The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-06-25
THE ITALIAN CARNIVAL.
Eorasthing About tho Festival Carnival Ia
tho Sunny Land.

ITALIAN SAHNtvAAS
sepasthing About tho Festival Carnival In
tho Sunny Land.
The period of carnival Ia the time of
feasting, dancing, masquerading and
buffoonery, principally indulged In in
Roman Catholic countries, says the
London Queen. 1t begins on the Feast
of Epiphany, or Twelfth day, and ends
On Ash Wednesday, when it is succeed
ed by the austcrities of Lent. In these
long rcvels some of the license
of the Saturnalia of the ancient
Romans may be still detected. Milan.
Rome and Naples were celebrated for
their carnivals, but they were carried
to their highest perfection at Venice.
The pleasant place OF oil festivity,
The revcl OF the earth, the masque OF Italy
In modern Rome the masquerading in
the streets and all the out-of-door
amusemcnts are limited to eight days,
during which the grotesque masl1crs
pclt each other with confetti, sugar
plums and bouquets. These are poured
from baskets from the balconies down
upon the maslsers 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
flour, and Il hundred weight is ammuni-
ton for a carriagcful of roystercrs
The races, however, arc not of tho
most striking out-of-door scenes. The
horses are without riders, but have
spurs, sheets of tin and all sorts of
things hung about them to urge them
EDWARDS. Across the end of the Piazza
del Popolo is stretched Il rope, in line
with which the horses are brought up;
in n second or two the rope is let go,
and away the horses fly at fearful
rate down the Corso, which is crowded
with people, among whom the plunging
and licking of the stccds often produces
serious damage.
The closing rcvcl of the carnival is
the Moccolctti, where the sport con-
sists in the crowd carrying lighted cam
dies, varying in size from the paschal
taper to the rush-light, with two OBJ
jects in view; first, how to preserve
their moccolctti lighted; secondly, how
to eNtinguish the moccoletti of others.
The moccolo is l1indlcd by approaching
it to light. But who can describe the
thousand means of eXtinguishing the
moccolctti? The gigantic bellows, the
monstrous eXtinguishers, the super
human fans. Dumas, in his Count of
Monte Cristo," thus wildly describes the
strange scene: "Thc night was rapidly
approaching, and already ut the shrill
cry of moccoletti! repeated by the shrill
voices of thousand vendors, two or
three stars began to twinkle among the
crowd. This was the signal. In about
ten minutes, fifty thousand lights flut-
tered on every side between the Piazza
del Popolo and the Palais de Venice" a
sight of which it is almost impossible to
form any idea without having seen it.
Suppose all the stars descended from
the Sky apd mingled in wild dance On
the surface of the earth; the whole ac-
coulpanied by cries suc. as are never
heard in any other part of the world
The facchino follows the prince, the
transtavere the citizens; every one
blowing, eXtinguishing, re!ighting
This flaming race continued for two
hours; the street was as light as day,
and the features of the spectators on
the third and fourth stories were plain
~ visible. Suddenly the bell sounded
which gives the signal for the carnival
to close, and at the Same instant all the
moccoletti were extinguishcd as if by
cnchantment. 1t seemed as though one
immense blast Of wind had distinguished
them all No sound was audible, save
OF the carriages which conveyed the
masks home; nothing was visible save
few lights that cleaned behind the
windows. The carnival was over