Atlanta Georgian., 1914-02-19
5000 BEAT TIME
To STRAINS OF
OLDFIDDLERS
Big Crowd at Auditorium Rocks
With Mirth as TantaIzin' Tunes
Move Staid AtIantanS.


cobb County, stroked his whiskers
with merry Gus fingers. looked solemn
~ over the top of his glasses, and
beloved that Red -necked" Jim Law
SON Of Milton. WAS the first fiddler Oh
the "programmy' down 10 the mo-
ment that the artistic soul Of "Shor-
ty Harper Of Monroe Ga by heck!
moved him to galliVant to the front
and shake his feet" his hands in his
pockets and his face open until his
upper lip spoke to his eyebrows and
his chin explored the first pocket OF
his vest. 40 homespun Kubeliks, nd
dlers all, and nary "A violinist among
them, held the hearts and souls of
1900 grinning Atlantans in the hol-
low Of their horny hands
1t was at the Auditorium Wednes-
day night, the opening night of the
"Old Fid6lers Contest which is being
staged under the auspices of the
Daughters Of the Confederacy. They
are going to do it again tonight, and
morrow night and Saturday night,
provided the floor does not give way,
for the rhythm and swing and general
"gotcha" qualities of the "Cackline
Hen" THE DeVirs in the Wheat
Patch" and similar fiddistic outbursts
are contagious, and they seem to go
to the feet.
Patting Feet Shake Building.
When Fiddln' John Carson or VII
lage Cut-u Gid Tanner yanked their
flddles up to the side of their heads
and bore down whole -heartedly on
THE Devils in the Wheat Patch" and
Everybody 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 a regular whale of a show from
beginning to end
Everybody liked the fiddlers. There
was 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, hddled Hop
Light, Ladies'" he felt impelled to cali
the figures for the dance. and what's
more. he did IL!
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 Necked" Jim Law
son opened the show with "Joe Clark"
He was still grinning and patting his
feet when he got downtown Thursday
morning
staid Old Citizens Moved.
Uncle Jack Smith was therein
fact he got there at o'clock, so he
could get a front seat: and through
out the audience were scattered
Harry Schlesinger George Napier. Or.
w. S. EllSin and others, all grlnning
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.
too. 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 a post
graduate degree in fiddlism. started
the bali rolling. That was when May
or Woodward started to grin.
Then Slim Ben" Day, man with
straight front face and the solemn
ity of an owl. stepped forth, with his
straw beater." man who taps the
neck of the fiddle with stick, and
he played The Cacklng Hen" a
wriggling. squlrming. jigsaw sort of
tune that started every foot In the
house to patting and stamping.
Everybody kept time, and lust as the
hen was giving last triumphant
caclile, down the aisle came an usher
and a late couple, stepping high and
keeping time to the music.
"Fiddling John" Stirs EN-.
Then out pranced "Fiddling John"
Carson. of Blue Ridge. and he I'D
died The Devils in the Wheat
Patch" with such effectiveness that
the grins broke out into roar of
laughter. and staid business men
jumped up and yelled, Wheel"
\ MIR. White. a tall. gangling noun
tain youth. plunked a banjo while Mr.
Carson fiddled-hddled with his fid-
ole on his head. with his fiddle on his
shoulder, and with his fiddle swing
ing like a pendulum. And then Mr.
Carson sang about the adventures of
the devil, in a mixed choir sort OF
voice that filtered through His front
teeth and sent the audience into a
gale of laughter.
And when every body had worn