The central record. (Lancaster, Ky.) 18??-current, 1911-02-17
occurs the tableaux ball of the
Krewe Of -Proteus. at the French
Opera House, preceded by the
grand pageant on the street.
GENERAL REYELRY.


GENERAL REvELRY.
The next day, Mardi Gras,
brings the masking on the streets
and a general spirit of. revelry,
also the daylight pageant of Rex
and the evening pageant of the
Mystic Krewe of Comus, the lat
ter followed by a. grand. Comus
ball at the French Opera House,
and the Rex ball or, as announced,
Grand reception at the imperial
palace by the King and Queen of
the Carnival and the Royal Party,
and ball in the palace adjoining the
throne room of the imperial pal
ace" Then, of course, there are
numerous other balls and enter
tainments throughout the city. Rex
and his Queen, for at the social
functions he is accompanied by his
Queen, whose crown and jewels
have been on public exhibition for
days before-Rex and his Queen,
after their reception is over and
the Rex ball is fairly launched, go
to the French Opera House, as a
matter of courtesy, it is presumed,
to King Comus, for Comus, too, is
King. This ball, the. Comus ball,
at the French Opera House, is the
elite affair of the carnival. "The
essence and pinnacle of interest in
all the ceremonies of Mardi Gras. !"
At it the EXTREMIST of full dress is
exacted, and the ladies are only al
lowed to be seated during the pc
riod preceding the dancing, the
gentlemen standing in the back
ground. First come spectacular
groupings, of tableaux, of the cos
TUNED maskers from off the floats
of the street parade, after which
the musicians otl:l'cc up tie first
notes of the lancerS. Then the
maskers leave the stage, each Sc
lecting from the dress circle the
lady of his choice; they return with
them to the stage, where, led by
the King and Queen, they dance
the figures of the old-time South
ern lancers. At its conclusion
masks and costumes disappear and
the general dancing begins.
DIVERSIFIED BEAUTY.
Probably the most diversified
section of the United States in nat
ural beauty and variety of vegeta-
ton lies between Cincinnati, Ohio,
and New Orleans, Louisiana, along
the way of the Queen and Cres-
cent route. AT the very outset, the
name of this modern artery of
commerce and pleasure has an in
teresting history. This railway
system is named in honor of Gin
cinnati, the Queen City, and New
Orleans, the Crescent City. In the
early eighties, a Cincinnati admir-
er of Henry Wadsworth Longfel-
low, the famous poet, sent him a
jug of Catawba wine made from
grapes grown on the banks of the
Ohio river. At that time Cincin-
natl was regarded as a Western in
stead of a Central metropolis, the
center of population at that time
being far east of that point. Ex-
pressing his appreciation of the
wine, Longfellow replied in poetry,
denominating Cincinnati the Queen
of the West by the Beautiful
River. The title thus acquired has
lived with slight variations-the
great metropolis being called the
Queen City instead of the Queen
of the West. In this connection
it will be interesting to reproduce
the poem that gave Cincinnati her
nom de plume:
THE PICTURESQUE WAY.
Starting at Cincinnati, after
leaving the rugged country that
follows the Ohio River on either
side, the famous Blue Grass land
is reached. The Queen & Crescent
enters upon stretching vista,
broken into millions of miniature
views with points to please every
taste, relieved here and there by
the shapely proportions of some
country farm house or the bolder
outlines of an old Colonial home.
A thousand beautiful pictures are
unrolled before the eye. The land