Lexington dispatch-news. [volume] (Lexington, S.C.) 1917-1919, 1917-12-05
Cyclone Mack
On Dancing

(Se1ected B- Uncle JOSH

(Selected By Uncle JOSH
sYou girls VIII dance with any
bullet-headed, dirty rascal ought to
nearly get your ribs crushed in when
thew squeeze you as they hop along
the dance hall"
Evangelist McLendon then lit into
high society and cooked it to a
brown finish.
The trouble with to many of you
girls is the fear that you will die an
old maid. Oh, Lord, anything with
whiskers and pants"
Modern dances are responsible for
a great many cases of insanity, which
are increasing yearly throughout the
United States according to a state
ment made by DR.. S. Grover Bur-
nett of Kansas City, Mo-, authority
on diseases of the mind and formerly
president of the Medical School of
the University of Missouri for twen-
ty years.
medical scientists are beginning
to take sides with evangelists and
ministers throughout the country in
condemning the modern Dances" said
DIR. Burnett, "wh hich undoubtedly
constitutes one of the most evil and
dangerous institutions of modern
times. One-tenth of the insane of
this country have lost their minds
on account Of troubles which in many
cases are traceable to modern dane
ing. These horrible mental diseases
are also no respectors of rank or per
sons. Institutions all over the coun
try are filled with insane men and wo
men who come from both the higher
and lower rungs of the social lad
der"
But would it be right to cut out
the enhancing tango, the soul-ele-
waiting bunny hug and the eye-open-
ing lemon squeezer grip, just be-
cause a few weak minded men and
women rush off to register at the Ho
tel lde Bug?
Insanity is very common thing,
among the children of men. If each
person displaying evidences of in
sanity was locked up, it would be diff
fcult to procure a sufficient number
of attendants to care for the mind
cripples, without resorting to "trus-
ties" to fill the position.
But it would be just as easy to put
a stop to secret spooning and silly
love making between the sexes as to
stop dancing.
There are many musty bits of an
cient history (antedating the repor-
torial career of Moses) which make
mention of the dance. Years-prob
ably centuries-before the great
Jewish lawyer got his dip. ma and
hung out his shingle in Egypt, an
cient artists had craven dance scenes
upon the hardest stones showing
that the practice was coeval with the
genesis of the human race.
While I am unable to furnish. any
historical proof Of the precise date, I
imagine. when the negro midwife
slave peeped out of the thicket, grin
ned at Adam, as he sat on a log,
and said-''Look boss-it sho'ly is a
fine boy" and held up to view the
unhappy Cain-his first born. If
Adam didn't "cut the pidgeon wing" "
and tango all over the Garden of
Eden, he was callous and unsentimen
tai.
The first real big public Dance,
however-of which history gives a
full account-was the calf wobble,,
and was pulled off in the valley near
Mt. Sinai, just 1491 years before the
birth of Jesus in Bethlehem of Ju-
dea.
1t was largely attended-in fact
the entire Hebrew nation took part in
the entertainment. with the excep-
ton of Moses and Joshua. who were
off on business.
The festivities began with an ear
| ly breakfast, and as soon as the feast
was over the ball opened. and there
was hot time in the old camp.
Moseslwho reported the enter
tainment- states that it was mask
ed ball-each man and woman repre-