The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1917-12-24
Dance Hall Life
EDITOR THE TINES:


l have just finished the article
By "a cub reported" on the condi-
ttons found in the dance halls,
which is the very reason l am
writing this.
am a dance hall girl myself.
I am young, yes, but not so
young but what | have had ex-
perience in a great many kinds
OF work, and know why so many
girls sought the dance halls in
preference to other kinds of work.
They all know that on dropping
into place unfamiliar to us, a
place that we are already preju-
diced against, we are more than
likely to form opinions very
quickly and allow our imagination
to influence our judgment some
what. This l believe to be the
case of the party who wrote the
article on the dance halls.
She undoubtedly never was in
that kind of dance hall before
and did not find conditions ex-
actly as she had expected, which,
however, does not necessarily
prove that they are not just as
good as she had expected.
She speaks of the land of the
furtive, shifting eyes and thin
tight pressed lips and hearts
whose God is money" / must say
this is a bit overdrawn, for GER
tainly no one rule can be applied
to a crowd of girls when no two
people are alike.
"Whose God is money" is g
rather truthful statement, but
take me to the place today, show
me the working girl or man, the
capitalist or anyone whose main
aim and ambition is not for
money. 1t is the spirit that rules
over rich and poor alike, you find
IT everywhere, the only differ.
ence is that each has his own
method OF obtaining it.
AS for the shifting eyes and
lips tight pressed" that also l be-
neve | can throw some light on
! have danced nights when | was
% exhausted l have set my teeth
and bitten my lips and danced on
and on for those nickels which
meant my living, when my
strength and endurance were
waning and | feared lest l might
give up ere IL o'clock or until
had earned every cent l possibly
could 1t is only the girls who
have experienced the tortures oil
exhaustion, sore, tired feet and
disgust with the class of men
was thrown in contact with who
know. I have thrown many &
shifty-eyed glance in the direction
of the oncoming throng ant
prayed for a good dancer and
gentleman, prayed that some low
vile man with a fiendish express
sion would not ask me to dance
She speaks of the hired womer
being herded away from the men
as tho the railing were put there
to keep the girls from trampline
the poor innocent men who come
there and are led astray by thest
terrible girls, who perhaps put
rouge on their faces as do society
women, actresses and a great
many others. Right here I wan
to say that that railing was put
there to keep the men, who are
not dancing, from crowding ou
onto the dance floor and thus
blocking the way of the dancers
There are men of every elias:
come to these halls the same as
there are girls of every class
dance in these places. Each t.
his own kind, say; it doesn''
take very long for a fellow look
ing for decent girl to find one
but nine-tenths of the men who
frequent these places are not look
ing for a decent girl or for de
cent good time, much to the dis
gust of us girls who earn our liv
ing dancing with these men. Take
Il from me, the girls are very
glad to be herded away from the
crowd of men there. Surely M
one could ask the girls to mil
with this crowd of strange mel
even if they were all decent and
respectable, which they are not
There are men who come tt
these places night after night
who cannot dance and never tr!
to, men of class much lowe
than we any of us associate will
in our outside lives, who CONF
only to watch in hopes that SOM
"fresh guy" on the floor will
manage in some smart" way tt
display a larger extent of hi
partners hosiery than Is neces
sary: much to the delight of thu
onlookers.
oh why don't you who are do
ing this condemning, condemn thu
men who are making these places
what they are, who are doint
their utmost to ruin the purity o
gfrIhood and cause you to con
denim the girls who are struggling
to earn an honest living? Thu
best paying jobs are what we al
seek. and the dance hall pay
more for less work than any place
Q girl can find.
What girl wants to slave he
life away "hashing" for nine o.
esn dollars a week or five or six
homework, or any Of the jobs ;
GIRL without a trade must worl
at, when she can earn from twt
TO fifteen dollars night, dane
ing? All girls love to dance, bu