The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-01-29
may be applied both as test of the
pupils previous deductions, ard at the same time
as an appropriate und impressive review.
DUNBAR DESCRIBES CAkEWALk

/ DUNBAR DESCRIBES CAKEWALk.
Talented COlOred Poet Thinks the
Exhibition Vulgar.
Paul Laurence Dunbar. the celebrated
colored poet. recently attended and de-
scribed cake walk In New York AS a
critic he did not spare his people. Ho
thinks the exhibition vulgar and degrad.
ing to It's participants. Following are his
verses describing The show and his report
of the proceedings:
Dey had a mighty cake-walk
Las night at Joneses square,
An Mistah Isaac johnson
He wo' a long Prince Albert,
A scarlet tie to match
An evan lady III de house
Swo' johnson was de catch.
o, he was smart an at de start
He called 'em all to time.
Ans as dey walked dem people talked
An said da jedge Is prime
Young Mistah Isham Berry .z -.
Was Wit dat Lizzy. Brown.
An evan one was bettin
Dat dey could beat de town.
Dey ,steppin ves SO light,
Dat evan body hollahed-
WAS dey evah SIGH sight?"
c. 1sham .pranced an Lizzy danced.
Dey ought de prize to take.
Der game was strong. but hope went wrong
TO johnson stole de cake.
1.-THE long advertised and much dis
cussed cakewalk and negro exhibition
came off at Madison Square Garden last
night ,+a.-r = -. .-.
''To say the least, it wasn't an over
low meeting, and if in the old days the
best colored people did take a delight in
these things, times must have sadly
changed. for the dark 400 of Brooklyn
and New York was not in evidence at
this affair.
'The chorus singing was effective, al
though far from perfect, sit usually is
in these matters. The performance be-
gan late and the audience and perform
ers looked good deal like human crazy
cuilt-the audience not more than the
performers. ',~.. s'- #E-1~.; ~ +
1T was amusing to hear the comments
Of the whites among the spectators. A
very brown young man came in with a
rather fair mullatto. when a whispered
colloquy ensued among the fair-skinned
lookers-on. In sudden lull in the mu-
sic one disguised mans voice rang out:
is she colored? Of course not!
THE performance may have been char
acteristic Of a survival of ante-bellum
customs. but If so those customs are
seen through the eyes of the present day.
All the quaint charm of the old negro
who did these things for their own sake
is lost by these people who do them as a
IHdILof OIL SHOW. lnelr ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
spoils their naturalness. If it was a
"Reminiscences of the past. it was one ex-
aggerated and magnified by the glasses
Of the present.
"The watermelon contest was won by
watermelon George Of Georgia. His feat
of eating three-quarters of a melon in q
few seconds did not call forth any spasms
of enthusiasm from the audience. III -,
"'Billy' Farrell and his wife gave an
exhibition cakeWalk. Already world beat
ers. they had no competitor who could
even be considered Unless it was Mr. and
Mrs. Luke Blackburn. The two couples
rell still hold their place. . -
'The singing of Mrs. Robinson and Miss
Louise Coasuella relieved the barrenness
cf vulgar ma atty that characterized most
of the so-called negro exhibition.
There were few redee:ning features in
the whole matter. The audience laughed
and said, What fools! But the effect
does not end there, and the performance
only marks the further lowering Of public
opinion concerning the negro.
eli the cakewalk could be taken for its
historic significance it might serve the
purpose Of keeping alive a characteristic
custom of the negro. but as it is only a
hilarity provoking expedident, it is more
honored in the breach than the observ-
ance. .-...a-. eE-
Among the few good things were the
songs by Matte Wilkes, Squeeze Barnes.
Bob Kelly. and the acrobatic work of
Davie Ind Mack" ~. .s':s... q