On examining the premises, I found that on a new floor they had put a heavy coat of varnish; there was nothing _then_ to be done but to sprinkle it thickly with corn meal, and then sweep it off, and renew the dressing from time to time. It is well to say here that if a floor is too slippery (which it often is, if hard wood is used and it is new), there is nothing to be done but to sprinkle it with powdered pumice-stone, sweeping it off before dancing on it; and again, if it is not slippery enough, then, as above, give it repeated doses of corn meal, and the roughest floor is soon put in good condition to dance on. The opening quadrille of this ball was very effective. We formed in the second story of the Hall. I led the way to the ball-room with the “fairest of the fair,” the daughter of one of the most distinguished men in this country (who had not only been Governor of this State, but Secretary of State of the United States). We were surrounded by a noble throng of old New Yorkers, all eager to view the opening quadrille. The ladies were in Colonial costumes, representing Lady Washington and the ladies of her court. As I walked through the crowded rooms, having on my arm one of our brilliant society women, “a flower which was not quite a flower, yet was no more a bud,” we met approaching us a lady in indeed gorgeous apparel--so gorgeous, that the lady on my arm at once accosted her with, “Good gracious, my dear Mrs. B----, what have you got on? Let me look at you.” Her head was a mass of the most superb ostrich plumes, Prince of Wales feathers, which towered above her, and as she advanced would bend gracefully forward, nodding to you, as it were, to approach and do her honor. Her dress, neck, and shoulders were ablaze with jewels and precious stones, and in her hand she carried an old Spanish fan, such as a queen might envy. The following reply to the query came from this royal dame: “What have I got on? Why, Madame, I had a grandmother!” “Had you, indeed! Then, if that was her garb, she must have been Pocahontas, or the Empress of Morocco!” The war of words beginning to be a little sharp, I pressed on, only to meet another famous lady, whose birthplace was Philadelphia, and who had had no end of grandmothers. She wore a superb dress of scarlet and gold, tight-fitting, such as was worn during the Empire. Another young woman wore her great-grandmother’s dress, pink and brown striped brocade, cut like Martha Washington’s dress in the Republican Court, in which her great grandmother figured. The wife of a prominent jurist, a remarkably handsome woman, with a grand presence and a noble carriage, representing Lady Washington, wore, to all eyes, the most attractive costume there.