Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-05-14

eutrics-.-IRe etirement Of French
Actresses 10 Converts. s,su sse sas.,
"A Paris Exposition. letter to the Londoa1
Times contains the ll0wing rather embar-I
RAISING informationslsThe great laVatory,
sA6e,uqBesti0n. is OScomplicated to be dis
feussed here's but there Is such an .outery,
at leastamOng all Englishmen,s against the |
discomfort of present arrangements. that
it Is imp possible;to pass it by, YOuare aware
that the circumference of the building is
iasseries of restaurants, entered from with
out; and all round it Is an immense mar
oquise or verandah.i under which, ,whenathe
weather is fine, those who partake sof re-
.freshmentsls will sit ins sgreat,anumbers!
Even In this hideous weather people sit of
a night on the b0ulevards before, the cafes
in ranks three and four deep. Under the
smaEqHise that goes, round sthe exhibition
building they will in q very short time he
seen sitting and lounging about in crowds.
Here and there, but at rare intervals, as
under the marquiSe, we stroll among the
crowd, we come to a door with the word
bhDames' upon a. signboard stretching GU.
.1rOm,it. The continuity of the seircuit rof
restaurants is for a little space interrupted
in order to provide this place of retirement.
rs it retfredp The door of 1t is, like the
door of the next restaurant, in the midst Of
the gayest throngs; the door is also of
glass; and It. is set in a wall of glass. One
can scarcely imagine an English lady GO
ing Into such a piace-going into glass
house through crowd of men tipplfng
beer and brandy, abstnthe and vermoutb.
The Belgravia Magazine has an article
con the observance of Sunday by the work
ling people of Paris Q We quote: l"Thou-
usands Of decent shop-keepers, with their
wives and children, troop out to the pleas
aat little villages around Paris, and make
themselves thoroughly happy under the
simplest conditions. Perhaps their desti-
nation may be Sceaux or Fontenay aux
Roses. There are dozen other. places be-
sides Sceaux to- which the ohubttste of the
Boulevards soon learns to bend his steps
when in search OF a change or of fresh air.
Passy. beloved of Journalists and politi-
clans, is within very easy reach. For six
sous an omnibus conveys one from any part
of the city; and once arrived, there is q
restaurant; with a deliciously fresh garden
in which to eat, and with cook who might
be coveted by some of the pretentious hotels
in the heart of the town.. A short walk
through the Parc-where, on fine days, the
great Rossini may be seen pacing about in
the sun while describing to casual friend
his inimitable method Of cooking macca-
roni-brings one to the village of Boulogne,
from which the Bois takes its name.
/ Thence another stroll of half an hour or so
! through the by paths of the wood carries
the voyGgeur to St. Cloud. From the first to
the, last Sunday of that month fair of the
most obstreperous kind, is held within the
the palace-a fact which makes it easy to
understand why the Emperor should find
the waters of Vichy beneficial to his con-
stitution during that mouth, and why the
| Empress should be so anxious to refresh
| herself after the fatigues of the season by
| the sad sea waves at Biarrirz. The fair it
self is the noisiest of all conceivable gath
l<erings.n -8' '.'a'9o7 'i
Some years back Paris had number of
G eccentric characters but they are dropping
off one by one, and no new ones spring up
| to replace them. First, there was broken
down gentleman dressed in hideous rags,
/ 9 who used, day after day, and from morning &
to night, from years end to years end Ito
pace round the galleries of the PalaisiRoyr
| al; he went no where else, and where he
ate and where he slept no one knew.
Next, there was poor, crazy Italian, who,
In winter and summer. in spring and au-
tuTnn, in rain and snow, as we'll as in sun
yshine, used to figure in light nankeen
dress and white hat, with a wreath of
4 fowers-real in sum mer. artificial in winter
| round the hat and another round his neck
Thirdly, there was an American scholar
lean, lank, gaunt and scraggy, dressed
in a long black gown and black skull cap.
He used to pass his life in the public libra
| ry, with piles of books before him. It was
believed he was compiling French and ar
American dictionary but, though he toiled
| for years and years, the work never was
i completed. These three men are gone now.
| Then there was an old gentleman whom
the street boys used to call General Rifiard
who strutted about the streets 1attired il
1 gorgeous military uniform, with big
| sword clanking at his heels. The unfforn
was unlike any worn in any European
army but woe to any body who dared tt
make sarcastic observation on 1.-THE Gen.
eral flew at him like a tiger, This, pool
man. lived in my part of the town, anG
he had an ugly habit of stoppins
to talk to people he did not know
and if they, showed a desire to ge
i away from him, he used TO put hi
hand menacingly on his sword. He too
/ has gone to a better world. There is nov
only one eccentric, and he is called the Per
sian. He isso designated because he wear
i the Persian costume and the Persian head
Il gear in black sheep-skin. He is venera-
i bic old gentleman, with a fine beard, and i
scrupulously neat and clean He is pas
sionately fond Of music, and is to be seer
every night at one or the other of tn
opera houses, seated always in the verI
best places. He. is also frequently to b
found sauntering on the Bouleyards AM
tion of being wealthy. Yet this man
though in Paris, more than thirty years
though he is well known sbysight to al
Parisians,s has never--never-been seel
speaking to aliying soul. He frequents tn
baunts of menayet shuns the communica
~ IL
IA writer In the last number of the Corn
/ htIl Nd0dztie says: MANY French actresse
1 have passed from the stage to the cloiste
ri when their beauty and renown were j
their most brilliant periods. Others hav
, Withdrawn into a seclusi0n almost as com
l. plete, observing in the world the strictes
: l. ,pietY, and giving the most virtuous exam
:. pie. Mademoiselle Colombo distributed th
blessed bread' to the congregation of he
parish church. The notorious La Maupi
I, lai and the viVacions- Luzy7 assumed tn
veil, and put the cOnventual gate betwee
9 them and the world, where they ha
4 figured in very different line of char
: acter. In the last century MademOisell
Gaultier retired from, the stage, public
: ly announced her conversion, and becam
y sister of the Carmelite order o "a
J Lyons. Half-a-dozen of her fair col
J leagues, but less richly endowed as &C
. otresses, took courses nearly similar Som
among us may remember Madame Con
2 thier,the bouncing buxom, hearty, ,hilariou
q q actress of the Varieties in its brightes
u times With all the jollity of charaete
above indicated, Madame Gonthier wa
: sincerely rigorous in the performance Q
all her religious duties. She was profound
!, lyin earnest when, being about to play
new part for the first time, she crosse
: herself as she stood at the wing, and mur
:, INJURED, with an emotion that was not a
u all feigned, nor even ridiculed b.
= the comrades who respected her, Mon Die,
= fditeS moi Ia grace de bien SdUOtr mon role
Give me grace that may well know M
part!' Since Madame Gonthier's time, tn
: distinguished tragic actress, Sionah Ley
OF the Odeon, took the veil, and many 9th
: er ladies of less note, but of equally seriou
e thoughtfulness, have quilted The brilliant
J, bustling stage, and passed away into th
: calm, quiet life of the convent, and haV
IS been content Herewith" s.,,, -