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Copyright, 1913. by the Star Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved.
NewportTango-meters
The Trot!
Newest Unusual Fads
by the Famous Fish
of Society as Revealed
Ball--Dancing by the
Mile 9 the Paid Partners, the Anti-Fat Frolic
'G
Newport, Aug. 20.
OOD morning, how many
miles did you dance last
last night?” This curious
salutation is heard everywhere in
Newport this season, for "dancing
by the miie” is the latest fad in the
Circus Set.
The debutantes started it and now
everyone, from Elsie Stevens, the
youngest bud, to matrons of Mrs.
Stuyvesant Fish’s class, are wearing
pedometers on their left legs, thus
keeping careful record of the miles
they dance day after day and night
after night. (Hearing of this new
fad, several of the men of the col
ony, headed by Joseph Harriman,
have offered a prize for the girl who
shows the greatest number of miles
at i the end of the season, the prize
to he a jeweled pedometer.
And now Newport has discovered
another astonishing thing. In order
to make big records the feminine
dancers have what they call dancing
partners. They dance only with this
one man, and in some cases pay
them a good salary for their labor.
In their craze for the Fish walk, the
“Trot” and the "Dip,” the girls soon
found that they must have most efti-
cieut partners, else dancing was no
joy and their records small. There are
always a number of masculine hang
ers-on in the Newport colony, and
from this coterie were selected sev
eral who danced divinely. These
men make a fairly good living. And
why not? they say. The new dances
are really a form of athletics. It is
hard work to kick and dip and throw
one’s partner in the air hour after
hour, mile after mile, and they feel
perfectly justified in taking money
for their muscular labor.
“We take the place of athletic in
structors,” they say, “and as we
really help the women to keep their
figures our services are well worth
what they cost.”
In order to make decent records
the dancers’ steps must fit. There
fore when a girl finds a man whose
feet and knees and step fits here
she engages' him as her dancing
partner for the season. The dance
is the thing, and these young women
of gentle birth would dance with a
coal heaver if his feet happened to
fit theirs.
“Dancing by the mile” originated
early in the Newport season. It be
gan as an amusing fad among a few
of the younger girls whose dancing
abilities place them in the near-pro
fessional class. They began by
dancing by the; hour. Each girl
wore a wrist watch and counted the
number of minutes she kicked,
dipped or swirled. But this method
lacked finesse and did not give a fair
endurance test. Some girls could
dance longer than others and not
cover nearly so much ground. Rose
Dolan, the pretty debutante daugh
ter of the Clarence Dolans, called a
council of war at her home just be
fore Mrs. Fish’s fairy ball.
“With some of us doing the one-
step and practically standing on
ofie spot for minutes at a time, it
seems to me our present plan is all
wrong. Anybody can make a time
record by . just standing still and
bolding fast to her man, letung him
do all the work.”
“That’s so,” chipped in Mimi Scott,
the three-million-dollar debutante.
“We must show that we really do
the work ourselves. Just think of
the miles we must dance every
night! Oh, dear, how tired I am
this morning.”
"Tired,” groaned Elsie Stevens.
“I am dead. I know that I danced
ten miles last night at the Wilsons’
racket There, I have it! Let’s
wear pedometers on our legs and
then we can tell how many miles we
cover each night. It will be lots
fairer than counting the minutes, for
then we will have to work and not
depend on the men to swing us
around.”
And so it happened that nearly
( ,r ery young woman in the Circus
t “danced by the mile” at Mrs.
i -: jh’s wonderful bail, and now every
v oman who dances wears the curi-
gv , little instrument on her leg.
These pedometers are worn at-
, i.ched to the garter. They look like
,■ watch and are about the same size.
They register every move of the
i g3. Not to have one argues that
a girl or matron is not in the danc
ing class. And to-day no woman is
too old to “trot,” “dip” or “hug.”
At present the girls compare notes
every morning, and the salutation
which opens this story is heard all
along Bellevue Avenue, from the
Casino to Bailey’s Beach. Among
the debutantes Elsie Stevens is
ahead with a score of one hundred
and fifty-nine miles; Roberta Wil
lard second, with one hundred and
forty miles to her credit, and Mimi
Scott third, with a score of one hun
dred and thirty-five miles. And
still there’s more to follow.
Of course, the girls could not keep
their secret. It was speedily discov
ered, and the fad took like wildfire
with the matrons, who also wanted
to know how much ground they cov
ered every time they ^’trotted” or
“hugged.” But the general public
did not know anything about it until
the night of • the fairy ball, when
many curious and unusual things
opened the eyes of parents and
chaperons, husband and brothers.
Mrs. Fish’s ball has so far been
the most brilliant event of the Sum
mer. EJvery member of the Circus
Set was there, dressed in some fan
tastic fashion.
In the doorway watching the mad
scene were the hosts and the Rus
sian Ambassador and his wife. Mon
sieur and Madame Bakhmetieff.
They did not belong to the pedometer
wearers.
“That is a very pretty Jumping
Joan,” remarked Madame Bakhme
tieff, “but I wonder why she runs
away at the end of each dance.”
“Cm, urn,”- commented the staid
and saturnine Stuyvesant Fish, “I
also wonder. I shall appoint myself
a committee of one to investigate.”
“While you are about it,” broke in
his charming wife, disguised as a
Fairy Queen, “you might also find
out why those goose girls are hid
ing back of the foliage in the con
servatory, and why that pretty little
Miss Muffett prefers to hide 1n the
morning room rather than join her
chaperon at the end of each dance.”
Departed Mr. Fish on his journey
of investigation, returning a smiling
but wiser host.
“It’s all right, they are all having
a perfectly precious time, they tell
me, but they simply have to hide in
order to read their pedometers. I
don’t know just what they mean, but
El»ie Stevens,
Debutante and
Heiress, Who
Suggested the
Leg Counter
and Whose
Dance Rec-
Miles
Mrs. Howard Price
Renshaw, Former
ly Lilia Gilbert,
Who Has Taken
the Pedometer
Fad from Newport
to Southampton,
Long Island.
\
149
PHOT®
Do poet
The Tangometer in Action. “Pedometer attached to garters
and registering each foot of space the pretty dan
cer covers when she kicks, dips or is
thrown over her partner’s head.”
Paul Swann, Alias “lolaus” Who Teaches Newport Buds Gymnastic Dances.
“What a spectacle. The debutante anxiously consulting
her pedometer after each dance; her faithful but
weary escort mopping his brow.”’
they evidently think they can t read
them in the ballroom.”
“Pedometers?” queried Mrs. Fish,
“why, that’s something to be worn
on the er—er leg. I must go at
once and investigate for myself.”
And Mrs. Fish floated off, although
both the Ambassador and Mr. Fish
were perfectly willing to investigate
further for her.
And thus it was that the pedome
ter fad was discovered. And every
body's doing it now.
There is almost no chance for
those who did not have their “count
ers” on at the Fish ball to catch up
to those who did. They have made
a wonderful stride ahead apd the
recent converts are despairing of
getting within speaking distance of
them. The average record made
that night was twenty miles. There
were some lucky ones who made a
score of twenty-five miles, but they
trotted and dipped even during in
termissions. Some of the debu
tantes—it is hardly fair to give them
away by mentioning their names
have acquired the trick of making
their pedometer work at all odd mo
ments by shaking their legs. This is
frowned upon by the older girls and
not considered good form. There
were, however, no idle moments for
many of the counters on that rec
ord-breaking night.
“Let’s do a one-step,” said a clown
to a Carmen. "Thanks, 1 will if you
promise not to swing me over your
head. My pedometer won’t work
when I’m swinging.”
“Come, let’s do the Fish walk,"
said Jack Spratt to a' slender and
pallid Snow White. “Thanks, yes,
but you must not mind if I kick. My
pedometer scores more when I kick
than when I walk. “Kick as much
as you like and as high,” replied
Jack. “My wife, who eats no lean,
cannot kick, and, anyway, she is not
here to-night."
Poor little Snow White did not
make as big a score as she hoped,
for her lovely white tulle gown was
literally torn off her back,, and she
had to flee for repairs, thus losing
several dances.
The pedometers were kept busy
until 3 o’clock, when the band
played “Home, Sweet Home,’' and
Mrs. Fish looked expectantly at the
door. But nobody wanted to leave.
They kept on twirling and dipping
until, to quote an indignant dark
eyed Spanish dancer,” "Mrs. Fish
just threw us out before our pedom
eters counted anything.”
But did they go home? They did
not.
"We want breakfast; we are hun
gry,” complained one of the many
Mistress Marys. “Hungry!” ex
claimed a stalwart Indian chief; 1
could eat nails; I am starved, to say
nothing of my thirst.”
Then up spake a kindly apple ven
der, ordinarily known as Mrs. Rich
ard Wilson. “Let's all go over to
my house and dance some more and
have some eats, too.”
“I have a better plan,” spoke up
Reggie Lanier, disguised as a gentle
man. "Our house is closed, the ru n
are up and the furniture piled in the
corner. Let’s go over there and we
can rough-house all we want.”
Witness therefore fifty or more
pedometer wearers finishing their
night under the Lanier roof, just
because they wanted to add to their
“leg scores” as Freddie Prince said.
“But I forgot that there’s nothing
in the house to eat,” said Reggie, as
they swarmed into the deserted
house.
“Easily remedied,” said Mrs. Wil
son. “I’ll go over to my house and
see what I can find.” Goes. Returns
in a motor car laden with drinkables
and eatables, the car resembling a
cross between an animated barroom
and delicatessen shop.
At 5 o’clock the sun peeped into
the rooms and looked surprised. It
is even rumored that he blushed, for
at that moment ten of the prettiest
of the dancers were comparing notes
or one might almost say. legs.
“Bang! Bang!” went someone on
the front door. “Who is in this
house? This Is an empty house.” ^
“It’s not so awfully empty,” mur- \
mured one of Bluebeard's wives.
“No, it’s not exactly empty,” said
young Lanier. opening the
door to one of Newport’s
“finest.”
“Ah, so I see,” grinned
the “finest." “Sorry I men
tioned it. Good morning.”
At 6:30 the pedometers
stopped work. Some went
to bed, others to Hazard’s
Beach for a swim.
And another thing. Why
do the feminine members
of the Circus Set revel in
the wearing of fancy cos
tumes? Because such cos
tumps have short skirts
and give greater freedom
to the legs in dancing,
tlius adding to the score
run up on the pedometer.
Photo 8Y ►sA«ce<w