Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1868-07-25
LONDON AND PARIS.

An American, writing from Paris
under date of June 22d, gives the fol-
lowing lively sketch of the two princi-
pal cities Of Great Britain and France
1t is useless for q tourist to attempt
to describe either Of those great cities
of Europe, for an adequate description
would fill volumes. There are, how
ever, beyond the mere objects Of sight
seeing, certain characteristics Of both
cities that an American especially
notices. The most obvious Is the ex-
cellent system Of street-paving, far su-
perior to u rough cobble-stones, for
which both London and Paris are
famous. The cartways are smooth and
hard, and never get into ruts, and they
are kept remarkably clean. 1t is pleas
ant either to walk or ride upon them,
and the force of action required 10 80
much less than with US at home, that
one horse can almost do the work OF
two in an American city. These pave
ments appear 10 greater advantage In
Paris than London, as tho French capi-
tai has much wider and straighter
streets. In Paris, too, the sidewalks of
the principal avenues are generally
wider than in Philadelphia, whilst in
London they are mostly narrower.
Both cities are crowded, vast multitudes
hurrying to and fro but whilst London
people have an air of being constantly
bent on business errands, the Parisians
seem to be only out on a pleasure ex-
c~ursion.
London Is dingy and smoky-the
buildings are Drowned and saddened in
appearance by the atmosphere, and the
city 10 seldom Rladdened by q pure blue
American skyS Paris, on the contrary,
is bright and cheerful, the light stone of
the houses and the, green trees and nu-
merous gardens adding to the pleasant
effect. In London you are constantly
taught the enormous value of land, by
the great effort that Is made to econo-
mize space in Paris, the effort seems
rather to be to spread the buildings
over as much ground as possible. The
result is, that in the built. up portions Of
the cities upon an equal number Of
SQUARE miles, London accommodates
several hundred thousand more people
than Paris. In the amount Of trade
done, London far exceeds Paris ; In the
amount Of pleasure, Paris is far ahead
of London. With reference to fashion
they are about even. Late dinners and
oil. night balls are common to both, and
an American, accustomed to the habit
of his own home Of trying to get to
dinner before dusk, and to bed before
midnight, soon tires Of the European
mode Of earousing at night and sleeping
by day. OF the two cities, as a place
10 live, Paris Is far preferable 10
London, and few Americans tire of
visiting 1t.
The glory of London is its enormous
trade. The Thames is crammed with
shipping; the streets are filled with
wagons ; and the old city is a vast o n
glomeration Of enormous warehouses
and of business houses famous every
where. A visit 10 London cannot but
convince that there is the commercial
and financial center Of the world, and
that within a radius of half o mile
around the Bank Of England, are to be
found the men who rule the mercantile
affairs Of the earth. There is no effort
at pretension in any of the buildings
where these great trade affairs are car
ried on. The Rothschilds have q bank
ing house far more modest than half
the brokers, Offices on Third street,
Philadelphia, and to launch out into q
p%retentious building is regarded in Lon.
don as o proof Of impending bankrupt.
cy. To accommodate the vast trade
that centers in London, a system Of
railways Is necessary which almost ap.
pals the observer. The city is sur.
rounded by q network of myriads of
tracks running in all directions, cross
ing about in %bewildering style, carried
over the tops Of houses, or under their
foundations, upon bridges and trestles,
or through tunnels, and with trains
everywhere and at rates of speed with
out cessation. There are several places
on the borders of London, where hun.
dreds of trains pass daily, and at one
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Junction-where
the lines spread over a space probably
two hundred yards In width-a train
passes nearly every minute. It Is
said that If an Englishman of clever in
tellect were sent to this Junction, and
given o week to tell where all the trains
20 and how they manage to do It with
out accident, he could not solve th
problem, but before three days study
had ended, would 60 crazy. Even the
railway men themselves can tell very
little about it. Each works his own
particular track and switches, and
without attempting to find out how the
multitude of others are cared for, trusts
to a merciful providence to direct them
Alright.
Paris has nothing to compare to the
railway network surrounding London,
nor does her trade require It. Visitors
60 to Paris not for business, but for
pleasure. They try to enjoy themselves
as much as possible, and in Paris find
the most beautiful city of Europe, and
every style of amusement that can be
desired. The present French Emperor,
more than anyone else, Is to be thanked
for this. He has opened new streets,
built new buildings, planted rows of
trees, set up cooling fountains, erected
statues, made beautiful galleries Of
paintings, and in numberless other
ways %endeavored to supply the French
desire for pleasure. There is no taste
that cannot be gratifed in Paris, and
although he is 4 monarch, whose power
is unchecked by any human restraint,
he has studied to always please his peo-
pie, and keeps them quiet by an un-
succession Of fetes and amuse-
ments. The F%renchmau, who is not a
is always happy.