The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-04-18
SOCIETY FLOOR WALKERS.
NEW FEATURE OF THE POST
EASTER GAYETIES.
If an Efficient Man Can Be Found
There Will Be an End to Dropping
Wall Flowers and Anxious Host
eSSeS.

Evidently this was not the Lent of
idleness. and the heels of society have
not forgot their cunning. for the smart
folk. home for Easter from the south
ern resorts, the Bermudas and Mediter-
ranean tours. are ready TO put into
active practice a dozen new ballroom
! fashions and novel steps.
The women. first of all, are highly
delighted with an innovation recently
introduced, so they say, by English
! hoStesses and guaranteed a warm re-
ception on this side. The innovation,
or invention, as some please to call il,
may be literally described as a floor
walker. At least that is the name So
ciety mentions rather under its breath.
and if you wish to know the very truth
floor walker is a person whose benev-
olent mission it is to do away with the
wall flower, so common blossom in
London ball rooms, and keeps the dane
ing men up to their duty in a discour-
aging way. The floor walker is no less
an official than a drummer up of dane
ing partners, and if given trial and
found effective during the post Easter
festivities, he will be esta blished as
regular institution at Newport, Nara
Sansett. Bar Harbor and other places
this summer.
THE GENTLEMAN'S DUTIES.
The floor walker must be a gentle
man, a good dancer and a friend of the
hostess, and you can usually single him
out from the other male guests at a
dance by the fact that he is apt to
stand by the hostess during the first
half hour. when people are arriving,
holds that lady's gigantic bouquet and
is introduced to all the women he does
not know. as they enter. When the
music strikes up, however. he is OBJ
served to leave both bouquet and hos
tess and begins to stroll around the
room taking note of who is on the floor
and who seems to be neglected. BY and
by he drops into negotiation with the
lazy young men about the doorways
and can be seen tolling them across to
to the wall flower corners and, if he is
a floor walker who knows his business,
it won't be long before. he not only has
every girl on her feet, whisking round
to waltz time, but will deity have
managed to fill most of the damsels'
programmes with the names of good
dancing men.
Now and then he rushes to the rescue
and dances with a girl himself to fill
up chinks, and make things go, but as
rule he is kept amply busy catching
new men as they enter and getting
their names down on various ball cards.
making raids on the mems dressing
room to rout out selfish smokers and
plotting everybody in with a partner TO
supper
REMUNERATION.
The question apt to puzzle a looker-on
in this very up-to-date Vdnitay Fair is.
Does the floor walker get fee for his
labors? There is a very creditable ru-
NOR to the effect that he does, and
very plump one at that. for it is no
longer a secret in our very fashionable
society in large cities that wall flowers
at dances are constantly on the in
crease. Society men are growing more
and more selfish in bestowing their at
tentions, and unless a girl be remark
ably pretty. or astonishingly rich, she
is apt to languish against the wall
while her possible partners lounge in
the doorways or drop in to watch the
dancing for half an hour, or come os-
tensibly to do their duty by their hos
tess. and really devote all energies to
one or two specially pretty or specially
wealthy debutantes.
This unkind course of action. during
the past winter. nearly did away with