New-York tribune., 1921-09-11
.AvING returned in the evening
from clambake . tride more than
comfortably filled with the edible

e~n.nts Of these affairs, I was dozing be-
- ne log fire Of New England noun
~ :. v.sort hotel. This was recently, and
~ tho Canadian line.
vv repose was disturbed by the manager
,.ha hotel, kindly meaning gentleman inn
~..,hly clad, whose shirt front was as con-
rss.,ons as the shoulders Of q hostess of
r. York cabaret, Of whom 1t is gossiped
~ their shoulders ye shall know Them
=. kinship with the hired hostess did not
:, there / soon learned that the sleek
..;rsd hotel man was functioning similarly.
ecome and get in the Paul JONES'" he said
~sen my eyes opened in response to his hand
N MY shoulder.
r. had ever known what Paul Jones
~.s had forgotten. For a moment
s,.asht this might be an invitation to sit in
!. card game, but the carefully groomed ap-
,ssrsnce Of my petitioner bespoke more
ssrmal concern
sWbats Paul Jones7" asked him.
aWhy," he replied scornfully, cts dance"
Far a moment It looked as if he might
~ahdraw the invitation, but instead he grew
rore insistent. I told him about the clans
.,d Holsters. He dismissed them with a
,ssture, involving only the tips of his pink
md white finger tips.
Then I recited other alibis-that l was
s,ed. that / had not come to the mountains
IA have a good time, merely on business. He
,.rsisted, and in weak moment / got to my
s..s was herded into the so-called ballroom,
snd there tucked into the circle of folks
vsitins for the music to begin, which it
PRESENTLY did.
Then I discovered the hideous purpose Of
ALL and knew on the instant that the
sarchy gleam of the managers shirt front
vss but the sinister reflection of his evil
design. He was trying to get all the hotel
guests on speaking terms with one another
He blew policeman's whistle Every one
.lasped hands, forming big circle. Then he
ordered 'hands all round" He blew the
whistle once more, each person then being
obliged to dance with the person confronting
him at the moment. Then and there I de-
cided never to participate in another Paul
Jones unless was blowing the whistle
This proceeding was encored about three
times, and my luck in partners was worse and
worse. 1t began to dawn upon me that the
Paul Jones was simply the principle of uni
yersal military service applied to social rela-
tions There was q shortage of men at the
resort, and so the reluctant ones who declined
to enjoy themselves" were drafted.
When | finally got back to the freside l
began to contrast this polyandrous situation
with another which prevails at the summer
resort Of the South, Wrightsville Beach. near
Wilmington, N. c. There the men do not have
to be dragged out on the floor and made to
dance They have to be restrained.
The dancing pavilion at Wrightsville Is
called Lumna, and at high tide the surf,
which begins its unobstructed roll somewhere
IN the vicinity of Lisbon, Portugal, breaks be-
meath the outer piling of the structure. A
moving picture screen rises from the surf and
c0nfronts the pavilion. Folks who do not care
to dance or who would rather hold hands in
Ine dark sit there on the benches until the
llght OF the moon begins to hurt their ewes.
But inside the pavilion invariably there is a
crowd
Amt We Got Fun?" is played Just as
often as it is at Bailey's Beach or at brick
layers picnic in Dexter Park, over in Queens.
DOWN the center of the floor-and it is good
P~4hiAS oPdSc Lux tuo extra men,
and it Is always crowded. It is another rec
angle, this isle of safety, within the larger
Fectangie of the entire floor
AS the dancing couples twitch and Jerk
past (do you remember when the Authors
League OF America would have expelled anv
member who failed to write "1oat" under
AheSe crcunstances?) the men dash out as
spuers from web, and each touches on the
shoulder the man who is dancing with the
slfi ne wants to dance with. Custom DEGREES
mat the girl dance with her new partner and
'ae old one retires to the corral to select an
"aer partner or grab the original as she comes
oown the other side of the room. perhaps
WIN yet another man who has "broken" her
again.
breaking" of course, Is done elsewhere,
'u' doubt if there is another place in the
sofo where it is done consistently, without
Interruption, as at Wrightsville Beach. Per-
maps 1t Is but a reflex of the law Of supply
and demand.
:, 1he girl who finds herself with an undesira-
e DC partner can usually hope for early relief.
!, aa' tne man who steps out with an unattrac-
ave girl IS lost until the music stops.
me delightful part of it all is that the
sIs are more than ordinarily charming.
,Aey come from all over the South, from
1sAas' Louisiana, Mississippi, but, of course,
.0Ss OF them are from the Carolinas and
ueorgla- Northern girls who do MT fear