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Show SOUTH CACHE COURIER Annual Festival Revives Past In Picturesque Mining Town Still Follow Stars I paths jffkm'mWMjML Traversed Gold Circuit9 I On WlAJ Features. CITY, COLO- .which tradition The golden in the 88 ago born years Was wilder-- j heart of a mountain I central f i ness is I city festival. i I ; being revived again this summer with presenta-- I Central tion of the twelfth In the famous opera house of this quaint in the heart of the tucked city Beethovens draMountains, pocky s and "Fidelio matic opera are be- romantic "Martha a cast of Metropolitan ing sung by Throughout the fes-- I opera stars. old stone Flo-tow- I tival i S j J 1 the picturesque old mining itself becomes a theater, pre-- I senting life as it was when Central as the richest City was known square mile on earth. town the festival this year production, has been extended to two periods, I the first running from July 4 j through July 26 and the second perAu- j formances being scheduled for ! gust 2 through August 27. Birth of the opera festival is I traced back to the 1860s when min-- s ers of the little boom town of Cen- - I t PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES SHRINE . . . Members of a party headed by Rev. Father James R. Cox of Pittsburgh, Pa., are shown just before they boarded an airliner which carried them across the Atlantic on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lourdes shrine at St. Agnes, France. Included in group is Sally Ann OLeary, crippled since birth, who hopes that the miraculous powers claimed for the shrine will heal her. Since the end of the war, thousands of persons have made the pilgrimage to the Lourdes shrine in search of health and out of devotion to their faith. Pittsburgh business and professional men compose this party. the summer theater Known as Central City of America, capital annually is host to thousands of visitors during the play festival. Because of increasing interest in the ! I t I - tral, despite grueling hours with the pick and shovel from daylight to dark, always managed to find time for an hour or so of music and drama of an evening. The prospec-- i tors who swarmed over the moun-- J after John Gregorys lucky strike which created Central in 1859 had only the faithful to share their toil. Save for a few Indian trails, there were no paths, much less wagon roads. So the performers of that bygone day, often world tains gold City burro j ... GOLDEN TRADITION REVIVED The nostalgic days of the past the richest square mile on earth are recalled in the annual Central City, Colo., Festival. The contrast between the present and the past is depicted in the top photo, showing opening night festival guests arriving in an old stage coach. Like a scene from the early days, the old gold prospector and his pack-lade- n burros (left) wend their way down Eureka street. A carnival atmosphere pervades Central City throughout the festival, with much of the gaiety centering at the historic old Teller House. The Lloyd Shaw dancers (right) are shown in the Teller House gardens. in contributed by the miners, was the finest theater wgst of the Mississippi river In 1878. Built of native granite with walls four feet thick, the opera house possesses an ample stage, perfect acoustics and seating famous singers or actors, covspace for 750 persons. on While many music lovers come to ered the gold circuit horseback. Central City simply to listen, others The historic Central City opera also are curious to view the hand-tintefrescoes of the old theater, house, which was built in 1878 to satisfy the demands of the mining its plate glass mirrors and crystal camps unusual urge for the finer chandeliers. Many another is attracted by the seething, good huthings of life, remains essentially the same today as it was 88 years mored boom town activities which crowd famous Eureka street. ago. Not so the roads and trails. Gone is the early toll road up Since the early days of the Golden Gate canyon, west of the old mining town, there never town of Golden. Today motorists has been a time when music on a was not the favorite byword of speed up the mountainside modern highway, paying no toll Central City. Early Cornish miners used to sing at their charges. The opera house itself, reputed to work, their old world melodies have cost $80,000 and to have been rising from the bowels of the earth with an eerie beauty paid for in great part in gold dust d above the sound of pick and drill. Early Central City people sponsored church choirs, quartets and even musical in whict duels, Irish ballad singers competed against adherents of German love songs. They paid royally when visiting artists came to town. So it was natural that when the famous opera house passed into possession of University of Denver in 1931, the firsl thought was to revive the musical glories of the past. The modem era of Central City opera opened with Lillian Gish the title role of Camille produced by Robert Edmond Jones in 1931 Since then, every year except during the four war years, outstanding productions with world famous artists and producers as well as the dramas and music of the masters have graced the old stage. HELPS DEFEAT FLOOD MENACE . . . Witii the Mississippi off on one of its most destructive benders in a century, farmers up and down the river were hard put to keep the rampaging waters from flooding their fields. At Wapello, la,, this crew of flood fighters rigged up a portable grain elevator to carry sandbags up to levee in background for speedier reinforcement and to eliminate necessity of embankment. workers hauling heavy bags up the slippery ''KOW-HO- 12-fo- ot HAVEN IN Old HILLS f season-limeligh- classics in the scenic vacationland of the Black Hills. the excitement Tempering of celebrations are quiet lakeside resorts and lodges where fishing, hiking, horseback riding and loafing are the most popular pastimes. There are cool, mosquito-fre- e evenings and long, sunny days in which to enjoy the enchantment of the region, so steeped in lusty pine-cla- d western lore. Scattered throughout the t of July Custer the week-en- d completing the months activities. August visitors also will find a varied entertainment fare. Opening the months activities will be the historic Days of 76 fete at Dead-woofollowed by the August Jack Pine Gypsy Tour and motorcycle classic at Sturgis, August boat races at Sheridan lake, August 17; the Hill City celebration, and the Key City August rodeo at Sturgis, August Concluding the summer vacation schedule, Lead, site of the Home-stak- e gold mine, will stage its annual Labor Day fete on Septem25-2- 6 d, 23-2- area are caverns enchanting underwonderlands with their many crystal formations and lakes. many ground trout streams and quiet canyon resorts. Here, too, in the vastness of Harney national forest is Mount Rush-morwhere Sculptor Gutzum and his son, Lincoln, blasted and carved the faces of Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt, symbolizing four great periods in American history. information Courtesy, service, and fairness. These four words have been adopted as the canons in South Dakotas treatment of vacation travelers. First enunciated at a series of tourist forums conducted by the Black Hills and Bad Lands association, the tenets for hospitality have been expounded throughout this scenic vacationland. Bor-glu- 30-3- 1. Charcoal Burner of 1875 Ranks as First Automobile in Nation of these is Wind ber 1. a national park recently Located at the gateway to the designated as the North AmeriBOSTON. Laurels as the buildei Pacific Northwest, the Black can bison preserve. More than of the nations first automobile go to area is making an all-oHills 1,500 buffalo, the largest tree Back effort to cater to vacationists George A. Long, herd in the nation, in entertainin the opinion of Massaalready man, variety Bay seeking roam the national forest and chusetts Council of Automobile ment or simple relaxation on prairie habitat afforded In the their holidays. Wind Cave and adjacent Custer The society believes that Longs In these highest mountains of the state park areas. United States east of the Rockies charcoal burning motor vehicle, The summer events, which in- are found the scenic beauty of the constructed at Northfield in 1875, variably follow a regular weekly famous Needles drive and Cathe- ranks as the oldest automobile. It schedule, opened with the tradi dral Spires in close proximity to consisted of a chassis on wooden wheels, with a fifth wheel in front for steering and a solid axle to which the driving wheels were keyed. Long got his idea for the contraption from an army camp in New Hampshire where he saw a steam boiler and visualized steam as the source of propulsion for his vehicle. The car was sold to a railroad, which replaced the wooden wheels with train wheels and used the vehicle to carry newspapers to Keene, Largest . and New Vie in Vacation Fare Belle STURGIS,. S. D. Western tional Black Hills Roundup atincludFourche. Other July events rodeos and historic of the gold rush days of ed Walls anniversary fete, parimutuel horse races and the Miss 1876 share the tourist South Dakota pageant at Hot with such modern at- Springs, the Black Hills air fair at tractions as an air fair, horse Spearfish and Range Days at Rapid races, theatrical productions and City, with Gold Discovery Days at motor-cycl- e vwavmwiv.v Cave, ut ONE ELEPHANT WHO FORGOT . . . Saucy, a London pachyderm, and her master, Ivor Rosaire, used to do this bite his head off trick five years ago before Rosaire went into the army. But five years was too long for Saucy to remember the routine. When they tried the trick recently, Rosaire, dangling by his ears, had to do a great deal of shouting between the elephants teeth before she remembered to let go. HERES ld HEALTHY, HE SAYS . . . Kenneth Dunn of Manhattan tosses out his chest for Dr. Gerard Moench who examines him before he goes to police athletic league camp in the Ten-year-o- N. H. Patents were obtained by Long in on a two speed, 300 pound steam road vehicle which made the first use of the ball bearing steering fork, still used on bicycles. 1883 Mother Cat Baffled By Offsprings' Toes JpGHLIGHT OF VACATION FARE . . . Western rodeos hold the limelight In entertainment attractions arranged for vacationers in the kck Hills. This rodeo scene is from the Days of 76 celebration Deadwood, center of a dude ranch territory. WASH. Minerva, a SEATTLE, mother cat belonging to Mrs. Mel Swanson, is baffled by her latest litter. One kitten has four extra toes on one foot and three extra on another foot. Another kitten boasts six extra toes on one foot and five on the other. ... HUNGRY WORK, THIS BEING A REFUGEE Red Cross officials claim that 34,812 persons were left homeless in the four states which were ravaged by flood waters. And all 34,812 of them were hungry. In this photo, a d flood refugee takes a man-size- d bite at the Red Cross shelter in Belleville, 111., while his dining companion looks on with some astonishment. The floods were among the most destructive In the past century. mid-weste- rn boy-size- HARD TO STOP . . . Gerald Green Jr., 3, shown here with mother, Mrs. Zora Green,' was pronounced dead by doctor after he had swallowed some crayons, then responded to treatment. |