Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-03-18
The Carnival at New Orleans.

From he .Ner Orieuns Crescent, Of H"rcb Hh.
Marli Gras was blessed with bright beau
tiful weather, and rs a consequence the city
was alive with Mardl-CiraS masking and mum
merry. The extent and variety of the street
masquerading i'll the afternoon exceeding
ANYTHING of the kind seen for some years
/ All the 'vagrom" boys were put in all
sorts of cheap harlequin and clown disgulses
with bags Of -four, whitening each other and
the negroes, and leaving their foury tracks
on the banquetts i'll all parts of the CITY,
The grown upjolly boys galloped on horse.
back up the town and down, dressed and
painted as Bedouin Arabs, Indians, Turks,
Venetian cavaliers and African negroes
Groups of ludicious maskcrs ofall conceivable
desert ptions went flying around in cabs bug
gies, furniture wagons and carriages.
Untold thousands Of people lined the prin-
cipal streets waiting for and laughing at the
flying fooierics. From the lower part Of the
Third district to far up in the Fourth dis
lance of about five good miles, the streets
were picturesque with people in Mardi-Gras
disguise; from little children knee-high to the
largest sized adults. 1t is fair to estimate
that not less than twenty thousand people
1.-THE great mass, of course being children, ne
groes and miscellaneous grown people, took
part in yesterdays masquerade.
In Galitanla THE sailor region below
ia, kson square, all the females were out III
mems disguise, and most of the men out IN
womcn's disguise. In the Faubourgh IRENE
the spectac!es were such Is to exceed our
powers of description To sum up. New Or
leans in the afternoon was Il Pandemonlum
of fantastic reyelrv. mt which residents look
eel and laughed H. of yore. and which Strang-
ers regarded with the most perfect wonder
and astonishmcnt Hundreds Of laughable
collisions too place between different par
ties of maskers and between maskerS and the
udmiring crowds. Our face aches now rs We
write, trcm the constant grin II had 70 keep
up during the spcctacleS OF the afternoon.
The funniest thing that We saw was ut the
corner of Royal and Orleans streets. y
troupe Of galloping Arabs came in collision
with furniture wagon, loaded with Venetian
corsairs and splendid Circassian slaves, sup
posed to have been rescued from the bloody
Turks. who were horsing round through 9TH
er parts of the city. How the fight started,
we could not discover. but ii was short
fight, and beautiful while it lasted. The
Arabs dismounted from their horses, and
clamhercd into the furniture car. There was
a cracking of whip handles over skulls, Il
tearing off of masks, il Jerking around by hair,
aSpiliing Of Crcassian slaves into the street,
IL general rough and tumble all around, a
frantic Interference by the police, and final
separation of the combatants- leaving an ex'
cited crowd Of spectators admiring the insane
furniture wagon driver, who remained there
for half an hour. swearing and brandlsh'ng
his whip handle, in an agony OF desire for
satisfaction from any one or all OF the Arabs,
who. to his great grief, did not return.
The morality Of the general turnout was
unquestionably bad. But the staid and So
Der portion of the community turned out to
see and laugh at the ludicrous spectaeles;
doubtless accepting the merrimcnt of the
mummers as a polite apology for their exis-
tcncc in the city, and not grudglng them
their owr. fashion of enjoyment for one day in
the year