Omaha daily bee., 1905-09-04

carnival badge. The queen and her retinue
make the rounds Of the larger hotels and
look on at a dance, after which the mas
quers pay their court TO the royal party.
While gtyety reigns everywhere in the city
It Is good-natured and harmless. specta-
tors may be attacked by a jolly set Of
jewellers but the worst that they need fear
is being buried under a shower OF confetti.
The Baby Parade.
All this gayety but leads UP TO the crown
ing event OF the festivities. the baby
parade
Babies from every state in the union
and nearly every country in the world
have, one year or another, taken part in
this unique show. Weeks before the date
set for the parade mothers enter their
children at the official booth on the board
walk, and at the eleventh hour hundreds
more entries come in, swelling the num-
Der until Asbury Park seems to httingly
deserve its name Of the Childrens Para
disc. Eighty thousand people gather at the
resort TO witness the annual parade, grand
stands are built to accommodate the vast
throng. while as far as the eye can reach
are gathered vast crowds of spectators
ranged along the line of march.
When the long line Of little children
pass by in gala attire marching. being
wheeled in baby carriages. go-carts ex-
press wagons, toy automobiles, mounted
on ponies. sitting in pony carts, or posing
in symbolic attitude on decorated float,
they present a picture the like Of which
is not 70 be found elsewhere in the world
The carts and perambulators are entirely
hidden beneath the lavish decorations
thoughtfully planned and lovingly executed
by mother hands. Each proud parent hopes
to win a prize which will be public ex-
preston OF her own thoughts concerning
the charms Of her offspring.
Escorted by a guard of lilliputian Rough
Riders there are flower girls, butterflies,
birds, Cupids, Dolly Vardens, every con-
ceivable character in fact, marching by,
while perambulators buried beneath mass
Of flowers or other decorations with a tiny
baby face peeping out from its heart, pass
In review. The other features of the carni-
val week are not unlike those given In
other cities, some being on a much larger
scale, but the childrens carnival in which
the babies participate, touches the hearts
OF the thousands of spectators as no other
pageant in the world does, and makes each
one long to confer a prize upon every tot
taking part.
Close of Festivities.
With the marine carnival on Deal lake,
the weeks festivities are closed in blaze
OF light and splendor. Titania, seated in
a royal barge strung with coiored lights
and decorated with that lavishness in
vogue when Cleopatra sailed the sunny
seas OF the old world, reviews the fairy
like scene and the long line of decorated
boats and barges. When the last light
grows dim the golden coach, the regal
robe, the crown and sceptre, the milk
white horses, the heralds, pages and the
fairies who waited upon her highness as
sumo their ordinary roles in life and As.
bury Park becomes once again a free and
democratic city with no thought Of royalty
and precedence.
Several thousand dollars are spent in
handsome prizes. over fifty being presented
at the last parade. A hundred persons are
required to serve on the various commit
tees which make and carry out plans for
the festival, and there are usually twenty
five judges for the several divisions of the
parade. The members of the Asbury Park
Carnival association. which was established
in 1901. arc named each year by the mayor
Of the city, and upon them rests the re-
sponsibility OF conducting the entire affair.