The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1870-12-02
INSIDE PARIS.
HOW THE CAPITAL LOOKS DURING THE
sEIGE-sCENEs IN THE STREETS
OF THE GOVERNMENT

OF THE GOVERNMENT.
Some extracts from the diary of an Amer
lean residing in Paris during the siege
give good idea of the transitions of the
gay capital into the aspects of besieged
city. Under date of October the writer
says:
Paris would hardly be recognized under
its present aspect by those citizens of the
Far West who are in the habit of regard
ing it as a place where good Americans go
when they die. In the garden of the Tuil-
cries, where BONES used to hirt with
guardsmen there is an artillery camp
The guns the pickets of horses, the tents,
the camp fires, and the soldiers in their
shirt sleeves have picturesque effect I'M
der the great trees. On the Place de Ia
Concorde, from morning to evening, there
is mob discussing things in general,
watching the regiments as they defile with
their arms before the station of Strasbourg.
In the morning the guns of the forest can
be heard heavily booming, but the sound
has lost its novelty, and no one pays more
attention to it than the miller to the wheel
of his mill. In the Champs Elysees there
are no private carriages, and few persons
sitting on the chairs. The Cirque dc Pm
peratrice is barrack. All the cafes chan
tantes are closed. Some few youthful yo-
taries of pleasure still patronize the merry.
go-rounds, but their business is not a lu-
crative one. Along the quays by the river
side are cavalry and infantry regiments
with the tentes d'a6ri. The Champ de
Mars is camp. In the most of the squares
there are sheep and oxen. On the water
bouevards lines of huts have been built for
the Mobiles, smaller hut have been erected
along the Rue dies Ramparts for the Nation
ais on duty. Everywhere there are squads
of Nationals, some learning the goose steps,
others practicing skirmishing between the
carts and fiacres, leveling their guns and
swapping them off at imaginary Prussians.
Private carriages are rarely seen. The ON
nibuses are loaded, but I fear greatly that
their horses will be far from tended when
we eat them. The cabbies, once so haugh-
ty, are humble and conciliatory. At the
Arc de Triomphe, at Trocadero, and at
Passy, there are always crowds trying to
see the Prussians in the distant hills, and
in the Avenue de l'Imperatrice NOW the
Avenue Uhrich) there are always numcr-
Gus admirers of Mont Valerien gazing ST.
lently upon the object of their Worship
In the Faubourg st. Antoine workmen are
lounging about doing nothing, and many,
others drilling. In the other Faubourgs
much the same thing goes on, except where
barbados are building. Round each Of
these is always crowd of men and women
apparently expecting the enemy to assault
them at any moment. At the different
gates of the town companies ofMobiles and
National Guards sternly repel every civil
ian who seeks to pass. On an average of
every ten minutes, no matter where one is,
one meets either battalion of Nationals
or Mobiles, or corps marching somewhere.
The asphalt of the boulevards, that sacred
ground of dandies and smart dresses, is de-
serted during the day time. In the even
ing for about two hours it is thronged by
Nationals, with their wives Mobiles, who
ramble along, grinning vaguely, hand in
hand, and loafers. There, and in the prin-
cipal Streets spectators have taken adj
vantage of the rights of man to stop up the
sidewalks with tables on which their
wares are displayed. On some ofthem are
kepis, on Others ointment for corns, on 9th
ers General Trochu and the members of the
Government, in gilt gingerbread. The
sheet hawkers are enjoying perfect carni
val-the last edition of papers-the Tuile-
ries paper-the caricature of Badinguet Gas
his ex-Majesty is ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
of the heroic Ubrich and infallible cures
for the smallpox or worms are offered for
sale by stentorian lungs. Citizens, too,
bankrupt alike in voice and in purse, place
four lighted candles on the pavement, and
from amidst this circle oflight dismally
croak the 'Marseillaise, and other patriotic
songs. AS for beggars, their name is le
gion but as everyone who wants food can
get it at the public cantines, their whines
are disrcgarded. Lodgings are to be hired
in the best streets for about one tenth part
ofwhat was askedfor them two months ago,
and that need not be paid.