arms to older ladies in all "promenading"
at a ball, since the customs of a lifetime are not broken by one short and
modern generation. Those of to-day walk side by side, except in going down
to supper when supper is at a set hour.

At public balls when there is a grand march, ladies take gentlemen's arms.

=DISTINCTION VANISHED WITH COTILLION=

The glittering display of tinsel satin favors that used to be the featured
and gayest decoration of every ballroom, is gone; the cotillion leader,
his hands full of "seat checks," his manners a cross between those of Lord
Chesterfield and a traffic policeman, is gone; and much of the distinction
that used to be characteristic of the ballroom is gone with the cotillion.
There is no question that a cotillion was prettier to look at than a mob
scene of dancers crowding each other for every few inches of progress.

The reason why cotillions were conducive to good manners was that people
were on exhibition, where now they are unnoticed components of a general
crowd. When only a sixth, at most, of those in the room danced while
others had nothing to do but watch them, it was only natural that those
"on exhibition" should dance as well as they possibly could, and since
their walking across the room and asking others to dance by "offering a
favor" was also watched, grace of deportment and correct manners were not
likely to deteriorate, either.

The cotillion was detested and finally banned by the majority who wanted
to dance ceaselessly throughout the evening. But it was of particular
advantage to the very young girl who did not know many men, as well as to
what might be called the helpless type. Each young girl, if she had a
partner, had a place where she belonged and where she sat throughout the
evening. And since no couple could dance longer than the few moments
allowed by the "figure," there was no chance of anyone's being "stuck"; so
that the average girl had a better chance of being asked to dance than
now--when, without programmes, and without cotillions, there is nothing to
relieve the permanency of a young man's attachment to an unknown young
girl once he asks her to dance.

=THE ORDEAL BY BALLROOM=

Instead of being easier, it would seem that time makes it increasingly
difficult for any but distinct successes to survive the ordeal by
ballroom. Years ago a debutante was supposed to flutter into society in
the shadow of mamma's protecting amplitude; to-day she is pack