Those of you who are familiar with the Central Missouri & Southern Railroad know that the town of Millers Creek is economically important to the railroad. It boasts of several industries, which quite naturally generate a good deal of traffic for the CM&S.
What you might not be quite as familiar with is the fact that Millers Creek is also an important cultural center in the central Ozarks region. This is fully evidenced by the following report, which I have clipped from a recent society column in the Millers Creek Crawdad. For the sake of brevity, I have included only enough of the column to support my point. And in keeping with the requisites of genteel good manners, the names of Millers Creek's socially elite have been abbreviated. You will be certain to know who they are anyway.
"A grand affair of a ball - 'The Founders' - came off at the Railway Hotel this past Saturday evening. The following notes of the various costumes worn by the belles of the ball may not be uninteresting to the reader, and in fact may prove informative....
Mrs. G.W. was tastefully dressed in a tout ensemble and was greeted with deafening applause wherever she went. Miss T.F.G., one of the ball's matrons, had her hair done up and certainly was the center of attraction for the older gentlemen and the envy of all the ladies.
Mrs. C.N. was superbly arrayed in white kid gloves, but little else. Her modest and engaging manner accorded well with the unpretending simplicity of her costume and caused her to be regarded with intense interest by everyone present.
The queenly Mrs. M.M.B. was attractively attired in her new and beautiful false teeth, and the bon jour effect they naturally produced was heightened by her enchanting and well-sustained smile.
Miss R.P. was attired in a simple white lace collar, fastened with a neat pearl-button solitaire. The fine contrast between the sparkling vivacity of her natural optic, and the steadfast attentiveness of her placid glass eye, was the subject of general and enthusiastic remark. But we would be remiss if we failed to mention that for the gaiety of the evening, she had replaced her usual yellow-brown eye with a simply divine azure one. It was the perfect complement to Miss R.P's fashion understatement.
Miss C.L.B. had her fine nose elegantly enameled, and the easy grace with which she blew it from time to time marked her as a cultivated and accomplished woman of the world. Its exquisitely modulated tone excited the admiration of all who had the happines to hear it. As always, Miss C.L.B. was accompanied by her ever-faithful gentleman companion, Mr. H.D.C., who held in his pockets a ready reserve of delicate linen hankies for Miss C.L.B.
Perhaps, however, the highlight of the evening was provided by those delightful, merry-prankster twins, Misses E.A.R. and E.B.R., whose unpowdered and unwigged scalps shone as brilliantly throughout the ball room as the revolving glass ball which hung from on high. Everywhere they went throughout the ball room, they found themselves the center of much jovial discussion."
As I am a common railroad man, I was not invited to the grand pageant which took place that evening. So I cannot offer any direct information about Miller Creek's society ball. But the reporter who wrote this column stands by the accuracy of his article.
Culture thrives in the Ozarks.
What you might not be quite as familiar with is the fact that Millers Creek is also an important cultural center in the central Ozarks region. This is fully evidenced by the following report, which I have clipped from a recent society column in the Millers Creek Crawdad. For the sake of brevity, I have included only enough of the column to support my point. And in keeping with the requisites of genteel good manners, the names of Millers Creek's socially elite have been abbreviated. You will be certain to know who they are anyway.
"A grand affair of a ball - 'The Founders' - came off at the Railway Hotel this past Saturday evening. The following notes of the various costumes worn by the belles of the ball may not be uninteresting to the reader, and in fact may prove informative....
Mrs. G.W. was tastefully dressed in a tout ensemble and was greeted with deafening applause wherever she went. Miss T.F.G., one of the ball's matrons, had her hair done up and certainly was the center of attraction for the older gentlemen and the envy of all the ladies.
Mrs. C.N. was superbly arrayed in white kid gloves, but little else. Her modest and engaging manner accorded well with the unpretending simplicity of her costume and caused her to be regarded with intense interest by everyone present.
The queenly Mrs. M.M.B. was attractively attired in her new and beautiful false teeth, and the bon jour effect they naturally produced was heightened by her enchanting and well-sustained smile.
Miss R.P. was attired in a simple white lace collar, fastened with a neat pearl-button solitaire. The fine contrast between the sparkling vivacity of her natural optic, and the steadfast attentiveness of her placid glass eye, was the subject of general and enthusiastic remark. But we would be remiss if we failed to mention that for the gaiety of the evening, she had replaced her usual yellow-brown eye with a simply divine azure one. It was the perfect complement to Miss R.P's fashion understatement.
Miss C.L.B. had her fine nose elegantly enameled, and the easy grace with which she blew it from time to time marked her as a cultivated and accomplished woman of the world. Its exquisitely modulated tone excited the admiration of all who had the happines to hear it. As always, Miss C.L.B. was accompanied by her ever-faithful gentleman companion, Mr. H.D.C., who held in his pockets a ready reserve of delicate linen hankies for Miss C.L.B.
Perhaps, however, the highlight of the evening was provided by those delightful, merry-prankster twins, Misses E.A.R. and E.B.R., whose unpowdered and unwigged scalps shone as brilliantly throughout the ball room as the revolving glass ball which hung from on high. Everywhere they went throughout the ball room, they found themselves the center of much jovial discussion."
As I am a common railroad man, I was not invited to the grand pageant which took place that evening. So I cannot offer any direct information about Miller Creek's society ball. But the reporter who wrote this column stands by the accuracy of his article.
Culture thrives in the Ozarks.
