mr.. Henry Deering,
Miss Alice Weston, Mr.. and Mrs. j. S. Hamlen,
Miss Emma Twitchel, Mrs Whitney, the Miss
es Whitney and Miss Goodwin.