Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-19
1900 BEAT TIME
TO STRAINS Of
OLDF|DDLERS
Big Crowd at Auditorium Rocks
With Mirth as TantaIizin' Tunes
Move Staid AtIantans.

with nerV Gus fingers, looked solemn
" over the top Of his glasses, and
beloved that Red -necked" Jim Law
son of Milton, was the first fiddler on
the ''programmy" down To the mo-
ment that the artistic soul of 'Shor-
~ Harper, of Monroe Ga, Nv neck!
moved him to gallivant to the 'front.'
and shake his feet" his hands IN ms
pockets and his face open until ms
1Ipper lin spoke to his eyebrows ana
his chin explored the first pocket OF
his vest. 40 homespun kubellhs, ma
dlers all. and nary Viollnlst Hihohs
them, held the hearts and sous OF
5000 grinning Atlantans IN Inc ho'-
low Of their horny hands
II was at the Auditorium Wednes-
dav night the opening night OF me
"Old Fiddlers' Contest which is being
staged under the auspices OF me
Daughters Of the COnfederacy. They |
arc going TO do il again to- night, and
Tomorrow night and Saturday nght' |
provided the floor does not give way, |
for the rhythm and swing and general
.gotcha" qualities of the "CackIlns
Hen" THE Devils in the neat
Patch" and similar fiddlistic ouibursts
are contagious, and they seem togo
TO the feet.
When Fiddlin' John Carson or WI
Iase Cut-up" Gid Tanner yanked inert
fiddles M TO the side of their heads |
and bore down whole heartediy on !
..The DEVILS in the Wheat Patch and /
.eEyervbody Works but Father the |
building almost shook with the Pal
ting of the feet and those who mao |
corns marked time with their heauS, |
and with their fingers on the backs OF
seats. And everybody grinncd 1t
was a regular whale OF a show from
beginning to end
Everybody liked the ndders There |
was Colonel William Lawson Peei,
who was one of the judges, and grim |
ned and smiled and laughed from
start to finish, reaching such pitch |
of enthusiasm that when Jerry Hud- |
son. of Jasper County, fddled HOP
Light Ladies" he felt impelled to eau
The figures for the dance, and, WHAT'S
more he did It,
And Judge Russell of the Court of
5 Appeals. helped him. When Colonel
Peel yelled swing corners Judge |
Russell chimed in with Balance am |
And then there was Uncle Jim Wood |
ward esteemed Mayor OF Atlanta, |
who got as near the stage as he could |
and began grinnng 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.
stad 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. DIR.
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, ana, 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 II they
weren't through at the end OF tina
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 ball rolling. That was when May |
or Woodward started to grin
Then Slim Ben" Day. a man with |
a straight front face and the solemn
ity of an owl, stepped forth, with his |
sstraw heater" man who taps the
neck of the fiddle with IA stick, and
he played The Cackling Hen a.
wriggling. squirming, ilgsaw sort OF
tune that started every foot in the
house to patting and stamping. |
Everybody kept time and jus, as the
hen was giving q last Triumphant
cackle, down the aisle came an usher
and a late couple stepping high and
keeping time to the music,
"Fddina John" Strs EN-.
Then out pranced "Eiddling John
Carson. of Blue Ridge. aud he nd
died THE Devils in the Whea
Patch" with such effectiveness that
the erins broke out into a roar OF
laughter and staid business men
jumped up and yelled, Wheel"
a Mr. White a tail, ganglng noun
tain youth plunked a banjo while Mr.,
Carson fiddled-hddled With his lid
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 everybody had worn
themselves out laughing at "tfddlin
John" and some OF the rest. they had
to start in all over again. for there
was a mighty shout of "Howdy
folks" and down the center aisle
came "Blondy' Jim Garner with a
cob pipe IN his mouth. his hat on the
back of his head. a red handkerchief
tied about his neck, and great,
dumping boots on his feet
Springs New Contraption.
In one hand he carried a suit case.
for he had just got in. an6 was tax
fng no chances with city feners," so
he brought his clothes right with him.
In the other he carried a guitar and a
wonderful orcestral contra ption by
which he could play a bell and a tri
angle with his feet, which he did later
as member OF the "Simp- foney" Or
chestra from Lick Skillet
The crowd finally quieted down
little. and Gid Tanner came on-and
off went the crowd again. Gid Is
some fiddler. his pet piece being
Everybody Works bur Father"
Somebody yelled, Sing it," and he
aid. breaking out with the most re-
markable voice that ever grew in
Georgia 1t sounded like "goshn "
vote but it was even mere SO. II
Was q l,Nrnnast and a confori ioniSt.