The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-06-15 00:00:00

. ,
THE PARIS EXHIBITION,
he following is an extract from an article in the Daily
4,
:describing the French Sections in the Paris Exhibi-
i...

44be French exhibits of clocks and watches are cora-
ltdable. Many persons who are not yet old can
:ember the time when all the watches of value worn
kilthe Continent were manufactured at Geneva. The
hencon trade has now cut that of the Swiss city
foot; and though Geneva still sends out a good
ef merchandise, its timekeepers have no longer
11,443„1)Utation they once had. Geneva still holds its
a., "tough in musical boxes. It exhibits an infinite
oZleatuY of them, for besides the ordinary box—which
icar know—it shows musical decanters, hat pegs,
14 Dozes, umbrellas, writing desks, &c. I have
Ot yet met a man who desired to hear the overture
ccitme Tell when he sat down to write a letter,
&when he lifted his umbrella to ward off a down-
but presumably this kind of melomaniac exists..
taltt.to the clockwork section comes that of photo-
k4uY, where there are some beautiful portraits and
I..capes to be seen, in which the painter's pencil
keen most happily blended with the work of the
tteetz.t ..... The cutlery section next invites one's
And I find Chatelherault priding itself on
acturing as good razors and knives as Sheffield.
aPs, but one blade looks so much like another
een in a shop-front that I will take no side in
:411,Pute, merely remarking that in most French
Itee Where I dine I still find "Sheffield" legibly
eg on the table cutlery. There may be some pre-
14,0clein the matter, as there is in favour of English
rt 7. which French harness-makers affirm to be
67, t,tec than theirs, if so good; and in favour of
le'ziu sporting guns, which skilful makers of
l°-loaders, like MM. Devismes and Gastine-
-1011„ette, Teak of without enthusiasm. It is all of
tee, • The French sportsman who aims at chic
.o,o4ave a London saddle when he rides, and a
C:404 breech-loader when he shoots his meagre
--not to mention English horses and dogs if he
km get them. As regards carriages the fancy lies
ir the other way. Parisian broughams, barouches,
ko.vlotorias are accounted superior to those of London
Ze for lightness and show; and this opinion may be
N:Ltud to prevail outside France. Americans swear by
4,11, ell carriages as they do by French tailors, and I
4,70wn, for my own part, to thinking that English
e-builders sacrifice grace a little too much to
One would think they worked for a country
pieete decent roads were the exception instead of the

spoke of French tailors. English ulsters,
tunics, and tweed suits have been so generally
in France, and indeed a London fashion, in
attire, so quickly spreads to the other country,
Preach tailors have ceased to originate. They do
t London milliners attempt in the matter of female
Lrel-that is, copy, and they can scarcely claim
such merit as may be derived from cutting and
for the cutters employed by the best houses
nglishmen, and the sewers Germans. The
411.011rean's share of work in a good coat is to
tfe ni the padding, which he does conscientiously.
pad breast, shoulders, and haunches, for
414,0".8 no notion of seeing an ill-built customer walk
4,41.84 with the figure which nature gave him, and the
'te:tipans, who are often lean-favoured folks, appreci-
mitZle attention. The French tailoring sections
a brilliant show of uniforms, but the Viennese
a better, for in this special branch the Schneiders,
",,e banks of the Danube, have long enjoyed a re-
seiseeized supremacy which apparently they mean to
The case is altered, however, when we pass
tikti the section of ladies' dresses for here the French
4418. c°,Pe single-handed against the whole world,
... costumes are not to be named in the same
114 with them. For assortment of colours, for
..;;liness of design, for graceful fancies in trimming
act for that je ne sais quoi which stamps a dress as
ttelig calculated to make a pretty woman appear at her
Dr„ th, e Parisians have an art which is all their own.
,0* le after all the chief preoccupation of French-
h-Sen, who are for ever on the look out for novelties.
lagland when a new fashion comes in the change
th ea months or years in percolating through all
kill strata of society, and there are parts of the
~gclnin which it never reaches at all. In France
style of dress has no sooner been decreed
'nose mysterious ladieswho set the fashion
fie it is adopted by all classes and at once. It
414 fl'ona Paris to the provinces on the wings of
tinted journals. It is discussed in popular news-
tttra ; it appears on the stage to be admired by the
liqdens of Frenchwomen who go to the 'play, and be-
over the land scissors go to work cutting and
es stitching until last year's gown has been
eto tally with this year's mode. Sempstresses,
theP, girls, servant maids, are as particular in following
the Aashion as countesses and demi-mondaines. Those of
tilz: who cannot afford new stuffs at every change
e the old stuffs do until, possibly, the black silk
t4ll a little bourgeois wears on Sundays is
khe in the course of its three or four years'
tio,a`er to go through a series of transforma-
as numerous as they are charming and inexpli-
‘e. Whilst on this subject, I may as well remind
eader that the fashionable colours in Paris this
ft 4 are a sickly bronzed green called crapaud snort
ep ur (love-slain toad), and a flaming scarlet styled
de cog en colere, i.e., angry coxcomb. A walk
Cergh the Exhibition will satisfy the visitor that
14ti 6 dellghtfully-nanaed tints already enjoy the popu-
t3' they deserve.