The mirror., 1923-02-22
MARDI GRAS
By Mr.. K. L. M.

grifter brings memories of the colorful city
by the Mississippi, where it empties into
the Gulf of Mexico. What the Ak-Sar-
Ben is to Omaha, Frontier Days to Chey
enne, and Winter Carnival to the large
Canadian cities, the Mardi Gras is to
New Orleans, and the Mardi Gras over
shadows all other similar periods of merry
making in gayety and freedom from re-
straint.
Every year finds the same faces at the
quaint hotels of the French Quarter or the
luxurious palaces of the business district.
Old familiar faces are seen at the cafes
which remind one of those of the old
world, especially of Paris. There are
many restaurants in New Orleans famed
the length and breadth of the land for the
excellence of their cuisine. And there are
new faces, faces of men and women who
drink in the hospitable cup of welcome
held forth to the stranger, and who will
henceforth never permit the sun to strike
them in any place other than New Orleans
during Mardi Gras season. There is a
subtle fascination about the city that drags
one back with an irresistible lure, year after
year.
Critters meet solid business men on
equal footing; buxom matrons rub elbows
with dark-eyed demi vierges; over all is
the mystic spell of the hour. Bell hops
hold convention in small hotel on side
street, spending the evening in the pleasant
glow of "reminiscences, the later hours in
quest of elusive, yet haunting pleasure.
Pitchmen bawl their raucous summoning.
of the sucker on all street corners; hawkers
sell every conceivable kind of novelty, and
it seems that every travelling grifter in the
country is present.
Horse men spend hours over form sheets;
aquiline-featured young men incredibly old
in face congregate in lobbies and pool halls
with the inevitable "dope book" in hand;
professional touts whisper inside informa-
ton to gullible patrons of the turf; book
makers may be found everywhere. All the
regulars who gather wherever the bang
tails run are present.
Feature writers for the syndicate tap
out daily stories at desks in hotel lobbies;
sob-sisters are ever on the alert for heart
interest or human interest stories Blue
clad minions of the law eye seedy indivi-
duals suspiciously, and woe be unto one
who cannot assume the Southern drawl
with slurred RS in case he runs afoul of
the wielder of the locust.
Despite a certain similarity to other
Southern cities there is but one New Or
leans and but one Mardi Gras. It is hard
for the average Northener to throw him
self into the carnival spirit with the gay
abandon that characterizes the true native
of the South. The old timers are able to
assume this attitude of free masonry for
they are among the initiate; it is not a
matter of nationality but of temperament.
There is no more picturesque city be-
tween the Canadian and Mexican borders
and bounding waters than New Orleans.
The downtown district is typical of the
New World modernity with skyscrapers
clutching at the Aeecy clouds, and the in
cesant jangle of traffic, but get away from
this and you find bit of transplanted
Old World.
In the French Quarter are the simple one
and two-story structures of the Rue St.
German of Paris; the same winding
streets, some paved with cobblestones.
Parts of Royal and Cavondelet are truly
quaint. In French cafes you find smiling
white-aproned French women who are
more interested in seeing that you enjoy
the meal than in the money you pay for
it. Pastries, peculiar to France, may be
had; eggs are served in innumerable
dishes, each prepared differently.
The glittering palaces of food and