The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-19
THE HOSE PARTY.
A Texas Midsummer sport Far From
the Roaring Surf

from the New York Recorder
The latest thing" In inland Texas en-
tertainments is the hose party. RIGHT
here, lest some unwarranted conclusions
may be jumped at, let il be explained that
the kind OF hose meant is the ordinary
black rubber garden hose used for water
| ing lawns, etc
] Texas is a hot state Her nearest salt.
| water breakers are at Galveston, 300
miles from the center of the state Her
fresh water lakes and ever-iiowing riv-
| ers' abound principally on railroad maps
and IN immigration bureau pamphlets.
! Meanwhile the mlanders must have wa
| ter. If they get to the gulf once during
the dog days for weeks gamboling in
the brine, they are faring well and this
! just gives them an appetiZing taste of the
| delectability of bathing
Every railroad Texas town of 5000 in
! habitants has system of waterworks,
! and almost every resident has 80 or 100
feet of rubber hose for the sprinkling of
lawns vegetable gardens etc.
1t is due to the ingenuity and original
ity of the inland Texas girl that the hose
party has been inaugurated Almost
every afternoon you may see a bevy of
| rolicking nymphs and naiads fiocking to
| some appointed residence dressed in their
| best and carrying little bundle
Retiring to their dressing-rooms they
soon doff their fine feathers and come
| forth as merry and motley a set of monde
scripts as one could imagine Old calico
wrappers of every hue, style and previ-
Gus condition of servitude, rubber sandals
and oiled silk caps to protect their bangs,
| comprise their costume.
They gathered under the excluding trees
| of the back yard, while an assistant,
usually the small brother of the hostess,
or perhaps the cook, adjusts the hose to
the hydrant and turns on the water
And now the fun begins
First gentle spray to get them accus-
| toned to the cold well water then harder
| and faster by degrees until the full force
| OF the pressure is used.
Up into the treetOps the buzzing, crystal
stream goes, soaring the hooking birds
| and bull bats from their afternoon siesta,
and descending in leaf-scattered gentle
rain upon the merry-makers, then flush
upon some unwary cheek or unconscious
| face, boring and shocking its way to the
| skin and eliciting a round of shrieks and
| yells the like of which has not been heard
| in Texas since "Injin times"
Then pandemOnium reigns Some hoy
den SEXES the nozzle and makes dive for
the nearest victim at hand, driving the
| cold flood home, directing it into sleeves,
| down bOSomS or backs, swinging and
whirling it from one to another.
The merry war goes on until the ground
is drenched and the atmosphere cooled for
100 feet around. Somebody keeps close
watch on the clock, however, and at 80
O'Clock the party is over, the hose is
dropped and helter-skelter the girls go
into the bath room, one after another,
pitching her sodden garments out to
| auntie to be wrung and hung to dry upon
| the back palings
An hour later ''the boys" are there,
and if, in that galaxy of maiden beauty
and irreproachable gowns, some giddy
youth discovers a wet bang or scolding
lock, and makes some remark about girls
being selfish and having fun all to them
selves, he is promptly informed by Hoy
den that you boys can go swimming in
the pasture tanks"
Verify, necessity is the mother of in
vention, and a Texas girl wouldn't ex-
change her hose plunge for the SWEETEST
seaside resort in Christendom.