The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1894-04-28

And the White Folks, together With /
the Cow Boys and the Ministers Join |
/ In the Celebration Of the Fiesta-The |
Flowers Would Carpet the streets Of
horgantown-They are Beyond the
| comprehension of one accustomed to |
this latitude-Rev. j. N. Marsh Sends !
1 Greeting TO Old Friends,
Special Correspondence.
| UNIVERSITY OF CAL, Los ANGELES April /
| Is, ls94.-There is a proverb; First |
catch your hare, then eat il :" my YER
sion is: First have something good to I
tell, then tell it,.
At the Centennial Exposition two |
country girls stood before copy of the |
l Flemish artist Paul Potters great mas
terpiece, and one OF them read from her |
catalogue; The Young Bull after Pot |
/ ter"
Yes said the other, there's the
/ bull, but where's Potter?'
Don't You see him." asked her com
panion, tpointing to the figure OF the |
herdsman) behind the tree ?"
Two others were admiring statuette
OF Andromeda which was labeled ''exe- !
cuted in terra Gotta
Where is Terra Cotta?" asked one
OF them, with probably some vague idea
of Terra Del Fuego.
! I'm sure l do not know, y was the re-
ply, but | pity the poor girl wherever
/ it Isl
The subject of my letter, however, is |
neither The young bull after Potter. nor
the poor girl executed but the great
Carnival La Fiesta--just witnessed in
the city of Los Angeles. 1t is quite an
undertaking, but if l could give a pic |
ture, or only a rough sketch of this unique
event | would be willing to execute |
1t, even with poor Potter in the back
ground.
Americans take their pleasures too
sadly. Uncle Sam is long, lank, and in
clined to be melancholy. He needs to
laugh and grow fat. The back bone of
hard times would be broken il Uncle
Samuel would rise up and shake his old
sides once year in innocent merriment.
/ This is what Los Angeles has done
during the last week. Think ef i'll A
carnival IN these times week of
FESTIVAL reveling in the artistic dis
play OF the abundance Of things, not in
the time of harvest, but just as the buds
are opening with the breath of Spring.
SO ii is in the city of the Angels.
On Monday April 9th, the city was
transformed into a fairy scene by ornate
corations-wreathed in flowers. and
all manner of curious and artistic de-
signs by the blending OF the three Fiesta
colors, red, yellow and green-sehools,
professions and every industry lepresen-
ted. Everywhere we see red, yellow
and green-from the immense glass front
OF the great dry goods merchant to the
wheel OF the little dog cart. Wires across
I hQ ct htr., al.
sets, big ones and little ones on dog and
horse and baby-yonder is little girl
with the 'cutest little hat all Of Fiesta
ribbons.
Stretched across Spring street. Main
and Broadway are numerous incandes-
cent electric lights-red, yellow and
green by which words are spelled and
artistic designs represented
street cars, electric, cable and horse
are all beautifully decorated. Yonder
comes a cable ear like moving arbor of
fruits and flowers, while inside il is
crowded with passengers whose every
care seems beguiled or banished bv the
joyous spirit OF the occasion. Twenty
five to thirty thousand visitors are in the
city for this event. The Parks are filed.
the streets are thronged.
Every nationality is represented Here
they all mingle without distinction of
race, color or other condition. This is
Chinaman- with genuine pig-tail twist
and there is his more intelligent cousin
the Jap; and this is a Dutchman with
trousers enough for seven Here an
| Englishman built up solid from the
| foundation, buttressed with strength. the
personifieation OF roast beef and plum
pudding. Here an American so thin he
fails to cast shadow. There the dark
eolored Spaniard, and there the Next
can Old iispania and old Mexico TAX
ing root IN new soil Yopder in the Park,
under banana tree group of childrel
playing bllndman's buff, old harpers
playing their harps, Italian boys fiddling
Here circle of fifteen hobby horses
poised on pivot where girls in white
dresses and boys in coat of many colors
swing round the circle Here the Indian
-but-the Indian OF falcon glance and
lion bearing, the theme OF the touching
ballad, the hero OF the pathetic tale. is |
gone! and his degraded offspring crawl
upon the soil where he walked in mys-
terry, to remind us how miserable is man
when the foot OF the conqueror is on his
neck.
But what causes the gentle fiutter OF
expectation and the great throng to rise
LOOK, yonder they come. Mounted Po-
licemen lead the van See how richly
the horses are aparsoned-Suehh horses
They seem all aQuiver with life from
nostril to fetlock and rearing till YOU
fear the rider will no longer be able to
keep his seat.
Tramp, and rumble, and catter and
listen to the sound of the old Mission
chimes, how strangely they fall upon the
ear, waking up the past, perhaps the
spirit of the old hooded monk himself is
floating in the sound. Ii he laughs with
the merriest city under the sun he must
of necessity take off his hood and change
that minor key. On they come. Twelve
heralds mounted, holding the way for
the car of the Angels, twelve beautiful
little girls with wings and decked with
Towers, escorted by Spanish Cavaliers.
(Io describe any one of these represent
tatlons, called Floats, would require the
space OF a whole letter.
Next comes Float entitled, Prehis-
toric California; escort, Aztec Indians
Float-Landing OF Cabrllo--escort, Cav
alters. Float-The Old Mssions-es-
cort, sixteen monks.
This completes the first division, and
there are six divisions. The last or sixth
division, most wonderful and beyond de-
scription, is the Oriental Float or the
! display of the Chinese.
| Old Confuscius seems to have come
forth and awakened this most ancient
race and breathed into it a new spirit.
See how the light OF modern genius plays
over the yellow, shrunken, pygmy fea-
lures of these opium eaters. The bodies
and faces of mummies, but the spirit of
enterprise, and the tread OF patriotism
The dead come to life There they come,
led by Chinese policemen, followed by
'ceiestials' decorated with the finest silk
robes, rich and sparkling draperies, fam
tastic shapes, queer instruments, wheth
er of war or peace | cannot tell.
Listen to the queer music that comes
from that quaint chariot of silver and
gold, drawn by Chinese lackeys. The
music OF pots and kettles struck together
and bove ali this clatter and din, called
mus a, there is heard the thin, rollicking
but iconotonous note of bag pipel like
| instrument. But what is that wonderful
combination behind the chariot Things
celestial and things terrestrial What is
itp Heather god, arab of the desert
with spears, COW boy with spears, Mex
lean with coat OF arms, Old Nick, Hob
goblin, all in one. Such an unearthly
appearance must come from opium or
the devil Then the scene changes to
one of picturesque beauty, but forbear
description is impossible. The day clos
es, the first day of La Fiesta.
The second day has its new sights and
scenes and then comes the Carnival
night. Like "Belgium's Capitol" the
city is brilliant with many colored lights,
/ but no bacchanalian revelries, only the
merriment of the maskers. The real