The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-03-27

Line nome IOWu Oh AaSSeQd, CIdTls
baldi. and Catarina Segurana is a
hulking place, combination of ugli-
ness and beauty, Of industry and idle
ness, city whose native life moves
along Independent of the tourist horde,
numbering a quarter million visitors
year, just as the Paillon flows unno-
ticed under the Casino, the Place Mes
sena, and the perennially beautiful
gardens
Why 1t Is Best in Nice.
Its very size is what gives the Nice
festival precedence over the carnivals
of Cannes, Mentone and Grasse. Car
nival here has a popularity and
vivacity Of its own, largely because
175,O00 Niceans of French and Italian
descent simply can't resist the temp
tation to pay court to King Carnival.
dance to his piping, futter about his
bright lights in gay masquerade, and
forget such drab realities as affect life
in Nice as surely as they do in Maple
Valley or Kalamazoo.
terers' count as little as they do in
India. Flower battles are won or lost.
Regattas fleck the blue bay with dane
ing spots of white and night fetes
burst into polychrome brilliance above
dark waters. Dog shows attract prize
pups from wide area. Yet Nice pur-
sues it's wonted way in the crowded
old town, in the industrial districts
of st. Roch and Riquier, or in the
business centers.
But let King Carnival issue his revo-
lutionary manifesto, doff his tricorne,
and shoulder his Gargantuan way
through the motley streets, and every
one, from wrinkled granny to staring
infant, rushes to the show.
Just as "Old Ugly Face" the heroic
Catarina Seguarana, beat janizaries
over the head with her washing bat
and raised the siege Of Nice, so her
modern sisters desert their frail boxes
beside the Paillon, in which they swash
and paddle their laundry, to do battle
on the confetti-paved Avenue Of Vic
tory, that victory which comes when
pleasure triumphs over toll.
In their glad revolt against routine
and boredom, these warm-blooded re-
velers keep their heads. Wine flows
freely, but drunkenness is not COM
mon. Thugs, pickpockets and camp
followers are strangely absent. Sell
dom does anything happen to which
serious exception can be taken.
Confetti and Flowers.
Carnival and paper confetti, even
if some urchins garner their ammuni-
ton from the ankle-deep streets, make
a happy combination. Carnival and
plaster confetti smack of the days of
molten lead poured from the roof of
Notre Dame or the walls of Carcass
some.
Those who know wear wire masks
and dress in cloaks with a ruff1ed
hood to protect the ears; but the
splendid white horse ridden by the
marshal, in his red hunting jacket, has
to stand the pelting without benefit
Of armor. Plaster confetti is the size
of BIB shot, but somewhat lighter, and
friable enough to become chalky dust
beneath ones feet.
In flower battle, Nice puts the ac-
cent on the battle instead Of on the
flowers. 1t makes the concession of
forbidding the throwing of bouquets
tied with baling wire, and Of selling
nosegays rescued from the mussy
street, but the promenade is as crowd
ed and disordered as for q Corso
Carnavalesque.
A minimum decoration, consisting
Of sickly bouquets tied to the lanterns
of an ordinary carriage, will enable
its driver to rent it to those who don't
know any better, and to occupy a
place In the parade. Bowers of beauty
are sandwiched in between rheumatic
hacks, which, in obeying the letter Of
the law, have exhausted all spirit
whatsoever.
These distractions are filed with
deluded folk. who spend the morning
picturing themselves in the heart of
a flower battle and the rest of their
lives wondering why they e-er tried
to compete in beauty parade with
those whose chariots are completely
hidden by choice blooms.
For flower battles, one does better
to go to Cannes, Cagnes. Grasse, Men,
tone or Beaulieu. where the event is
a sort of family affair. where the am
munition is sweeter, the carriages anC
cars more uniformly dainty, and the
spirit more cognizant of the fact thai
a flower should be graceful tribute
rather than a missile