The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-04-02
American Advantages. Over Paris.

On an average we dress better, far l
better, sleep softer and combat the cold
in winter and the heat in summer with
more scientific persistency than do any
of the so called luxurious nations of
Europe. Take, for instance, the mat
ter of heating and lighting. A few of
the leading hotels in Paris and a small
minority among the most expensive
suites of private apartments have gas
introduced into all the rooms, but as
general thing it is confined to the pub
lie rooms, and the unfortunate wight
who longs to see beyond the end of his
nose is forced to wrestle with dripping
candles and uncleau lamps, known only
by tradition in our native land. The
gaslight, which is a common necessary
in the simplest private dwelling in an
American city, is here luxury scarcely
attainable save by the wealthiest. And
we do not know how precious our gas
light is till we have lost it. To sit in a
dim parlor where four lighted candles
struggle vainly to dispense the gloom,
to dress for opera or ball by the uncer-
tain glimmer of those greasy delusions,
is enough to make one fOrswear all the
luxuries of Paris, and fee homeWard
forthwith.
Then in winter comes the question of
warmth. What is more delicious than
to plunge from the iced champagne at
mosphere of sparkling winters day in
America into the nest-like, all pervad-
ing warmth of an American home !?
Here such comfort is wholly unknown.
The cold, though less severe than with
us, is damp, raw and insidious, and
creeps under wraps With treacherous
persistency that nothing can shut out.
The i'll fitting windows, opening in the
old door-like fashion, let in every
breath of the chill outer air. A fire is
a handful of sticks or half q dozen
Jumps of coal. The caloritere, poor
substitute for our powerful furnaces, is
luxury for the very rich-an innova-
ton grudgingly granted to the whims
of the occupants of the most costly and
fashionable of private apartments
Warmth, our cozy, all pervading
warmth, is winter luxury that we
leave behind us with the cheerful light
of our universal gas-burners. In sum-
mer we sorely miss the cold, pure ice
water of our native land, and we long
for it with thirst which gin OTCinGiYe
and Bavarian beer are powerless to as
suage. The ill-tasting limestone tainted
water of Paris is poor substitute for
our sparkling draughts of Schuylkill or
Croton. Ice-pitchers, water-coolers and
refrigerators are unknown quantities in
the sum total of Partisan luxuries.
The "cup of cold water" which the
traveller in our country finds gratui-
tously supplied in every waiting-room
and railway station, every steamboat,
every car and every hotel, is here some
thing that must be specially sought
for, and paid for at an exorbitant price
Ice can be purchased only in small
quantities for immediate consumption.
Ten cents for a few Jumps swimming in
water on tepid plate is the usual term
for this our American necessity, this
rare Partisan luxury. Nor do all the
delicate articles Of French cookery
suffice wholly to replace for an Ameri-
can palate the dainties of his native
land. The buckwheat cakes and waf-
fes, the large, delicately-favored, lus-
cious oysters, the canvas back ducks,
the Philadelphia croquettes and terra
pin, find no substitutes on this side of
the water. The delicious shad 81 d
Spanish mackerel have no sastronomic
rivals in these waters, and the sole must
be accepted in their stead. We miss,
too, our profusion and variety of vege-
tables, our stewed and stuffed toma.
toes, green corn, oyster plants and
sweet potatoes.-LippincOtt8.