The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-03-14
MERRY PURIM.

MERHl fUh!M.
THE MASKED Ball At TTHBAC4DEMY
LAST EVENING.
A Brilliant Success-The Costumes, the
Characters and the Dancing.
King Comus held high carnival last night at
the Purim ball in The Academy of Music. The
faithful descendants of Mordecsl and Esther
fulfilled to !he letter the scriptural command,
promulgated when Queen Esther, BY her
beauty and goodness, had saved the Jewish
raee from impending doom, and made 1t a
''dav of feasling and Joy, sending portions one
to another and gifts TO the poor" and there
were brave and fair Christians in crowds who
assisted 10 make the Purlm ball bril-
liant success. The party is said TO
have been somewhat smaller than 1t
has been on some former years, tut
there were at least two hundred couples
present, and the event passed off from first
to last with no untoward incident to
mar the happiness Of the occasion. The
party was pleasant and merry one;
grim care was lett to cool his heels
outside In the bright moonlight, and the faces
within the hall were radiant with smiles be-
hind the wire, lace or pasteboard visages
which bafied the curiosity of friends and
partners. The hall was without special deco
rations, but as 1t became filed with motley
quests 1t was scene OF Kaleidoscope brill
liancy, an ever moving picture OF bright COL
ors, bright smiles, grotesque fancy and merry
voice and laughter. Muller's band was STA
toned on q platform and dlscoureed dance
provoking music, ranging from the immortal
Shoe Fly and the litilsling strains of Offen-
bach up to the sweeter gems of strauss and
Weber. The dsscing was begun at half-past
nine, and at that hour the hall was filed
with about two hundred merry maskers, repre-
senting every quarter of the globe, and every
phase OF grotesqne fancy. From this time
until eleven the curious tribes were swelled
by frequent groups Of fresh arrivals, and BY
he'hour of unmaskiDg the hall was crowded
with party Of about five hundred. Some Of
the costumes were most elaborate and beauti-
tul, others were quite as elaborate and su-
premely comical, and, mixed with the cos
tunes proper, were swarms OF dominoes,
black, white and. yellow, green, gray and
pink, which, with their uncoulh, pilow-like
outlines, were almost as funny as the motley
clowns. Comical cases Of mistaken Identity
were OF course abundant-as In one Instance
where shrewd Mephlstopheles talked for
ten minutes In strain of confidence to a
sprightly Vlvandier whom he was sure he
had recognized, and astounded at discov-
erlng an hour later that he had never seen
the lady before that evening. Comical en-
barrassments there were too, occasioned by
the maskers forgetting for the moment that
characters need to be played as we'll as pic.
tured, but all ended In laugh when once
discovered, and TO harm, CT course, WAS
done. Among the more, noticeable costumes
were the folowing-the place aua danes, OF
course:
One most charming personlncatIon was that
OF Morning by young lady, with dress OF
white tulle radiant with silver, and presenting
q sheen like the first glimpse of summer
sunrise.
Tts q vis In the first qusdrllle with this
Queen Of the Morning was the Queen OF Night
"a lady dressed In black lace, amid the folds
of which flashed countless stars rejecting the
radiance OF a sharp-polHted crescent which,
formed the central figure of the headdress.
Another lady was the Goddess of Fortune,
and on her dress, which was crossed and re-
crossed with cabalislic stripes Of red and
black. were fastened the fl(ty-two cards OF
full pack.
Another was demure old woman, with
straight laced bodice Of white muslin,
square and formal apron OF red Silk, aud
severely modest cap OF some light stuff which
might have been book muslin. She carried
supply OF tiny brooms, for which she begged
In dulcet tones for purchasers.
A very beautiful costume was that OF the
Goddess of Liberty-a dashing dress OF red,
white and blue, spanged with stars and ac-
compauied with tiny but hashlng sword and
silken tri.color carried on silver staff.
One of the most comical Of the lady charac-
ters was Topsy, On incarnation of the spirit OF
mischief, with q prim calico dress and mfrth-
provoking ebony mask, whose happiness ap-
peared to consist In wallzing suddenly Into
the midst of quadrle sets and scattering con-
sternstion and confusion by appropriating to
herself all the male partners In the set.
A rich and effective costume was that of a
Turkish lady, with green velvet dress OF
Oriental cut, with gold emoroideRd edges,
and ajannty turban trimmed with gold, and
ending with golden tassel.
Another costume was that of Highland
lsssie, with Scotch plaid dress and scarf
pinned from the shoulder to the waist, from
which peeped out the handle of jewelled
dagger worthy of the epirlt OF Eoderick Dhu.
A charming vivandier was dressed In blue
silk. with trl-colored sash, a tiny barrel OF
eau de vis slung by belt from the shoulder
and an assortment of puuy weapons to indi-
cate the martial spirit OF this lille da regiment.
Among the other ladies there were peasants
and fqueens, Quskers and fairies, little old
women who lived in shoe, and pictures from
the fashion books Of hundreds of years ago.
Among the gentlemen there was an equal d.
yerslty of character and costume, OF which The
following were come Of the most striking:
There were two mysterious Japanese twins
who wsltzed into the ballroom aliired In
fowery chiniz of the approved Celestial pat
tern, with long queues and never-liring iaee
Thev bora with Them huge bundle OF play