"Have matters assumed such shape that we can not furnish the majority
of the present generation, pleasures so pure, refining, and alluring
that the dance and other vices may not be relegated to oblivion? This
question should stir the innermost recesses of the souls of all who are
interested in the welfare of the young people of today, be they young
or old, rich or poor. The next generation is cursed already,
frightfully cursed, unless unusual sacrifice will now be made. There is
no time to lose, especially on the part of those who love the title,
'Soldier of the Cross.'
"'Put on the whole armor of God.' Go where he wants you to go. Do what
he wants you to do. Be what he wants you to be, in thought, in word, in
deed, even though it may mean to part with your very life. God is
yearning for a few more Calebs and Joshuas and Daniels. What use to
pray 'Thy Kingdom Come,' if you patronize or countenance places where,
under no consideration, could you invite the One you profess to love
and serve."
CHAPTER XLIII.
WOMAN EMPLOYED AT DANCE-HALL TELLS OF MANY PITFALLS.
Whilst contending against the dance-hall evil, I received a note asking
for an immediate interview. The writer, who signed her own name, stated
that she had been an employee in ----'s Dance-hall (rated as one of the
exclusive and first-class places) and that she believed that, under the
existing circumstances, my granting her an audience, would still
further aid the cause, as she could throw much light on the subject.
Soon she was at my rooms, also a reporter, and the following is, in
part, what she had to say:
"I am utterly disgusted with dance-halls, and am determined to do all I
can against them. Mr. C---- [her husband] and I came here from New York
in reduced financial circumstances, and I applied for and obtained a
position at ----'s Dance-hall.
"For reasons best known to ourselves, we posed as brother and sister,
pretending my husband was in the East. I worked there only fourteen
days, or until my husband secured a permanent position, but I left the
place with a complete knowledge of the disreputable work done there
under the guise of a respectable dance-hall. I do not wish to be mean
in my assertions, but the facts will bear me up in what I actually saw
and heard during the two weeks I was engaged at ----'s Dance-hall.
"I was on the reception committee to introduce the lonesome boys to the
charming girls for the dances. It would take me two hours to state the
disgusting features I saw there.
"The manager at one time asked me to drink whiskey with him. I told him
that I was not in the habit of indulging and that if I should get drunk
he would have to take care of me, to which he said, 'I can do that all
right.'
"One night a young man became dead drunk in the dance-hall, in full
view of the dancers, making a disgusting show of himself, all of which
apparently passed unnoticed by the manager. The friends of the young
man took him out of the hall.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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