The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1882-04-06
America, and from Mexico, were among the

/
audience In the Opera House.
| From the presence of the King we has
| tened TO q six O'Clock dinner, and then hur
ried back to Canal street to witness the dis
! play of the society known as the
KNIGHTS OF PRoTEUs.
Just here let me say Canal street is probably
as wide as any street in America; it may b.
equalled by Pennsylvania Avenue in Wash
| ington, or Market street in San Francisco, bu
is as wide as either of them, and the hanging
galleries which most of the buildings have
make it most charming street in which te
witness a parade.
Because it is always best tor every one tc
know just what is meant permit me to make
little explanation of the manner in which
the tableaux to be described are put before
the public. We all understand how they are
to be presented on the stage of theatre, but
as the Frenchman observed, lin horse train
on de public town, ISIS something else entirely
But it is not SO very difficult after all. Low
trucks, specially for this purpose, are pre-
pared, and upon this IS platform, the sides
shutting we'll down over the wheels. On this
platform the tableaux is set, the same as it
might be at theatre, except that it is
SO arranged as to be completely seen from
any point, and is without background OF
curtains, and instead of the figures re-
naming quiet they are M ost of them in
constant motion, every movement being
in perfect time with the music Of the &C
companying bands. The animals hauling each
pletely enveloped in gorgeous trappngs, and
are led by grooms in livery. Innumerable
torch lights, and the display of brilliant color
ed lights make the street as light as day, and
intensity the grandeur of the pageant by turn
ing all the tinsel to gold
No one can realize the vast expenditure OF
time, labor and money required to complete
the details of such a parade. For ten
months the work has been constantly going
on, preparing for this carnival season, brains
and hands have found no rest, for from the be-
ginning it was determined to make this Mar
I.Gras season excel all others, and that could
only be accomplished by most untiring efforts.
Imagination and research went hand IN
hand, seeking for something with which to
challenge the wonder and admiration OF the
Ieholder no cost was counted, so the prize
coveted could be bought with price; moth
ing so remote as to be beyond reach, nothing
so mysterious that its riddle could not be read;
every land, every cline was taxed to furnish
something for the great annual feast, and for
,nce, at least, New Orleans gave to all within
ier gates an entertainment such as could be
seen nowhere else in America. one which the
cities Of Southern Europe could not surpass.
The grandeurs of the carnvals of Rome and
Florence have never exceeded those displayed
III New Orleans during this Mard- Gras sea-
son, and while Rome seems to be permitting
these festivities to dwindle to nsignificance,
ler American rival adds new laurels to her
came with every passing year. No wonder we
pause to ask, can it go on from height to
height, or must it soon reach the upper side OF
tue circle in which all things travel, and then
begin its downward course; perhaps to reach,
It last, the lowest round of the ladder up
which it has climbed, becoming what it once
was, a hideous exhibition, participated IN by the
toughest element of the town, summed by re-
spectabilty, and recognized as parade sure to
end in drunken brawl, yielding rich har-
vest to the city prison, and seldom failing to
furnish victim tor the hangman's rope.
To one versed in NEUROLOGICAL lore the pre-
sentation by the Knights of Pro!eus was
crowded full and to the most ignorant behold
er it was as beautiful as dream. The weird
lights, the brilliant costumes, the magnificent
scenic display, combined in one grand specta-
Gle, which indeliby impress sed itself upon the
mind.
We abandoned ourselves to the romance of
the past, and clothed with reality the myths of
our fairy tales we bent our heads to listen to
the gentle vo ice of
FAIR ISIS, THE MYSTIC SPOUSE OF THE SUN,
and when we beheld her lamentations over the
loss of her husband, Osiris, our hearts were
moved in sympathy with her sorrow. We
wandered by the banks of the river Nile,
feasting our eyes upon the lotus and the lily,
and we watched the slender leaves of the palm
as they nodded to the nymphs below. On the
tall monuments we beheld written in strange
characters the history of the Egyptian land
and with each tableau the mysterious signs
took meaning, and we learned lesson of the
past. Close to the lips of the sphinx we held
our ears, and though we heard no sound, the
heavy shadows seemed to lift for brief mo-
ment; we Toasted upon the strange beauties
If t,nr >f tha Ia NTn
the Elysian fields of Paradise, and tasted the
fruits which grow only for those who dwell in
the coral caves of the restless sea beneath
silken draperies, under the white light of the
moon, sitting besid, Egyptians wrapped in
the rich robes Of an age which is tar away, we
doated upon river which had been kissed by
the sunshine until it danced and sparkled and
gllmmered like network of spun gold in
which myriads of diamonds were set, we long
ed to reach a helping hand to the fainting
girl who crawled slowly up the steps leading
into
THE TEMPLE OF SCRAPS,
where amidst all the splendors of the oriental
kingdom, he gave to the stricken body new
place we descended TO the ock.guarded cham
Der in which sits Osiris, pronounclng
JUDGMENT UPON THE SOULS CT MEN,
and we shuddered as we watched the God of
Justice carefully adjusting the scales in which
even we may at the last be weighed and found
wanting. Like the sudden bursting forth of
the light from an hundred mimic suns came
the
FESTIVAL OF THE LAMPS :"
"And the moon and the stars were there also.
and great light shone upon all {; and the
priests who served before the altar, and the
priestesses, whose raiment was shining like the
sun, waited round about, bowling low before the
Goddess Nuth, whom they did serve--the god
dess who, IN tOrm was like unto fair woman,
and whose head was like unto lion" Bril-
liant, dazzling light blazed from the summit of
every pillar and PEDESTAL even the roses shin
ing like crystals; there is everywhere the
brightness of the MONDAY sun.
The lights fade, the shadows fall, clouds are
round about, and the voice of sorrow falls up-
on the ear. The Egyptians are mourning for
their dead, surrounded by all their strange
parapharnala OF woe. Weird and full of hor-
ror it seems to us, and and we are glad to turn
from the wife who, standing near the coffin
with its mummy, tears her hair and writhes in
untold agonies, to the beautiful representation