s and the colonists agreed that the semi-anniversary of
the coming of the surveyors to La Gloria should be marked by a
celebration, and the bold project of a grand ball was set on foot. When
I first heard of it, I thought it was a joke, but when I saw a long list
of committees conspicuously posted on Central avenue, and had been
requested by "Albany" to announce the coming event at the regular
meeting of the Pioneer Association, I realized that the talk had been
serious and that Terpsichore had actually gained a footing in La
Gloria. I was authorized to announce that the ball would be in charge of
a French dancing master, which was the fact, for Floor Manager Messier
("Albany") was a Frenchman by birth. The ball and the accompanying
supper were free to all, but the women of the colony had been requested
to contribute food--and most nobly they responded--while the men,
particularly the surveyors, hustled for fruit, sugar, etc. It was a
cheering sight when big Jack McCauley drove in from Mercedes with the
mule team, bringing a whole barrel of oranges. These were some of the
oranges which had been saved by Jack's "influence."

It was no small task to make the necessary preparations for the ball,
and some of the committees were kept very busy. I was on the committee
on music, and learned to my dismay, a few hours before the ball was to
open, that Dan Goodman, the fiddler, had been attacked by stage fright
and had declared that if he was to be the whole orchestra he would "hang
up the fiddle and the bow." I interviewed Dan,--who was just as good a
fellow as his name implies,--and found that he was really suffering from
Pennsylvania modesty. Accordingly it devolved on me to build up an
orchestra with Dan as a nucleus. I succeeded beyond my expectations. In
a short time I had secured the musical services of Ed. Ford, Mr. and
Mrs. Spiker, and others. The evening came, and like Jerry Rusk, they
"seen their duty and done it." And it may further be said that they
"done it" very well.

It was decided to hold the ball in a large canvas-covered structure
which had formerly been used as a restaurant kitchen and store-house.
There was only a dirt floor, and hence the matter of a temporary
flooring became a problem. Boards were almost an unknown luxury in La
Gloria at that time, but a few were picked up about the camp, and the
Rev. Dr. Gill kindly loaned the flooring of his tent for the evening.
Even then, only so much of the ballroom