The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1907-10-31
trout of their houses and charging from
ten to twenty-five cents each for them.

trout OF their houses and charging from
ten to twenty-five cents each for them.
The entire circuit is about seven or
eight miles long, and at every point the
sidewalks are jammed with people, while
the available windows and doorways
are filled with spectators. A walk over
a portion Of the route an hour before
the parade last night led us to the
conclusion that it would be the greatest
folly to attempt to estimate the thous-
ands who were waiting.
The parade itself consists of electric
floats, drawn by horses, and supplied
with electricity by trolley wire like
those used on street cars, and, in fact,
the same overheard wire is used that
carries the powers for the street cars,
for when the Prophet comes along street
cars have to go away out on the end of
the line and stay there until the parade
is over. Each float is fitted up with
dozens and dozens of incandescent
globes which light up the fantastic
trimmings and weird decorations and
give an effect Undesirable. The diff
erent floats are designed to represent
something in science, history, art, ETC..
and some of them are very costly. One
year the subject chosen was Art and
Architecture, another year Mythology
was represented, while this year, His.
tory and the Drama furnished material
for the various displays.
But here comes the parade! In front
some mounted policemen, then about a
dozen gaily caparisoned steeds and
riders, the latter in costumes and masks
and then Float No. bearing the Yelled
Prophet with two of his high priests
seated on throne within the jaws Of a
dragon. The costumes are magnificent
but the bowling monarch is soon gone
and Float No. 2 bearing the Muses. OF
History and the Drama comes. Float
No. represents the Greek Drama
showing theatre with Aeschylus
Sophocles and Euripides, the three
great playwrights, in masks and cos
tunes rich and fantastic. Float No.
represents the Chinese Drama, then q
band of music that did not play, and
some old fellow on the curbing who had
evidently imbibed too freely of the stuff
| that made st. Louis famous called vo.
ciferously for music. No. 5, and we saw
Mark Anthony waving the bloody cloak
of Caesar over his dead body as he
delivered that famous Grafton. Their
came scene from "As You Like 1t" and
another band, but they did not play
either and our friend above mentioned
sung out, "Why don't you play?" The
Heidelberg students followed, singing
the "The Stein Song" Float No. rep.
resented the Chariot race from Ben Hur
and then came band playing, "Old
Kentucky Home," and our bibulous
friend sang the words, much to the
amusement of the crowd. But just as
the band came opposite to where we
stood something happened. They
changed the tune to Dixie When the
band plays Dixie in Leon people CLAP
their hands, tap their feet and look
pleased, but in st. Louis when the band
plays Dixie they don't go through two
measures until hats and handkerchiefs
are beating the air in the widest kind
of fashion, and the clapping and stamp
ing and yelling almost browns the music
That's the way Dixie inspires the south.
erner, and we cold blooded northerners
can not help but admiring them for il
either, and we do not live down here
4 very long until we too forget our dig.
nifty when the band plays Dixie. But