Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-07-26
Aroentine Camp Dance.

The camp dances OF the Argentine PAM
pas are more or less elaborate affairs, &C
cording to the ~pretensions of the houses
that give them. On entering the house
where the dance is being held YOU are ush-
cred at once to the kitchen-there will
often be only two rooms in a ~housc-where
you VIII find the rest OF the guests sitting
about thinking mate. IL there is a chair
in the house 1t VIII be given to YOU in def
erence to the "distinguido' position the
family believe YOU occupy in the world
of affairs. as outlined by your Argentine
friend and sponsor in soliciting your invi-
tation. says q correspondent of the Los
Angeles Times. If there is no chair you
get the broadcast and smoothest horse skull
to sit upon. or. II you prefer, a blanket
The girls present are robustly developed.
straight backed young persons, who carry
themselves with easy grace. They are
dressed neatly n dresses that cover them
from shoulder to shoe top. and have a lot
of funny fixings on them that you will not
be able to describe. The men arc OF tho
gaucho type. and brave In all tine %splendor
OF their best ponchos. chirpas and n lot Of
other technical and untranslatable finerP.
All wear loose. half top boots. a gaudy
handkerchief about the neck, an extremely
broad brimmed felt hat on the head, and.
browning feature of all, around the waist
a huge foot vide belt. called a tirador.
III unique uudII may nave any nSIS
from four to a dozen pockets or bags
sewed IN it, as we'll as a sheath for knife
and holster for a revolver. Those worn at
dances are often decorated with embroid-
cry or silver work.
The dancing is begun on the earthen
floor OF the kitchen. which from its nature
does not permit of much in the way of
gliding. The two most popular dances are
the cato and the hota. In this dance YOU
begin working Cut to the music nf "A
| guitar. the musician picking away for five
minutes or SO at a kind of monotonous
strumpity strump tune, from which he
breaks into a song. When this song starts
| you must. according to the rules, stop
dancing and salute your partner with an
appropriate verse OF poetry. She. in turn,
must counter with a similar verse. and
then, the song being over. you begin dane
ing again to the strumpity strump.
The hota is a cross between a Highland
films and a Spanish fandango. Dancing it.
you and your partner face. without touch
ing. each other. do a sort of double
shuttle with YOU feet. snap your fingers
above your heads in imitation of castenets.
all the time gazing fiXedly into each 9TH
er's eyes. This last is the principle rule
of the game. and If you let your eyes wan
der for a moment to where another girl is
dancing your partner stops work instant
ly, gives her fire shoulders a shrug, her
equally fine head a toss and goes back to
her horse skull in a huff.
You will always be in danger of being
favored with an invitation from a Jealous
sweetheart to accompany him off into the
moonshine to fight for the hand and heart
of the lady. In this event 1t is a hundred
to one that you will be the missing man
in whose lack of interest in the proceed
ings it IS etiquette for neither the host nor
the guests to interest themselves. Should
You chance to be the other man you are
no whit better off. for you will then have
the girl on your hands.
A dance lasts from whenever 1t begins
TO something after sunrise the next morn
ing. You have Il supper about midnight
and a breakfast toward daylight; both
consist principally Of a hot stew called a
gisa. Men and women are served separ-
ately, though for what reason have nev-
er been able to determine. Between dances
if you do as the rest do. you suck up mate
and drink cana. though wisdom advises a
total avoidance of the latter. Cana Is a
rum made from sugar cane. and 1t has the
peculiar property of swoop.ng down upon
the faculties of the drinker when he
thinks it is rot affecting him in the least
with all the snddenncss and fury of the
explosion of n delayed charge of dynamic.
BY the time the hour of breaking arrives
| ,a ana lie tyrnl A,r