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Show WeiCEOIlMLl CLOSE HILL IT 11 O'CLOCK AND WORK mm TO JUWUSEMEKT Committee of piominnt business men attended the meeting of the city commission this lUOrnlnfi and urged thnt the time of closing of dances be not changed as oroposed In the new ordinance which would close all dar.ee i halls of the city it 11 b'clOftl The com Imittee present was made of Jomes De I Vine. r. b. Porter, D C. Rccles, Olli I Reeve and Joseph GOSC City Attorney Reader was present Roth sides of the question were considered and It was fi..rtlly decided to postpone action until next Tuesday at the meeting of fh? commission. According to the members of the city commission, the new law nas b at ursed by parents of the your." girls who attend dances, and. In the opino.i of the member:; of the ommission, :h new law, if enforced, wouid do away with considerable o' 'he Immoral con ditions which hav isted. By closing at 11 o'clock the pitrpnts of young would expect their children home be fore midnight or snortiy aftr: t.ia". hour. James DeVine stated that, in his opinion, the new measure, if enforced, would create a tendency to Immorality and that the hour spent on the streets would work more harm than if the dances were allowed to remain open uptil 12 o'clock. He also stated that the officials of the dances of the city nnc nn.iiiK iu i u-uuei iiir vsiui in city to stamp out undesirable dancinc "Ogden " said Mr. DeVine, "has one of the best dance halls in the United States in the Berthana and the crowds, the management and other phases of the dance are above criticism Words of praise on the handling of the local hall, of the system adopted and Of the received from various parts of the country ' Olie Reeve, one of tho locrJ dance owners, made the followinc statement relative to the change: Olle Reeve's Statement "It Is my opinion that a public danc properly condufted surpasses by far nry private, church, or school dnnce. from a moral standpoint "This sounds like an absurd statement but my reasons arc as follows: Flm. A public dance has or should have one or more floor managers whose duty it is to see that pcoplo dnnrc prop- I erly. The floor manager, l.y being con-tantly con-tantly surrounded with dancers know proper dancing from Improper danclnc and are In a better position to Judge than the casual obserer who does not dance. "Second. People ore less apt to dnn-e Improperly at a public dnnce because of ! public opinion. No moral person likes to as vulgar dancing. It is absolutely disgusting dis-gusting and more disgusting to people I who conduct the dance than to the spectators spec-tators who are apt to regard it as enter-talnlng. enter-talnlng. "The city commissioners arc drafting an ordinance and there is some Question as to the closing hour of dance haill In the old days when dad was a boy they danced until 3 or 4 In the morning. morn-ing. Today they arc figuring on closing j the dance halls nt 11 o'clock which is too I early for several reasons. People hnvo been accustomed to dancing until 12 O'clock end have become accustomed to going home on last cars In all probability. prob-ability. If the dance closed at 11 , o'clock, they would not change their going-nome hour but. Instead, would "O I j to noodle houses and other places where r I tho surroundings and environments ar 1 not half as desirable as a properly conducted con-ducted public dance. "I abk the mothers of Ogden If they would not rather have their sons and daughters at a dance halt ivhere they are under the supervision of men who ae- I tually have their mornl welfare at heart I or In a cafe or noodle huse conducted by foreigners w "This argument Is purely from a mor.il J standpoint and that is the reason the city ' fathers ari advocating the passage ot I A the ordinance. Then again there U I H the Hot Springs and Lagoon In tho sum- . mer. These places arc not under tho Jurisdiction of the city government -nd can run their dances as late as they llks. Is It fair to the men of Ogden to make I other fellows to run. Osjdsn Is fortunate) in having the most beautiful dance hall In the west. If not In all the world. Con- j ducted by men who fre good men for Hie dnnce business and who have always conducted con-ducted their dances in a good clean way. they fhould he encouraged In giving Og- n good clean amusements. Other cities cit-ies the size of Ogden have eahsrets. Po-oatello Po-oatello for Instance, has three, and is much smaller than Ogden. "In BVance they dancs all night In New York several .-hows and midnight reviews start at midnight and last until 3 and 4 in the morning. In rural districts they dance until 2 or 3 in the morning. Why should Ogden. Utah, a city of n,oon peo-pic peo-pic close properly conducted dances at 11 o'clock? Lagoon has always taken a rood man- Oge. ?i rtol rs tu ill .. e Last year the dancing at Glenwood was well patronized and was a credit to the ' city from an amupenient standpoint, aico financially. What fhnnee docs a iim'i have at Olenwood to compete with the Spiings and Lagoon Closing at 12? Is It fair to local men who hire local musicians musi-cians and spend their money in Qgden to pass such an ordinance. "Music is amusing. Take the amusements amuse-ments from n rlty and what is left. Who wants to live in a city where there Is no 1 j amusement? "OgJcn is advancing Industrially but in me amusement line It Is at the su.ti place It was five yeara ngo. It Is an Injustice In-justice to the city to pass ordinances discouraging properly conducted, clean amusements "We want to co-operate with the city and the public and make our dance the cleanest ii,d best in tho city. We have been having moonlight dances and, from the street It looks as i( there wait no light ut all. Commissioner Jones had a committee Investigate our hall and received re-ceived a very favorable report. Acting Act-ing on a suggestion from Mr Jones, we will have no more moonlight dances." |