Catoctin clarion., 1899-10-19
Denver, October end, 1899.
Festival of Mountain and Plain.


Denver, October end, 1899.
Festival of Mountain and Plain.
Denvers fifth annual festival of Mountain
and Plain has come and gone. The glitter
ing Silver Serpent has made his annual pill
grimage and crawled back to his mountain
lair. The kings and queens have laid aside
their sceptre and dotted the royal robes.
Courtiers and diplomats have taken off their
velvet gowns and donned the democratic
dress of private citizens. The little maids Of
honor haye flown to their mountain homes
to live again their former life of pure SIM
plicity and rural happiness. The flower
embowered coaches and gorgeous floats are
hid away from public gaze and all the glare
and glitter of the past six days Is ended
Denver, the Qaeen Of the plains, the very
heart of the Wild and Woolly West, has
scored q wondrous triumph, at least she says
she has, and have learned better than to
contradict. And Julian Hawthorn says she
has and Julian knows; and what Julian says
goes, at least in Denvcr-that is because
Julian knows how to cod the people. To
this much III testify: the week has been the
most stupendously superb, ridiculously alb
absurd conglomeration of soul-stirring, car
splitting, heart -cnthraling pocket.cmptying
days ever saw in all my born life or any
other lite.
Did you ever see big carnival? No: well,
| If you will be good and listen, l will tell you
oil about it what happened and what ought
to have happened but didn't. know heap
more than did before; one thing, ] know
that Shakspere went to a carnival and when
he got home he said to his wife, what fools
We mortals be r and the poet knew what he
was talking about.
TO localize Carlyles aphorism, Denver is
comprised of 100000 people, mostly fools,
and for carnival week the fools broke loose,
turned out en- masse and took possession of
the city, and the crowd was augmented by
5000 more fools who came crowding In from
God knows whcre-trom Utah, Wyoming,
Nebraska, New Mexico and Arizona. In
hordcs and droves and mobs they came from
ranch and farm and shop and mine, from all
the surrounding country, and they paid the
prlcc-all their available cash. all their years
hoardings for WHAT A song, laugh, a
shout, 'rah; the fare Of color, the blare of
trumpet; all for little noise, bit of fun, a
crazy frolic. Some one has said give the
people but halfa chance and they Will go
crazy fast enough" The carnival was their
opportunity; and 5000 foreign idiots Joined
the native fools, and together made night
hideous with their howls, each trying with
the other to wake the biggest fool, and for
downright, sweeping, startling raving crazy.
i liotc lunacy and Madness they smash the
worlds record into hat.
As spectacular performance, it surpassed
my most sanguine expectations. For one
whole week, Denver was ablaze with color,
light and beauty. The city was transformed
into tairyland, with kings and queens and
palaces, with giants. pigmies, sprites and
elves, dancing along on wheels In one bewil'
dcring maze of beauty The parade OF the
Silver Serpent with its glittering trail OF
gorgeous floats all gay with the royal colors
of purple, gold and crimson, the occupants
bedecked III all the hues Of the rainbow pre-
scntcd a scene Of unrlvalled magnflcencc
and splcndor. And that other vision-thc
people, A howling mob that jammcd the
streets from end to end and iron curb TO curb
Pushing, showing, shouting, screaming, yell
ing like madmen, whooping like Indians,
veowling like wild cats, on they come-one
long, black confused mass of surging, sway
ing, see,hing humanity, that under the bril-
liant glare of the million electric lights which
flash along the purple darkness ofthe night,
forms vision worthy Of Dante's Inferno.
1t WAS great grand! glorious! and-yes, 1t
was-in the language Of the local press,
"howlng success" Everything is, i'll Den
yer, howlng success and sometimes Il
bowling humbug.
The show opened on Monday eve with the
coronation of the queen in the royal pavilion
in the centre of the grand stand. $1,000
peoplc filled the amphithcatrc and watched
the gorgeous ceremonies. The fat little king
saluted and crowned the graceful queen. and
then there was a tablcau not down on The
program-53 maids of honor-the fairest,
sweetest prcttics. girl from every county in
the State, trying to crowd down gracefully
from the top of-they called it tallyho'
but from its elevation, ! supposed it was
haystack and there were q dozen chivalrous
young knights stretching out their arms n
la Romeo, pleading piteously for the sweet
girls to make the break; and there were 10,
600 people laughing and screaming and tell
ing the girls how to do it, and when the cir
Gus got too hot, the girls got mad, and clutch
ing desperately their dainty gowns of fimy
lace, they shut their eyes, plunged into space
and lumbled down head foremost and every
other way, and the regular performance pro.
cecdcd and joy WAS unconfincd.
Tuesday there were three paradcs. First,
the Queens triumphant march through the
city, preceded by her royal guards ana
maids of honor, followed by the royal family
diplomatic corps, decorated carriages "f the
local nobility, and bicycle parade floating
along in trailing bower of vines and roses.