-Thursday's Brilliant Function ai the Town Hall: The Gathering of the Clans If any doubted the truth of ow assertion that the war has had the effect. of making more intensely Scottish those representatives of the land o' cakes whose temporary home is Shanghai, they must have been persuaded at Thursday's annual pall of the St. Andrew's Society. The too keen critic may have been right in declaring that a large percentage of those dancing the essentially Highland measures showed more enthusiasm than skill and knowledge, but it was equally the fret that there were many more there than a few years ago who danced thoroughly well. Where there used to be half a dozen sets of the strathspey and reel there was a line the length of the hall and instead of but four or five sets of eightsomes and Caledonians there were og many as the hal] could accommodate. There were many more, too, than usual in the Highland dress, both military and civil It has been the usual thing 'o say that the ball was far better than any of its predecessors," but this was quite true of last year's and it was still truer of this year's. The officials of St. Andrew's Society have not missed the Caledonian spirit which has enthused al] in Shanghai who can claim the remotest connexion with the romantic country of the north, and they cared not a jot for any of Shanghai's alleged cosmopolitan tastes—saive in the matter of fox trots. In. every way and every day for scme while past they have been busy on things truly Scottish and the result was a thoroughly Scottish ball in typically Scottish surroundings, There will be individuals mentioned later, but it may be said immediately that collectively all those who had any share in the avrangemente for the ball deserve the most cordial thanks of the Scot tish community. Nor does it end with the enjoyment of a few hundreds for one night, for the enthusiasm of the many and the canniness which made a comparative little zo a long way and look well have resulted in a contribution to the Society's charity fund which it is believed will be bigger than ever has been realized before.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.