The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-09-24
IlU NALTZIhG STYLE
PROFESSORS DECREE MANS LEFT
HAND MUST NOT CLASP
PARTNERS
HIS ARM TO HANG LIME
While She Holds Her Train With
One HnRd-A Society Girl Declares
the New Dictum Is UnweIcome-
Various Suggestions for 0by1at-
ing the Trouble of Holding the
skirts-The New Dances.

Among the thousand and one startling
innovations that are being thrust upon US
comes one from those gods OF grace and
department.. the dancing masters. No
lenger sure the .deYotees OF Terpsichore to
tread the swimming n1ee sure of the waltz
and two-step as Of yore. The soft hand
that was once so warmly clasped and
that registered with such nice perception
the. depth and nature of the feeling In
Dictated by the strong one that clasped 1t
is henceforth destined to hold my lady
train. and that of my lord to hang limp
by his side. says the Chicago Chronicle.
One of seciety's buds at least does not
approve of The innovation.
Fancy cfrcHng about q room In this
stylei How ridiculous 1t all Is" she said.
I'm the first place, why must woman
needs wear a trained gown to a ball?
Trains may have been in accord with the
slow grace and dignity of the nsinuet of
our grandnethers and great-grand-
mothers, but, taken with the more lively
waltz and two-step and some newly in
vented steps requiring quite as much &C
ton, the combination is as absurd as a
Re Deum In ragtinle. Then, aside from
the incengruity, there Is the plain. every
day idiocy of the thing. A woman wears
a train because well, because she likes a
train. When she walks across the floor
she loves to, hear 1t trundle after her.
1t inspires within her heart the same feel
ing a peacock enjoys as he spreads out
his tail in all its iridescent glory. But
would peacock wear such tail if he
hod TO t11n lyf-1 md il S-
wing? What would be the point in having
a tail? And Is 1t not as pointless for a
woman to wear train when she must
forever hold 1t UP? A train that Is not
allowed to train Is worse than no train.
There is not only the trCuble of holding
IT up, but the contour of the gown is
lnarred and consequently the symmetry
of the figure. Dancing masters may ac-
commodate their way of dancing to the
holding up Of a train, but dressmalSers
will never do the same with their models.
When they make a train they make 1t to
train. and any other disposal of it Is
exactly as disastrous to the general effect
as 1t would be if a peacock carried his
tail under his wing, which he wouldn't
do, not even on rainy day
A THOUGHT FOR THE MAN.
Then the man Is to be considered. Is
there enc who wants to spend all Of
long evening with his left arm hanging
as limp and. lifeless as if 1t were par
'alyZed? Yet what is he to do? He
cant put 1t. in his trousers pocket He
has. no. coat pocket for 1t, neither can
he support 1t with his thumb thrust in
the armhole Of his waistcoat. So there
is nothing for him but to let it dangie
helplessly and awkwardly by his side
while his right fairly aches from hay
3rer 10 n oil ,>Pe
guiding through the nazes Of the dance
a woman upon whom he has only half
a hold.
Gould not these dancing masters have
devised other ways out of the difficulty?
1t would seem the ethics of dancing
would forbid the way they have chosen
but, that failing. there are large safety
pins to be had There are all sizes
and of all degrees of elegance, from
the nickel-plated to those Of silver and
gold bestudded with jewels, precious and
otherwise. There is no height CT art to
which the homeliest article may not as
pire these artistic days. Or the ira n
might be managed by system of draw
strings and puleys This would be
even better than the pins, though, per-
haps, not so decorative. 1t would be ar
ranged to work from the front and the
train could be quickly and noiselessiy
raised for the dance and lowered at he
end of it. 1t might be complicated, liza
bic to get out of gear and possibly cause
a rise in the price of ball gowns, but
surely the end would more than justify
the means.
'Or, best of all, 1t seems, would be q
loop of the material of which the gown
is made as cunningly hidden as a pocket
among the back fields and at such place
as, when raised to the waist, the dress
would be drawn UP to the right length.
Then, when the dance begins, she could