The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-05-08
DE ITALIAN CARNIVAL.
sSSIa..thlIlg About tne Festival CARNIVAL IA
the >unnY Iaad.

seSu4.th hing About tne Festival CARNIVAL .A
the sunny Land
The period Of carnival ks the time If
feasting. danciny, rnas-loerading and
bu1foonery. principally indulged In n
Roman Catholic countries, says thc
Iondon Queen IL begins on the Feast
OF Epiphany. or Twelfth day, and ends
ON Ash "Wednesday, whom il j. succeed
ed by the austcrities Of Lent. la these
long revels some Of the hccnsc
Of the Saturnalia Of the ancient
Romans may be sttu detected Milan.
Rome and Naples weCr celebrated for
their clruivais, but they were carried
II their highest perfection at Venice.
Tiie pleasant place Of aii fcstivity,
To- rcVei o. The earth, the masqne OF italy.
In modern home the masquerading IN
the streets and all the out-of-door
an u.s. uIents are limited 10 eight days,
during whish the grotesque maslsers
pelt each other with confetti, suEar
piums and bOuquets. These are poured
from baskets from the balconies down
upon the masaers passing by below in
carriages and afoot, and they, in their
turn, pelt the company at the windows.
The confetti are made of chalk or
-four, and hundred weight is ammuni-
The races, however, are not of the
most striking out-of-door scenes The
hor-es are without riders, but have
spurs, sheets Of tin and all sorts Of
things hung about them 10 urge them
oDwur,iS. Across the end of the Piazza
del Popolo l. stretched q rope, in line
with which the horses are brought up;
IN a seco-f ur two the. rope Is let 60.
.tF H.. ft,5s- . rr.1
rate dow N the Corso. which is crowded
with people. among whom the plunging
and kicking Of the steeds often produces
serious damage.
The closing revel Of the Carnival i
the Moccoletti where the sport con
>ists IN ta,- crowd carrying lighted can
dies, varying in size from the paschal
taper TO the rush-iight, with two oh
iects ia view; first, how 70 preserve
their moccolctti lighted; secondly. how
to cXtinguish the Inoccolctti Of others.
The moccolo Is lzindled by approaching
il 10 light. But who can describe the
Thousand means Of exlinguishing the
mOccoletti? The gigantic bellows, the
moustrous cxtingrishers, the super
human fans. Dumas, in his Count Il
Monte Cristo, thus vividly describes the
approaching. and already at the shrill
cry Of moccoletti, repeated by the shriIl
voices OF a Thousand vendors, two or
three stars began to twinkle among the
crowd This was the signal. In about
ten minutes. fifty thousand lights fUt-
tered on every side between the Piazza
del PopOlo and the PalGis dc Venice, q
sight of which il i almost impossible 70
form any idea without having seen il.
suppose all the stars descended from
the SKY and Icinr'ed n Z Wild dance on
the surface ot the earth; the whole ac-
cCmPonied ~ cries such as are never
heard IL any other part OF the world.
The :ac ,hino follows the prince, the
tr;.nstavere the citizens; every one
blowing. eXtinguishing, -clighting.
This flaming race continued for two
hour; the street was Is light ~ day,
and the features Of the spectators on
the third and fourth stories were plain
i visible. Suddenly the bell sounded
which gives the signal for the carnival
TO Close. and 81 the same instant all the
moccoletti were extinguished as If by
enchantment- 1t seemed as though one
immense blast Of wind had extinguiShed
them all. No sound was audible, save
Of the carriages which conveyed the
masks home; nothing was visible save
a few lights that cleaned behind the
windows. The carnival was over.