Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1895-09-05

to Nola to admire the famous Glgll, or
Lilies, which are its pride. Pure ira
dition (for can find no treatise or his
torical account Of the CUSTOM has
handed down from father to son the art
Of making these large structures, which
should be afraid to describe did not
photography come to the aid Of the
faith and enable me to lay before the
incredulous the proof that reality is
sometimes stranger than fiction. The
"Lilies" Of Nola, witch in the begin
ming were probably pyramids Of flowers
carried in the procession in honor of
st. Paulinus, are to-day towering
obellsks or turrets eighty or ninety feet
high, artistically constructed in Gothic,
Corinthlan, and Doric styles, adorned
with statues, ornamental friezes, bas-
refiefs, and emblems, and built on
movable platforms.
Undoubtedly the handsomest Lily of
the year | am describing, for purity of
design and elegance Of finish, was that
built by the Butchers Gid. 1t was q
turret in pointed Gothic style, inclosed
on all four sides, representing in pure
white and soft chiaroscuro tints the
central mnaret, with its delicate and
lacelike tracery, Of the famous cathe-
dral Of Milan. A winged Victory
crowned the summit, and beautiful
statues filled the ornamental inches;
and, vanity of vanitles! life-size por-
trait Of the proud architect decorated
the pllnth, to the edifcation Of be-
holders. The Lily of the prodigal wine
merchant have quoted was in delicious
rocco style, very tangle Of brilliant
coloring and elaborate detail as fan
tastic as a vase Of vieuX SAKE. The
grocers' Lily was in Gothic and the
shoemakers' in baroco style. The Lilies
OF the smiths and of the tailors rose like
colossal towers Of glittering majolica
while the bakers Lily, built in pure
Corinthian style, was admirably
adorned with reclining angels, trum-
pet in hand, that recalled the exquisite
seraphs Of Fra Angelica. Thus the old
artistic fire fingers in the veins Of an
uncultivated people, who rudely but
vividly express what they vaguely feel.
The choosing Of designs and the work
Of preparation occupy considerable
time; but the erecting, or dressing"
of the Lily, as it is called is, like the
building of Aladdins palace, done in a
single night-a haste rendered neces-
sary by the fact that an accidental
shower would speedily melt the gay
structure to paste, However, in this
brilliant climate, in the month Of June,
unless Vesuvius has very threatening
cloud-cap on, fair weather may be
counted on.
AS soon as the Lily is dressed and
fully adorned Il counted upon one no
fewer than fifty statues of papier-
macheD it is firmly anchored with ropes
to the trees and balconies about the
home of the gigliante, which becomes
the Mecca of the faithful, until 1t is
called to join the procession at the
public square. Then the rigging, which
is masked with thick punches of green
box and is gaily decorated with flutter-
ing bannerets, is mounted by daring
urchins, who poised here and there like
squirrels fifty feet in air, steady the
lofty pinnacle with invisible ropes. The
platform is occupied by the band, with
out which it would be impossible to
keep step, and the underpinning is
manned by the robust pOrters, whose
shoulders before the day Is over are
always bruised and often cut and bleed
ing. The gigliante, like band-master,
goes ahead and gives the signal of
march, crowds of small boys dance and
cut fantastic tricks before it, the people
applaud to the echo, and the majestic
pile moves swiftly and smoothly
through the crowd seeming to be pro-
PEELED by it's own impulse rather than
by the will Of forty men. The custom
is undoubtedly of Pagan origin.