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Show New Orleans Begins Celebrating CelebratingFamed CelebratingFamed Famed Mardi Gras for IIlth Illth Time TimeBrought Brought from Paris by a Gay Group Groupof of Students In 1827 I827 , This Age Old European Festival , Elaborately Developed DevelopedIn In an American SeHlng Setting , Has Added to the Renown of the theLouisiana lOUISlana Louisiana Metropolis as the Carnival Capital Capitalof of Two HemIspheres HemIsphereso HemIspheresVestem o 49 \Vestem Vestem Western \ Ne vspaper UnJon Union . , iU-Tw iU Tw iUTwt iUTwv - , : jj jjV V ) t v , j p pot ot\ ot otj \ j 1 . .nC nC . .nCA A , v ( , ! C m ' y Y Ya -a- a - aC am - ' 8 8S S , t tFrd Frd Frdk Frda " f fA ft fw fx fi fP fy ft w fa fA A k 4 d " 3 3r5 r5 r5F r5"y "y y " a A x i a F t /t t / y tA ta A a P fl r rt t Jw JwW Jwt Jwl t ; tk d M Md Mt My t W l t tS S\ S \ dxy y ? Sdxy 5 1 1I I t d4 d4L d4y d4is L y is isL isS _ L S - , S Sry ry ryh ryf h f . COURT OF JOY-KIng JOY KIng - and Queen of Mardi Gras hold court durmg during one of the gay masques as cour courbers courtiers bers tiers present the costumed guests to the royal maJesties of revelry B Bs By ) ELMO SCOTT WATSOND WATSONOWN WATSON WATSONBOWN OWN in N'Yawlins NYawlins 'N'Yawlms NYawlms ' ' ' " ( or perhaps you call it 'Nu Nu 'NuOrluns ' Ni Nu NuOrluns : BOWN DOWN D Orluns ' ' or ' New Orleens ' ) they re getting gettmg ready to tocelebrate tocelebrate tccelebrate celebrate a festival which has made the LOUisiana LOUisianametropolis Louisianametropolis Louisianametropolis metropolis the carnival carmval capital of two hemispheres It's Its ' the theMard1 theMardi thMardi ( Mard1 Mardi Gras that ostentatious pageant which like a fairy tale talecome talecome talecome come true , , parades year after year through the streets of ofthat ofthat olthat that picturesque old Louisiana city where the old blends with withthe withthe withthe the new in such bewildering bewlldermg fashion fashlOn _ year splendor , pomp and pageantry of theMardi the theMard1 theMardi Mard1 Mardi Gras increases mcreases and andthis andthis ancthis this year the city is spendmg spending spendmglavishly spendinglavishly spendinglavishly lavishly to create a spectacu spectacular spectacular spectacular lar demonstration that wilremain w11l fall w11lremam fallremain remam remain alive al1ve ) in n the memo memor1es memories memones r1es ries of the multitude of rev rev- revelers revelers revelers - elers until next year's years ' cele celebratIon celebration celebration bratIon rolls 'round round ' agam again agamTo againTo againTo To be celebrated against agamst the thebackground thebackground thbackground ( background of LOUIsIana's LOUIsIanas Lomsiana's Lomsianas LOUIsIana'snew Lomsiana'snew Louisiana'snew Louisianasnew ' new era of golden prosperIt prosperity prosperitythe ) , , the result of the * ' fair play to tomdustry toindustry tcindustry mdustry industry " program institutedby mstituted instituted mstitutedby institutedby by Gov Richard W Leche a alittle alittle little more than a year ago agothe , the 1938 Mardi Gras is 1S ex ex- ex expected ex.pected expected - . . pected to be more spectacular spectacu spectacu- spectacular - . lar than at any previous tune time tunem timem timem m its history h1story of more than a acentury acentury Ecentury EcenturyIn century centuryIn In this year s carnival carmval the lIght lIghthearted lighthearted lighthearted hearted Creoles of Louisiana are arepreparmg arepreparmg ar arpreparing < preparing preparmg to acclaim the good goodtJmes goodtimes gooctimes tJmes times the state is enjoying enJoymg as a aresult aresult iresult result of an industrial Industnal expansIOn expansIOnwhich expansionwhich expansiorwhich which has brought $47 47 $ 000 000 of ofnew ofnew onew new capital there in m a little I1ttle monthan more morethan morethan than a year largely due to the the'salesmanship th ( salesmanship 'salesmanship * ' of Governoi Governor GovernorLeche GovernorLeche Governoieche -eche eche Leche - , hnnselfa himselfa himself hnnself a descendant of ofan o : an old Creole family famlly and at attmrty atthirty athirty tmrty thirty nine nme rime one of the youngesstate youngest youngeststate youngeststate state executives eJ.ecuuves eJecuuves . in the nationAlthough nationAlthough nation nationAlthough Although most people have the theIdea theidea th thidea < idea that the Mardi Marcil Gras is ione-day ione day a aoneday aoneday one-day one day - - - celebration when thou thousands thousands thousands sands of visitors from all state states statesand statesand ; and many foreign lands join with withthe withthe wit.he withe ! the . citizenry of New Orleans m in mtheir intheir u.heir uheir their . merry making this is only onlypartly onl ol onlpartly y ypartly partly true As a matter of fact factthe factthe factihe the celebration has already be begun begun beSun beSunIt gun gunIt It started in slow tempo on onJanuary onJanuary 01January January 6 but from now on the thepace thepace thipace pace quickens and it willreach will reach reachIts reachits readts Its [ height of joyousness on MardI MardIGras MardiGras MardGras Gras day which wmch is Fat Tuesday Tues Tuesday Tuesday day or Shrove TuesdayThis TuesdayThis Tuesday TuesdayThis This year Mardi Gras day falls fallson fallson fall : on March 1 thus giving revelry revelryIn reveir ; in New Orleans free swing swmg for 53 53days 53days 5 ; days and nights mghts But at the dawiof dawn dawnof dawnof of Ash Wednesday the begmnmg beginning begmnmgof beginningof beginnmof ) of the solemn penitential pemtentlal penod period penodof periodof penoiof of Lent the frohcs frollcs frolics die down the themerrymakers themerrymakers thimerrymakers merrymakers depart and the city cityonce cityonce cit : once more settles down to the theleisurely theleisurely thileisurely leisurely pace which is l\ew l ew Aew I \ ew Orleans Or Orleans Orleans leans for ten months of the year yearawaiting yearawaiting yea -awaiting awaiting - awaiting another Mardi Gras GrasSecret GrasSecret GrasSecret Secret orders known as askrewes askrewes akrewes g krewes dominate dommate the social socialarrangements socialarrangements sociaarrangements arrangements of Mardi Grassupervising Gras GrassuperVIsmg Grassupervising superVIsmg supervising and planning the gor gorgeous gorgeous goigeous geous street parades and the scm scmhllatmg scmtillating scintillatmg hllatmg tillating masques the balls ballsMembersrup ballsMembership ballsMembership Membersrup Membership in m the secret orders ordersIS orderis IS restricted restncted carefully Membermust Members Membersmust Membersmust must meet rigid ngld reqUirements reqUirementsThey requirementsThey requirementsThey They pay fees to cover the cost of oftheir oftheir ctheir their Mardi Mardl Gras costumes the thefloats thefloats thfloats floats and the costumery of the thekmd thekind thkind e kmd kind and queen The king s robes robesalone robesalone robealone s alone cost $2 2 $ 000 and the queen queenroyal sroyal sroyal s royal Jewels-usually Jewels usually jewels - usually thousands thousandsof thousandof s of rhinestones and precious gems s gemfashioned gemsfashioned fashioned artistically-are artistically are artistically - are valued valuedat valuedat valueat at nearly half that amount Her Hercostume Hercostume Hecostume costume is an evening evemng gown gowrBesides gownBesides Besides ComusTwelfth the krewes of Comus Comu ; ; Twelfth Night Hevelers Revelers evelers and RPIthere Rpx Rex Rpxthere Rexthere : there arc are three other large secret seen ; social cliques These are Momus Mo Momus Momus mus Proteus and HermesAlthough HermesAlthough Hermes HermesAlthough Although the carnival carmval season seasonswmgs seasonswings seasorswings swmgs swings along at moderate tempo tempoafter tempoafter tempcafter after its opening openmg with the Janu January January January ary 6 ball it 1t develops into mto Emerry a amerry amerry merry whirl that leads from the thebaU theball theball baU ball a week pace to a balla ball a mght nightduring durmg mghtdurmg the final week winding wmdmg up upv.lth upwith urwith v.lth vlth with . both the Comus Camus and Rex Rexballs Rexballs Heballs ? balls in m a merger of splendorSpectacular splendorSpectacular splendor Spectacular splendorSpectacular night rught parade parades paradesstaged paradesstaged ; staged by the secret societies ca cater cater cater ter to the visiting crowds The Thecarmval Thecarnival Thicarnival carmval carnival reaches its acme on onMardi onMardi orMardi Mardi Gras day with the street streetparade streetparade stree'parade streeparade ' parade of the Krewe of Rex The TheprocessIOn Theprocession Thprocession ( processIOn formed by a score of offloats offloats o : floats and several thousand at attend attendants attendants tend tendants ants strings strmgs for five mile miles milesthrough milesthrough ; through the city along hlstonc historic hlstonccrov.d historiccrowd historiccrow crov.d crovd crowd . d thronged St Charles ancCanal and andCanal andCanal Canal streetsFloats streetsFloats streets streetsFloats Floats on which months of ofwork ofwork o ; work have been spent by artist artistand artistand artis'and artisand ' and artisan are drawn by whIte whItemules whitemules whittmules mules arrayed in m holiday trappings trap trappmgs trappings pmgs pings The floats breath takmg taking takmgm takingin takingin m in their beau beauty , , are fashioned to t ( ' government which carries carnes out outItS outits ouits ItS arrangements for the carmval carnival carmvalsteeped carnivalsteeped carruvasteeped steeped in m mystery Each of the thesecret thesecret thisecret secret societies numbers from 150 150to 150to 151to to 200 men generally club men menand menand meiand and those prominent promment m in social and andcivic ; an ancivic md mdCIVIC < civic affairs affaus Usually 100 are se selected selected selected lected to appear in the public publ1c dls dis dlsplays displays displays plays and for the most part throthers the theothers theothers others rem remain am in the background backgrounddIrectmg backgrounddirecting backgrounidirecting dIrectmg directing the colossal pageantThe pageantThe pageant pageantThe The preparations for one dls dis dlsplay display display play require reqUlre almost a year Torch TorchlIghts Torchfights Torchlights lIghts fights of one master Mardi Graspageant Gras Graspageant Graspageant pageant hardly die when work IS ISb isbegun isbegun b begun gun to fashion another carro carni carroval carnival carmval val still under the cover of stnct strict stnctsecrecy strictsecrecy stricsecrecy ) secrecy The first step after the thecurt thecurtain thecurtain curt curtain am has dropped upon Mard Mardi MardiGras MardiGras ; Gras is a meeting meetmg for the selec selechon selection selection hon tion of a design committee comnuttee for the thenext thenext thenext next carnival carmval and a captain IS ISchosen ischosen ischosen chosen with supreme power of ofdlctatmg ofdictating oldictating dlctatmg dictating the procedure Tedious Tediousdetalls Tediousdetails Tediousdetails detalls details require reqUlre weeks and finally finallyan finallyan an idea is bom born an idea that w1l1 will w1l1catch willcatch willcatch catch the fancy of the next car carroval carmval carnival roval mval crowd-one crowd one crowd - - one that will sur surpass surpass surpass pass the ideas of the other years yearsand yearsand yearsand and will MIl remain remam forever mdel1bly indelibly mdel1blystamped indeliblystamped mdehblstamped } stamped in m the memory of the therevelers therevelers th < | revelers revelersBalls Balls are conducted with ex extreme extreme extreme treme formality formahty Tickets cannot cannotbe cannotbe canno ' be obtained obtamed at any price pnce but arecomplimentary are arecompl1mentary arecomphmentary compl1mentary comphmentary gestures by thesocial thesocial the | social orders Greatly to be de- de desired desired de desired - - sired are the call outs in m wmch which wmchunmasked whichunmasked whiciunmasked unmasked society girls sit on the theouter theouter theouter outer circle clrcle of the ballroom balIroom ancawait and andawait andawait await the calling callmg of their names namesto namesto namesto to dance with the masked revel ' / I I j \ LOV III , . I 1 1w , w _ N kb kbat : at fM fMa4 t , a4 , 6 t ty y , z 4 4av av avqy qy p pkN kN 5 5y Y ' " , ! y , s z x f fJ y6 y6z , ; J } / t x r i it iJas Jas Jasy y a ax ax aCARNIVAL " x \ My- My Myfj - fj-- fj fjw - - w i \ * fy , ' * Vt y w b . _ ySh , % Wto . & iiAiS- iiAiS iiAiSufv - ufv S a wSwitv wSwitvA * , \A A \ wh dAwEAA M.1L6L M1L6L . ' & & CARNIVAL KISS-Romance KISS Romance KISS - Romance roams the streets during durmg Mardi MardiGras BIardiGras affections affectlons Gras and lovers lavers make no secret of openly proclainalnff proclaiming their affec tlons as this couple appears to be doing- doing - depict some theme mythological mythologicalflgure mythologicalfigure figure flgure creed of the social olderor oldei older olderor oldeior or historic hIstonc happeningRex happemng happening happemngRex happeningRex Rex king of the carnival carmval rides ridesregally ridesregally ride ; regally on his throne perched or on ontle onthe orthe the tle ) leading leadmg float and is surround surrounded surrounded cd ed by members of his court and andthe andthe the courtiers who toss trinket trmkets trinkets trmketsto trinketsto ; to the surging crowds The trm trin trmkets trinkets kets the king s largess to his sub subJects subjects jects cause a mad scramble by bythe bythe b ; the crowds as they surge forwar forward forwardto < to capture the mementoes to be betreasured betreasured b < treasured as reminders remmders of tn tne the tnecarmval thecarnival < carnival carmval carmvalThere carnivalThere There are few who understand understandthe understandthe the systern admirable and thorough sys S } ) s stern tern of organization orgamzatlon through throughwhich throughwhich which the grandeur is attained attainedIt It is a system as complete and andefficient andefficient nnc efficient as an army or a govern governmentm governmentin ment-m ment m ment-in in mcnt - - in tact fact it is a phanton phantom ers The girls who are chosen chosenare chosenare chosenare are assured of socialsuccess social success but butmany butmany butmany many are disappointed dlsaPPolIlted disappointedOne dlsaPPolIltedOne disappointedOne One of the newest developments developmentsof of entertainment entertalIlment at Mardi Gras GrasIS Grasis IS the children s parade which IS ISstaged isstaged isstaged fromMardi staged on Saturday a v . week eek from Mardi children cmldren ctuldren Gras day The school cml ctul dren of New Orleans prepare tllelr their preparetheir preparetllelr own floats select a kIng kIngand kingand kingand and queen and parade the streets streetsas streetsas as their elders The shoebox shoeboxfloats shoeboxfloats shoeboxfloats floats approach thei the thQ . beauty of ofthose ofthose olthose those of the full size paradesCarmval paradesCarnival parades paradesCarnival Carnival Carmval gained gamed its start al almost almost almost most as a religious festival feshval since sincethe sincethe sincethe the word generally means afarewell afarewell a farewell afarewell to flesh or one finalf'lng finalPing final finalPing Ping f'lng flng ' before Lent So after thefanfare the thefanfare thefanfare fanfare of Mardi Gras is over overNew overNew overNew New Orleans bellies eUlcs settles down to thepemtentlal thepenitential the penitential pemtentlal solemnity solemmty of Lent |