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 nervous fingers, looked solemn
ly 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-
ty Harper. Of Monroe, Ga, nv heck!
moved him to galivant to t@e- tFont
and shake his feet" his hands in his
pockets and his face open unhl ms
upper lip spoke to his EYEBROWS ana
his chin explored the FIRST pocket or
his vest. 40 homespun Kubeliks' hd
dlers all and nary a~Viohhlst AMONG
them, held the hearts and sous o.
5000 grinning Atlantans in the nor
low of their horny hands.
1t was at the Auditorium Nednes-
day night, the opening night OF the
"Old F'iddlers' Contest which Is being
staged under the auspices OF the
Daughters OF the ConfederacE. lheE
are going to do il again Tonight, aho
tomorrow night and Saturday night
provided the floor does not give way,
for the rhythm and swing and general
.'gotcha" qualities Of the 'Cackllnk
Hen" THE Devils in the Wheat
Patch" and similar fiddlistic outbursts
are contagious, and they seem to go
10 the feet
Pattina Feet Shake Building.
When Fiddlin' John Carson or VII
lage Cut-up" Gid Tanner yanked their
ffddles up TO the side of their heaus
and bore down whole heartedly on
"rhe Devils in the Wheat Patch ana
s.Everybodv 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 Oh
seats. And everybody grinned.
was a regular whale of snow from
beginning TO end
Everybody liked the hddlers. 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 pitcn
of enthusiasm that when Jerry Hud-
SON of Jasper County fiddled Hop
Light. Ladies'" he felt impelled to cali
the. figures for the dance, and, what's
more he did II
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 ms
1eel WnNn INtu -ANtNhNh I'M ANfAN
son opened the show with doe 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 Z o'clock, so he
could get a front seat: and through
out the audience were scattered
Harry Schlesinger, George Napier DIR.
w. s. Eikin 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.
too. He informed the fiddlers that
they would be allowed three minutes
to display their talents, and IL 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 fddlism, started
the ball rolling That was when May
or Woodward started to grin.
Then slim Ben" Day. man with
a straight front face and the solemn
ity of an owl, stepped forth, with his
STRAW beaten" a man who taps the
neck of the fiddle with a stick. and
he played THE Cackling Hen
wriggling. squirming. iigsaw sort of
tune that started every foot In the
house to patting and stamping.
Everybody kept time, and Just az the
hen was giving a last triumphant
cackle, 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 nd
naxrfl'g In no Mhnut
Patch" with such effectiveness that
the grins broke out into roar of
laughter. and staid business men
jumped up and yelled, Wheel"
A Mr., White, a tall gangling noun
tain youth. piunked a banjo while MIR,
Carson fddled-fidded with his nd
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 "Fiddhn
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 n his mouth, his hat on the
back of his head 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. and was TAX
ing no chances with city fellers.' so
he brought his clothes right with him.
In the other he carried a guitar and a
wonderful orcestral contraption by
which he could play bell and tri-
angle with his feet, which he did later
as a 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 but Father.
Somebody yelled. Sing IL" and he
did. breaking out with the most re-
marka bic voice that ever grew in
Georgia 1t sounded like "gosin
voice but 1t was even mere SO. 1t
81 ct