The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1874-02-22
lSpecfdt correspondence Of the PhRni:c. |
40 Days TO New Orlca ns-Marrll Qras.

~ D"SS ~ new WOrIcans-mardl Qras.
New ORLEANS, February 18.-The
annual return of Mardi Gras is attraction
sufficient to draw thousands of persons
to the Crescent City from every sectiop
OF the American continent-Canada to
Mexico, Maine to California. For fvo
or six days prior to this date, every rail
road train and steamboat has contributed
Its quota to tho immense temporary
population OF this peculiar city. It is
estimated that there are at least so. 600
visitors at this time; the hotels and
boarding'houses arc full, while mnpy
are accommodated on the various steam
ers and in private residences The
a tlantio se,,.board was represented. bnt
not as fully as would have been tho case
had the monetary panic not interfered.
Travel is now SO systematized, that per
sons are conveyed hundreds and hun
dreds OF miles without chauge-com-
Portable, and in most cases, palatial
coaches being run through-switched
on and off the different railroads, until
the destination is reached. Through
the courtesy Of A. Pope, Esq, General
Passenger and Ticket Agent, w. J.
Houston, Esq, agent of tho Atlanta
and New Orleans ''Short Line" and G.
NJ. Pullman, Esq, of the celebrated
Pullman Palace Car Company, we we're
furnished with the necessary documents
called for on the trip. This routc-the
"Short Llne"-is, in reality, the short
est to New Orleans from Columbia
about forty hours. Heretofore, there
hos been delay Of six hours at Atlanta,
but this is to be obviated on and after
the 1st of March. Tho cars aro com
Portable; the roadhad in tip-top order,
and the officials, particularly the old
employee CT the Atlanta and West Point
Railroad, Conductor james NIcCool,)
polite and attentive to passengers.
Sleeping cars run from Augusta to At
lnnta, where through slcepers carry YOU
direct to the levee in this CITY.
What IS known Ms tho ''Short Line"
is from Columbia, S. c., to Augusta,
Ga, thence to Atlanta, Ga, to West
Point, (the dividing line between
Georgia und Alabama. to Montgomery,
to Mobile aud SO to New Orleans. Tic
connections are close, aud in the case OF
one Of the roads-the Atlanta and West
Point-there has not been n mis-, con
ncction iu over five years. Mr.. Davant
is the agent of the ''Short Line" at the
depot of the Charlotte, Columbia and
Augusta Railroad in Columbia, ard Col.
Julius Hayden, corner Camp and Com.
mon streets, Now Orleans With these
PREDATORY remarks on chow 10 get
there" We shall proceed to give an idea
OF Mardi Gras and what we saw during
the festival.
/ 1880 e-.-a ~. n.u,c ScucIuiiy
known, Shrove Tuesday, is the close of
| the Carnival, this iay before Lnni, Dur
ing the forty days Of which the Catholics
and Episcopnliane, (a majority of the
population of New Orleans,) abstain
from all manner of amusements. 1t is
not strange, therefore, that on this dny
| tile spirit of reyelry and fun becomes
more and more active, aud that the
festivities OF the season cuimiuate, as in
tho South of Europe and other Catholic
countries, on MGrdi Gras, in nli sorts OF
| innocent amusements, out of doors and
III -grotesque professions, masks,
practical Jokes and universal abandon
of festivity and merry making. The
freedom OF tho oity is given to tic re.
yelers, and they begin to appear upon
tho streets at an early hour, and to ut
tempt description Of the scenu that
usually follows, and grows wilder Il, the
day grows older, wonld bo simply
absurd. The streets are one living M ass
OF humanity; the "merry maskers" are
seen everywherc-here devil, "red
hot" from the internal regions, is doing
the agreeable to an angel; there is
Sambo, just from the plantation, with
his banjo, looking as ''happy as Il pig
sun flower" and black ns tho "Ace Of
spades" yet hanging gracefully on his
arm is some "fairie queene," all glitter
ing in spangles of gold aud silver,
"beautiful as butterfly" But while
we arc gazing Oh this picture, Louis
AlV hurries by to greet Alexander the
Great. just on the other side Of the
street, talking to the King of tho Cam
nibal Islands; and Napoleon l jostles
against US, with ~ beautiful ballet girl
en- costume on his arm, while the En-.
press Josephine is taking n friendly
''smile" with her friend, "Butlalo Bill
in m adjoining bar, and tho "Girl of
the Period" takes "a balf dozen raw
with Darwin's great grand father. And
so it is all day long-devils nrc fascinat-
ed with goddesscs, whilo the gods are
carried away with the angels Of earth.
Since 1883, and durirG all the circling
years that have come and gone, with
.l | THAR .;