The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1918-10-15
AT
THE MARDI CRAS
Many People From Far
and Near Gather to
Witness the Opening;
Master of Ceremonies
Gives Good Talk and
Dancing Is On.

On Friday evening an immense
throng gathered to witness the open
ing Of the mardi gras by the kings
court. The royal party had rugged
up a stag court at the Republican Of
fee, and at o'clock they went out
and got on the big motor truck that
had been handsomely decorated for
the ocassion. Ford Hassing took a
flash light picture Of the party on
the front steps of the office as they
came out, and Cameroni the strong
man, was waiting In truck to pull
the firemen's truck ahead to make
straight the path" for the royalty.
The flagmast on the kings truck
struck sign and broke and there
was some delay in repairing 1t
Then Cameroni broke the cable
by which he was drawing
the big truck with his teeth
and that had to- be spliced. Twice
again the cable broke, and then the
royal party went on without their
advance cortage. The rest of the
program was executed as mapped
out. There was a real overflow as
semblage that swamped all the plans
of the committee and the royal truck
simply bored its way thru the pack to
the grandstand and "detrucked" on
to the platform among the musicians.
They were all in mask, the characters
being as follows:
The king, Byrd Trego; the queen
Henry Giles; page, Walter Patrie;
mayor, A. B. Stephens; Uncle Sam,
Dorsey Stephens; kings daghter. DR..
Mackie; British ambassador, Otis
Miller; French ambassador, H. f.
Hoffman; Rumanian ambassador, w.
J. Wallise; satin, w. w. Davis; royal
imps, Merrill Boyle and Forrest Ken
nedy; flower girls, two girls In red;
the kaiser, dummy with costume
and helmet; master OF ceremonies l..
w. Buckley.
Mayor Stephens had great key
three feet long, the emblem Of the
keys to the city and all good things
in 1t and he delivered this to the page
who in. turn handed 1t over to, the
king, with authority to run the town
wide open" and to have food of
fun. The king responded, saying
there would be hot time in the old
town tonight.
The master of ceremonies then gave
a short address advising the peo-
pie Of their privileges to engage in
dancing and play, and read a royal
proclamation closing with an appeal
Red Cross and all other war activities
to support the liberty loan and the
to the end that we might soon have
a victorious peace. AS he was dis
the crowd to start the grand
the king called a halt, saying
the kaiser had joined the royal party
and /beseeched them to let him have
a few minutes to talk to Uncle Sam
about peace. He was given mo-
ment to present his appeal, and was
reminded Of the slaughter of inno-
cents under his orders, the sinking of
the Lusitania and the atrocities in
Belgium At the mention of these
things the kaiser weakened and said
he was sick. At this moment Uncle
Sam lost his head and knocked off
the kaiser's helmet. After thef1rst
blow was struck he lost all control
and knocked the kaiser down and
kicked him on Of the platform. As
soon as he struck the paving the men
and boys within reach delivered a
volley Of kicks that sent him under
the platform out Of reach, and the
royal party descended and formed
for the grand march, lead by the king
and queen, followed by the mayor
and the princess, the members Of the
court, the maskers and a score of
and Bannock Indians, men
and women in their native costumes,
resplendent with feathers and beads |
and fine raiment.
Floor manager w. A. McVicar and |
half a dozen assistants had hard
time to press. the crowd back to make |
room for the march, and the military
part Of it had to be given up, and
the serpentine march substituted. |
It was q brilliant spectacle never be-
fore witnessed in Blackfoot with the
red man participating and bubbling |
over with enthusiasm as were all the
rest Of the dancers and spectators.
The king carried the big key upright |
and the Indians started merry i
zong. The band increased the tempo |