New Britain herald., 1925-06-27


 not enough change on either sido of the discussion to complete the transaction. But just whom there looked no way out of it tho car- rider reached into a pocket, got out some real money. and bought him self some tokens. George didn't say anything; good motormen always exercise discretion.
 These here new fangled dance affairs aint what they's crasked up to be, not by long shot. l been a-travelling around the New Eng land states with our brand of maple sugar that we get from our farm up in Vermont and I had the oc- casion of stoppin' at hotel not long ago In one of Connecticut's largest villages. And they was a. havin' one of them dances there.
 Now if you think I'm opposed to dancin' you have got another guess a-comin', as the feller says. No siree. not on your tintype, l ain't opposed 10 dancin' what is dancin'. if you get my meanin'. be in the neighborhood of 70 years now, but they don't make 'em no spryer, if l do say 1t myself. Why, l .remem- ber when they wasn't 8 sprightlier hand at doin' the Virginny Reel or the Lancers than l was, and that was only two years ago when they held the big barn dance down at Whittaker's farm.
 But these here new dances is away off. I'll tell you just what l seen with my own eyes at one of these shindigs. I was a-sittin' up on that balcony that has been dis guised with the Eyetalian name of Mezzyneen and 1 had a good view of what was a-goin' on. that is be- fore 10 o'clock, when I retired as has been my custom since I was knee-high to a horsely.
 In the first place. that there party didn't git under way til well after 8 o'clock. The orchestry was all dressed up in these here full dress suits, tuckseedos, is what l heard a Teller say they was, They went into the dance hall and pulled oui the comets and the slide trombones and the bass drum and instruments what looked like pipes. A feller told me they was saxyfones, and l don't | blame 'em neither.
 Pretty soon the gals and theil beaux started in arrivin'. I never seen such a display of bare necki and shoulders since was down tt the Old Howard In Boston in 1906 Somethin' scandalous, it was. wal thinkin' what Mother would say il she could a-seen me then and wasn't relishin' 1t neither. The gal, at that dance had on some might, pretty rigs, though and they wa all decked out in this bobbed hair Some of them was smokin' on cig arets and gazin' around as if the. would have rather gone to bed thal go to the dance and l don't moV but what they would of been bette of.
 The fellers was mostly youngun and they stood around in the lobb, of the hotel like they was used [, such things as a regular diet 0 food, when more then likely then same boys had been lookin' for ward to the party for some time As far as I could find out them a looked the boredest was ahavin the best time and it was a race t see who could look boreder thel the other if you catch what l mean
 The dancin started pretty quic after the folks came to the plac and I had to laugh to sec 'em carr On. It's too bad that the youn in to dance. It wasn't like that i my day. Why. they was so clums that they looked like they woul
 fall down any minute. Some felle told me it was a fox trot that the Was doin'. And I says to mysel well, if foxes trot like that it's
 pity they ain't more fur coats mad
 out of their skins.
 Not once did they dance th waltz and as fer the Real, wh.
 most Of them couldn't have done a good as a. feller we called Fatt Clark and was supposed to be tn worst dancer in Addison county. don't suppose most of them young uns ever heard tell on a Reel, @ cept maybe it was one that the used in those moving magic lar tern shows.
 Then when the dance was owe all the couples come out of tf : dance hall and stood around in tl : lobby, maxim faces at each otht and the girls was tellin' there ei
 corts how much better lookin' the , was then any of the other girls. The. music was somethin' awfu
 Just one slam m-bang after a oth' and 1t all sounded the same to m ' It sounded like that time all u boys in our village band that use , to rehearse in the hall over Owe :. mans butcher shop,sgot lickered | !. on cider and couldn't play a tuI all night. They finally had to ca
 out old Cap. Nichols, the constabl . to stop the racket and then he ha to take all the band players hon , and put lem to bed.
 They was lots of things that hal v pened at that dance that I didr understand and pretty soon Il folks seen me up in the balcoi
 starin' at 'eni and pretty soon oI , Of them gals made a face at n 2 and ma-ad like a nanny goat, on if were A noor imitation, I took tn