The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-06-18
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SEARCHING FOR GUY FAWKEs.
A Curious Ceremony Performed at the
Opening of Parliament.

A Curious Ceremony Performed at the
Opening of Parliament
Tuesday was the day on which parlia-
ment was to assemble. There was another
function, however of even more curious in
terest, which much desired to see. Per
haps I should say that | desired to see if
there was such thing, for was incredu-
lous that for 300 years the search for Guy
Fawkes had been kept up. But my in
credulity was rebuked.
Properly, the lord high chamberlain
should have conducted the searching party.
But other business kept him away, and so
his secretary, Colonel Darlington, came in
his stead. With him came party of the
women of the guard in their quaint old
uniforms. and party also of the marshal
men, an equally old and picturesque but
less known body of troops. Two abreast
they marched down into the vaults beneath
the palace, each man armed with sword
and pistol though their halberds were left
behind. Left behind, too, were the lanterns
they used to bear. The gas jets in every
vault and passage make them no longer
necessary. But with the exception of the
lanterns the search proceeded exactly as it
has done before the opening of every parlia-
ment since 1905.
They marched in weird procession
through every corridor and chamber in all
the dim underworld of the palace, peering
into every corner, opening every door and
making sure that nowhere is there Guy
Fawkes, with his powder barrels, waiting
TO blow queen and commons sky high. The
search completed they marched gravely
back to the upper air, and Colonel Car
rington telegraphed- We gods of fitness!
to her majesty that all was well, and that
she might in safety visit the palace. He
used the quaint old words and phrases Of
the Seventeenth century. But instead of
writing them on parchment and sealing
them and sending them by page or other
messenger, he telegraphed them. 1t seemed
like Shakespeare using typewriter.
Nevertheless the ancient function was
duly accomplished and soon after the
house of parliament met After all that
bother the queen did not come, but, as she
has done these many years, sent a commits
sion of gentlemen, high dignitaries to rep
resent her. Usually, they say, it is a bril-
liant spectacle; but this day it was somber,
dismal, oppressive. The five commission
ers who appeared in the house of lords
were Respondent in robes of scarlet and
white and there six or seven bishops of
of the Church of England, with their enor-
nous sleeves of white lawn. But every
one else was in biack-funeral black. This
was OF account of the death of the Duke
of Clarence. But the less formal proceed
ings in the house of commons were really
of most interest. As early as II o'clock
members began to struggle in, and at 2
O'Clock, when the speaker entered, the
great chamber was crowded
There is no denying that it was an i'm
pressive scene; much more impressive,
simply as a pageant, than the assembling
of the American congress The great,
stately, gloomy Gothic hall gives one a
feeling akin to awe. 1t is very different
from the bright, modern looking halls at
Washington. Then there are no desks and
chairs, but simply great oaken pews, like
those in a church, but running lengthwise
of the chamber. | will not say, however,
that the occupants are any more distin-
guished looking than the Washington
house Of representatives. The custom Of
sitting with hats on or off, as suits their
fancy, gives them an unsettled and half
rowdyish appearance.
The real session did not begin until
o'clock, the meeting at o'clock being de-
voted to shaking hands and going over to
the house of lords to hear the queens
speech read. This all lasted but twenty
minutes and then a recess was taken until
4o'clock.-LondonC Cor New Orleans Times
Democrat We