Middletown transcript., 1869-05-22

proxy, to keep faithful guard on the
door in the courtyard. How necessary
this Is can be judged by the fact that the
house in our minds eye alone. has two
hundred dodgers, seven separate business
es, and has hanging about it hoat of re-
tainers, coachmen, and the like, This
] keeper must have discriminating powers;
that is, when man enters who seems
eminently respectable, and apparently
seeks Monsieur the tailor, or Madame the
milliner, on pressing affairs, the concierge
must mentally decide whether to let him
pass unaccostcd. A man Of bills and re-
ceipts arrives, in gorgeous uniform of blue,
with cooked hat, and with cumbersome
portfolio attached to his button by light
chain, lest some one should snatch his
treasures in the street. Urbanely the
concierge greets him the bill is produced,
money paid, glass of wine is given to
the collector, and away he goes, touching
his hat.
The Commissioner of Police looks IN
with his register, and he is treated with
the utmost Difference, while the gloomy Of
fetal copies in his book the blank which
every new lodger is obliged to fill, Whence
come you, whittier bound. age, color of
hair, county, occupation, ETC. Here comes
a shopping porter with a bundle for new
arrival, up five flights of stairs concierge
pays the bill, if necessary and collects on
delivery. A splendid carriage enters tho
paved court, with the Scotch coachman
snarling in broad French to a gamin who
sits near the door; the occupant is Mon
sieur the banker, who rents the rear section
of the house. He is not questioned by the
concierge or his family. Bang! goes
bell in the lodge which communicates with
the sixth story; the Englishman in No,
20 wants outlet and bottle of Burgun-
dy for breakfast. rolls freshest and whitest
procurable. Opposite the lodge is box
like closet termed kitchen there, in two
minutes the outlet is sizzling, and the old
est boy of the family flies around the corr
ner to the bakers for the rolls, and to the
wine shop for the Burgundy. Here comes
the laundress with the linen, which five
days ago was taken outside the city to be
washed, because Madame the concierge
does not like to have it washed in the
Seine, and beaten with stones and malets,
At nine o'clock at night the concierge
carefully closes the great doors which open
on the street, and all communication there-
after with him is by the bell which hangs
over his bed head, and rings vigorously as
the slightest touch of the mob outside. As
most of the occupants spend their evenings
ON the street, ,ssor at the cafes and theatres,
the ringing of the bell is kept up until
two and three in the morning, and the
dodgers are constantly seeking their keys,
IT any unfortunate one stays out so very
late that much ringing fails 10 awaken the
tired sleeper, he must put his head through
the little wicket and yell, "Cordoa, sit
Uous plat "-"please pull the cord which
opens the door" And by-and-by he will
get to his candle and key. Enter the
courtyard, and look about. This is fair
type of such house as would be your
home in Paris, if you came hither No
need of any i'll smells, for pure water keeps
the cutters sending all slops sewer-ward.
| The pavement is like that of the older
streets, of hard, square stones; and in
rainy weather there are no puddles, be-
cause all at once flows to the gutter.
We have looked inside the lodging
house-the Parisians refuge-enough for
the present; word more concerning ex-
terror architecture. Greater height gilt
tering color, and tasteful ornament, dis
tinguish the buildings throughout Paris
from those of New York, and, in fact most
American cities. The fine limestone,
which is so soft when first taken from the
quarry, but after exposure in the form of
walls and foundations becomes almost as
firm as granite, gives Paris architecture
its cheeriness. There is no such bleak,
forbidding aspect hanging over its palaces
and homes of its people as in London, Bos-
ton or other cities. b. S. L.
New York, May, 1869.