Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1864-04-13
The Failure of a Man MiIIiner
I'm Paris.

| lfaris OOssip O! the Boston fcsS-I
The commercial world Of Paris is bu
ried beneath the avalanche of amazement
and despair occasioned by the extreme
| steps taken by the great man-milliner-
male dressmaker of the fashionable-whc
hss suddenly departed from his fnagnif
cent firSt-hoOr in the Rue de Ia Paix, con
verted " the quantity and quality Of hi:
| fair custOmers into a branch establish
ment of Mahomet's Paradise. This man
whose state of mind must have resembled
that of living Pasha, or of deceased
DerVish, entirely filed with the beauty,
| real and ideal. of the female form, has
sprung, within the last few years, into g
notoriety which few milliners Of any sex
have ever enjoyed before him; and, after
dazzling reign. has addicted by pro-
cess called here. know not why "a 2
AagiGiss, that is to say, he has simply
retired from business, and, proceeding to
London, is making the Ssbloniere, no
doubt, his Convent of Saint Just, and has
Withdrawn thither to mediate, like the
great Charles the Fifth, on the dupery OF
man snd the extTavagance of woman
kind. His retirement would in any case
have created universal wailing among
the ladies of Paris, but his appointment
Of "liquidatur" has spread most fright
full panic through the circles of fashion
a panic in which grief and grstitu le are
all forgotten amid the terror inspired by
the necessity of 'liquidating," which of
course, the appointment of a 'liquidator'
has rendered certain and Immediate
The existence of this Individual, Wirth
by name, is, perhaps the very best reve-
lation of the state of morals in Paris at
this moment which could be offered for
the satisfaction of future generations
He had established himself as the sole
empire of taste in the world of fashion,
and, boldly taking the bull by the horns,
looked fashion in the face and asked her
why prostitution should monopolize the
artistic labors of the nlOdistes and coutnieres
OF Paris? and why the ladies of the great
world should remain signing away their
lives in solitude at home, while their hus-
bands and lovers were kneeling at the feet
of the lorettes and Rigolboches, who had
no other merit than their extravaganza
in dress, their eccentricity in adornment;
and the appeal was not made in VAIN
Eugene Pelletan, in his BabyLone AodTns,
has given us tolorable insight into the
method of proceeding by which Monsieur
Wirth insured success. A splendid draw
ing-room, magnifcently furnished; buff
fet well supplied with the usual delicacies
requisite for a fashionable luncheon-ge-
latine, truf1ed turkey, boar's-head, ham,
jellies, fruits, tea and coffee, all served in
silver: liveried domestics, the periodicals
and newspapers most in vogue-enabled
the crowd of ladies he kept waiting to
fha ffr,n v0afinnklu Thaoo ha od
mitted to his sacred presence were COM
PEELED TO walk, to bend, to stoop, some
times even to kneel before him, in order
that, first of all, he might be the better
enabled to study the woman" before he
ventursd to judge of the style of toilet
best calculated TO transform the subject
into a woman of fashion. This ceremony
and importance proved so successful that
dozens of carriages were constantly drawn
in front of Wirth's door, while their fair
owners were waiting, eating, and SANDER
ing up stairs. This steeple-chase of le-
gitimate against unlawful love, contend
ing for the admiration of the other sex,
is perhaps unique in female annals, but
so it is. Prostitution drives four N hand,
wears the diamonds that are deemed too
for virtue, but which prostitu-
tion finds cheap enough, occupies the best
boxes at the opera, and of course is be-
held in all its glory and magnifcence in
the Bois de Boulogne, mocking even I'm
perial grandeur by its extravaganza and
luxury. But the champion Wirth has
failed in his praiseworthy endeayors.-
Long credit must be given to virtue as
well as to vice, and in spite of his tre-
mendous prices the house could stand no
longer. "The seven balls" as the official
balls of the Carnival are called, have just
completed his ruin, and the result we
have seen. With the most piteous self
justification he declares that business had
become impossible on such terms, and
points to the leaf of his ledger, which
registers the debt of certain embassa-
dress mot Lady Cowley) for 100, 900 francs,
for the costumes furnished for those sew
en- balls alone.