San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-04-18

to the foolish marathon dancing craze
and they told the caravan of fox trot-
ters to move on. Then the party
moved by automobile van on TO Con
necticut, arriving at East Port Chester
Monday morning. The Connecticut
authorities stood the ordeal until
Tuesday afternoon, when they, too,
said things had gone far enough.
Ankles Are Ruined.
Sagging, half numb in her partners
arms, but still protesting that she
wanted to go on until she reached 100
hours, Vera was dragged off the
dancing floor.
Her whole body was inert except
for the seemingly automatic shutting
of tired and swollen feet. Glazed
eyes that did not comprehend at first
were turned toward the chief of po-
lice when he touched her on the
shoulder and said the last minute OF
grace had passed; that the none tco
elevating exhibition of endurance must
stop. The phonograph was still grind
ing out THE Parade of the Wooden
Soldiers" and, like a wooden soldier
herself, Vera had been obeying the
demand to keep on, keep on.
But now the command had come to
stop. Vera. wavered for a moment
or two, then she collapsed in dead
faint. A physician rushed TO the
crumpled little mass of feminity-a
frotesque parody of the trim little
figure that had started dancing CD
hours before. Her limbs and feet
were badly swollen. Perhaps she will
never again have such trim ankles as
before-the doctors say this in itself
ought to be a deterrent to girls wh)
are proud of their feet and ankles =
but Vera's 10 years sit lightly upon
her slender shoulders and youth may
bring her quickly back to normal.
Partner Goes Will.
When Miss Sheppard had been re-
moved from the floor, Ted Gill, her
partner, ran shrieking through the
hall, yelling for the police, crying
that the crowd was all against him
and that the order was due to a plot
to interfere with the record that was
being set. Wild eyed, he demanded
that at least he be allowed to con-
tinue and said he could-beat the girls
record by "a hours. Then Ted, too,
collapsed and the insane terpsichorean
episode was at an end.
The final scenes in the little Port
Chester hall were unusual to the last
degree. The dancers had staggered
into the place direct from n moving
van, equipped with a photograph, Mt
. 20 o'clock Monday morning. A small
group of local male citizens Joined the
friends Of the dancers who were cheer
ing on their heroine and her hero
partners. From then, until 4:10l
o'clock Tuesday afternoon. the dingy
hall. Uttered with worn slippers, Gig
arctic Stubs, newspapers and soup
cans. reeking with the mingled odors
Of stale coffee, tobacco smoke, cold
broth, chewing gum and smelling salts,
was the scene Of one of the most drab
endurance contests ever witnessed.
Lost Ten Pounds.
Vera. ordinarily a pretty girl, was
dressed at the finish in a worn bath
robe. dingy white stockings. which
clustered in rolls about her schuffling
slippers. Her eyes were half shut,
her arms hung over her partners
shoulders. her dragging feet at times
seemed glued to the floor, but she
managed to keep them going in short
agonized steps.
Vera's companions had had a chance
to sleep from time to time in the NOV
ing van. but Vera had not INDUCED
in a wink from start to finish. Her
boudoir cap was the nearest sugges-
ton TO sleep about her. Paint. powder
and lipsticks had been abandoned at
the end. Ten good solid pounds of
flesh had been lost in the spectacular
dancing foray and the girl seemed like
a shadow at the finish.
How such frail little woman ever
stood the 69-hour grind is as much of
a mystery today as it was when she
collapsed Tuesday afternoon. Her rec
ord was made all the more difficult
by the changes of scene. 1t is one
thing to dance slowly and continuous
ly on polished bally room floor. But
it is something else again to be
dragged over three states, into and
out of moving vans, and to continue
fox trotting through all the vicissi-
tudes of such journey, ..--
During her dancing Vera was mas
saged with oils, and stimuIants were
administered TO keep her going. 1t is
claimed today that it was lack of
sleep. and not physical exhaustion in
duced by the dancing effort, that
brought the strange exhibition to a
close.
Not Hard Work.
1t also was said that none OF the
dancers will try TO break a record
again. Yet there is really less physical
effort in this so-called dancing than
in walking for the same length Of
time. For hours upon hours the dane
ers moved their feet and their bodies
with motion that was scarcely per-
ceptible. 1t was only when the
photographers and the moving picture
people would put in an appearance
that the dancers would quicken their
steps to a lively pace.
II have only two lessons to draw
from Miss Sheppard's performance, !"
said George ID. Grundy. who started
the marathon last Saturday. "First,
people that dance lot develop strong
powers Of endurance. Second, people
should eat plenty Of meat"
But opinions differ. Some of Miss
Sheppard's friends attribute her
achievement to the fact that she does
not smoke and was abstemious in
what she ate and drank during the
affair. Mary, her sister, however, has
her own theory.
"yera prayed every night" she said.
"Pm Irish, that's what it was" said
Var, herself