The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-04
DESERVES Exr1RPATIoN.
The Cancer That is Poisoning the
Worlds Fair.

From the Iniiauelphla Press.
Worlds Fair, July SO.-The fair diroc-
tors are getting into a peck Of trouble on
! account Of the immodest capers of the
! Oriental dancing girls in the Persian and
| Turkish and Egyptian theaters on the
! Midway Plaisance. Although denomi-
/ mated theaters in the euphemistic Ian
/ guage Of the fair, the scenes Of these Ry-
/ rations would be called dives in Chicago
! proper or in Philadelphia, and very low
! dives al that
The directors are being showered with
| letters demanding that the dances shall
/ be prohibited altogether, or al least re-
! stricted within ordinarily modest lines.
/ The Boston dancing teachers were the
| first to object to the dances.
Their opposition was based on the
! ground that the capers were not dances
at all, and reflected on a fine art and
! their profession.
The directors didn't pay much attention
to that kick. But now the clergy of
| Chicago and very large number of lay
men have taken the subject up and are
insisting that the dances shall be sup
| pressed or restricted, or if not, some sug-
| gest that at least cOlored lights shall be
hung in front ct the theaters to warn
away modest, but unsuspecting stran-
gers.
The vast majority of visitors to the fair
comprise people of the great middle class
from all over the United States, very
| many Of them indeed from the smaller
towns where oriental dancers are unheard
of. They, for the most part, rely entirely
on the wisdom and integrity of the fair
directors, and assume that everything
that is set out before them will furnish
innocent recreation, where il does not
have a positively educational effect.
These are the people who are persuaded
to pay their money and 90 into these dives
by shrewd dOorkeepers, under the pre-
tense that they are TO see at least a decent
and presentable dance, characteristic of
picturesque and historical people.
INDIGNANT VISITORS.
What they do see, sends some of them
away with half shamed consciousness,
that what they have beheld, has left their
hearts less pure than when they entered
the doors of the tawdry dives Others 90
away with a sense of burning indignation
and it is, perhaps, the expression of just
wrath of these vigorous souls, that grow
ing by degrees and spreading through the
countrylS now returning in immense force
to demand that the dives shall be put I'M
der the regulations of decency It is diff
cult indeed to see how the directors can
fail to yield before this food of criticism,
and it may be taken as certain that they
VIII DC iOIttu " tttbs no uldbttE now great
may be the opposition made by pauderers
who are coming money by these indecent
shows
Hundreds of unsuspecting women are
lured into these shows and are either
forced to remain until the close Of the de-
grading exhibitions or run tho gauntlet of
the eyes of men, who realizing the char
acter of the exhibition, give themselves
up TO abandon, and to bOisterous cries
and remarks that would never be heard
in any respectable place of amusement.
Even the dancers, realizing what is ex-
pected of them, have become more and
more audaciOus and eXaggerate the natur-
ally gross movements of the dance in or
der to cater more completely to the wish
es of the spectators.
Every man who has a daughter or
sister coming TO the fair has a personal
interest in putting down these vile con
tOrtions. Indeed the whole Midway
Plaisance, while so interesting and popu-
lar in the main, needs close watching, for
it has many weak spots, and fal1irs anxi-
Gus to make money, are showing a will
ngness to take risks if necessary to see
their wishes realized.