Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1855-07-06

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high price of food of late has cramped
the resources Of the "Phianthropic So
ciety," so that it has been obliged to
appeal to the public for aid. l trust
thatit will not appeal in vain. 1t is
an example Of the advantage Of Asso-
citation whose benefits no one will dis
pute.
/ never met more friendly and So
cial people than the inmates of Clichy.
Before / had been up two hours this
morning, though most Of them speak
only French and / but English, the
outlines Of my case were generally
known, my character and standing can
vassed and dilated on, and | had do
zen fast friends in another hour; had l
been able 10 speak French, they wo'd
have been hundred.
We pretend to have abjured titles of
honor in America, aud the only conse-
quence is that everybody has title
either Honorable. or General, or Col
onel. or Reverend, or at the very least
Esquire. But here in Clichy all such
empty and absurd pre6xes arc abso-
lutely unknown-even names, Chris
tian or family, are discarded as useless
antiquated lumber Every lodger is
known by the number Of his room on
ly; mine is 139, and whenever friend
calls, "Commisslonaire" comes in
from the outer apartments to the great
hall sacred to our common use, aud
begins calling out "cent-trente-neuff,"
Theoretically "san-tran.nuf," at the
top Of his voice. and goes on yelling as
he climbs, in the hope of finding or call
ing me, sshort ofascending to my fifth.
story sanctuary. To -tenths of
my comrades am only known as
"san -tran-nulf." My auxiliary is No
81. and when need his aid l go sin
ging ''sankon-cat" after the same
fashion,. Equality being thus rigidly
preserved. in. spite of slight diversities
of fortune, The jealousies, rivalries and
heart burnings which keep most Of
mankind in lforment are here abso-
lutely unknown. l never before talk
ed so much with so many people inli-
mately acquainted with each other
without hearing something said or in
sinuated to one another's prejudice;
here there is nothing of the sort
Some folks outside are hero fitted with
characters which they would hardly
consider flattering-somc laws and
usages get the blessings they richly
deserve-but among ourselves all is
harmony and good will. How wo'd
Meurice's. the Hotel dc Vile, or even
the Tuilcries. like to compare notes
with us on this head?
Our social intercourse with outsiders
is undef most enlightened regulations.
A person calls who wishes to see one
ofus, and is thereupon admitted thro'
three of :ours. but not within several
locks OF us. Here he gives his card
and pays two sous to a Commission
arie take it to No. -, Of whom the in
tervicw is solicited. No. - being
found. takes the card. scrutinizes 1t.
and il he chooses to see the expected
visitor. writes request for his admis-
sion. This is! taken to functionary,
who grants the request, and the visi-
tor is then brought into sort of a
neutral reception-room. outside of the
prison proper, but good way inside
of the hall wherein the visitor has
hitherto tarried. But let the lodger
say No. and the visitor must instantly
walk out with very tall flea in his
ear. So perfect an arrangement for
keeping duns. bores. writ servers. and
all such enemies of human happiness
at a distance is found scarcely any
where else--at all events not in Edi-
tors room--l am sure Of that. But
yesterday an old resident here. who
ought 10 have been mp to trap, was
told that man wished to SEQ him a
moment at the nearest CRATE, and. be-
ing completely off his guard, he went
Immediately down, without observing
or requiring the proper formalities,
and was instantly served with fresh
writ. "Sir," said he, with proper
Indignation. to the sneak Of an officer,
(wholhad doubtless made his way in
here by favor or bribery "if you ev-
er serve me that trick again, you will
go out Of here half lfkilled." However,
he had mainly his own folly to blame;
he should have stood his eservedrights
and bid the outsider send up his card
like gentleman, if he aspired to a
gentleman society
And this brings me to the visiting
room, where | have seen many friends
during the day. including two u. S.
Ministers, besides almost every one
belonging to our Legation here, three
bankers and nearly all the Americans
know in Paris, but not one French
lawyer Of the standing required. for it
seems impossible to find one in Paris
to day. This room can hardly be call.
ed a parlor, all things considered; but
it has been crowded all day (lO to g.
with wives and female friends visiting
one or other of us insiders-perhaps it
may be most accurately characterized
as the kissing room. Ishould like to
speak of the phases Of life here from
hour to hour presented-of fervent af
fection, the anxious consultations, the
confidential whisperings and the uni
versal desire of each hasty tete.a.tete to
respect the sacredness of others conf
dence, so that l5 or go couples con-
verse here by the hour with space Of
20 feet by 90, yet no one knows be-
cause no one wishes to know what any
others are saying. But / must.hurry
over all this, or my letter will never
have an end.
Formerly, Clichy was in bad repute
on account Of the facility wherewith
all manner of females called upon and
mingled with the male dodgers in the
inner sanctum. All this, however,
has been corrected. and no woman is
now admitted beyond the public kiss
ing room except on an express order
from the Prefecture of Police, which
is only granted to the well authentica'