The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-03-06

anu tQ6 dear and dnectiOuauc tftOiSlAsshl'
has given his purse tuberculosis 10
| where the dollars slippDd through IN
the refrain OF regretful goodbye.
| Cold facts have cold feet with a
/ tendency to drive people to quinine,
jims and philosophy, and when folks
prescribe for themselves they are UP
against their own pill thermostat and
must swallow the dose.
The initial purpose OF the carnival
was, and is now, to put up spectacu-
! lar show that will induce people living
in other and more distant parts or the
United States to lie awake nights in
order to devise the wherefore to get
| to the city by the sea, without walk
| ing, to enjoy the most glorious sight
ON this quarter section Of the earth.
This is what the merchants and people
understand, and is the purpose for
which they say they contribute. So,
| If people can be coaxed here by the
carnival attraction they will after
wards depart for Their homes with a
leaner pocket book than they brought
with them, leaving that amount of
which they are minus, with the mer-
| chants, hotels, and other enterprises
| about the city, and carry away with
| them an impression that they never
knew heaven was only one OF the
names for this pile of dirt snuoo''r~
| down beneath the cerulean blue by
the rainbow hues of the sea- And so
when all was over, and glad days
vanish from sight, and the Yankee
| had hiked to the clover in the fields
of the Northern light, the merchant
and the hotel man would be seen the
| next day porting over their new horde
OF wealth that came flowing in
through the confetti to make their
hearts jump out of their places for
JOY. What an inspiring business
scheme to be sure.
And so the tale uDfolds. The mer-
chant and other business men catch
the CLINT of this beautiful CONNER
cial dream, and turn loose their dol
lars to put the carnival upon its feet,
and wish it god-speed for the fulfill
msent of their hopes.
The years roll on and the mer-
chants stick to their despairing
dream with losing hope. But results
must, in the nature of things. show
up, whether for good or for bad. The
inevitable must happen, and that
which has happened reads thus: Prom
year to year the merchant and other
business men have put up yearly sew
erai thousand dollars current coin OF
the Pensacola realm to gid the
scene under the starlight, and have
stood up hopefully behind their count
ers awaiting the expected golden
stream, which never came, and so the
query is, how does the gilded enter
prise pan out?
The results that show up are as
follows: The only tickets sold over
the l.. N R. r. to persons coming
to see the sights OF Pensacolian Mardi
Gras were to country people from
nearby towns in Alabama, and Flor
ida; they come poor, and to enjoy the
fun only: not 10 buy dry goods and
groceries. etc; they are pleasure
bent, and taboo the merchant, and If
you don't believe It, waltz yourself
into the stores about the city and see
how busy the merchant is during the
two days when the crowd is here.
With the exception of the ten cent
store, You find the merchants are only
busy with their thoughts and the dol
lars the other is enjoying It IS a
losing game with the merchant upon
whom the demand is made to support
the carnival glory
These men put their hands into
their pockets tosprop pleasure en-
terpFise that brings them no return,
and which has become a burden upon
them, and do you wonder that they |
kick when calls are made for their |
cash? High carnival is costly fun, |
not only does it not pay the mer-
chant, but 1t kills the business the |
merchant already had for a week af- |
forwards, and therefore it is no won |
der the merchant gets case Of sour
dough when the committee comes |
around
Does the carnival pay the hotels? |
Hardly. Ask the "Esca1nbia' Train |
loads OF people are hauled to this I'-.A.
on the bay, and the most of these |
train loads are negroes from near by |
towns. These people return home at |
night; but if they were all white PEG
pie and needed hotels the city's hotel |
accommodations are absolutely too in |
adequate to provide for them, and so |
the gist of it all is that If the crowds |
came from distance the hotels could |
not take care of them, but as
come from near by places they have |
no use for the hotels
But these people spend some money |
here, oh, yes. First in the restau-
rants, but chiefly in the saloons and |
dives, which raises the question is it |
fair to burden legitimate enterprise |
with an expense to benefit the dive
anu SaaOOu. ana Jnen Inc journal
wonders why the merchant kicks
when the share seller comes around.
Does he ever get his money back?
Now the man from afar, the import
ant man, who might get stuck On Pen I
sacolian citizenship. or return to his
country wearing a Pensacolian ad. on I
his face, if this man is not attracted
by the Pensacola carnival, where
does either the merchant or the city |
come in? This class of people is I
what the city puts it's frills on for.
The hotels viii tell you how many |
people of this class got here: they
are still looking for them. And so 1
the expense and effort of the chief Il
carnival hackers amounts simply to 4
this: that they put up a show for the 4
ediffcation Of the home folks and the Il
near by country people, and that is
all, and 1t doesn't pay.
Another pertinent question in II
trudes itself here, does it pay % .0Ae Il
people to take loaf for two days, II
closing the banks of the city, and
the wheels of progress and
commerce in the meantime to pull off