The Saint Paul globe., 1901-08-26
KlRMESSS IS OPENED
ST. AGNES CHURCH FESTIVAL
WILL CONTINUE FOR A
YRWEEK
BIG
T0RGHLIGHT PARADE
Nv
Quaint German Customs of Long
Ago Faithfully Copied in
Many of the Fea-
lc5 tures.

mt,is
| Lafond street, from Kent to Mackubin
| streets, presented an animated and fes-
| tive appearance4yesterd afternoon and
evening, the occasion being the opening
! of the kirmessf of st. Agnes church,
which will continue throughout the en-
| tire week, and. for which elaborate prep
| arations have been made. Lowering
! skies and predictions of rain did not ap-
| parently affect the enthusiasm of those
interested in the management of the at
| fair or lessen the attendance and the
/ indication of success were most encour-
! aging.
The kirmess, as 1t is here presented, is
entirely distinctive from the dancing ex-
hibitions usually called by that name and
is essentially an open-air festival, more
of the character, of a country fair. 1t
is copied after the kirmess of Germany
and the German dependencies, which is
partly fair and partly a religious cele-
brat1on. Every effort has been made to
follow the old-country customs as far
as possible -
By permission of the city council La
fond street, from Mackubin to Kent, has
been closed to travel during this week,
and the thoroughfare as Well as the
property on both sides, which is almost
entirely owned by St. Agnes parish, is
devoted to the purposes of this demon
road from walk to walk near Mackubin
street defines the extent of the pleasure
grounds in that direction, and yesterday
/. AFTERNOON. a roped space at that end set
off the shooting range of the marks
men. who with long bow and cross bow
competed for the hOnOrs of the schuet-
ZenfeSt throughout the afternoon The
competition was open to all members of
the German societies of the city, and
the shooting constituted an interesting
part of the programme of yesterday.
The large brick school building has
for the time being been converted into
cafe, where refreshments of various
kinds are served and where every even
ing supper dstinctively characteristic
of one nationality or other will be served
by the ladies Of the church. In that
building also are located the headquar-
ters of the officers in charge of the fes-
tival. The school building is attractively
decorated with flags and bunting in the
national colors of the United States, AUS
tria-Hungary, Germany and Luxembourg
On the school grounds and adjoining the
building are the fish ponds, which are
conducted somewhat differently from the
usual church fair fish pond, inasmuch
as each of the prizes to be angled for
IS so carefully wrapped up that not
even the attendant who places it on the
hook knows what the package contains.
In one of these. packages there is a really
valuable gold watch, which adds ze st
to the sport. Near the fish pond is a
bowling alley with swinging balls, after
the fashion in vogue in some parts of
Germany, but rarely seen in this coun-
try.
PLAYED WHEEL OF FORTUNE.
On the grounds in the rear of the
church building is a booth handsomely
decorated with the red, black and white
of Germany, and there is located the
wheel of fortune, Whichi proved one Of
the most popular features of the enter
tainment. Over the booth appears a
motto in German, which, broadly inter
preted, signifies: Nothing venture moth
ing gained" and the visitors, thus ad-
monished, pad for their chances, and
if they were fortunate IN their selection
of numbers, were rewarded with articles
OF various kinds, more or less valuable
or useful.
On vacant lot on the corner of La
fond and Kent is located the so-caIled
sideshow, a large tent where every half
hour is given a, performance consisting
of the singing of rational songs in cos
tune, instrumental music, acrobatie
feats, juggling and various other at
tractiVe features
Along the sidewalk on the north side
corner
of Kent street, is a succession of canvas
booths prettily decorated with the Amer
icanr German and Austrian colors, re-
spectively, and there ice cream, lemon
ade. candies and fancJ work are on sale
The young women who attend each of
these booths, as We'll as those in attend
ance at the fish, ponds, are dressed uni
formly in costumes OF pink or yellow, as
the case may be, and present a very at
sc,TaffX
building, which is also on the north side
of Lafondl street, has been placed a ca
roussel, which has already proved very
popular with the achildIen. On other
parts of the grounds are to be found cane
racks and other mildly exciting games
of chance. sTep5-
The formal opening of the kirmess took
place last evening, when there was held
grand torchlight parade, which was
one of the principal events of the entire
weeks programme. This entire spectacle
was, from an American point of view.
distinctively foreign in It's character and
conveyed the impression of scene from
some German Village. The various so
cieties, with their picturesque and quaint
ly designed uniforres. the children in
their pretty costumes, and the floats pre-
senting scenes from German history of
past centuries all contributed to form a
The procession was led by d platoon of
mounted police, the only American fea-
ture of the affair Following came Bahr' s
band, which is made up of members of
st Agnes parish and st. Agnes Schuetz-
enverein, composed of the boys of the
parish, all of whom We're dressed in the
German foresters' uniform OF green One
hundred school girls, dressed in white
and carrying American flags, came next
caod a -,
Junior society and ST Agnes Gesellen-
verein in the order named. Next in order
was another detachment of the children
of the school and following the Austro-
hungarian Benevolent society, with its
own band, the Kaiser Francis Josef
Benevolent society and twenty native
Huns in the national costume. ST. Agnes
choir, in Tyrelese costume, and the Lux
emburger societies brought up the rear of
the division.
Leading the second division was an
elaborate float on which was presented a
tableau representing John, the blind
count of Luxemburg, who is credited
with having originated the kirmess and
his suite OF courtiers
One of the most. pleasing features of
the entire parade Rwas the 'Hemmels-
narsch," a symbolical presentment in
Which appeared three snow-white sheep
decorated with ;Wreaths of white flowers
and led with white ribbons by nine
youths attired in the red,- white and blue
of the grand ddehylof Luxembourg Ac-
companying this grbup and forming part
of the picture Werestwo musicians. one
playing a clarinet and the other a violin.
Then came the presidents and other Off
GERS of the three Isuxembvrg societies,
St. James BraIHsh of the Faithful Shep-
herds, st. Aloysfus Society of boys. an