i - yTHxX 1 ti?X' Y ' S 7 ill It r i- r.vi v$V I I m '
L m;.0;. : mm? m ' f 0MJ mKmi
' i - , ' - a v ?t t- yyi"'?''''' ?''
I -p ' ' ' - : ' ' V '' fx- , - :" I notice an absence of Mrs. Representt-
rr . - S :' "" ' ' " v VcT V "V-' J'i.i tlve Citizen. I cease to wonder at this. The
E'fy 1 " ' ' - t x, " jT1: ' American wife means about as much in the
' ' ' ''" ' -v v ,..1 ' ' life of her dance-mad husband as a white
. - ' . i ' : ??v vi . . - ' ' linen snlt does to an arctic explorer.
4- 0 : -' ' " ' - J;VV-", ,V M "''S. The captain of the waiters aeoualnts my
f "' ' s ' ' 1 '' ' ' ' V jfe? ' partner with them, and he in turn brings me
I flT s t' -'-I , . ' X ; 1 jff;cC's to the tables and confers upon me the honor
SMI.r 4 ' . - , X-"'"U - f fA of an Introduction to Mr. .the coke
fJlJ:A ' ; -I . ' 4 ''K''- magnate; Mr. , manufacturer of per-
i TSrSit - h - - ,s , - S , L . fumed soaps, and Mr. . who hasn't
Mrs. Ralph Herz, Who Has Given Up Tangoing Because of the Many
Objectionable Features Named By Her in the Accompanying Article
nyrRS. RALPH HERZ is going to give up dancing. This evidently will come as a shock
J VI to her many friends throughout the country. For several years her graceful figure
has flitted through the mazes of the popular dance to the delight of appreciative audiences.
In telling why she will forget the tango, the maxixe. the one-step and the fox trot, Mrs. Herz
answers the question, 'The Tango Bug It Kin to the Divorce Microbe?" in the affirm
ative. And she has many other interesting things to say about the modern steps.
By MRS. RALPH HERZ.
HE spotlight will
dim for me on April
15. On and after
that time I shall be
known simply as
Mrs. Ralph Herz,
the wife of an actor.
Mrs. Ralph Herz,
the dancer, will have
ceased to exist. The name will not be seen
on Invitations to tango teas nor on the
dancing programs of gay houlevardiers. It
will be recorded only on the letter box of a
cozy little apartment In Gotham.'.
- .'I retire from professional life to thwart
the "tango bug." Perhaps you think such an
Insect does not belong to the winged family.
You are mistaken. Entomologists may dis
pute this and offer in evidence the research
study of centuries. But remember that en
tomologists for the most part are long on
hair and short on wind. They would rank
.000 In the percentage column of tango dan
cing. Therefore, knowing nothing about the
tango, how should they be expected to know
of the tango bug? - !
Worst Wrecker of Homes.
Xet mateU.you fjonyexjerlenc-tha not
3
only does this bug exist, but It Is inoculat
ing those who dance the tango and other '
modern steps with the microbe of divorce.
It has been the most pernicious instigator of
domestic discord of any that our modern
civilization can boast, or dread.
I was bitten by the tango bug about a
year ago. True, it was at my own invita
tion.' I wished to Join the merry whlrL But
the little incision of the bug was conducive
of the disease known as "tangoitis. : It held .
me in its tenacious grip every hour of the
two dozen that go to make up the day.- I
was tango mad. There waa no vaccine that
. would still my craving for the dance divine. ;
I would have been an excellent subject for
a tangoitis clinic.
Vfhy Her Swan Song.
But to tell you why I am to leave the
public eye:'
It was dinner hour In a high-class city,
cafe, where I am billed as the star attrao
tlon. Entering, I see a dozen or more rep
resentative citizens (male gender) sitting
about the tables eagerly awaiting my arrival.
They are vlctlms'of the tango bug. One can
see that by their uneasy, shuffling feet as the
orchestra plays a syncopated, ftrafn 'The
7THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND,: SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH
1 1
PITRS. EFFJE POPE ALSOP of New York; Who Is a Half Century Yo
IVf-Than Her Multi-Millionaire Husband, Is Fond of Dancing. She Is
Demonstrating the Maxixe Step; Which Made the Aged Edward B. Alsop So
Angry That He Ordered Her Partner From His Hpuse, Says Pretty Mrs.
Alsop. She Considered It a Cruel Humiliation. At Present the Troubles of
the Alsops Are Being Aired in Court. . ,
cafe management, with doe .respect for the.
Almighty Dollar, has said on the Invitation
cards that Mrs. Ralph Herz would be "der
Younger
Seen
; lighted" "to Instruct In the art of inHng
- any one properly introduced. Therefore the
gathering" of representative citizens,"
?S, 1915.
worked In' so long that his brains are shriv
eled to where they wouldn't show up under -a
microscope, but who is rated AAA1 in
Bradstreet's. Also I am made known to sev
eral other gentlemen. No one seems to know
what they do for a Bring. They dress well
and are " good spenders sufficient unto
itself. For all I am aware, one may be a
Raffles, another a J. Rufus Walllngford, and
another a Jekyll gentleman by day and Hyde
porch-climber by night. I am supposed to
teach each of them the intricate steps of the
Argentine revel. That is, I am if I expect to
sign "Mrs. Ralph Herz" to a "Pay to the
Order of" on Saturday night. That's all in
the contract. Not eager and anxious to
break the contract, I follow out its clauses
to the letter. t
-V ' I
With Their Wives? No!
It is supper hour of the same day. The
theaters have dismissed their crowds, and
the cafe has opened its portals to the pleasure-seekers.
I am dancing with my partner
and between whirls and swirls I cast my
eyes o'er the lobster palace. In the soft glow
from the table lights I see the coke magnate,
the -manufacturer of perfumed soaps, and
the gentleman with little brains but heaps
of money. Also not to forget the probable
combination of Raffles, Walllngford and Dr.
Jeykll-Mr. Hyde. Several of them are ac
companied by women, who from the atten
tions they receive prove themselves. not to
be "better halves." J
As at the dinner hour, I again dance with
the men who only a short while before were
to me perfect strangers. Don't you think I
earn my salary?
Some Years Ago -and Now.
I, as well as other dancers, am in a posi
tion to speak with authority on the evils of
the modern dance., i It is instilling in our
people a disregard of home ties severing
"the tfe that binds, as it were and spread
ing domestic dissension where only harmony
was before.
A few years ago,Mrs. John Smith would
call hubby on the telephone. "John," she
would say, "let us go to the dance at
Brown's tonight" John, who didn't care a
rap about tripping the light fantastic, would
plead something like this: "It's really im
possible, Mary, for me to go this evening.
I amIclean up to 'my neck in work -wont
be through until 9 o'clock. By the time I'd
get home and dress it would be too late.'
Let's make it some other night"
Or, John Smith might have bad the best
.Intentions in the world. Perhaps he'dMn't
believe in arriving at a dance at a late hour,
and would not think of going in bis business f:
sult
But today!
Why, today John Smith seldom thinks of
changing his clothes." It's tango in the
morning, at noon, at night. He hasn't time
to put on a full dresV He hasn't time to
change his shirt and collar. lie hasn't time
to shave. The tango bug has bitten him
hard, and he is suffering from tangoitis.
American Man Untidy.
- Really, the American man- be who is' n
devotee of the modern dance -Is degenerat
ing Into an unclean being. Persona 1 np
pearance means little or nothing to him. K.)
long as be can dance be is satisfied to do so
in an unpressed suit, wearing soiled llnoii,
with a stubby growth of beard. In th
days of my father and grandfather men
went to a dance once a week or so.
were careful .to be groomed correctly and
carefully. But there were no tango bug la
those days. j
The tango bug is it kin to the.dlvorce.
microbe? Emphatically, it is. It is as bud
as liquor In its undermining effects ; it takes
hold with the grip of an octopus. Men are
forgetting their families In worshiping at ,
the shrine of the tango, the maxixe,' the one
step and fhe fox trot, and even "tho'se who ,
hesitate rare lost." Women are forgetting
their husbands and children in the merry
whlrL , It is a passion that we can wel! dl-
. pense with. :
Dancing as an institution will never dl
out Br the modern dance wllL And the
sooner the better. ' .
V -
, Modern Dance to Go.
I predict that within six moljtbs modern
dancing .will be a thing of the' past. Woe
be to . the shyster lawyer whose "eats"
depend on the. number of families he sep
arates, for the tango and Its allied gyrations
have helped him to porterhouse steaks on
more than one occasion. Peace be unto the
wearied judge who for several years has
beard countless tales of how, when Terpi-1
schore came in the door. Love flew oat the
window.
"My.advlce to married couples (s this:
Shun the modern dance. If you must
shake your feet do as : your fathers and
mothers did dance the . waltz, the Vir
ginia reel and the square dance. They'' e
Just as much fun and are of a higher
moral tone.
I am tired of It alL Immune to the bite
of the tango; bug, I want tolive in a cozy
JiLue ttyaruneiiL x waui to zorKei. lus
bright . lights of the cafe, the " receptions,
the entertainments and I want to forget
that I may have been the partner In dance
of a Raffles, a J. Rufus Walllngford, or a
Dr. Jeykll-Mr. Hyde. I do not want to be
bitten by the tango bug again.
That is why the spotlight will dim for me
on April 15,