The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-08

2. Raulston.
 >-e-~-~-%%-%~><%<-%% ceding the seventies of Lent, all the fun, froic and feasting they can possibly hold Byron in his "Beppo," tells us that the old Venetians went the pace:
 In frolic. feasting, Adding, dancing.
 masking,
 And other things. which may be had for
 asking.
 Doubtless, the Washington social car nival, that grows more vivid and more rapid each year, facilitates many of these things, which may be had for asking" in matters of preferment and soft-plaee seeking. That the salons and bathrooms of the capital are a gilded and high grade lobby, 1t needs no ghost from the grave to tell us. However, one kind of kissing may be managed. the other surely goes by favor," and the gid- dier and more rapid the social rush, the better for the seeker after official oscula- tion. But the southern made carnival is a wholly different affair, both In its mak- ing and it's results. It is, ineed, the most unique and singular festival of the many on this continents and it Is truly remark able that-with it's yearly recurrence, its widespread fame for brilliance, novelty, and the tremendous annual visiting these draw that the detailed knowledge of 1t Is so meagre.
 The most noted of the southern carnivals, indeed the only one which has won and held national repute, Is that at New Orleans. And that has just laughed and whirled it's whole pop , ulation into the sackeloth and ashes of Lenten penitence, more brilliantly than ever before. The New Orleans carvinal is not thing of day or two. Nominally 1t is confined to the Monday and Tuesday immediately preceding Ash Wednesday; Mardi Gras that is Shrove Tuesday be- ing the last day of pleasure and of meat eating, before the forty days of fast. But, gradually the limit of the preliminary frolc has so enlarged itself that the car nival at New Orleans covers the entire fortnight before the two days named; and these are weeks wholly unique in the hls- tory of American pleasuring.
 The home among the wealthier and bet ter placed residents. which is not full of guests from distant cities is the rare ex- oeptlon; and this visiting represents the creme de la creme of aristocracy, whether arterial or putocratic. Each carnival, this social feature expands, and the in- genuity of entertainers is kept on the qui vive for novelty of entertainment. Din- ners dances, drives through picturesque scenes, theatre parties, the races, and the like, do their share But these can be seen elsewhere: what is wholly unique, and most fascinating from its novelty is the feature of the tableau balls. These are most exclusive functions; given by mystic 'Orders of which the member ship is strictly secret, and at which the entertainers are invariably masked But mai and int, tees from the crestsurge of fashion, speak for the sweldom of each function.
 The guests are received in an elegantly decorated theatre, or other ball room of unique decoration. Then the entertainers appear, masked and in rich costumes of some selected era, or of some allegorical or romantic story, or poem. Tableaux cognate to this are shown-always care- fully rehearsed and of great beauty-and then dancing follows. until the small hours. The piquancy and novelty of these balls lay in the mystery of the partners who lead out the dancers and it is never known that any maslSer ever betrays his identity, willingly. There are no less than seven of these tableau ball organiza- tions, each aiming to outdo the rivals in the richness and originanty of its en- tertainments; so what addition they are to carnival gaieties goes without saying.
 A never-failing titillant to society curi- osity and interest In these unique balls of the Creole carnival is the selection of a queen and her madens of honor for each separate revel. Their choice, made impartially from home and visiting belles, is regarded as a special social distinc- ton and is clothed in as much pre- vious mystery as the membership of the order itself, But, from the hour she re- ceives one of the quaint and eagerly watched for invitation cards, every beauty in New Orleans may regard her se-- as a possible Majesty for Night" Then just as the reve begins, the masked chief of the order and his chosen knights three or four perhaps-select partners for the court quadrille," who are crowned with pretty wreaths or coronets, and enjoy a pretty sway over loyal sub jects of Niobe. But the distinction of choice lasts for longer; and 1 know one grandmother in St. Louis, who still talks of when she was queen of Comus.
 The greater and more widely known of the Mystic Orders. of New Orleans those which first gave her Mardi Gras fame, and induced the annual throngs that seek her carnival-are the Krewe of Comus, the Knights of Momus. and the Krewe of Proteus. Later years, an in- creasing demand for invitations brought forth the great Rex Ball." an addition to the mimic monarch's open day recep- tion to the public. The balls are the closing functions of the carnival occurring on the last Monday and Tuesday preced- ing Ash Wednesday. they are magnin- cent and costly affairs their thousands of richly biazoned invitalons ever failing to cover the demand for them. But the l only difference they show from the small CT 'tabeau balls" is that each of these l final fetes Is preceded by one of those | dazzling street processions which have ! made this American carnival unrivalled | by the festivals of the old world. To | describe justly even one of these strange and brilliant processions would demand special edtion." They are the main