Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1860-03-05
THE CARNIVAL IN NEW oRI.r.xs

=. AHo -e" dreams correspondent Of the Bal
tlmOre American gives the following dsscr;n-
ion Of the carnival season this vesr in tb c;,p
Marui-Gras has just gone, with its masoue-
rades and Jollity of every description. The
relics OF carnival follies beaueathed to ms hv
the old French settlers of Louisiana still 70
main In faded splendor; and it is the pecnliar
Pri!lege Oh nhrove Tuesday to make of one =
sell as consumate fool IA one chooses Rnt
year by year. as the practical ApeIo-Saxon Gle.
Inent predOmInates more and more, in an ey
act ratio does the buffoonery decrease with
tne loss OF whatever respectability it had in
the oiden time, the carnival has grown to be
nuisance and with the exception of the Mys
uck hrewe OF Comus, few others than profit
gates OF either Sex participate in its harleouin.
ade.
fluul gusts OF wind and rain during the en-
Tire morning seriously interfered with the street
sports, but as the clouds broke away in the af
ternoon, throngs of masqued personages, cos
'umed In every conceivable manner. poured
Hiong the thorOughfares. Troops of wild In
Trans dashed about on horseback; negroes.
clowns and knights, similarly monnted fol,
iO~ed In their wake. Women stalked abont
attred as men, and men unsexed themselves
VI tnelr proper garments to don the crinoline
III was glorious time for the abandOuUfes the
ricner portion of whom clattered along in car
Iiages, while their poorer sisters dragged on
foot through the sloppy streets The VuIvar
and depraved of our city had the monopoly of
It's license, and if this one days freedom of the
town could alleviate 6gment Of their wretch
edness, even "pillar of the church could
forgive the nonsense of Mardi-Gras
The great and only commendable feature of
the occasion was the procession of the Mystick
krewe of COmus at night. 1t is well known
that our richest and most influential citizens
are members Of this order, but so admirably is
each brothers identity disguised that it is i'm
possible to point out any well known individ-
uel and say with certainty, Thou art the man.
1t Is pretty well ascertained, from the above
fact, that none of the feminine gender have as
yet been initiated Hours before the process
sion had started every available nook was oc-
cupled; the streets were like bee hives, alive
with the multitude; the balconies and windows
swarmed with bellies cre0tes; upon the steps
and about the columns of the public buildings
were perfect rookeries of curious little boys
Finally, brilliant light shot athwart the
buildings on Canal street, which gradually grew
into blaze of torches and Roman candles A
tremendous hurrah surged up from the enthu-
slastlc mass of spectators as the Eleusinian
Brotherhood came in sight.
In front rode marshal, tastefully decora-
ted On the first car was borne an Egyptian
pyramid, with an inscription explanatory of
the SUBJECTS represented in the pageant, viz
] he Great Men of Our Country. Separate cars
b1re living ehgies of Columbus, De Soto, Bien-
VILE, VIM. Penn, Hendrix Hudson, Washing
Ton, JdcksOn, Clay, Calhoun, and w ebSter.
The knights of De Soto followed his car, afoot,
and likewise afoOt behind the car of VIM Penn
staiked the braves of Powhatan. Each charac-
ter was the tnc Stmiie of marble statue of the
original; habited in white garments, masked
with plaster cast of the features Of the de-
parted great, it was like resurrection of the
sheeted dead, as the garish light of the fam
beaux flooded the procession with haloes and
sharply and clearly defined the lineaments of
those who live in glory and in song
After parading the principal streets the Mys-
tic krewe entered the Varieties Theatre,
where, with appropriate music and scenery, a
variety OF tableaux were produced, descriptive 9
OF our earlier and later history, such as Column
bus discovering America, De Sotos discovery
OF the Father of Waters, POwhatan saving the
life of Smith Landing of the Pilgrims, &c
The theatre was crowded from pit to dome
with vast concOurse Of the beauty, wit. and
wealth of New Orleans, and the festivities were
wound up with brilliant dance-the savage
and hero of old time waltzing with the ripe
and real daughters of the South Merrimenl
was rampant Throughout the night with masked
balls within doors and frolicsome gambols with
ont. Altogether, Mardi-Gras in New Orlean.
Is sight worth seeing, although the next da,
Is Ash Wednesday-with its ashes