Atlanta Georgian., 1914-02-19
5000 BEAT TIME
To STRAINS Of
OLDF|DDLERS
Big Crowd at Auditorium Rocks
With Mirth as TantaIizin' Tunes
Move Staid AtIantans.

From the time Deacon Ludwig, OF
cobb County, stroked his whiskers
with nervous fingers, looked solemn
Ia. over the top of his glasses, and
raIloved that Red -necked" Jim Law
eon of LIilton, was the first fiddler on
tho "prosrammy" down to the mo-
,napr that the artistic soul of "Shor-
-, uarner. of Monroe, Ga, by heck! y
nooved him to gallaVant to the front
ond "shake his feet" his hands in his
jackets and his face open until his
INNER lip spoke to his eyebrows and
bis chin explored the first pocket of
his vest, 40 homespun Kubeliks, fid-
1lers all, and nary a Vlolmst among
Tben held the hearts and souls of
600 grinning Atlantans in the hol-
lov. of their horny hands.
II was at the Auditorium Wednes-
dav night. the opening night of the
"0Id Fid6lers' Contest" whichis being
staged under the auspices of the
daughters of the Confederacy. They
are going to do it again tonight, and
,o-norrow night and Saturday night,
nrovided the floor does not give way,
for the rhythm and swing and general
"gotcha" qualities of the "Cackling
Hen" THE Devils in the Wheat
Patch" and similar fiddlistic outbursts
are contagious, and they seem to go
to the feet.
Pattinq Feet Shake Building.
When Fiddlin' John Carson or vii
age Cut-up" Gid Tanner yanked their
fddles up to the side of their heads
and bore down whole -heartedly on
THE DEVILS in the Wheat Patch" and
"F,yerybody Works but Father the
building almost shook with the pat
ting of the feet, and those who had
corns marked time with their heads.
and with their fingers on the backs of
seats. And everybody grinned. 1t
was regular whale of show from
beginning to end.
Everybody liked the f1ddlers. There
vas Colonel William Lawson Peel,
who was one of the judges, and grin
ned and smiled and laughed from
start to finish, reaching such a pitch
of enthusiasm that when Jerry Hud-
son. of Jasper County, fiddled Hop
Light. LADIES'" he felt impelled to call
the figures for the dance, and, what's
more, he did it!
And Judge Russell of the Court of
Appeals. helped him. When Colonel
Peel yelled Swing corners!" Judge
Russell chimed in with Balance all!'
And then there was Uncle Jim Wood
ward esteemed Mayor of Atlanta,
who got as near the stage as he could
and began grinning and patting his
feet when Red -Necl1ed' Jam Law
son opened the show with Joe Clark" :"
He was still grinning and patting his
feet when he got downtown Thursday
morning
stad Old Citizens Moved.
Uncle Jack Smith was therein
fact, he got there at Z o'clock, so he
could get front seat; and through
out the audience were scattered
Harry Schesinger, George Napier, DR..
w. S. Elkin and others, all grinning
and marking time with their feet or
hands or nodding their heads. Eu-
gene Haynes was there, too, and, of
course, his feet were not still.
Deacon Ludwig was master of cere-
monies. and very much the master,
100. He informed the fiddlers that
they would be allowed three minutes
TO display their talents, and if they
weren't through at the end of that
time he yanked them off the stage and
called loudly for the next. Red
Necked" Jim Lawson. with post
graduate degree in fiddlism, started
the ball rolling. That was when May
or Woodward started to grin.
Then Slim Ben" Day, man with
SJlalgnt-front face and the solemn
ity of an owl, stepped forth, with his
straw beater." man who taps the
neck of the fiddle with a stick, and
he played THE Cackiing Hen" a
Wriggling, squirming, jigsaw sort of
tune that started every foot in the
house to patting and stamping,
Everybody kept time, and just as the
hen was giving a last triumphant
cackle, down the aisle came an usher
and late couple. stepping high and
Keeping time to the music.
"Fddling John" Stirs EN-.
Then out pranced "F>iddling john
Carson, of Blue Ridge. and he fid-