Evening star., 1925-03-15
CARNIVAL At NICE
RUINED BY STORM
DoWnpour of Rain Causes
Loss of Millions of
Francs.

Local weather conditions in Europe
seldom get into American news Re
Gently, however, millions of Ameri-
cans read with interest over their
breakfast coffee that 1t had rained at
Nice. Why rain made cable news
Is explained in A bulletin from the
National Geographic Society.
THE unusual downpour had come
day after day during carnival week
the red-letter period OF pleasure in
the gay Winter capital of the
world" says the bulletin. spelling
tens of thousands of dollars worth OF
hunting and no one knows how many
millions of francs worth of gayety.
Gayety Reaches Height.
Mice is often cavailed at as too
boisterous, too crowded, and too
noisy" the bulletin goes on. but it
continues despite all that to be the
capital of Europe's Winter play
ground, the Riviera. Cannes draws to
its villas and hotels those of quieter
tastes. Mentone lures its invalids.
while all the other scores of resorts
along this sun-bathed Mediterranean
coast draw to themselves appropriate
groups of those in search of pleasure,
rest, or health But Nice is the meet
ing place for all as we'll as the place
of temporary residence for thousands
who find this bustling city and well
equipped resort, rolled into one, ex-
actly to their liking.
Nice's gayety rises in crescendo to
the carnival which takes place just
before the beginning of Lent each
Spring. This more or less historic
celebration, a type for numerous
festivals around the orld, began as
a modest fiesta many years ago 1t
became an organized celebration IN
1871 and has drawn increasing crowds
since. 1t must be admitted, too, that
It has grown in rowdyism. There are
quiet-loving souls who leave Nice tor
the carnival Just as there are those
who flock there for it. The Celebra-
tfon cCnters about the battle OF flow
ers in the Promenade des Anglais.
There are parades that feature the
ludicrous as well as the beautiful.
and the inevitable dominos, masqueS.
street songs. street dances, horns ana
confetti.
British Colony Aids Workers.
There is a considerable English
colony at Nice. 1t dates back many
years, as one might surmise when
Be learns that the Promenade des
Anglais has borne its name since
1921. Some of the earliest of the
seekers of Winter sunshine from the
British Isles were in the modest
Ri'jera town that year when an un-
ust al cold snap ruined the orange
crop They dubbed together and
gave the unemployed natives work
by bnilding a road along the seashore,
the Promenade des Anglais. A wag
has said that this roadway was built
by tho unemployed and has been used
by tho unemployed ever since. The
chief boulevard and shopping street
in Nice is the Avenue de la Victoire.
With its smalt shops and smartly
dressed shoppers, it is typical
Partisan boulevard in miniature.
New Nice, with its wide streets
and bright buildings, has grown over
large srea, almost obscuring quaint
old Nice. One finds the old town in
a seemingly compressed quarter
across n little torrent from the newer
city, between the stream and a bluff
like promontory, Castle Hill, which
was the acropolis of the earliest
settlement. On one side of the
stream are narrow, crooked streets,
houses centuries old and here and
there rlined palaces. 1t is medi-
eval-looking place, but is inhabited
by thoroughly modern mechanics.
tram drivers and other less opulent
inhabitants of the city. On the other
side of the stream lies the new city
With It's avenues ana
theaters and casinos, sweeping uphill
inland to a zone Of hotels, palaces
and villas.
Nice Setting superb.
Although many criticize Nice for
Its modernity and its too-rapid
growth, all agree that its setting on
a spacious, sparkling bay enfolded
by green and lavender hills, is superb.
To see the city and its surroundings
at their best one should ride over
the famous Grande Corniche road
From Nice it climbs to high shelf
(the name means great cornice or
shelf) on the inland hills overlook
ing the entire region, both seaward
and off to the snow-capped Alps.
Napoleon built the road between 1906
and 1912 to facilitate military ex-
petitions toward Italy. Now it is
given over almost entirely to pleasure
traffic. over it during the season
whiz char-a-bancs and motor busses
and private cars. After warm weather
brings an end to the season this road
of Incompatible views is almost