Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-12-20
A HOP PICKERS' DANCE.
An Old-Fashioned Affair But Much
Enjoyed.

On a platform of unplaned boards,
raised a foot or two from the grund,
they were dancing-a tangle of figures,
seen indistinctly by the glimmer of a
few lanterns that stood near the
rough benches running around the
four sides of the floor. These seats
were given over to the women; and
the men stood on the ground, press
ing, four OF five rows deep, about the
platform. AS we worked our way i'll
among the spectators, a man in shirt
sleeves was calling the figures Of the
square dance with great energy. He
seemed to be master of ceremonies,
and took the most unSelfiSh delight in
finding partners for the minated.
Now and then, when the banjo and
fiddle rose into a particularly irresisti-
BILE tune, a man would break through
the crowd, leap upon the platform,
and search out a partner from among
the women. 1t mattered little, in the
dim light, whether she had simply
added a white apron to her working
dress, or if she were one of the young
cry.
In the fiddler I recognized the
father Of the baby hop picker. l had
OWNED that there was something Of
the artist in the young fellow; and
now, as he sat with his hat pushed
back, legs crossed, and cheek laid on
the fiddle, playing for himself and
to the others, he made a delightful
figure of happy abandon. Close at
his knee sat the baby, perfectly erect,
a thin black shawl drawn tightly over
It's head and wrapped around the
body, bandana-wise, holding the arms
down. The tiny pale face and large
eyes turned always toward the moth
err, who danced increasingly.
The music changed and the master
of ceremonies called aloud, ''Take your
partners for a quad-rille."
The square dance was really a
dance as the hop picEers conceived it.
The men, their broad soft hats tipped
over one ear, took the hands of their
partners and went through a series of
bewildering side steps and fOurishes
that varied in the different dancers
from grace to clownish grotesqueries
The terpsichOrean director had call
ed the figures alone, in a powerful
voice; but suddenly all the dancers
took uB the refrain in a chanting
measure
Lady round the gent, and the gent
solo;
Lady round the lady, and the gent
don't 60.
This figure continued long enough
to fasten the sing-song in the mem
DRY for lifetime.
Dance followed dance; the women
lifted their aprons and wiped their
faces, to the wonder of chill by
ISLANDERS, and danced again. The
boards of the floor creaked, the fiddle
and banjo thrilled and screamed, a
few fell away from the press about
the platform; but the tramp Of feet
beat with a ceaseless pulse. The lit
tie black figure at the fiddler's knee
sat silent, with wide eyes. A young
fellow, who had not missed a dance
since our coming, threw up his head
and cried, whats the matter with
the roof" Then, as all eyes turned
up to the solemn dark Of the star
pierced sky, why, the roofs all
right!'
1t was pleasant, in the quiet Of oUr
little room in the shanty, to drows
upon the hay, and let the aroma OF
the day float back to US; the bouquet
of a coarse draught, perhaps, and yet
from natures sOurce.-LOuise Her
rick Wall in the Atlantic Monthly.