Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 07.djvu/112

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PAGE 80 PAGEANTS first story, "Marse Chan" (1887), at- tracted immediate attention. "Two Lit- tle Confederates" (1888); "On New- Found River" (1891); "Elsket and Other Stories" (1891); "The Old South" (1892); "Pastime Stories" (1894); "Unc' Edinburgh" (1895); WALTER HINES PAGE "Social Life in Old Virginia" (1897); •'Santa Claus' Partner" (1899); "Gordon Keith" (1903); "Sword of the Spirit" (1913), etc. Appointed Ambassador to Italy 1913. He resigned his office in 1920, and was succeeded by R. U. Johnson. PAGE, WALTER HINES. Editor and diplomat. Bom in 1855 at Cary, N. C, and educated at Randolph- Macon College, Virginia. He entered newspaper work in 1880 as editor of a paper in St. Joseph (Mo.). Later he served on the editorial staff of the "New York World" and the "New York Evening Post." From 1890-1895 he was the editor of "The Forum," and later be- came editor of the "Atlantic Monthly" and the "World's Work." He was a member of the firm of Doubleday, Page, and Co. publishers, from 1899 until his death in 1918. In 1913 President Wilson appointed Page Ambassador to Great Britain, and both during the period of American neutrality and later partici- pation he handled affairs with consum- mate ability and tact. PAGEANTS AND CELEBRATIONS. The celebration of historic events by dramatic reproductions of scenes con- nected with them is at least as old as the Greeks and Romans. In modern times, in many countries of Europe, developments have been added to them according to the time and place, and carnivals, masques, popular parades, ex- positions, and military^ maneuvers are some of the exercises in vogue in dif- ferent lands. In the United States the celebrations attendant on the commem- oration of Independence Day led to the development of many of the elements in pageantry, and a great fillip to the movement was given during the celebra- tion of the centennial of the Declara- tion of Independence in 1876. _ The central idea of the pageant is simply that of the unspoken drama given on a larger scale out of doors, the pre- dominating feature being that of a mov- ing tableau in which a procession ol characters take part. The scale is con- fined simply to the number of persons taking part, and the dress, bearing, man- ners, and grouping is in accordance with the period represented and the event commemorated. In France the art of the pageant has been carried to a high degree of perfection, and as a rule its frequency and success has been most marked in countries like France, Italy, and Spain where the climate is favora- ble to outdoor representations of that kind. From France the idea spread to Great Britain, where in recent years a succession of successful pageants have been given, despite the uncertainty of the English weather. Thus in 1905 an historical pageant on a scale surpassing that known to the modern generation of Englishmen was carried out with suc- cess at Dorset. The fashion spread throughout England, Ireland and Scot- land, and since then many successful pageants have been given in those coun- tries. The celebrations have usually been held on several days in a week, and the proceeds have been used for public purposes. The equable climate of America has tended to the development of the pageant and historic tableaus have become the fashion, particularly at women's col- leges, during the milder half of the year. In 1889 New York saw a national pag- eant reproducing "Dramatic Events in the History of New York." The car- nivals of the Southern States have never been without their pictorial representa- tions. At New York in 1914 was staged