The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-09-30
Spectacular Scene to be Pre-.
sented in st. Louis.
MORE NAMES ON HIS LIST
Many Invitations Have
Been Extended.
Ceremony In Connection with the st.
Louis Centennial Will be Conducted
In the Recently Completed Coliseum

Majesty, the Yelled Prop i
het, will this year crown his queen in /
n new palace. The Merchants 1x-
change, large enough i'm previous
the worlds Fair year
to accommodate the guests of this
queer old man. has been abandoned
for the recently completed Coliseum
The real reason for the removal of
the Yelled Prophet to larger quarters
Is said to be the lengthcning of his in
vitation list by the addition of tthe
Mayors of 1000 or more cities. who
are coming at the invitation Of the
Hon. Frederick ii. Krcismann. Mayor
of st. Louis, 10 participate in the fes-
tivities of Centennial week, October
3rd to 9th, inclusive.
Each Mayor accepting Mayor |
kreismann's invitation will receive an
Invitation and souvenir Of the Yelled
Prophets ball. The souvenir is set
Of two massive brass candlesticks.
bearing the date and the Prophets
monogram. The invitation accomp-
anying the souvenir Is brown packet
fastened with purple ribbon, contain
ing scroll, inscribed:
you are hereby commanded to APP
pear at the ball given in honor of Veil
ed Prophet and his court of love and
beauty at the Coliseum, st. Louis
Tuesday, October 8. 1909"
Following these words are strange
signs that constitute the Prophets
chirography. The packet, when un-
folded, discloses a series of pictures
commemorating the history of ST.
Louis from the landing of Pierre La
clede Liguest to the year 2009, in
which the Prophet foresees the Miss
issippi River a deep waterway crowd
cd with ocean-going steamers and 9th.
er crafts. and the air thronged with
aeroplanes, airships and balloons.
The pageant of the Yelled Prophet
and his retlnue on the night of Oc-
tober 5th through the downtown
streets from the Den" where the
floats are secretly made. to his new
palace. will be the most gorgeous In
his history, 1t Is whispered. Thc
/ Centennial spirit has permeated the
ola man, and he Is determined that of
the five great pageants celebrating
I the Tooth anniversary Of the incor-
1 poration of st. Louis as a town,nonc
shall excel nor equal his pageant. The
Prophet is said to have selected for
/ his Centennial foatS q series of scenes
ana characters that tell the story of
those 100 years, so far as 1t concerns
the rise of st. Louis and the West.
II will be great educational spec
tacle. n history on wheels.
st. Louis was the third city in the
United States to adopt the style of
carnival which burlesques the mon
I. Ill ,.IA Of l.Dl
1 he fore the Civil War, perhaps seven
IL years ago, Mobile originated an
annual fetc of this character. New
/ orleans followed suit, and in 1878 the
idea spread to St. Louis. That year
the Yelled Prophet made his debut
Each year since then he has been the
central figure of the citys greatest
ball.
Even before the Yelled Prophet, St
Louis had the carnival spirit. The
St Louis Fair, for many years the
city's great annual event. ana always
held during the first week in oc-
tober, was "A reality as long ago rs
1856. Great men, among theh'
Prince Albert Of Wales. now hlls
Edward. were guests of honor at the
st. Louis Fair. In 1870 street iilumi-
nations and festivities were added at
fractions of Fair week. The idea Oh
holding night pageant was suggest
ed in 1878 and with popular approx
al Tuesday night of Fair week was
selcctcd for the event. which became
known as the Yelled Prophet pageant
The st. Louis Fair was held on the
tract of land which subsequently pc
came the Fair Grounds Race Track
which recently was acquired by the
CITY for a park and which on octop-
er 9th. the last day of Centenhla'
week will be dedicated as FAR
ground"
In time the ST. Louis Fair gave way
tc a downtown industrial exposition
This exposition was held each Octop-
er for twenty years. and was not
abandoned until Just prior to the
Worlds Fair of 1904 The Nellea
Prophet however has survived the
fair and the exposition, Some citi-
zens think that he has outlived his
usefulness and would decapitate him,
Whether they ultimately will succeed
in killing off the old man whose lie
is so closely interviewer with the
growth of st. Louis from small
town to a great city remains to be
seen. But the Prophet Is destined 10
experience on october 9Th of this
wear the greatest triumph of his long
reign and his pageant and ball threat
en- to vie, in point Of popularity, nov
only with the other Centennial Week
pageants, but with the aeroplane, air
ship and balloon races
A shroud of mystery surrounds the
Yelled Prophet and his retinue. The
general public never knows the name
of the Prophet nor the names of his
followers. Every member of this
mysterious organization is pledged not
to reveal his or any fellow MEM
ber's connection with the pageant,
The organization is close corpora
ton. Followers of the Neiled
Prophet seldom resign. The member
ship is limited and usually passes
from father to son. Candidates are
passed upon with great care by Sec
ret committee and the important
qualifications are personal quality
and business or professional standing.
Upon the night of the pageant each
member, as he is assigned to duty,
loses his personality and becomes a
numhar Az suph he remains until