The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-09-03
JOURNAL.
Letter from Paris.
Pans. FRANoE. &c. 16, $50

great many places of note and inter-
est. AS we expect TO leave here for
the German States to morrow morn
ing. and have to pack ZIP" in the
meantime, l caa give but very brief
account Of what we have seen IN
Paris. While writing from Scotland 7
and England / omitted to mention
that all over those countries the
chimneys are all topped with chm
ney cans" These are earthen cans,
from two to FIVE feet in length, placed
on the top Of the chimneys, over each
aue. The chimneys OF the large
houses are built very vide, SO as 10 |
admit q great many hues. L nave
seen as many as tWenty-three cans
standing in a row on the top OF a
single chimney. These cans are uni
versall7 used all over England and
Scotland. and to q great extent
in France. also. In London the
railroad tracks, as L have be
fore stated, are raised above
the travel of the city, except the Me /
tropolitan Railroad, which traverses
the city for some eight or ten miles, /
underground. Paris still maintains |
her former reputation of being "A gay !
city. The power Of the Empt ror Is
everywhere seen By the pTesence OF |
his uniformed sOldlery Every dJy |
the shrill notes Of the drum aud horn
ring through the city, while c0mpa-
MES and battalions Of soldiers march
through the streets. One would nat
uralIy suppose that where there is so
much marching and so much military
display, the soldiers would approx
mate perfection In all their move
ments But such IS not the case In
Paris. i have never yet seen com
pany Of French troops keep time with
each other OF with the music, while
the left arm swings back and forth at
least eighteen inches, at every step.
Paris is a very beautiful city Most
Of her streets are handsomely laid out
and we'll improved Usually, in the
best part Of the city, the streets are
paved with stone one third OF the
width on each side, while the centre
is laid In some asphaltic composition,
and is as smooth as floor. The car
riages pass along this central portion
almost without noise. Paris - pro
vided with numerous boalevaTds,
which on pleasant evenings are filled
with a living stream of human be-
iurs. These boulevards, as your
readers aredoubtless aware, are broad
streets, lined with fringes or rows Of
green trees, shading the beautiful
walks GA the sides of the streets.
These bouleVards exceed in beauty
ANYTHING of the kind that [ have seen
elsewhere, either 10 Europe or Amer
lea. Houses, in great numbers, all
over the city are being torn down and
the streets Strengthened, said TO be by
direction II the Emperor, to prevent
the approach Of an enemy. We are
informed that since 1852, full 1000
houses have been demolished to make
way for improvements, and lO,OOO
buildings erected Of very handsome
and substantial style There is a large
number of splendid church edlhces IN
the CITY. mostly under the patronage
of the Roman Catholic persuasion
Places Of amusement dot the city IN
every nook aud corner. The 1uleries
and the Louvre are of world wide
reputation. They now form one vast
building, situated on the north bank
Ofthe River Seine IHilleriesis derived
from the term ile-felds or tie Kiln,
its present site having been once used
for making tiles or bricks. The palace
of the Tuilleries was commenced IN
1864 as a residence for Catharine de
Medicis. The main part was finished
during the reign of Henry ~. Since
that time it has been used for differ
enG purposes, but is now the perma-
nent residence Of the Emperor NapO-
leon III, and may be seen inside at
anv time during the EmperOr's alb
senee. The interior Is very tastefully
and sumptuously decorated. Nothing
has been omitted that could add to
the splendor Of the Imperial residence.
The Louvre, pronounced L00Ue,)
constitutes the east end OF the same
grand building. 1t is said to have
been the hunting seat of King Dago
bert, and called LCuUieteTje, or wolf
hunting establishment, from which
it derives its name Tins part OF the
building also occupied several hun
dred years in its final completion. Ii
has been used at different periods as
a residence of the kings and for vari-
GUS other purposes. For some time
mast. however, it has been appropri-
ated for the exhibition of the works
of art. A series of picture galleries
run through the entire length OF the
second story, measuring several miles
of canvas. The galleries are com
posed principally of specimens from
the Italian, German, Flemish, D1teh,
Spanish, and French schools. AS the
visitor passes through these extensive
galleries he is perplexed and confused
with the multitude Of paintings be
fore him, q great many of which are
by the most celebrated masters IN the
world. AS far as / am competent to
Judge, they are decidedly superior to
anything Of the kind that | have
ever before seen, both in point of
numbers and execution La passing
through, l noted several which are re
garded as very superior paintings,
amongst which are La Belle Jardi-
Mere" by Raphael-valued at 81 600
Two paintings of the Immaculate Con-
ceDtiOR, by Murillo-one Of which was
bought by the Emperor for e22, 900
and presented to the Louvre; Portrait
of Nina Lisa, by leonardo DaYinci-
valued at 600 pounds sterling; Mar-
gidqe Feast Of Cana, by Paul Yero-
nese-valued at 100000; Sleep Of IN
tiope, by CoTreggjo-valued at co.
600. &c. There is quite q number
Of handsome gardens and pleasure
grounds located In aud near the city
Of Paris. to which the people daily
conpregate in great numbers Among
the most noted of these are the Gar
dea of The T,aHeries, which lie imme-
diately west of the Palace. Joining
Immediately on the west OF these gar
dens IS the Place q Ia CORc0rde, which
is a large open space decorated with
allegorical figures, in the centre of
which stands the celebrated Obehsk
of LltrOr, which was erected in
front Of the Temple of Thebes as
early as 1 $50 years before the Chris
tian era. After resting upon its an