The Irish standard., 1886-08-07
a FANTASTIC SCENE.
Fhe Grotesque Throng Which Fills the
Streata of Nice on Shroxe CueailaY.

Fhe Grotesque Throng Which Fills the
Streets of Nice ON shrove Tuesday.
Who could describe the motley thou
sands that form the crowd? Who
could resolve them into their ele-
ments? Picture the most fantastic
scene and the most fantastic panto-
mime that was ever seen in theater or
circus, and multiply the effect ten thou
sand fold, picture thousands of masked
and dominoed men and women, attlred
as demons, as Mephistopheles, as imps
and apes, as cats and dogs, as frogs
and vegetables, conjure up hosts of
ghosts, think of the most horrible night
mare or the awful things Of an opium
orgie, and you have something of tho
effect produced on the mind by ones
first Impressions Of a Nice carnival.
Imagine this great pantomime, in which
fifty or sixty thousand people take
part, giving themselves up to the dar-
ing frivolities of the carnival for three
or four hours in the open air, with a
burning, blazing sun. The ingenuity
and the taste which are expended upon
this wonderful ceremony are extraor-
dinary, and not less impressive is the
astonishing variety of the costumes as
sumed by The crowd which has Hocked
here to take adeep draught of diabierie.
The tops Of the long colonnade were
black with people, and there was no
window and no point of vantage Which
was unoccupied. Up aloft some were
contented to brave the dangers without
masks. but the majority were both
masked and dominoed. Opposite the
prefecture was placed the throne Of
King Carnival, and the enormous fig
ure of that awful potentate lowered
thirty feet up in the air, Gargantuan
monarch, with features modelled in
proportion to his height. Like the
horse of Troy, his body serves as a
receptacle, not for men but for fire.
works. On the last night of the revel-
rics fuse is lighted, and the King flies
up to the starlit heavens, Illuminating
the evening sky with a million lights,
crimson, golden, silyern, shooting hith-
CT and thither, and dropping their
liuuid fire on the crowd. 1.-The King
is dead. Long live the King!' cry the
tickle plebs, and until 1887 the King
and his court arc forgotten. Round
this huge figure, standing out like
some savage idol, file the procession,
slowly moving up the street to the
braying Of trumpets, and the beating
of drums, and the fire of guns. The
grotesque throng keeps admirable or
der as the procession marches slowly
past. cheering and shrieking with
laughter and cries of admiration, keep
ing up q fierce fire OF confetti the
while. Bands of men, women and chill
dren pass. clad in long, flowing domi-
noes Of every conceivable cut and FASH
ion, red, pink, blue, green, violet,
slashed with trimmings OF other colors,
afording vivid contrasts to the body of
the fabric. The masks are hideous and
beautiful, with eyes bleared or Ian
gushing, mouth all awry or Of perfect
form, noses dwarfed, noses elongated,
hooked, bent, broken; faces bloody,
faces rouged, ochred; wigs of pink,
tresses of flowing yellow or Of coal
black. Many wear paper masks, which
admit of even more startling effects.
One sees clowns in sugar-loaf hats and
parti-colored robes, pan falcons and
harlequins and troops of devils. Even
the babes and children are disguised,
and mother would not recognize son.
nor husband wife.-lpterlor.