The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-27
Just Before Lent Its 1000 Inhab-
itants Suddenly Increase to
10000 Merrymakers.
ALL MUST WEAR MASKS
Otherwise They Are Sure to Suffer
the Penalty of Being Mobbed
When Seen in Public.
ORANGES FOR CONFETTI
Wild Carousal, with Music and
Dancing, Lasts for Three
Whole Days.
Special Correspondence Of the Journal.

Special Correspondence of the Journal.
BRUSSELS. March l6-When the editor
told me TO go 10 Binche. in Belgian Hahn
ault 10 describe the carnival I knew I
going to see something interesting. for even
the emotionless guide book terms IL ''cele-
brated.' but / was in no way prepared for
such a scene as l saw. and which well merits
description.
1 left Brussels on the Monday preceding
Shrove Tuesday so TO get well behind the
scenes before the fun began next day. and
l started with as decorous looking a lot OF
fellow-passengers as one would wish. What
my surprise. when at the end of my
two hours train run. to see emerge from
the carriages a number OF merry Andrews.
some masked and cloaked. some in fancy
dress. nay. even some men that had started
with smart top hats and immaculate over
coats emerging from the station with gar
ments turned inside out and their heads
tied up in handkerchiefsi
l had a letter OF introduction to a Belgian
family, one of whom came TO meet me and
pumped me right into its kindly bosom i'm
mediately on my arrival. begging me TO run
for the carriage as fast 1 could.
WHY" l asked with the mingled curios-
ity of woman and a journalist.
You're not disguised" was the reply,
land if the masked men catch you-run.
rum and taking my hand my new ac-
quaintance raced me to the carriage. where
1 had just time to pop in before a whack
from a bladder in the hand of one of a
band of masked and dominoed men fell
heavily on the carriage.
This is nice way TO receive a stran-
GER T Safd braathlaSsIv ssNhaf does IL
mean? Surely carnival does not begin till
Tomorrow"
Carnival began yesterday Immediately
after mass" said the young woman. whom
l shall call Miss Belgium. and who was. l
noticed now, in domino herself 1T is the
law here that from midday Sunday till Ash
Wednesday every one in Binche must wear
carnival dress. Look out and see what
happens to those who do not obey"
/ looked out and saw two strangers gaz-
ing ruefuly at new hats smashed TO shape
lessness and new coats a mass of confetti
and sand.
Our first visit must be to the costum-
iers." said Miss Belgium. and there we
went.
IN ROME LIKE THE ROMANS.
AS it was hopeless to attempt to vie with
the elegance of my new friends q found 1t
was the correct thing to have a fresh
domino each day, eliminating in elegance
on Tuesday, when harder mask was also
worn for obvious reasons) did not attempt
it. but hired a black domino with a smart
| blue tassel that dangled from the hood, and
a pink tarla,an bonnet with yellow fix
| ings" A black mask was the last item.
and, having shed my ordinary garb there
and then, / sailed forth with party OF
about twenty persons. found the town to
| consist of one fine wide street terminating
in a Grand Place slightly elevated. and
| here, as If for safekeeping and company.
stood the park. the church. the Town Hall
| sixteenth century and beautifully restored),
with the houses OF the most important citi-
| zens.
Every window in Binche was. to my sur
| prise, covered with temporary grating.
| even to the topmost story. All the mirrors
| in the cafes were boarded up. and apparent
preparations for standing a siege had been
made This looked alarming.
Before l go further ought to say that
| the speciality of the Binche carnival lies in
| its Giles. a group of men numbering about
| two hundred, who, dressed In particular
| fashion, revive every year an old festival
organized by the Spanish Governor OF the
province when Spain held The Netherlands
| i'm a bloody hand. The suit is gray. with
| lions. crowns and such unlikely things as
comets and stars applique I'm yellow and
red. with little black
| give the wearers the appearance of being
/ humpbacked, and each Gille wears an ex-
traordinary hat whose style is said to have
been suggested by the headdress of the
| Incas of Peru. for its stovepipe shape Is
covered with flowers and filigree, and its
| turred-up visor is surmounted by ring OF
/ ma gnficent ostrich feathers of the finest
quality, over yard high. These hats are
of all colors TO suit the fancy OF the
wearer. whose collars. sleeve trimmings
and the decoration at TIE bottom of mis-
trousers. in alternate rows Of lace and
| frilled ribbon, correspond in hue with the
hat From the headdress float six wide
sashes of ribbon. wax-face mask is
| worn Sabots cover the feet. and round the
waist, on a leather belt. hangs row OF
copper cowbells. a large grelot adjoining
the chest.
A BEDLAM OF NOISE
This finery is only donned on Tuesday.
but on the Monday afternoon / accom-
panied the GILES and the entire population
dancing through the streets to near farm
to fetch the straw for their humps thor
oughly enjoying myself and wishing my
own special friends could only see me. The
! GILES were masked and cloaked. and it was
evidently a solemn ceremony. Every four
of these important personages have their
own drummer. whose duty IL is never to
stop rub-a-dubbing, day or night, and the
noise with innumefable bands playing the
old world tunes associated with the fete,
was quite bewlldering.
How do YOU like it?" said Miss Bel
GUM, when he had with linked arms and
eight abreast pranced up and down the
street. merely pausing to take breath when
the musicians dashed mady into drink
! ing place.
''Well / think as a ballroom floor cobble
! stones leave much TO be desired. 1 replied
/ ruefuly, for my feet felt sore and bruised.
| but | found l had said quite the wrong
thing, for the Binchois the carnival is
the acme OF enjoyment. IL Is the one event
in the twelve months for them and they
I live anticipation one-half the year and
| on recollection the other half
/ | hoped when night fell that dancing
might cease and that | might be able TO
| steal to my hotel. but not bit OF IL. Torch
es were lighted and away We went again.
| When at last | begged retreat and crept
! home, worn with the novelty and
| fatigue of public dancing l found l might as
well have stayed up. for no one In Binche
goes to bed from Sunday till Wednesday
at carnival time. All the shops keep open
/ and as my hotel was In n prominent part
and my window looked on the main street
| / carnivaled very unwillingly all night. At
| o clock such a drumming rang In my ears
| that | at first thought of soldiers passing.
| next q wild clash OF bells made me think
| of goats; then. | remembered Binche and
| its carnival and half asleep. tumbied out
! of a bed so high and so unnecessarily prom
| inent in the frame that | damaged myself
| all over getting out and In
| Ii was barely o'clock, but the drummero
| were going round &c tell the GILES 10 dress,
| an operation I'm which the whole family
| CONTINUED ON PAGE ?. PART -