The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-02-21
= HE HAS XII N LIE T TIE b
The Philippin Carnival

I d
This isscarniyal week In Manila
where. fourteen thousand miles from
nome. q handful Of Americans are tic
hosts TO all the East, and leading
spirits In the greatest celebration q
that part Of the world.
The carnival idea was evolved out
OF the eternal quest for ;amusement
4 For now that the days OF struggle and
conquest were over, life in the trop-
tcal East, with its eenneryatinR eli
mate, has become tiresome to- the
hardy pioneer from the states. Once
what had seemed q land OF Ian guorolis
romance had lost It's charm for him
when the last war; trench was filled,
! and there was nothing left but the
lhundruni Of city life-- a city that
was not home.
OF diversion there was none except
club lie for the men and tea parties
for the women The. movies, had not
yet crossed the broad Pacific to our
remotest frontier. The theaters. used
but infrequently In the old Spanish
days, were closed u Automobiles were
still too much OF a luxury to sbe en-
Joyed by the less iopulent.s !
SO club life for; thei men and tea
parties for the women came 20 be a
bore. People pestered each other
with dinners dinners where one all
ways saw the same people and talk
ed the same inanities with them.
This was3the condition of Manila
when Major George H. Langhorne,
then stationed With his regiment there
came forward with the idea Of a car-
lniyal-a ntardi gras IN miniature
With the eagernesB and enthusiasm OF
Edriled energy offered q new outlet, the
liplan was Beized upon, and resulted in
the organization in the latter days OF
E1903 of the Philippine Carnival Assoc
citation, under whose auspices tho am
nual show is held. as
With equal enthusiasm, the COM
rnunity setsftself to planning the first
show. All, were asked to contribute
Ito the work, expense and fun, and
1.-THE response was a revelation OF the
inherent democracy Of Americans
abroad Social distinctions were for
gotten and all worked with will
to make The first carnival such q sue
cess that Its memory still fingers as
q part of that vague but compelling
"call OF the East" which recurs with
strange persistence to thousands who
have lived for awhile under its In
fnence.
L Upon Wallace field, beautiful pa
fade ground near the bay, mystify-
ing carnival city reared Its pinnacles
and towers and walls, within which
the ingenuity OF hundred Americans
/ devised and executed as many forms
of amusement to startle and delight
In It's Inception the carnival iiea
was local to Manila, but so rapidly
did the news travel that from all the
nearby. provinces bored Americans
tlured by the magic words, something
new" made tedious and dangerous
Journeys to the metropolis TO take
part in the fun,
| The first show was held in Feb
frusry, 1904. American Manila from
"thc colonel's lady to Judy O'G1ady. =
Invent mad, and became as nearly the
same within and without as a kindly
providence and no fine line of distinc-
tion would permit. Native Manila
was inclined at. first to smile indul-
gently at the whimsical strangers
Here and there along Loco Lane as
the first street was called, Juan de la
Cruz, house boy; looked on in amaze
ment as master and mistress engag-
ed in IAN undignified confetti fight.
But the fun was too infectious, and
native Manila Joined It before the
week ended.
The first carnival did its work bet-
tor than the most sanguine of its boos-
tiers hoped for. 1t tore the first gap
ing, hole in the wall of caste, furnish
ed nine full days of mad and carefree
revelry for a badly jaded community
and. in q more serious sense, stretch
ed the first cable across the thereto
fore unbridgable chasm between the
s5sIsNB sU1 pu. ueoIIsmy sSn19Ap
Filipino Their timidity overcome, the
Fillpinos have taken an increasingly
large part in the management and
pleasures OF the annual event. Don
Jaime and Juan de Ia Cruz are now
equally enthusiastic .carniyalistas.''
Aftersthe first carnival. It's fame was
carried into the provinces by.returning
Americans, and in late years Ameri-
cans and natives by e.hundreds have
iourneyed from the southernmost is
lands to. the carnival city for. their an
nual brain dusting., Today. no one
wl.o has the price OF railroad or
lsteamship ticket misses the fun
After the second carnival. Ameri-