The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1899-06-15
FORTY MINERS DANCES.
women We're Not Plenty In the Mines
and Were Invited from All
Points Within 100 Miles

| A Massachusetts woman recalls her
fathers story of ball in California so
years ago, for which preparations were
| begun some two weeks before the APP
pointed day.
As women were not over-abundant in
the mines at that time, everything with
| in a circuit of 100 miles wearing petit
coats was invited. The company began
to assemble soon after the noon dinner.
and by four o'clock quite crowd had
| gotten together.
| The first thing in order was supper, at
which the women were all ranged on
one side of the table and the men on
the other.
1t is almost impossible'to describe the
dress of the ladies', but suffice to say.
everyone of them had on some sort of
| a garment; and, to give to their COM
p!exions a delcacy which "circum-
stances beyond their control had de-
MED them, free use of flour was re-
sorted to, but it was so bunglingly and
in iudiciously put on that the effect was
far from pleasing to the eye of man OF
| taste.
The women generally wore shoes of
some kind, but stockings were OF no ac-
count to them.
Supper over, the company repaired to
| a large tent, where dancing, or what
was called such-commenced, but such
kicking and sprawling never before in
all nv life witnessed. The tent had no
floor, and not a drop of rain had fallen
for five months to moisten the earth,
and such dust as was raised can bet
ter be imagined than described.
The night was very warm one, and
this, together with the almost super
human exertion of the ladies to excel
in jumping, kicking and whirling, of
course caused their perspiration to flow
freely, running down their faces in
streams, washing out great gullies in
the flour which were soon filled up with
the flying dust; but this was of no sort
of consequence to them so long as they
were having a good time.
The captain, my companion, desiring
| to make n favorable impression on one
of the fair daughters of Missouri, who
was to be at the ball (all the women
present were border Missourians).
rugged himself up in his very best, and
we started off early in the morning and
rode distance of 80 miles on horseback.
The captains wardrobe, all told, con-
sisted of an old straw hat, q blue fan
mel shirt, very much the worse for wear,
pair of pantaloons minus seat" and
only part of one leg, and a pair of boots.
The absence of a whole leg to his pants
was easily gotten over by putting what
remained of that one, and the other, in
side the legs of his boots, but the other
| difficulty puzzled him not little.
After devising various ways, an idea
struck him which he speedily carried
into execution, and that was to wear
his blue shirt outside.
The cape was short and the shirt hap
pened to be very long, so that it would
have mattered very little if he had left
what he had of his pants at home, ex-
cept the liability of his having been
mistaken for one of the ladies.
In this toggery he was the observed
of all observers" though his costume
favorably compared with that of some
of the others present. Not a man wore
coat and a majority had barefoot.
Finding strong competitor for the
affections of his inamorata in man
| present who had white shirt-white
| shirts then in the mines, for this was in
! 1880, were considered luxury not to
be INDUCED in by any except distin-
| guished persons-the captain, more in
grief than in anger" insisted on leav-
ing at an early hour, and thus ended
orr first ball in Standardization
| Globe