Does the announcement that St-George's Society is holding its annual celebration this year on a comparatively small " scale—as shown by the fact that it is taking place in the Astor House—mean that the great balls to which we have been accustomed are doomed?
There is more than a suspicion that they are, and except for a few sentimental regrets, no one will be really sorry. Gone are the days when the "season" opened vith the Caledonian Ball, and progressed sedately through the winter months with three or four national gatherings, a series of dances arranged by various clubs anda few private affairs. For now the "season" never ends People go on dancing no matter what the temperature may be, and the old catholicity in partners, entailing a heart-breaking search for people in an almost hopeless maze. has given place to a most exclusive style of things, to the formation of the smallest possible groups, in-traders into which receive a frigid reception. And there are better floors than the Town Hall, so that more and more the great, almost conventional assembly, will disappear, and the smaller, more intimate function take its place,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.