El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-01-24
A Visitor
Writes of
Carnival
From the San Antonio Express.


Ell PASO. Jan. 19.-There is only
one city in west Texas. surrounded by
a wealth of mountains with a gcodly
supply of enterprise and enthusiasm
and that is Ell Paso. Situated in a
mountain pass it is the gateway to
Mexico from Colorado to the Pacific
slope and the Importance of the city
has so fast become recognized that
today it sustains a prosperous popula-
ton of about twenty thousand. 1t is
city of handsome brick buildings
and pretty residences with Hastily built
homes reaching from Mount Franklin
to the Rio Grande, from Fort Bliss to
where the nine railroads vie with each
other in the commercial supremacy
necessary to the building up and main
tanning a city.
Ell Paso might be called "City of
Hotels" as well, for imposing struc-
lures of this class are on every side
and yet the rooming capacity seems
hardly equal to the emergency. 1t is
a city which draws trade from Denver
to Chihuahua, from Prescott to the
Pecos and to its credit let it be said
that the merchants are most alert and
enterprising.
This is the Midwinter Carnival week.
1t is a grand commingling of America
and Mexico. Thousands of visitors
are here coming from Arizona to New
Orleans and Dallas, from Denver to the
City of Mexico. The city's hotels and
rOOming capacity is crowded to the ut
most. The Carnival is on and it's sue
cess is unbounded, demonstrating the
strength and power of combined vest
ern enterprise and energy. The visitors
who each day view the parades and
join in the merriment number about
ten thousand.
The Midwinter Carnival opened last
Wednesday noon amid a grand demon
stration and pandemonium. The can
non doomed from Fort Bliss, the bells
of the city rang, the steam whistles
blew, the bands played, the small boy
and the grown man blew horns, rang
bells, shouted and Joined in making
the air hideous with weird and varied
sounds calculated to remind one of
Christmas or New Year in other cities.
The midway shows opened and the
men on their small platforms began
crying out in description of the grand
and enhancing scenes behind the white
wall tents which were arrayed near
the main Plaza. The electric fountain,
the French theater, moving pictures,
'.Lunette,' the flying lady, trip to the
Orient, electric theater, Mexican vii
lage, ''Bosco." the snake man, the Ossi-
fled man, California George and the
Little Willie" hot-cake joint. The
largest living snake is here also, and
everybody was happy in the content
ment of the hour for it was the open
ing of a Midwinter Carnival and Ell
Paso had put on it's best Sunday clothes
for the occasion. At night the great
est social feature of the Carnival took
place at Myar opera house when Miss
Claire Kelly was crowned Queen of
ho 10 Ix-C hnn Ha nf
Chihuahua, Mexico. Addresses were
also delivered by the Carnival prime
minister, Julius Krakauer and master
of ceremonies, A. S. Greig, after which
an elegant musical entertainment was
given consisting of solos and chorus
of one hundred voices.
Ell Paso is the heart and financial
center of a great mining district en-
bracing Mexico. Texas and New Mex
leo, and the city did due honor to the
miner by closing the days ceremonies
with banquet to visiting miners in
Guiding the celebrities from Mexico, |
Juan Hart formerly of the Ell PaSo |
Times, was prominent among the min |
erS, he having escaped from evils OF |
the pen and ink to strike probably less
forcefully, but more successfully with |
shovel and the pick. Each day has one |
or more parades and the streets are |
constantly filled with an expectant !
audience Thursday the civic, military
and trades parade was one of great |
interest and wonderful length. demon
strating the strength of the city in its
magnificent progressiveness. In the af-
ternoon the Shriners took up the line
of march through the hot sands,
making an imposing scene.
The Shriners' paraded and about
"novices" were exhibited
on the backs of the Spanish donkeys.
At night these 'noviceS" were put
through the excruciations of initiation, ]