American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-11-23
Americans in Paris.

AN American who is familiar with New
I DIRK finds nothing astonishing in Paris,
and very little to go in raptures over, so
| lar as the everyday aspect of the CITY is
concerned. have been here one week
and have kept my eyes wide open for
ing to be overwhelmed by something or
somebody. l have been from the unfin-
| 1shed magnificence of the Grand Opera
House to the cascade in the Bots de Bou-
logne, and return gravely to my hotel and
record my disappointment. Living or
dying, Paris is not my heaven. which
| frank confession may console some uIi-
happy New Yorker who may be .'dying
| to go to Paris" 1t is an excellent place
| 70 die in, however. If you come as full of
aches and pains as you think you can pos
| IDLY hold, Paris enlarges your capacity
gia, which blissful disorders had never
before been known ''to be in the family"
The dampneSS OF the air settles in your
| flesh and bones like an invisible terror.
If you sleep with your window open the
bonnie closes it with a mortal fear upon
her face, whispering huskily ''c'est tres
mauvais'' lit is very bad), and the doctors
say the night air produces a disease of the
eye which will finish your orbs by gradu-
al absorption. So with aching bones,
threatening blindness, and homesick
longing for dear, splendid, glorious New
ork pervading every fiber of my heart,
and quivering every atom of my pen.
and write the weeks history.
The first and the last and the middle of
everybody and everything in Paris Just
now are Americans. Aside from the
5000 or 5000 resident Americans. the
tide of travel rolls in a fresh cargo hourly.
They crowd the hotels, line the side
walks, thrOng the banking houses. and
order more parcels than the half of Paris.
Ii is a fine thing for the French at this
time to receive such signal help in paying
oil the war indemnity, and true-hearted
Americans with money to spend can but
feel double enjoyment in pouring their
dollars into the war-depleted treasury of
the proud-spirited French. Paris has
grown to be such necessity to American
travellers and sight-seers that its welfare
and prosperity have quite become national
interests.
The French declare that they are APP
prised some time in advance of the
coming of Americans in quite the same
manner as a flock of crows herald their
coming by the noise they make-we all
talk through our noses, shout at each 9TH
or, and brag necessarily. Ye8 they like
us better than they do the English. which
is not at all incOmprehensible. The En-
glish one encounters in Paris, especially
the women, are anything but admirable
or lovable, and simpering and airish as
the pretty American upstairs may be,
they are infinitely preferable to the con-
ceited cOckney braggadocio. Among the
American ''lords'' at present here IS the
son of a well-knOwn American author liv-
ing on Staten Island, who forms one of
a numerous race of scribblers of the same
name. This young fellow in the space of
ten minutes informed rcomfull of Amer
leans and English that he spent a small
fortune day, that he had been in every
State and Territory OF the United States
that he ''hated London-nothing at all to
be seen in London (whcreupon bright
Swedish lady murmured .'PoOr LondOn'');
and every now and then interlarded his
remarks with, IL suppose, of course, you
know my father? He has a worldwide
reputation" As nobody asked him the
name of his illustrious sire he was kind
enough to give it gratuitously, whereupon
an American girl rolled the name overa AMI
over on her tongue, saying, seriously:
Indeed l think [ have never heard the
name. Paris Cor, ". Y. World.