Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-10-20
NOT ALLOWED
At . Cake Walk Held in Classic Blood
field.
A Social Gathering With Dancing anA
Craps-Ra.ors Collected ut the
Door - The Winner.

Door - The Winner.
No weapons allowed on the floor vae
the sign that caused amusement and con-
sternation at a cake walk" given In a
shanty In that part of South Washington
known as "Bloodheld." Verbal Invitations
mad been sent out several hours before the
time set for the beginning OF the festivities
In order that persons not receiving invita-
tons might not have an opportunity to in
form the police In time to have the place
raided- 1t was the intention of the pro-
motors OF the affair to come out q few DOL
lars ahead and as a 15-cent admission fee
was to be charged and no license was to be
obtained 1t was absolutely necessary to
Keep the affair quiet Then. too. a game of
crap In the bedroom was to be a feature
OF the affair. and two large bones were
bought specially for the occasion. Those In
charge Of the affair were to have charge of
this as well as Of everything else in the
nature Of entertainment man called
Bones" was selected to "cut'' the game
and take down the toll for the house and he
too had to assist in serving liquid refresh
ments as well as attending TO the door ana
checking hats and other articles not per-
United on the floor. A wash-tub filed with
crushed ice was the only thing In the ma
ture OF bar that was to be seen, but as
the fire ice melted away water enough was
left in which to wash the glasses
No loud talking or using derogatory
language" was painted on a board with
shoe backing and hung in one corner of
the place. while Go down the cellar steps
IL the police come" was In another con-
spicuous place in the room.
At O'Clock everything was In readiness
he ind
given out that only the good people were TO
be admitted. The members of the conn
mfttee, three In number, looked their best
dressed In the darkest suit of clothes they
possessed and wearing white neckties that
were large enough to use on a May pole
sat In the chairs of honor and welcomed
their guests as they appeared
w hars dat sign UP dar read?' was the
weapons lowed on de floor? What yer
mean by dat?''
What IL Meant.
That means" replied a member of the
committee. whose large white badge was
calculated to distinguish him from the
others later In the evening. that II you
have a razor you win have to deposit IL
here"
We'll. 'er Ise done paid fer my Ticket
the guest explained. "s'pose I goes out Tor
a few minutes. what thenr"
"oh. well remember such a fne iookina
man you"
After an absence of a few minutes he
returns, says he is not armed and u given
the freedom OF the house.
How bout de dressin' room7- he wants
to know.
Right up stairs"
Hardly has he disappeared when half 4
dozen more dark faces appear at the door
and are vouched for by a representative Of
Willow Tree alley society.
For the next half hour the doorkeener
was Kept busy and then the dressing room
Is overcrowded- The early arrivals were
enjoying game Of crap on their own ac-
count and for fear of being detected they
had locked the door of the dressing room
II was a few minutes before o'clock
when Lord Mulberry arrived In a cab he
had hired at the corner and three minutes
later the Mayor of Bloodheld" arrived in
the same vehicle. They Were detained at
the door a few moments and after having
placed their razors where they could do no
damage the usher showed them the way
upstairs. The King from Maiden Lane
was there and he accompanied them 10 the
upper landing.
tinguished visitors heard in one Of the
rooms and they thought surely the game
must be in the private room of a boarder
IN the house and SO they concluded not to
disturb them. The closed doors had made
the landing as black as midnight but a
CLEAN OF light through a key hole attracted
them to that particular place as the Dress
ing room. The door was not locked and
they opened it. Screams followed and in
the CONFUSION the crap game came to an
abrupt ending. Players jumped out the
window, the first one having carried the
window with him.
DE police am done come" said one of
the committeeman, who started out with
the razors that had been left in his CHARGE
All this time the three distinguished
guests were trying TO explain their mis-
takes. and so far as things then appeared
no cake walk could be held. But one by
one the fugitives returned, some a little
disngured, but then few stitches put
them In order again. and they were ready
to receive the lady guests, who are always
the last to appear at such a gathering
A visitor. whose name would by no means
sign be taken down, as the men had all
ladies'
BY 10 o'clock all the guests haa arrived.
and the opening OF the evenings festiyf-
ties was q grand march to the music OF q
band composed OF a mouth organ, two ban
Jos and a fiddle that had figured AZ many
country dance.
Taking Partners.
The men stood in line near the foot Of the
steps. and took their partners as the f.
males came down. irrespective OF size or ac-
quaintance and when the line OF march
was made I'D there were no well-matched
couples in the whole crowd
There was nothing in this promenade to
Indicate that cake walk was so soon to
take place, Not a single one present was
willing to give the others idea OF how
he or she intended u appear IN the contest,
and some OF them even changed part OF
their costume in order to deceive the
others VINO were 10 contest
After the grand promenade there was q
waltz, and then opened the gay and festive
occasion. The party paired OF in some
parts OF the room, while In other parts
there were groups of three or four, and the
man who ordered the fancy drinks was
looked upon a q genuine swell. he
soon the fayorite. and the other men looked
upon him with feeling Of jealousy, but
later in the evening they felt even with
him, because the quality OF the liquor was
too rich for him and he had to be put to
bed Some complaint was made by those
who had been in the habit of INDUCING in
''hummers" for a nickel, but when told by
the female friends that such quantities OF
liquor were not sold at a society event they
became reconcied, and drank the two-fngef
drinks with an apparent relish. although
they evidently thought OF how much more
they might be getting at some corner grog-
gerry for half the money. When the old
clock in the house tolled the midnight hour
the men who had gone off to indulge in a