The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-03-01
COUNTY IOWA. ~. MARCH j. 1s77

Southern cities, however, does not betray
one American quality foisted into it, that
of business organization, and 1t Is so IL
Illustrative that IL is worth while to give II
in brief before sketching the celebrations
of Tuesday. '---.---.-.. -. = -------
/ Mardi- -Gras, in the old world. is simply
q day of individual masquerade and mis-
chief, the acme of the broad license of
carnival, wherein every one serves his
own sweet will, aud no one Is responsible.
The first Mardi. Gras in this country was
planned and carried out in the old French
City of Mobile, by D society who set the
example for all subsequent celebrations,
though in modest way; and the second
was in New Orleans, under the auspices
of the Mystick Krewe of Comus, formed
for that purpose in 1857; and the Creole
City has become the recognized center,
and its society the model for Mardi- Gras
display. All the societies beaf suggestive
names; those Of Memphis being the bur-
lesque Society of Ulks and the Sacred
Order of the Memphi; while New Or
leans has7half dozen lesser societies, as
tae Knights of Momus and the Kings
Own. It is only within five years that
1 the Carnival Court and King were born,
and not only the whole Tuesday, but part
/ of the day before, consecrated to q
mild ignoring of the ordinary course of
affairs, and to spectacular professions
which may properly be termed magnifi-
cent. The curious thing about the mat
ter is that the whole city accepts the
situation, and dignitaries, shopkeepers,
manufacturers and all sorts of citizens
are, at least in New Orleans, happy to
uphold the authority Of the shadowy
| monarch.
This monarch was the creation of an
editors happy thought. Seeing that the
day was empty till the Mystic Krewe came
out in the evening, he conceived the idea
of King of Carnival, with a court of
| pompous titles, like Earl Marshal of the
Empire Warwick and the Lord High
Chamberlain Bathurst, and proclamations
were put forth, commanding the suspen-
sion of public business, the adjournment
of the Legislature, the Custom House,
PostOffice and city offices to be closed.
bankers, says the World correspondent,
scheme real; the police were put under
command Of the mighty King, all maskers
had to belong to some association, and
held within certain limits. The carnival
nobility increased; Collector Casey be-
came " Duke of Tide Water - Postmaster
Parker Duke of Lowell. and there were
Dukes of MassasOit, Catalonia and South
west Pass. The King himself was, and
still is, some old and respectable citizen; |;
the Institution is popular, its business
well.managed, and between Carnival
Court and the Mystick Krewe, some $780,
600 or 0.000 must be spent on the
| pageantry of each Mardi- -Gras.
The reign of Z" Rex ~ begins with his
ceremonious entrance with his courtiers,
| all in splendid costdmeS, on Monday af-
ternoon, by special train from the Allan
tic port, where he is supposed to have
landed on his way from the Orient. In
carriages they proceed to the City Hall,
Rex receives the homage of the Mayor
and the keys of the imaginary city gates,
and then to the hotel, where they abide in
state. On the morrow he heads the great
procession through the streets, thronged
with gazers and as gay with flags and
banners as Philadelphia was during the
Centennial. One year this procession
represented an Egyptian Court; another,
a Persian; again, Totila the Goth enter
ing Rome as the conquer0r; this year it
was an emblematic pageant of military
history. There were twenty -four plat
forms, on which were built up with
wood, canvas and papier- the seem
cry in which the costumed tableaux were
displayed, each drawn by richly -capari-
soned horses. First, q grove of palms
with African savages; next, Sesostris and
warriors before an Egyptian temple then,
Hebrews and Philistines in combat
while Assyrian, Greek, Roman, Briton,
Morse, Saracen, Crusader, down to Wal
lenstein's camp Washington, mounted,
followed by Continental soldiers; illus
trations of the Crimean, the Confederate,
| the Franco German and the Servian wars
That of the late civil war consisted of a.
Confederate officer surrendering to
Federal officer in the background, while
in front the, boys in blue and in gray
were sharing their canteens beside the
camp-fires; and it was received at every
point with hearty cheers.
The night procession of the Mystick
Krewe contained elements of grotesquerie
and caricature; sometimes, we should say,
to the verge of vulgarity. The subject
was the Evolution of Dress and Man
ners through the Aryan Races" and in
cluded such scenes as Roman Senator,
with excessively vinous face beneath a
laurel crown, making stump-speech to
his constituents; Roman banquet, with
the lords and ladies much the worse for
wine. It also contained, however, such
spectacles as the ordeal by combat before
throned prelate in the twelfth century,
and the baptism of Clovis; and the
Dark Ages were typified by Gothic
warrior standing high upon broken arch,
while below, amid ruins, crouched three
| figures representing science, literature
and art. After the professions, came the
balls. Not mask is allowed in the
streets after the six O'Clock gun is fired, but
the balls and theaters are thronged with
them. 1t is said that II, 600 invitations
were issued to the Rex ball, this year,
and that half that number actually at
tended it; the other grand ball, that of the
Krewe, held in one of the theaters, was
preceded, as usual, by still further spec
tacular entertainment, series of histOri-
scal tableanx in which from twenty five to
100 figures were employed Thereafter
followed the dancing, way into the morn
ing of solemn Ash Wednesday.
The moral quality and influence of the
Mardi- Gras festivity is matter Of grave
dispute. Its advocates praise it as a jov.
GUS and mirthful break in the dull routine
Of life--and it is certain we Americans
have none too much of that sort of thing.
But It is 90 foreign graft that doubt on
this point Is reasonable. The mask balls
that take place in our cities are not re-
garded with respect by good society, al
sumo the women of MemPhie, who uttered
their protest against the Memphi, were
not without cause. The street spectacles
| or int in<
and artistic; but the mask 10. under the
best regulations, when made the general
custom, q synonym for license. Spriag-
field Aass.) Rspu6lican.
ADiansrsPArsy 01sase.
AtA naoderate-sized dinner party, Of