The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-05-01
A Hail III Nicnna.

One of the most brilliant evenings of
the season in Vienna was certainly the
"G'schnas ball." an exclusively Vicnncsc
fctc. The word G'schnas exists in the
ficnncse' dialect only, and means some
thing unreal, something which in appear
ance is worth looking at, while in reality
it is but rubbish. The subject chosen for
this ball was the 'Towcr of Babel" and
everything--,he rooms, the decorations,
the costumes, the separate groups-tiltcd
the subject. The old Hebrews, Assyriuns
Egyptians, Phmnicans, were to be repre-
ser.cd, and yet not a single jewel or trnkct,
not single yard OF costly material could
bc used for this purposc--all must be
G'schnas. l will give you an idea how
this plan was carried out by describing the
entrance hall. The walls are decorated
with irescoes on cardboard, painted by our
fcst artists, who are the chief managers Of
this ball. or course, all the paintings are
III the old Egyptian style. In the center
sit two colossal idols, made after tho pat
tern Of those occupying one of the halls in
the Bri ish Museum. At first these seem
to bave been gotten up at an enormous
cost; every dclail Of them satisfies the eye.
But when you draw nearer YOU can see
that nothing save al artists fancy and al
artist s hand could have produced SO much
effect with such slight means. Everything
that appears TO be gold is simply straw.
The giants hair, rolled in great rows Of
stiff Assyrian curls, was made Of q bundle
OF Virginia cigars, his earrings were door
keys, his head0rcss was a vegetable basket
studded with breakfast rolls, and so forth.
High in the air wo see the gardens OF
Semiramls hanging from The ceiling by
ropes, yet i'll which you may take Il walk
at your leisure. On close inspection these
gardens arc found to consist Of broom
sticks, potatoes, blncking boxes, wooden
ladies, lamp curtains, babies trmpcts and
paper cuttings, and yet thGaftfect is won
drous. II We add II few articles more,
such as rolls, fruit, Blankets dried fruit,
oranges, apples, straw mats, horschar,
lax, skins, we have the whole of the mate
rials used for producing the finest fairy
palace ever seen. This ball is most popular
with the artists because they are nccus-
toned TO making the most OF every chance,
and because they arc endowed with more
fancy and better eyes than other mortaIs.
Those who like spending large sums upon
their dress and making themselves coh-
spicuous by cxtrnvaguncc always grow
desperate when this ball approaches, for
here The best idea has tho greatest success.
nothing but two white sheets, laid In
Grcclan folds, sewn together and joined on
either shoulder by buckle, which was
nothing but horses bridlc-bit. Makar,
himself appeared as "Davld," the shepherd
boy, but he looked like n sultan, sur
rounded as he was by all the finest women
OF the capital. There were several Jewish
high lri .sts, whose breast plates were
beautifully represented by color boxes.
The boards and hair of the old Assyrinns
and Egyptians were represented in cigars
Or small sausagcs. Crowns made of
Spanish onions shonc like silver, those OF
yellow onions hko gold. The noble statue
Of David, copied from the one at the door
of the Palazzo Vecchio, III Florence, which
adorns the largest room, would not have
been III harmony with tho mnd scene, for
it was concealed in a large bathing cloak,
the hood Of which was drawn over Is head.
4 small statue OF Cupid wns disguised as an
Assyran street boy. IT is useless, how
ever, 10 attempt TO give Il correct dcscrip-
tion OF all this strange phantnsmagoria. !
will bu, say that if all the outward show
was G'schnus---'sh 'sham"-lhe laughter, the
gayety and the pleasure were real and un-
ieigncd, and lasted unabalcd until day
light poured in upon the "Iowcr OF l'abcr'
aud dispersed its building for another year.