Evening star., 1947-05-11


"a personal recollection Of Ca
rusi's Saloon, for over halt a
century one Of the most
fashionable meeting and dancing
places in this city. It also was known
as Csrusi's Washington Assembly
Rooms, and for many years II was
used for theatrical purposes. It was
built and first opened to the public
In 1922 by Louis Carlsi. It was To-
Gated on the northeast corner OF
Eleventh and C streets, with en-
trance on c street, the site now oc-
cupied by the northwestern part OF
the Bureau Of Internal Revenue
Building. On the first floor OF this
building there was q dining room
and on the second floor ballroom
48 by 80 feet with 22-foot ceiling.
Louis Carusi was not only the
proprietor of this amusement place,
but he personally taught dancing as
well and saw that everything was
done Just so. To Mr. Carud IL
O'Clock midnight meant just that
time and no more, and only shindigs
and the like kept going until the
wee hours of the morning. Indeed.
to those of us now beyond middle
life they were the happy. golden
days, when dancing was not an ath-
letic sport and when it was not con-
sidered just the. thing to use half
nelson or stranglehold on your best
girl while you were whirling around
the room before crowd OF onlook-
ers.
OF course, the parents of the older
members of the present generation
and even their parents, now only re-
called by the family Bible and by
tombstone inscriptions, reasoned just
as we do today; they thought about
our parents just about as our par
ents thought about us. In other
words, 1t is just as hard to teach
an old dog new tricks today as 1t
was 100 years ago and in the long
run the younger set pays about as
much attention to us as we. did to
those who argued then for our good.
But after all, it is hard for an old
timer to look on some OF the pres
ent-day social conditions In any
other than an unfavorable light,
and, although the writer admits he
is an old-timer himself and agrees,
to q large extent, with the conclu-
sions of those around his own age,
yet, to reasonable degree, he is
willing to make allowance for the
changes in conditions that have
come about since he was youngster.
Few Streetcars Then.
For instance, 60 years ago there
were few streetcars operated in
Washington after II o'clock at night.
and If you did not want to take
chances on getting an owl car that
probably ran only on the hour, 1t
behooved you to start just little
earlier for your home, especially If
you happened to live in Georgetown,
Brightwood, LIE Droit Park, the Navy
Yard, Uniontown, or some other
place distant from the center of
the city. And that may be the one
reason why people left the dance
hall earlier III by-gone days. True,
there was the old night-liner car
riage, with its decrepit horse, that
you could hire if you SO desired, but
this meant an extra tafid and not
an any-to-speedy trip, sat that.
Today one-fourth OF the people in
Washington own their own auto
mobiles and they can afford to stay
out a little later. for there are few
parts of the city that cannot be
reached within is or 20 minutes,
speed easily within the law. Where
as, formerly, the same distance
would have taken at least an hour
or more, and then-if it happened
to be cold weather--the ride would
have to be made In an unheated car
with only straw strewn upon the
floor with which to keep the feet
warm. Again, people do not work
as many hours as they did years ago,
when 10 and sometimes IL hours
constituted a days lapor-and now
have more time to devote to recrea-
ton.
During George Washington's |
time-which, indeed, carries us back
some distance-when the Comman-
der in Chief danced for the last time
\ minuet at the ball given in Fred
in 1871 in honor OF the
French and American officers on
their return from their victory at
Yorktown, when the church bell
rang the hour of 9. Mrs. Washington,
mother of the first President, rose
and said: Come, George, it is 9
0 clock" And as she took her sons
arm the two retired-although it is
said that George, after seeing his
mother home, returned to the party. |
A few years ago in comparing
the present with the earlier dances
at a meeting Of the Association Of
the Oldest Inhabitants, 1t was the