The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-07-13
NIGHT RAMBLEs IN PARIS:
rTI-whe ItaIisn COlony-Vhe n@A u"
OA'-S VIeux Chsne.

40 mi
.asjsons. street singularly well named, SKIRT
ingthe Chemin de Fer du Ceinture' Inc oao
slammed at the end of dark narrow turning,
ON one side of which was a dead wall, anu IN
fhe other row of dilapidated tenement' ovsr-
looking the railway cutting below several Of
these houses have dark, opep narrow mas
sages, communicating wit. =. other and more
wretched-looking, o"' ,nings in the rear.
The street is GIFTED at each end by
to the Ed Of tall pole, the counterpart in
sb'S.pe of the old-fashioned gibbet aud the veri-
table Champion" Of the first revelation. The
windows of these novels are extremely small,
and many of them are unglazed, while the
doorways are rarely upwards OF four feet high.
Through wide opening at the top of one of
these doors light is seen shining within, and
on tapping we obtain admittance down a mar
row fight Of broken stone steps into a cellar
some five feet below the level of the roadway,
and measuring about nine feet square, par
tally paved with broken tiles, aud the walls
of which are reeking with moisture. Above
our heads dangle rows Of tattered garments
and recently washed pieces of rags hung up to
dry, while the customary pots, pans, bottles,
bones old boots and shoes, and rubbish of
every description litter the apartment almost
from floor to ceiling. In one corner is a
dilapidated bedstead on which several child
rem are sleeping, while their mother, a
Clean tidy looking woman, is hard at work
with her needle. On inquiring OF the man
how he gets his living, he tells us by painting
portraits and setting patterns for print-co-
lorers. His wife hastens to show us some
specimens of his SKILL which were so sur
prisngy good that we should have supposed
they must have secured an excellent livelihood
for the artist and his family; and yet one sees
by the cabriolet and the hook standing in the
corner, and also by the mans bent and
stunted figure, that this poor professor of the
arts is forced to exc out a miserable means of
existence by plying the hook of the chitfonnier.
The comparatively clean and orderly ap-
pesrapce of this humblest of households, the
quiet, sensitive demeanor of the man, forbade
the supposition that drink was the cause of
his misfortunes. The rent of this cellar was
two and half francs a week, about five
guineas year, or from 10 to Is per cent.
more than the Emperor proved, by his model
lodgings for workingmen in the recent Paris
Exhibition, a comfortable apartment" OF
three rooms, including water supply, could be
provided for a workingman's family, and yield
fair return on the capital invested. 1t should
be remembered that even an insufficient guam
tty of water would cost an inhabitant of the
Rue des Malmaisons almost a third as much as
his rent.
We next drive to the Italian colony in the
Rue de st. Victor, making first for the house
Immediately opposite the back of the Halles
aux Wins. The entrance to this place is
through most respectable looking porte
cochere leading to large courtyard, in which
no fewer than seventy chambers are let out
almost exclusively to Italians, as many as
from six to eight of whom occupy single
small room, and pay in advance FIVE francs per
head per month for this miserable accommo-
dation. II the room is furnished with straw
mattresses, placed on the floor, the charge is
six sous a night, payable before you are per-
mitted to enter your ROOM The rate is the
Or tha oh No
up people. The proprietor of this establish.
ment has accumulated, We were informed, 8
large fortune, by letting lodgings at this rate
The herd of people from all parts of Italy
congregated in this and two neighboring esta-
blishments is fully six hundred in number;
and how does the reader suppose they get
their livingH Not by work in the ordinary
acceptation of the term; not by stroll
ing about the streets, playing upon
musical instruments, and begging sous
of the passers-by; only a few of them
live by these means. The large majority make
their living by posing as models to artists.
Painters of all nations have their studios in
the French oapital hence the great demand
for living models, which these wandering
Italian peasants mainly supply.
Just as the cab drives up, one weary party
of musicians after another, tired with roaming
over Paris during the day, arrives in rapid
succession. They are all in the costumes
large harps swung at their backs, or bagpipes
slung over their shoulders, or tambourines in
their hands. Organ-grindeTs are extremely
rare in Paris. Most of these musicians are
mere youths-many of them are little child
rem, not more than four or i've years old. The
same system prevails in France as is prac-
tised in England with reference to the hiring
OF Italian children from their parents, but
not to anything like the same extent.
The sum paid by these "patrOns," " as they
are styled, ranges from fifty to a hundred
francs year for each child according to its age
On making inquiries of several children as
to the amount of their earnings, we found
that about a couple Of francs a day was the
utmost limit of them. Practised lads, trading
on their own account, considered they had
had good day when they earned as much by
IL o'clock at night. They one and all said
that they preferred "posng'' to artists, as
the pay for this was at the rate Of franc an
hour, and the sitting usually lasted for three
hours, after which they had the rest of the
day to themselves.
Permission to inspect the largest esta blish
ment being refused us, as we had not come
prepared with special order from the pretec
ture of police, we decided to visit the lodging.
house in the rear, situated in the Rue de Bou
lapgers, a steep, narrow, winding, villanous
looking turning few doors Off slowly tramp
ing up which alley we encountered one or tw,
other parties of tired itinerant musicians, evi
IDENTITY only too glad that the weary day ha,
come to close.
The proprietor of the 'hotel garni' we wer
IN quest of keeps a wineshOp, and all "mar
chands de VIM like to be ON good terms will
the police; so after few words had been ex
changed between him and one of the agent