Martinsburg journal. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1920-1977, 1921-09-10

Continued from page one)
children, so are our Catholic neigh
bors, but we as Professionals teach
our children religion an hour each
week and then turn them over and
act as though we were doing our
Christian duty by denying them.
Ministers preach from their pulpits
against dancing when all the mem.
bers OF their families dance"
Pit 1t Up to Parents.
The proposal brought such storm
of protest that referendum vote
was taken among the parents OF the
school children. There was much
bitterness shown. One minister de-
clared that every dancer in his
church could withdraw without leav-
ing it any the worse as 10 members
or finances. This retort drew equal
~ caustic replies. There has re-
Gently come lull In the storm in
Huntington but the high school
youngsters are still dancing yet the
enemies of dancing are unwilling 10
recognize that fact.
Perhaps the dancing battle came
TO a climax in Morgantown where
virtually every teacher who danced
eli. Z refused to apply for posi-
ton again or else were refused
position by the board when they did
apply. The Board Of Education said
that dancing and teaching did not
30 together, and that dancing teach
ers were not likely to be employed
It was due to this action that the
state superintendent of schools was
called upon for a decision. He took
the side of the teachers.
Furthermore. the secretary of the
board, viii S. Jones, prominent
member of the First Presbyterian
church, who is one OF the church $
elders ana one of the leading law
yers of the city and former mem
Der of the state Legislature, advised
the board that the blanket order
AGAINST dancing was not an enforce
able condition of contract, and was
not a ground on which teacher
could be removed from her position.
He showed that while a teacher
,aight be removed for inefiiciency as
tho result of dancing, the dancing
itself was not sufficient reason for
dismissal
Some Hold 1t Always Wrong.
With regard to dancing on nights
, not followed by school sessions, Fri
! day and Saturday, the view or the
I blue-stocking members OF the board
was that dancing was like drinking
and other such habits-wrong at any
time-and that one dance or one
drink was just as bad as another
Petitions from the MorgantoWn
Teachers Association and the Nor
gantown High School Teachers AS
sociation were sent to the board ask
ing that the dance ban be so mod
fled as to remove the question or
ethics of the diversion and deal only
with the dance as 1t concerned the
efficiency of the teacher. But the
board said mo" Not only was
there a general loss of dancing
teachers, but non-dancing teachers
likewise refused to be employed
with such a rule over their heads.
Morgantown, where West Virginia
State University is located, has a
number Of dance halls for the use OF
its $4,000 people, and these halls
are booked up solid from early fall
until late spring, with a few sum-
mer ENGAGEMENTS thrown in as ex-
tras. These dances attract the town
folk. high school boys and girls,
and many University students OF
which there are about 1000. Its a
poor night that does not have
couple dances going on somewhere
in the town. University students