From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Feb. 3, 1912:

“In a statement given out this morning Mayor Bishop emphatically denied the existence in Lawrence of any ‘public dances’ as stated by members of the Council of the Lawrence Federation of Women’s Clubs. [Their] statement is that in Lawrence there are various public dances where a condition of affairs exists that verges on immorality and are bad in their influence on the students. Because of these dances, the women state that they will ask the city to appoint an inspector of public ‘amusements’ and see what can be done to eliminate such features from the civic life of Lawrence. The women also said that infamous dances such as the ‘Turkey Trot’ and ‘The Grizzly Bear’ existed at these dances and that it was no infrequent occurrence that liquor was served. Mr. Bishop this morning in his statement says: ‘I know that there are no such places in Lawrence. If they are here, as it has been declared, I wish that some one would show me where they are. There has not been a soul come to see me about these matters. None of these women has taken the matter up with me. If they had, I should have given the matter my immediate attention…. The city of Lawrence has never been cleaner than it is now. When the Red Light District was shut down in Kansas City, there were ten or twelve of those women who came to Lawrence. We caught them at once, arrested them, fined them, and sent them out of town…. These ‘public dances’ that are talked about are attended by college boys, they say, but NOT by college girls. Who then is being held up as attending these affairs. I will investigate every charge that is brought to me. The college dances now are the best they have ever been. Why, they have chaperones now and I know that every legislation possible is being made to conduct these dances on the best scale possible.’ Every word that Mayor Bishop said rang true…. Do you know of any ‘dives’ that are being run in Lawrence at present? Do you know of any ‘den of iniquity’ that is being conducted here? Do you know of ‘public dances’ that are marked by the atmosphere that hangs over a ‘dance hall’? If you do it is your duty to report these things to Mayor Bishop.”