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FROM THE
Ball-Room
TO
HELL
BY
T. A. FAULKNER
EX-DANCING MASTER
Formerly Proprietor of the Los Angeles Dancing Academy and ex-President
of Dancing Masters' Association of the Pacific Coast.
THE HENRY PUBLISHING CO.
57 Washington St., Room 16.
CHICAGO.
Copyright 1892
BY
R. F. HENRY.
PREFACE.
You will, my dear reader, find many very plain things between the two
covers of this little book; things which will, perhaps, shock your
modesty and probably disgust you altogether.
But if you find merely the reading of the facts disgusting, think how
much more disgusting is the reality, and how essential that _some_ one
should portray the evil to the public in a manner impressive and not to
be misunderstood.
I have numerous reasons for undertaking this work, chief among them,
however, being because I have for many months, felt it to be a duty to
my God, and to my fellow-man. Nay, I may put it in a yet more concise
form; and simply say, because of a sense of duty to my God, for I
believe the two to be inseparable. As the green calyx of the rosebud
holds within its embrace everything required to make up the perfect
rose in all its beauty of form, texture, tint and perfume, so my duty to
my God embraces my whole duty to my fellow-man in all its beauty of
kindness, love, and any help or warning I may be able to give, and if
that duty shall lead me to speak out boldly and plainly a warning
against the evil of a popular amusement, I will boldly and plainly
speak, and leave the result with Him whose I am and whom I serve.
Many will, doubtless, object to the book on account of the plainness of
the language used; but, my friends, I have endeavored to tell the truth,
and to do this on such a subject, does not admit of the use of delicate
language. A mild hint at such a fact, clothed in flowery language, would
only serve to give a vague impression, and would fall far short of the
mission I wish this little book to accomplish, viz.: the opening of the
eyes of the people, particularly parents, who are blind to the awful
dangers there are for young girls in the dancing academy and ball-room,
and of leading some, if possible, to forsake (as I have done) the old
unsatisfactory life of selfish pleasure and sinful indulgence and enter
upon the purer, nobler and far happier life, which I have found in the
service of the Lord.
I do not undertake to write upon a subject of which I am ignorant. There
are, perhaps, few people living who have had more practical experience
or better opportunities of finding out the evil influences of dancing
than myself. I began to dance at the age of twelve and have spent most
of my life since that time, until within a few months, in the dancing
parlors and academies. For the last six years I have been a teacher of
dancing and for several years held the championship of the Pacific Coast
in fancy and round dancing. I am also the author of many of the round
dances which are the popular fads of the day.
I merely tell you these things to prove to you that I know whereof I
speak, and not because I am proud of them. On the contrary, it is the
greatest sorrow of my life that I have been so long and in such an
influential way connected with an evil which I know to have been the
ruin, both of soul and body, to many a bright young life. And if, in the
hands of God, I can be the means of leading one-fiftieth as many souls
to Christ as I have seen led to a life of vice and crime through the
influence of dancing academies with which I have been connected, I shall
be more proud than I have ever been of any previous achievements. And if
this little book shall, in any degree, help in the accomplishment of
this purpose, I shall feel that I am more than repaid for my trouble in
its writing, and shall willingly and gladly endure all the harsh
criticism and condemnation I know its writing will bring upon me.
T. A. FAULKNER.
FROM THE BALL-ROOM TO HELL.
CHAPTER I.
FIRST AND LAST STEP.
Since my conversion from a dancing master and a servant of the "Evil
One" to an earnest Christian and a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
question has been repeatedly asked me: "Is there any harm in dancing?"
And letters innumerable have been coming in with questions to the same
effect.
The more I mingle with people outside the dancing circle the more
forcibly I am made to realize how many there are who are seeking to know
the truth concerning the evil of dancing, and how many thousands more
who, if they are not seeking that knowledge, certainly ought to have
it.
+---------------------------------+
| ~Have you read the preface?~ |
+---------------------------------+
Let me assure you in the first place that I am well aware that there are
many church members and professing Christians who dance; but, if on the
strength of this you deem it a safe amusement, come with me for a few
evenings, and when you have seen all that I can show you, let your
judgment tell you, whether you can, with safety, place your pure,
beautiful daughter in the dancing academy or ball-room.
Let us first take an instance from the "select" dancing academy, and
thus begin at the root of the matter.
Here is a beautiful young girl. Let me take her for an example.
She is the daughter of wealthy parents; they have been called to mourn
the loss of two of their children; and this is their only remaining
treasure, their darling, their idol almost, whom they love more than
their own lives.
They wish to bestow upon her every accomplishment which modern society
demands, so when it is announced that Prof. ---- will open his select
dancing academy they hasten to place her under his instruction.
At first she seems shocked at the manner in which he embraces her to
teach her the latest waltz.
It is her first experience in the arms of a strange man, with his limbs
pressed to hers, and in her natural modesty she shrinks from so familiar
a touch. It brings a bright flush of indignation to her cheek as she
thinks what an unladylike and indecent position to assume with a man
who, but a few hours before, was an utter stranger, but she says to
herself: "This is the position every one must take who waltzes in the
most approved style--church members and all--so of course it is no harm
for me." She thus takes the first step in casting aside that delicate
God-given instinct which should be the guide of every pure woman in such
matters.
She is very bright and learns rapidly, but a few weeks have passed
before she is able to waltz well, and is surrounded by the handsomest
and most gallant men in the room, who flatter her until her head is
quite turned. She has entirely overcome her delicacy about being
embraced in public for half an hour by strange men. In fact she rather
likes it now. She wonders all day, before dancing school, if that
handsome man who dances so "elegantly" and says such nice things to her,
will ask her to dance with him to-night, and finds herself dreaming of
how delightful it would be to feel his arm about her.
The evening at last comes; the uninteresting square dances are gone
through with, and the music of the waltz begins. Her partner is the
Apollo of her day dreams. He presses her close to his breast, and they
glide over the floor together as if the two were but one.
When she raises her eyes, timidly at first, to that handsome but
deceitful face, now so close to her own, the look that is in his eyes
as they meet hers, seems to burn into her very soul. A strange, sweet
thrill shakes her very being and leaves her weak and powerless and
obliged to depend for support upon the arm which is pressing her to
himself in such a suggestive manner, but the sensation is a pleasant one
and grows to be the very essence of her life.
If a partner fails, through ignorance or innocence, to arouse in her
these feelings, she does not enjoy the dance, mentally styles him a
"bore," and wastes no more waltzes on him. She grows more bold, and from
being able to return shy glances at first, is soon able to meet more
daring ones until, with heart beating against heart, hand clasped in
hand, and eyes looking burning words which lips dare not speak, the
waltz becomes one long, sweet and purely sensual pleasure.
The more profitable things upon which she has been accustomed to spend
her time and thought, lose all attraction for her, and during the time
which intervenes between dancing school evenings, she feeds her romantic
passion on novels, unfit for any person to read, and which would have
been without special interest to her before she entered the dancing
school. She spends much thought upon those things which tend to develop
her lower nature, for "as a man thinketh, so is he." She has never
before had a thought she would not willingly express to her mother. But
now she thinks of and discusses with her girl friends of the dancing
school, subjects which she would shrink from mentioning to her mother.
O, foolish girl, if she had but remembered that her best friend was her
mother, and that thoughts she could not express to her were thoughts in
which she should never indulge, what untold sorrow and shame she might
have been spared.
She graduates from the academy and is caught into the whirl of society,
and her life becomes what is called one round of pleasure--one round
certainly of parlor dances, social hops and grand balls with champaign
dinners and early goings home (early in the morning, _of course_).
This evening there is to be a ball of unusual grandeur. The last of the
season of gaiety, and the closing of the dancing-school term. Our friend
will surely be present. Let us attend. What a scene of beauty, gayety
and splendor. It must have been of just such scenes the poet wrote:
"There was a sound of revelry by night,
And Belgium's capital had gathered then--
Her beauty and chivalry"--
But see, there is our friend of the dancing academy just entering on the
arm of her devoted father. Three months have passed since we first met
her. She is much changed, yet one can scarcely see in what the change
consists. The face is the same, yet not the same. There is just the
shadow of coarseness in it, a little less of frank innocence and true
refinement, and a trace, not exactly of ill-health, but a want of
freshness. This last is, however, well concealed by the use of
cosmetics, and she is still a very beautiful girl, and the fond father's
heart swells with pride as he sees the handsomest and most fashionable
gentlemen of the ball-room press eagerly forward to ask her hand for the
different dances of the evening.
Her father remains for a few of the square dances, but soon retires,
knowing that his fair daughter will not want for attention
from--gentlemen whose attentions he is sure must be desirable, certainly
desirable, why not? Are these admirers not rich and handsome, and do
they not move in the highest society. Ah, foolish father, how little he
knows of the ways of ball-room society.
But let us turn our attention again to the dancers, at two o'clock next
morning. This is the favorite waltz, and the last and most furious of
the night, as well as the most disgusting. Let us notice, as an example,
our fair friend once more.
She is now in the vile embrace of the Apollo of the evening. Her head
rests upon his shoulder, her face is upturned to his, her bare arm is
almost around his neck, her partly nude swelling breast heaves
tumultuously against his, face to face they whirl on, his limbs
interwoven with hers, his strong right arm around her yielding form, he
presses her to him until every curve in the contour of her body thrills
with the amorous contact. Her eyes look into his, but she sees nothing;
the soft music fills the room, but she hears it not; he bends her body
to and fro, but she knows it not; his hot breath, tainted with strong
drink, is on her hair and cheek, his lips almost touch her forehead, yet
she does not shrink; his eyes, gleaming with a fierce, intolerable lust,
gloat over her, yet she does not quail. She is filled with the rapture
of sin in its intensity; her spirit is inflamed with passion and lust
is gratified in thought. With a last low wail the music ceases, and the
dance for the night is ended, but not the evil work of the night.
The girl whose blood is hot from the exertion and whose every carnal
sense is aroused and aflame by the repetition of such scenes as we have
witnessed, is led to the ever-waiting carriage, where she sinks
exhausted on the cushioned seat. Oh, if I could picture to you the
fiendish look that comes into his eyes as he sees his helpless victim
before him. Now is his golden opportunity. He must not miss it, and he
does not, and that beautiful girl who entered the dancing school as pure
and innocent as an angel three months ago returns to her home that night
robbed of that most precious jewel of womanhood--virtue!
When she awakes the next morning to a realizing sense of her position
her first impulse is to self-destruction, but she deludes herself with
the thought that her "dancing" companion will right the wrong by
marriage, but that is the farthest from his thoughts, and he casts her
off--"_he_ wishes a pure woman for _his_ wife."
She has no longer any claim to purity; her self-respect is lost; she
sinks lower and lower; society shuns her, and she is to-day a brothel
inmate, the toy and plaything of the libertine and drunkard.
How can I picture to you the awful anguish of that mother's heart, the
sadness of that father's face, or the dreadful gloom which settles over
that once happy home. Neither their love nor their gold can repair the
damage done. Their sighs and tears cannot restore that virtue. It is
lost, gone forever. Ah, better, yes, infinitely better, would it have
been if instead of placing their only darling in the dancing school,
they had laid her in the grave by her little sister's side while her
soul was pure and spotless.
But how is it with her ball-room Apollo? Does society shun him? Does he
pine away and die? Oh, no; he continues in the dancing school,
constantly seeking new victims among the pure and innocent.
Like flowers, the choicest ones are plucked first, and most admired,
their beauty soon fades and they are cast aside for new ones. Parents,
do not discredit my statement. There is no mistake; I know whereof I
speak when I say that just such villains as I have described are to be
found in, and leaders of, the select dancing school, in the ball room
and at the parlor dance, figuring in what is called the best society, as
the most refined and highly polished society gentlemen of the day.
Nor is the ball-room scene an imaginary one.
I have seen it, just as described, hundreds, yes, thousands of times,
and have known of many and many a case with the same sad ending.
Do not delude yourself, my dear reader, with the thought that such
scenes occur only at low public dances. Some of the lowest and most
disgusting deeds of which I have had any knowledge, have occurred at and
in connection with, the most fashionable parlor dances.
The following infamous deeds were done on one of the principal avenues
and at the home of one of the most aristocratic families of this city.
The occasion was a fashionable dance of which I was manager.
There was present the _creme de la creme_ of the city's society. Among
them two beautiful young women who were actors in the play I am about to
put before you. The play is in five acts.
The first scene is of exquisite loveliness. It is a large drawing room,
elegant in all its appointments. Its coloring as seen by gas light is
soft, rich, and beautifully blended or prettily contrasted. Its pictures
are rare bits of art from the brush of the most popular artists of
ancient and modern times, and all its ornamentation is forcibly
suggestive of culture and refinement. All these things we feel rather
than see, for our attention is riveted upon the gay company assembled.
We hear the hum of many voices and see before us scenes of fair women
and handsome men, diamonds flash, silks rustle, and no garden of flowers
ever displayed a greater variety of rich and dainty color intermingled,
or flashed more brightly its gems of morning dew. But hark! From behind
that bower of blossoms and evergreens in yonder recess come strains of
music which set the little white slipper to tapping out the time as its
wearer waits impatiently for the waltz to begin, and now the room
presents a scene of whirling, whirling figures.
Notice particularly this couple near us and that one in yonder corner,
for I know them well. The ladies are beautiful and respectable.
To be sure, one not accustomed to such scenes would consider them
anything but respectably dressed, with their nude arms, neck and
partially exposed breast, and tightly clinging skirts which more than
suggest the contour of body and limb.
But society and fashion demand such dress; vile men demand it; for them
the waltz would be spoiled of half its pleasure if the woman was not as
nearly nude as she dare be.
The male companions of the two girls are handsome and fashionable, but
of their character not so much can be said, except in condemnation. They
are certainly pleasing, and are in every way endeavoring to be so to
their young lady companions, and appear to have succeeded very well in
their efforts, for, as they whirl over the floor, they gaze into the
eyes gloating over them and gleaming with a fury of lust. They allow
words to be whispered to them which they would not listen to at any
other time; listening now, they come closer still, and in response to a
pressure of her hand, his arm tightens its clasp of her waist, and she,
losing all restraint, yields herself to the evil passion of the moment.
Thus the fury of lustful thought becomes mutual and is mutually enjoyed.
The second scene is in a summer house. Only four characters are required
for this act. They are the four we have particularly noticed in the
ball-room scene.
This, too, would be a pretty scene, if the pleasure of it were not
spoiled for us by the evil we see in it and know may result from it. The
summer house, covered with vines and flowers, is in a beautiful garden
filled with shrubs and trees. The night is calm and cloudless, and the
silvery moon looks sadly down upon the scene through the branches of the
trees.
The girls have been invited to retire thither for rest and refreshment.
The men have previously arranged with a servant for the refreshments,
with plenty of old wine provided for their use, and now they urge the
ladies to partake, saying they will feel refreshed and be sustained by
it for the remainder of the evening.
After much coaxing and pleading they are induced to take a glass. This
accomplished, the men feel that their object is as good as achieved. The
wine soon has a visible effect upon the unaccustomed brain, and the
girls are easily induced to drink more.
The third and fourth acts are only repetitions of the first and second,
and the last and fifth takes place behind the scene. The curtain must
fall between us and the going home scene in two hacks to which the half
intoxicated girls have been conveyed by brutes in human form.
We only know that these girls are now unable to resist, if they were to
try, the deed of shame their male companions are bent upon doing, in
that closed carriage, whose driver has been ordered to go slowly, and we
know what has taken place, as in after days we see these girls no more
in respectable society, although their accomplices still appear as most
elegant and highly respectable gentlemen, alias ball-room Apollos.
This tragedy, my friends, was acted out in real life, and is only a
sample of hundreds and hundreds of cases of which I have had personal
knowledge.
"But," some mothers say, "I know that I can trust my daughter. The waltz
may be the means of leading astray some shallow, low-minded girls, and
may arouse the lower nature of some of those whose lower nature lies
very near the surface, but such girls would go astray anyway. My
daughter is a pure, high-minded girl, and I am sure she is trustworthy."
I am glad she is. Keep her so, my friend, _keep her so_. Do not risk
making her otherwise by placing her under the greatest temptation that
can possibly come to a girl.
If you place her in the dancing academy or ball-room she cannot and will
not remain what you say she now is, and she has but a comparatively
small chance of escaping ruin--comparatively only a small chance, I say.
It is a startling fact, but a fact nevertheless, that _two-thirds of the
girls who are ruined fall through the influence of dancing_. Mark my
words, I know this to be true. Let me give you two reasons why it is so.
In the first place I do not believe that any woman can or does waltz
without being improperly aroused, to a greater or less degree. She may
not, at first, understand her feelings, or recognize as harmful or
sinful those emotions which must come to every woman who has a particle
of warmth in her nature, when in such close connection with the opposite
sex; but she is, though unconsciously, none the less surely sowing seed
which will one day ripen, if not into open sin and shame, into a nature
more or less depraved and health more or less impaired. And any woman
with a nature so cold as not to be aroused by the perfect execution of
the waltz, is entirely unfit to make any man happy as his wife, and if
she be willing to indulge in such pleasures with every ball-room
libertine, she is not the woman any man wants for a wife. It is a
noticeable fact that a man who knows the ways of a ball-room rarely
seeks a wife there. When he wishes to marry he chooses for a wife a
woman who has not been fondled and embraced by every dancing man in
town.
It is also noticeable that after marriage few men care to dance, or to
have their wives dance.
The second reason why so many dancing girls are ruined is obvious, when
one considers how many fiends there are hanging about the dancing
schools and ball-rooms, for this purpose alone, some of them for their
own gratification, and others for the living there is to be made from
it. I am personally acquainted with men who are professional seducers,
and who are to-day making a living in just this way. They are fine
looking, good conversationalists and elegant dancers. They buy their
admittance to the select (?) dancing school by paying an extra fee, and
know just what snares to lay and what arts to practice upon the innocent
girls they meet there to induce them to yield to their diabolical
solicitations, and after having satisfied their own desires and ruined
the girls they entice them to the brothel where they receive a certain
sum of money from the landlady, rated according to their beauty and
form.
Can you wonder when the degrading, lust-creating influence of the waltz
itself is united with the efforts of such vile demons of men as I have,
described, that two-thirds of the dancing-school girls are ruined.
It is a greater wonder that any of them escape. The question is often
asked: If what you say be true, why do not more of the dancing girls
become mothers? I will tell you why. It is because they dance away all
fear of maternity. It is the knowledge that the dancing floor _exercise_
will relieve if they get into trouble that makes many a woman bold
enough to take risks.
Dancing and drinking invariably go together. One rarely finds a dance
hall without a bar in it, or a saloon within a few steps of it, and
sooner or later those who dance will indulge in drink, which is the
devil's best agent in the carrying on of the vile business transacted
in, and in connection with, the dance hall.