Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-10

SOCletleS Is an Important event IN the
life of any young woman in New Or
leans; while to be queen" of Comus,
Proteus or Momus, is to score a tri-
umph of dazzling brilliancy All these
distinctions, however, pale before the
honor of the Queen of the Carnival"
the occupant of Rexs throne and the
recipient Of the homage of all New
Orleans.
Generally, queen and maids are
chosen from the families of the mem
bers of the organization. This rule has
been occasionally violated, as. for in
stance, when Winnie Davis, 1.-THE
Daughter of the Confederacy," was
chosen to preside over one of the car
nival balls. Miss Davis had no rela-
tives in the carnival organization
which made her its queen" but her
case is not looked upon as establishing
precedent.
The king" is always some member
of the organization who has been long
in service. His identity is made known
to the whole membership, in the case
of all the organizations save Rex, only
on the night of the G. tertatnment
Rex, which gives two pageants, has
two kings, whose identity is revealed to
the members just before the pageants
start 1.-The King of the Carnival is
the monarch who will preside over
the Rex festivities. His name is
eventually made public by the New
Orleans newspapers, and IS the
only one in connection with the
carnival which is thus revealed, all
the other "kings" remaining unknown
so far as the public in general is con-
cerned. The beautiful jewels worn by
the carnival kings and queens, made
abroad and costing S400 or $500 per set,
become the personal property OF the
wearers, the gift of the organizations.
In order to understand what the car
nival balls are, two points must pc
borne in mind. The first is the essen
TALLY private character of these enter
tainments. The societies consider that
the parades are for the public, but the
balls are for themselves. Invitations
are therefore hard to procure, and are
highly valued. The other point is that
these carnival balls are the descend
ants of the old king parties popular
in colonial Louisiana, and still enjoyed
in the rural parts of the state. In
these scattered communities, where the
Weekend dance is the main amuse-
ment it is customary to crown some
young man king" who is thereby put
under obligation to entertain at SIM
liar ball within a specified time. These
continue until the advent of Lent puts
an end to such gayeties.
The average carnival society has be-
tween 250 and 400 members, and the
dues range from $25 to $100. There are
probably fewer than 5000 men whose
time, money and brains make and pay
for the New Orleans carnival They
represent the most exclusive circles OF
the city. Who they are is a matter of
speculation, as the names of the MEM
bers are jealously guarded. In fact,
everything about the carnival is kept
a profound secret, partly because 1t IS
necessary to make the pageants effect
i've, but also BECAUSE the mystery Whets
the enjoyment of the participants. Inc
maskers upon the cars in the carnival
professions are the rich, prominent and
exclusive citizens of New Orleans. 1t
Is sometimes hard for the visitor to
understand that elderly business men,
bankers brokers, noted lawyers and
Judges should be willing to don the
mask and costume and undergo the fa-
tisue of a carnival parade, but such Is
the fact.
On the carnival parades and the
balls of the six or eight minor socie-
ties, New Orleans spends from $150,OO0
to $4,000 The average pageant costs
$13, 900 to 500, 900. These sums are drawn
almost exclusively from the pockets
of its members. In addition to the
dues every member appearing in mask
at the opera house balls is expected
TO present llONSlo anu -ON NiAtA'
the young women with whom he
dances, which, together with the ex-
pense of carriages and suppers, sell
dom amount to less than 500 for the
evenings entertainment.
For many years the chief carnival
pageants were designed by B. A. Wik-
strom. the New Orleans artist who
died in New York last year while at
work on the Hudson river pageant.
The finest floats are made by one i1rm,
a father and his sons. In their huge
workshops on the outskirts of New
Orleans the work goes on rapidly
throughout the year, two or three cars
being completed every week. so that
within eight months the Comus Pro-
teus. Rex and Momus cars are all
completed. It is the fact that nowhere
else in the world can workmen equally
ingenious be found to undertake this
sort of labor that makes the New Or
leans carnival unique. In fact, the
failure of attempt after attempt TO
initiate these pageants has led to the
curious practice of other cities buying
the cars after they have been used IN
New Orleans. Rex gets back some or
the money it spends this way; but
the other large organizations do not
sell their cars, nor make any attenlpt
to carry over from year to year any
thing of Importance. vast throhes
flock to New Orleans to see the carnl-
val pageants The number is conser-
vatively estimated at 100000, and the
money left in the city by this army OF
sightseers aggregates an immense
sum-probably over $1,5O0,OOO.
Tomorrow-NIeetIng of Clay Workers.