Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1917-02-19
Large Audience Out to Hear Rev.,
DR.. ]. W. Duffey at the Methodist
Church South Last Night.

| An audience which practlcally nllec
the auditorium of the Methodist Epls-
copal Church South was present last
evening to hear the sermon delivered
bv the Rev. J. W. Duffey, D. d., on
the subject of dancing. His discourse
was along similar lines to that
! preached by him in January first.
Among other things which DR.. Duff
few said last night were the follow
ing:
When asked what is the best way
to crush out this ball room course,
STRIDES replied, sit lies with the
church and parents. If the reform
workers would start where the vice
terminates and crush it there, they
would soon wipe it out. Most MINIS
tiers. even, haven't courage enough
to condemn dancing for fear OF Of
Tending some of their members"
That "the dance is not as bad as
some other things" as is some times
urged, is weak apology and con-
cession that it is bad" The raven
is not as black as the crow, but to an
ordinary mind it is black enough. Un'
tang!ing the shameful consequences
of the dance from other evils is like
striking balance between THEFT
and falsehood If one desires to know
'what harm there is in it" the lnfor-
nation is close at hand.
Just now it appears that the ar
raignment of the dance by the Catho-
lie Church is disturbing the dance
masters, as the following quotation
will show: "The New York Society
Teachers of Dancing recently held
convention at which 70 of the leading
instructors of dancing in this coun-
trv were present. The subject unde.
discussion was the ba
dancing by the Catholic s'Et" az
bv organizations of the ui5 -2:.
Christian Association. e. .al
lace, a member of the co.. .i".
doctors have told me Il
before had so many young patients
whose ailments could be directly
traced to the injurious dancing posi-
tions assumed by careless dancers of
the new step The convention adopted
the following resolution: Whereas.
the immodest manner of dancing
due particularly to the close position
in holding partners, is having de-
teriorating moral effect on social
dancing, so serious that dancing has
been prohibited at manly church func-
ticns and objected to by some educa-
tional institutions, therefore, be it
Resolved, that we, the members of
the New York Society Teachers of
Dancing, in an effort to raise the
moral standing of social dancing, 90
place ourselves on record as being
absolutely opposed to the immodest
manner of holding partners"
1t is understood that the herculean
task which the convention now sets
before itself is, to find some way of
do;no an immodest and an immoral
thing in a modest and moral way;
and that too, for the implied purpose.
of capturing "many church. functions"
and "some educational institutions"
Christian people cannot transform
it unless they can make the leopard
change it's spots. On the contrary,
it has dechristianized not few who
perchance made the attempt. Many
, innocent children playing in that fire
have carried ugly scars to the grave.
The introduction. of the dance. in
| public schools raises an issue "llich
christian parents have to meet; their
children have either to go with the
dance crowd, thereby taking FISK
about as hazardous as a plunge in
the whirl pool rapids of Niagara, or
be sneered at and jeered at as molly
Goddess" and required to endure
species of segregation and a form Of
persecution which, to a child, is tanta-
mount to martyrdom. An innovation
that brings about conditions of that
sort in public schools-education
plus degradation--is cruelty and an
injustice, slightly different in form
but no less babarous than the 1nqui-
sition of the Dark Ages.
Is there no redress for patrons Of
the school who do not want their
children inoculated with those germs
! Of impure thought engendered by the
! dance? Have they no rights? Are
j the, moral principles of the home to
he neutraIized by the school? ~
i-"r ~ - - 2: - .1----- $500
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