The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1877-12-15
Letters from Europe.

#t..- PARIS, Nov. z, 1877.
To the Editor of the Pacific Commercial Advertiser .
Emma S~quare-Centrai P~ark-Hyde Park-Bois
du Boulogne-is an ascending scale in the series Of
garden spots in the capitals Of the world. And il
you pass up the scale within q few weeks you cannot
help making comparisons of the relative beauties and
advantages of each. l can tell you, confidently, that
Emma Square has one decided advantage over the
public places of London and Paris, in the variety of
tropical vegetation. "Look at that magnificent
forest 20 says the a~dmiring Fr~enchman, in the Bois
du Boulogne. "What Of it," / say. "Where are
your cocoanut trees and your royal palms?
Paris has recovered from the effects of the German
war, save only in many quarters, where you see the
blotches and patches on the walls, where the bullets
of the Commune struck. The great Hotel de Vile,
burned during the war, is rising from its ashes
The Tuileries, a mass Of ruins. is slowly taking
shape, and on the Trocadero are looming up the
vast mass Of buildings in crescent shape, which are
to hold the finer works of the Grand Exposition
Building in Paris is always cheap. The material Is
gypsum from beneath the city. 1t comes soft and
plastic like putty, and the workmen easily mould il,
but it soon hardens to granite strength in the air.
Trade in all Europe is stagnant, nearly dead.
Berlin and Vienna and London and Brussels are in
despair. But Paris hourisbes and grows rich and
strong. She has brought back all the trade she losi
during the war. There is reason for it. Buried Ia
the hand of every Frenchman is a marvellous skill (;
in his brain there is a magazine of wonderful devices.
Two hundred years of training have done this.
Other nations make good articles, but France makes
the best. 1 met a Nottingham (Englaud) merchant
on the Channel boat. His satchel was full Of lace
patterns. He said 81 employ three hundred work.
men in my English factory, and several designers, but
after all, L ship over to Paris twice a year, and
secretly get in advance the designs Of the French
- . -. 1-s-. o0IsaA -. lnnn nnA Nhan II
initiate them in my English factory" There is a
homely lesson in all this;-produce the best article
and it brings the best market.
Do you know how fashions are produced in Paris ,
There are many hundreds Of artists in millinery and
dressmaking here. and many hundred, even thou
sands Of experimental designs are made. But some
one fashion will take the lead. Take ~dressmaking
for instance. The clients Of the dressmakeTs,
noble ladies, women Of the d~emi-monde, actresses are
arrayed in these various fashions and display them
in the Opera, in the Theatres, on the Boulevards.
The air is full Of floating designs and patterns. But
the Partisan eye is quick to detect beauty in dress.
There comes q crystalization In judgment, quickly,
almost unconsciously. The women begin to call for
that one acceptable style. The fashion is made, and
its girdIe is put around the earth in forty minutes.
Last night l attended the dinner given to General
Grant by the American residents in Paris. The
Grand Hotel did its best. With the flowers and
music and light, and decorations, and the three hun
dred and fifty guests it turned out a brilliant affair.
On o raised platform, TRANQUILITY feeling like fat
oxen, sat Gen. Grant, Oscar de Lafayette, NJ. de
Rochambeau, and other "swells." Before the din
ner, while disposing ofmy oyercoAt in an ante-rOom,
small, crowded and warm, l was jOstled. and on
turning saw Gen. Grant getting rid Of his heavy
ehapeau. His thick head Of hair had become dis
ordered in riding to the feast. AS there was neither
brush nor comb at hand, Mrs. Grant used the end Of
Der closed fan as a comb. aad the patient ~ex-presi-
hent quietly stood while his wife clawed his thick
docks into shape. 1T is not philosophy that pleaseS
me, said a great monarch Of Europe; it's gossip !
gossipf) At the table l sat near some noted French
men, Laboulaye, Emil de Girardin, Edmund About.
Lafayette made q capital speech, and often referred
to his grandfather, the marquis. He gestured little,
but brandished o fork in his right hand. Then Tor
bert, the American Consul made a speech, and occa-