The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1908-04-09

bracelets. enameled pins or. perhaps
even their wands or satin mantles. The
jewels they give are no limitations eth
er n daylight does not reveal the
satin to be only a sham. 1t Is all real.
The favors are solid gold and the
satins and velvets are as fine as money
can buy, so 1T is little wonder that the
maid waits with beating heart her first
call out" that brings not only the
Joy OF dancing with a mystical interest
ing stranger, but a shower OF trophies
worth treasuring as well.
Each ball has its own king, queen
and maids, the latter being chosen from
the young women of New Orleans and
their visiting friends, and differ only
In ~gorgeousness. stage settings and
tableaus.
The Mithras ball which followed the
Falstaffian represented the adventures
of La Sid and part Of the court were
masked as dark skinned foreigners,
while Oberon was the Land OF Hearts
Desire where no wish wen ungranted
and all one dreamed of came to pass.
The larger balls have no tableaus,
but the costumes are more magnificent
and the favors Iovelier. Comus. the
nnest OF all, Is the meeting place OF
W courts for Rex, the carnival king.
AND his radiant queen with their train
or attendants leave their own ball to
pay a visit to this more exclusive one.
Rex himself must have behind him
q good sized bank account for the story
goes that to be a king Of the Mardi
Gras costs a man close to SO, 900, while
q rich father Is one OF the necessities
that must come with a queen for her
gown alone costs from $500 to 81 900.
Procession of Momus.
But though visitors nay o always
De able to view the splendors OF the
balls. the parades themselves are worth
coming hundreds OF miles to see. On
the Thursday night before Mardi Gras
the parade of Momus is given. No
more wonderful pageants ever passed
through city streets than those begin
ming on that night this year. The IT
noats following close upon the kings
chariot represented Aesop's Fables and
no slightest detail was lacking in MAX
ing each n as beautiful as none
and art could conceive. The krewe of
Proteus. composed OF 20 floats, the SUBJ
Jects OF which, taken from Edwin Arm
olds Light OF ASIA" glittered with all
the splendor Of the far East. Tropical
Jungles breathed with the very atmos-
phere or exotic blooms and queer wild
casts were carried past on wheels in
such q way that one forgot the soil
OF an American city lay under his feet
and dreamed that he had been whisked
ON TO that strange country that to most
OF US is little more than a myth. The
grand daylight parade on Mardi Gras
day, when Rex passes through the
streets n stops to pay his respects to
MS queen who waits his coming on he
gallery OF q Canal street club house
this year had for the subject OF fts
floats THE Classics OF Childhood"
Anderson's fairy tales. Alice in
Wonderland" Gulliver's Travels"
Arabian Nights" ever the beloved
Brownies themselves, their heads peek
Ing out OF a great drift OF snow, were
all there, and many more besides, that
brought out ordinations Of delight
from old as we'll as young. while from
every float handsful OF fancy colored
beads and trinkets OF all kinds were
thrown into the streets TO be caught
and claimed by the crowd.
Yet while the splendor OF all this
wondrous spectacle Is unlike anything
one ever sees elsewhere 1t is the crowd
itself that makes the carnival what Il
is. The people OF New Orleans are
the Mardi Gras from the time they are
children. They are made TO understand
that IL Is time for only good-natured
merriment. In all the throngs that
block the streets and avenues until it
Is impossible to move except as the
crowd itself moves there Is no sign OF
the rough or unruly element. The pass
ersby Joke with one another as though.
they were all one big family. and even
n street maSkers are grotesQ1ely
funny, furnishing amusement from
early morning until the midnight bell
proclaims TO the tired crowd that the
season OF gayety Is over and the hour
has come for fasting and PRAYER