The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-03-01
THE GREAT CARNIVAL.
A NOVEL IND i JOLLY FEsTIHITF
IN THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.
What the Northern Papers Say Of the
AHnir-Pennsylvan Avenue as
Corso-The Mammoth Masquerade
The Grand Illumtnation-The Corco-
run BaII-Closing Scenes.


The New York papers have not yet done
printing their accounts Of and comments upon the
grand Carnival which interrupted the usual cur
rent ot life In the National Capital on the Monday
and Tuesday Of last week, Immediately preced.
ing the opening Of Lent This celebration, 80
novel. unique and extraordinary In character,
deserves a more extended notice than we have
YET been able to give it, and we make room for
soms copIous and Interesting extracts from the
| hest accounts which have appeared in the North
ern press
Tn. carnival--The American Corso.
Fcorrespopdeace Of the New York Tribune.l
WASHINGTON February %.
On the whole. we consider our Carnival thing
worth repeatns another year, for 1t certainly has
been rictory over croaEerS, success as o
! merry. making, and. whatever 1t may have been
viewed as In the light OF Roman or venetian festi-
! vals q farewell to flesh alter our own fashion,
r. tne irst day was q little slow. 1t was because
We are sober people, and 1t takes oil uf one daV
| TO warm Us up TO gayety on tne mex, anu tne
| Tay was 80 wide that the lun ran great RISK OF
elrervescing altogether before reaching the curb
| Stone: hut the second dsy made ample amend
The 6rss Uay, though, was qul;e rs remarkable
for its sight! outside OF the Carnival proper as for
the wooden aeng IN s3GT Uer Ell
L
grave as Judges, all deciding whether 1t were
wise TO be amused or not al VI individuals we'll
| dressed, well.oehaycd, feeling themselves re-
sponsble for the respeSid;y 0i o. tne rnihiOa HaOa
nay,np hut little heed to the civic process.
sion when II wound ITS glittering length
down from t1. great gates OF the White Cot. the
shg on the o m bTass OF
the hor hand that blew out as good music as any
| on theslrtet, on the darh body OF Wen mounted
aud burly butchers, white-aproned lhelr cleavers
| on their Shoulders without the oce,y gfGS 10 De
Sn snrn hut probably carrying the fatted calf In
their ranks for all that; not applau!lng anu not
derdng the Insignificant racing; preserving
dead silence or decorum wnen q view Iork' Team,
In nil its maruiacence Of tandem, long white rib.
hnns a and ,Tn rGed martingale enains the trained
horses each ljght.hoeied as dancing lady,
nranced down the lists alone, never greeting the
President with single cnser Wnen presently ne
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. s.Tnat New York team breaks
Grants hearth an OLD Uoppsrhead cried; 'he Is
hnkng how than os0fg oe
in pwsshington.n Indeed, the spell OF gravity
was unbroEen BY anything save some forlorn
litiIa cur trottlng bewllderedly In seIrcll OF
master. and suddenly mada.ned ny pack OF
nurs,Iipg hoots and cries, until at last the pleas
;ire. riding opened, and in on the clean.sw
eI ,stic fovr, where twenty teams can 60 abreast
rolel the multitude OF private carriages carrying
their gay occupants TO view tne decorallonS lnal,
tIIeS avenue dozen deep, male the great thor.
ouTkfare on either side as gay as any gigantic
foSer. garden, with dags and streamers, and de-
VIC s, and roofs, and WINDOWS A anu granu,stanas'
and nodding and waving their handkerchieis,
the air all at once ringing with merrlment anu
heavy with dust in blazing sun, till the gun
fired and the track Was eearea a, asah anG .e n
bis nag, ane the little mule-inounted darEtes who
had ost their hats but clpng to their cigars. ALL
as suddenly as II they had sprung out OF the
1ronnd. disappeared Into IL. 1t was pretty.
Alter that. TO see the way in which The
mob began to enter into the spirit OF the thing,
aud how when the fo,t racers came alhng IN
their white tights and Jerseys gl'ing Sne u anr re
tests-they, squad after squad, CRYING out en-.
couragemeilt, joined In and ran along behind I'LL
the next squad relieved them, and oil the length
OF the avenue with Us runSers was IKE one enor
taken In the sack races and the bllndloltt barrow
races, and the amusing goat races, TOO; where
fne l,niky little beasts wouldn't START. anu Wien
tSev were ahead would take fahcy to cross the
roaI, and let the next one pass them, and when
they were iust on the punt OF whining would
STOP deliberately and look tantalizingly back az
their desperate little trlverS, VINO saw disgrace
about to cover .hem and the covetad prize OF the
goat wagon trundliug out OF reach.
The Grand Tournament.
Never was a betternatured crowd seen, made
mn or every nationality and Heterogeneous ele'
'meut as It was. and displaying neither drunken
ness norrIbaldry nor profanity nor lnsuoordlna-
ion so that 1t was not till the hour o. the iourna.
meIir, on the second day, that the police had any
lOiculty In keeping back. the crowd OF . hundred
Thousand that wanted TO he present where there
was room for only fourth OF the nunSer. ADO
being carnival time aud the proper season Tor all
handsome and fantastic sport, this tournament
was sight worth struggling for-the noble
horse, the brilliant knights. and the fearless
riding, where "iust OF glory prlcHei thelr nearls
up," and horse and master seemed 10 be animated
by single will, and where one black plumea anu
yelveled rider OF black horse, powerful aud full
OF tre, threw his lance ss any young centaur
might haye done, while the President surveyed
the fitting from his balcony at The ST. James;
and all the dignitares' OF the Cabinet lolnea
In the applause, and ut night the queen
OF Beauty was crowned beIOre jury Gi
her peers-for, Of al! places In the world,
the District excels, as we are ready 10
maintain at the point ofthe spear, IN the nultl-
tude of its lovely faces the report OF gun ,aae an
scanolds lave been erected at equal distances
apart, and dangling from each Is ring sus.
pended from O cord. The avenue between !ue
scaods is thicky covered with sawdaSs nn fSe
roll OF honor, ami intend competing lor Tue Prize
Success depends upJn taking the rings gn .iIe
point OF the lance while the horse Is nylng ike Tue
wings Of the wind. Never since the GAYS 0l 'l.s
Black Knight In Ivanhoe has victory seen 81
fhe lists were largely composed Of what nsel to
be called "Mosby's men;:' out this has nothing 70
do with the days sport 1t ia enough 10
make the blood lngle 10 see lhese renows ns no No
other men In the country can, MOUNTS" VI, a
their slim long horses with bony heads ana
huge eyes, AS they ma,lly dash over tue IouTna
ment ground horse anl rider seem one. lhinS as
we VIII. there Is m air 0. chlValry ala olSa
that surrounds these naughty SirglnlIns anG
Marylanaers. and they LOOK every lach IKE ,ea ~
EnIghts OF tile tournay called out OF tue dust Oh
the fifteenth century. IN tile evening insse
knights Will have small qulet an tir Ut aat'4
and crown a pretty little belle or the late LOST
Cause. They disturb noDouy, Hihu enet t,So, NV
business and drink ller own thin wine. What
let Secesh come 10 the capIal? Aye tne prouu,
est feature OF the Carnival, the one ABOVE aii
Others for which the camni' tee Oh arraneeuient,
Should lie thanked, Is for bringing us al! to2etler
and making US forget Sp Sads e in eterna pscr
nal embrace. We did not ask them To our Dali,
ami they neglected to send card OF invitation 10
thp,rs. Int We have all eaten salt at the natonal
sresicIe. and laughed and 5orrowed at the Car
nlval. ,,a
But the good nature OF the crowd showed TO the
best advantage when the long-eXpectea masque.
raGe iicfljci down the way, the Lord OF Msrue
leading his sprtes and unrolling his pageant be
hind INN iiI IL doubled back and held both sides
of the avenue with its beauty, its spendor anu its
protesuuepess, with Comus anu his crew, wiz!
Mother Goose and all her followers. with hosts OF
historical uersonageS Keeping up their characters
and stiIr With gorgeousness, princes, potentdtes,
nrisc,r and hiphWaym"n, with burlnsqueS VI the
mowers that be and OF the future FEMININE reign o
female drum corps and brass bands anu nre en-.
| gine conhanies-whose engines were enormous
saanots snIl of them under their scanty skirts
mainly wearing the stronger garments. Here
nnI,rp nosse of BOYS, bluecoat"d aud belted, anu