New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-04-11
IT'S THIRTY YEARS SINCE.

IT'S THIRTY YEARS SINCE.
The old Phoenix to night is thronged
with customers. Some stand up to the bal
demanding the standard drinks Of the
season. The ten-pin alleys are crowded
with athletic youths ambitious of ten
strike and spare ball. Agile little dark
les dodge the laundering ball, the ten pins
crack, the balls rebound and roll back in
sullen thunder along the cutters which re
turn them. In the restaurant the white
aprOned walters spread the repast before
the jolly guests who have assembled at
the tables, or offer the luscious bivalves on
the half shell.
At the lower end is small compartment,
1t contains the grand cuisinier. Apparent
Iy, he was introduced into the caboose when
he was small boy, his portly dimensions
beng such that like the reel in the bottle,
one wonders how he was ever got in through
any aperture apparent at present. There
he stands, for q moment of leisure, taking
off his clean cotton cap and wiping his
fervid brow. His portly person and ruddy
face are framed into the opening which
fronts the restaurant. What a tableau.
What a sign of good cheer! He surveys
the scene with complacency. He smiles
benignantly upon the guests. and mods
a benediction as they tilt back their heads
to swallow the palatable morsels he has
prepared. We pass from these busy and
rather noisy groups to the table at which
few old stagers and one or two moderns
are seated. The modest inspirative are
lager and pipes. At the moment senten-
tious order is given by our host of the
PhGnix, it is borrowed from the adjacent
game of ten pins. The order 'set 'em up
again." is translated by the attendant who
comes back with cluster Of worn earth en-
ware beer mugs, in the palm of his hand
and hanging ingeniOusly upon his fingers
The pull and the pipe make one time two
motions. Ore of the moderns remarks:
"How is it We do not see many of the
down town people around herel'
"They prefer their own clubs and cafes"
''There is much better feeling between
to be-" remarked our host of the Phoenix.
did they formerly quarrel9' inquired
the modern.
"They were always very spirited and
courageous, but sometimes fought on
prOvOcatiOns which the Americans would
not have resented in a manner 40
deadly. remember when Chevalier
Tomasi made his appearance; he was
a savan, an academican. and beyond him
there was no appeal on any question of
science. He had theories to explain every
thing in cosmogony have no doubt if he |
had encountered Humboldt the old philoso-
pher must have been demolished That ia |
if the Chevalier Tomasi had reported the |
combat. 1t was at that day the prestige |
OF the French had never been broken The |
affairs of the First Consul had their worship.
ers. The halo of his victories had been
expanded over Africa, and encircled Sc
bastopOl. In science the French were as
dictatorial as in military fairs, and upon
all topics relating to the lyric drama. the
dance or the duello, Partisan authority
was impregnable.
The Creole element was in itself very i'm
patient of dissent, and resorted to small
arms on all occasions Of differences even
among themselves. One paper was espec-
tally suggestive Of such disputes The
writers were Americans, who expressed
their opinions without much circumlocution,
and so provoked the fiery native greatly.
There was one article upon performs nce
ut the opera This critique occasioned three
duels. and upon reading it carefully was
ut a loss t. find material to have justified
one. even conceding that rational people
should peril life at all on question of sing.
ing or dancing. But Thomasi had published
d communication on the hydraulics of the
Mississippi lie would either stop the river,
n make it deeper, or restrict it within boun-
laries specified by science. l do not now
emember. The style of the article was
1t was dictatorial. The Academy
f Science in Paris was as omnipotent in
hysics as the Sorbonne had been in ethics.
americans were an ignorant tribe expelled
rom Europe for stupidity or other crimes.
o cite q Creole authority only provoked a
rimace or sarcasm. 1t is proper to say
nat there was vehement feud between
10 Creoles and French. Men grow tired of
,e society of their superiors, and to have
arts eternally thrown in their teeth. with
word now and then about the files de
,sscfte and an assumption of general supe-
ority, would disturb the equanimity of the
ost phlepmatic, much less Of the most [
ercurisl people.
So Tomasi was descanting to Creole
nom the perfection of the system, what
er it was, when . Creole associate ven il
rad to remark that the Mississippi was y
nv hesdstrong strsam, and that possibly
!. hesis of calculation assumed for the L
,.ller rivers of Europe would not be found v
plicsble to 20 mighty stream. Az TINS Z