Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-08
THE MERRY MASKERS
Who Carry on a Jolly War in Cities
of Peru on Carnival Days.
FANNIE B. WARDS EXPERIENCE.
Furious Bombardments With Eggs Filled
With Perfumed Flour.
BAPTISMS WITH COLORED WATER
rcoRRHsPoNDENcE OF THE DISPATCH. i

stranger, unacqualnted with the carnival
customs of Peru, chance to arrive in Are
quipa during that earliest and maddest
carousal of the year, he would think the
whole city had gone crazyl
The railway station is situated in the sub
urbs mile or two from the hotels, and
there being neither public nor private car
riages-he must walk that distance, or ride
up in the horsecars. Either way would be
bad enough during carnival time, but the
latter presents the advantage of somewhat
shortening his misery. AS prisoners among
savages are sometimes compelled to run the
gauntlet of blows rained upon them with
thorns, cudgels, fire brands or spear points,
those abroad in Peru during the three days
preceding Ash Wednesday are pelted with
egg shells hurled from all points of the COM
pass, delugcd with buckets of blood red
water thrown from balconies and house tops,
covered with -four colored in all the hues of
the rainbow; and besides these indignities
are liable to have their noses tweaked, their
hats jammed over their ears, and thousand
tricks and jokes perpetrated upon them by a
jeering crowd of carnival creatures in strange
attire, many of them with hoofs, horns and
rect from the internal regions.
| The Horse Cars Are Targets.
The horse cars, passing at rare intervals,
are convenient target from every side, and
| the luckless passengers cannot take to their
heels as pedestrians might. The drivers
knowing we'll what to expect, are swathed in
oilcloth from top to toe, and each is addi-
tionaliy protected by an umbreIla-like screen
| rigged up over head; but though he whip
his horses to their utmost speed, those inside
| the car are sure of rather rough treatment,
for the carnival players have ample time to
prepare their batteries and turn them full
force into the approaching vehicle.
To have realizing sense of this alleged
| "sport'-so like that between the boys and
| the frogs-the reader may imagine the
principal streets of Pittsburg packed with
maskers bent on merry mischief-people on
the pavements, balconies and house-tops eI-
cited to the highest pitch of reckless fun,
| with precedent and custom to uphold their
| widest excesses; while not only the most
staid and dignifed citizens, but mischievous
small boys, children and servants are priv
ileged to sling water, ad libtum, upon any
body. There is no use getting angry, how
ever despitefully used, for one cannot fight
whole clty-full: and nothing delights the
belligerents more than to get o hold of vic
tim who RACES and wants to whip the crowd.
| Three Days of Street Battle.
As before mentioned, carnival ends with
| Ash Wednesday. and though only two or
three days are devoted to street battles, the
fun begins a week before. During the
whole year. every household in the land has
| been carefully boarding Its egg shells. with
| an especial view to cascarones N)r this oc-
| casion; while every senorita has longed i'm
| patiently for its promised gaieties, and the
| gallant dons have mapped out their cam
| paigns and planned their grotesque or stun
ming costumes, What golden opportunities
those mad revelers afford for the tabooed
| lover to boldly enter the home of his sweet
heart under the friendly shelter of a domino
even to clasp her in his arms in the waltz
and whisper honeyed words in her ear right
before the eyes of stern pater familias-
much as those warning households in old
Verona, the Montagues and Capulets, be-
came so fatally mixed up under similar cir
cumstances.
During all that lover-encouraging season
there are semi-public balls in every casa,
and the ''gilded youth" (gilded age, too, for
that matter), masked and in fancy dress, 60
around from house to house, dancing awhile
and taking refreshment in each, till dawn
ing sends them home for a few hours slum-
Der. The maskers generally perambulate in
companies, headed bv a leader of known re-
spectability, who 6iscloses his identity to
the master of each house and vouches for the
good conduct of his followers.
A Sign of Social Favor.
No doors are closed against them, but, on
the contrary. the more house is thronged
with various companies Of maskers the more
its inmates plume themselves on being social
fayorites. Young and old join in the dance.
from the father down TO the children, and it
is not uncommon to see the gray-haired
grandmother swinging around the sala in
the arms of some unknown young blood dis
guised as a wild Indian, knight, a prince,
or devil. OF course, efforts are made to
discover who the guests really are. and the
latter disguise their voices by adopting the
high-pitched, squeaking tone OF actors in
Chinese theater.
The rough-and-tumble time begins in
earnest on Sunday when, till the eve of Ash
Wednesday. the streets are transformed into
perfect pandemonlum, and no lady dares
venture out between 10 A. NJ. and 5 in the
afternoon. The people are about evenly d.
vided Into besieged and besiegers. Those
inside the house. including all females, have
prepared barrels, bathtubs and tanks of
water colored ruby-red; while tine principal
weapons of the beligerents are eggs, emptied
of their original contents through small
hole in one end, reflIed with red water, flour
or powder and carefully sealed up again
with cloth or paper. These are called cas-
carones, and one may buy bushels of them
at the average rate OF 81 per hundred.
The Besieged and Besiegers.
The great endeaYor of the men in the
streets is to force an entrance into the
houses, and of those inside to keep them
out. Every shop is closed, every door
locked and windows barred and most of the
balconies are partially protected by canvas
curtains, behind which the besieged may
dodge when too closely pressed. The lords
of creation come on foot and on horseback,
in groups, in battalions and sngly, to
lombard with eggs the casas of their lady |
friends, who return the fire with interest |
from their housetops and balconies; and the |
gentle senorita considers herself most highly |
mplimented when the greatest number of |
eggs smash squarelv in her face.
The eminently ''swell'' thing is to 90 |
around on horseback, closely followed by a |
servant, also on horse, carrying big basket |
of eggs. A comparatively recent innovation |
in the way of water-throwing is the use OF |
enormous tin syrlnges, or sguirtguns, by |
which a considerable stream may be sent |
some distance with great force. The men
endeavor by every means, forcible and |
strategic, to gain entrance to the houses. |
They bring ladders and climb to the bal |
comics, or "shin up" convenient pillars, or
run like cats from roof to roof and drop |
down into inner eourtyards. or, failing in
every other method, a number will retreat 4 |
few yards, then, starting together on run,
as if storming battery, will actually kick |
or push door from its iastenings.
They Don't Care for Expenses
Once inside. the mischief that may be ac-
E..