Lassen’s Queen Receives Crown
Fair Lena is the ruler of the Susanville Carnival.
September 6, 1902
Pageant with many beautiful floats parades the streets. Lassen’s carnival was opened today by Queen Lena, and the streets were paraded by a royal procession. The Queen (Miss Lena Long) was driven through the streets in a carriage decorated with white and gold and trimmed with white roses. Two of her pages rode with her, followed by her court.
As Queen Lena ascended the throne four pages carried her train. Her robe was of white duchess satin, with pearl trimmings. Miss Neva Cahlans was the maid of honor. The Prime Minister, Harry Burroughs, was garbed in a suit of satin trimmed with gold. The heralds were clad in velvet, Master J. D. Goodwin in green and Master Tommy Maston in blue.
The lord Mayor, Hon. E. V. Spencer, a pioneer of Lassen County, welcomed the Queen. Said he: Our fair lady, while the Queens of the world are born such, obtain the proud heritage of queenly power by inheritance, then rule their subjects by means of that power without regard to their own merits or fitness for the position, I am commissioned by a great, free and powerful people to inform you, good lady, that because of your many virtues and your great goodness and wisdom and because of your magnificent and queenly beauty and excellence you have been chosen by the will of this free people to be their Queen.
As Lord Mayor of this grand city of the Sierras, I am fully authorized and commissioned by that vast multitude of the people to crown thee Queen. Therefore, in the name of and by the authority of this mighty people, I proceed to place this gorgeous crown upon they head and I now declare thee Queen, and to her Majesty our Queen I have the honor, in obedience to the wishes coming from the full, warm hearts of a great and generous people, to bid thee, our Queen, a hearty welcome to our city.
Welcome, O Queen, to our homes, our treasures, our hearts, and our cheerful and loving obedience to thy Majesty’s every wish and command. We are thy people; our lands and our treasures are thine, O Queen, and as token of our confidence in her Majesty, we will present her with this magic key. Your Majesty, this key unlocks the gates to our great city. It will also open the doors to all the storehouses of our hidden wealth, and, more than all, it will open the way to the great storehouses of our love and devotion to our Queen.
To her Majesty, our Queen, we present this great, and magic key. Now say you, her people, one and all, “Long live our Queen.”
The Queen bowed and the Prime Minister addressed the people, expressing her thanks and her great love for the people.
After the Queen, in the royal pageant, rode the Lord Mayor and Prime Minister in a carriage. The maids of honor, twelve ladies in waiting, two pages and heralds, rode in a float decorated in the colors of the day, blue and gold. This was followed by a number of handsome floats, the most conspicuous being that of the Grand Army, a boat shaped affair, which rode Uncle Sam and Columbia. It was draped in the army colors. The Rebekah float, which won premium, was decorated in the lodge colors, and the young ladies of the lodge rode upon it. The carnival was closed with a reception to the Queen.
