Evening star., 1949-04-10
The Carnival of 1871
ey John clesett srcetc,

United States. Pennsylvania ave
Tue Is no doubt tie best knowr
Of them all O! course. tire New
Yorker wiu say the same c. Broad
way, and the PhiladelphiAn the
same Of Broad street. but Penn
sylyaniR avenue Is not cnly local
in character. bu, national as vel
Here many o. the most notable
paradeS Of all time have passed
over its vide expAnse On the &C
eaSion Of the inauguration Of
Presidents and similar events. but
OF the purely local Affairs, nothing
has ever ecl,psed the carnival held
In 1871. JUS; after completion Of
the block pavement In February
Of that year.
The Star tells us that,
While the work Of replacing
the old cobhlestones on Pennsyl-
vania avenue with an improved
wooden pavement was In progress.
II was suggested that when the
work was finished II would be
good thing to celebrate the open
ing Of such a beautiful drive by
a days holiday. when the laws In
relation TO fast driving might be
suspended. and trials OF speed
take place.
The proposition was fayorahly
received from the start. and the
anniversary OF the Battle OF New
Orleans. January ?. was men
toned SIS proper time for the
festival. The original idea rap
Idly expanded, however, so that
1t was soon settled that there
should be not only trials OF speed,
but a civic parade. a procession
OF masqueraders and q variety OF
novel features. which would take
some time to prepare. and then
came the suggestion that the most
fitting time for the celebration
was Washington's Birthday. since
he was the founder OF the city
which. bearing his name.H should
take the lead in keeping alive the
memory Of his great deeds. This
was agreed to with unanimity. but
as the 22d Of February fell on
Ash Wednesday. and the program
had been so much enlarged that
it was feared one day would be
too short q time to get through.
it was finally determined that the
carnival'-which name had been
adopted for the proposed celebra-
tion--should be held on the two
preceding days. and that it should
not only be worthy celebration
Of Washington's Birthday and Of
the completion OF the first wood
pavement In Washington. but also
Of the spirit OF enterprise which
seem to animate our citizens and
prompt them to improve and
beautify the city. and make 1t the
great social center Of the coun-
try ."
Houses Decorated
For this great occasion, nearly
all the houses along the Avenue.
we are told. were decorated in a
most elaborate and expensive way.
Indeed. it Is said:
The Avenue was as clean as a
parlor floor, and apart from the
thousands Of Chinese lanterns.
reaching on both sides from the
Capitol to the Treasury Building.
and the numerous flags. burgess
and pennants stretched across at
brief intervals, every house along
the line was decorated with flags
and evergreens and flowers, SO
that our noble thoroughfare never
presented a grander appearance.
About noon, while the wooden car
riageway was crowded with gay
equipages and the sidewalks were
lined with spectators. all in their
holiday best. and the houses
decked with gay colors. all lit up
py the warm sunshine. the scene
was brilliant in the extreme.
Commencing at the eastern end
Of the Avenue. the gate Of the
Capitol Grounds at that point was
spanned by a massive arch OF
evergreens. Then came New
kinks saloon, beautifully decorat-
ed: then Celtic Hall. In the same
manner. adjoining which was Q
saloon improvised for the carnival.
and appropriately named Wei
come House Adams Express Of
flee was covered with flags from
door to roof. and not content with
that, the flagpole was festooned TO
the top Charley Mades' Hotel
was decorated with vari-colored
Chinese lanterns: Ben. Beveridge's
saloon also. and Bregazzi's. the
tournament headquarters was
haaytiF,,lIu faetropad orer the