The daily gazette., 1878-10-16
OUR PARIS LETTER.
THE "FIGARo OFFICES.
Irregular CoTespondence.)

lessly on the Drouot, l found myself in
front of the brilliantly lighted facade of
the office ofa newspaper that is known
by name or namesake in every part of
the civilized world, and l entered the
ante-chamber which is always open to
the public.
The Figaro contains on most days of
the week number of advertisements
printed in very small type and in the
most abbreviated form that is practic-
able. Some of these are trade announce
ments; others are of the nature of those
classed as Personal in the New York
Herald. Thus L Read in the Fagaro of
Monday 'Prince Authentique.-Epos
dem. on veuve." This means that gentle
men bearing the title of Prince, and about
the authenticity Of whose rank there can
not be any doubt, is willing to enter into
matrimonial alliance with a spinster or
widow lady who would like to be a
FrlnceSS. Sometim rs to these curiously
candid offers is appended the reminder
"Serieux," which reminds me of an ad-
dendum once read in the Herald from a
lady who wished to marry "an elderly
and affiuent widower, slightly afflicted
with gout." .'Gentlemen who wish to
make fun need not apply" concluded the
falr lncognlta. The above advertisement
to which have referred in the Figaro
are styled "petites annoces,' and are re-
ceived and paid for over the counter of
the Rue Drouot; but the great mass OF
trade notices come through the Compagpie
Generdte des Annonces, body who are
flrmers-general of advertisements in
all the great newspapers of Paris. The
| advertiser consequently rarely makes his
presence felt at the Figaro offices; his
place is supplied by the loud-voiced
and determined-visaged abonoe or sub
scriber. But ere quit the ante-chamber
leading to the hall overlooking the coy
| cred courtyard, 1 must bestow a glance
on the numbers of curious people wait
ing patiently, in hopes, presume, of
seeing the editor or manager of the jour
nal. There Is Zouave. What on earth
can he want? There is widow in deep
| mourning, with three little children.
| There are brace of jovial priests in
black soutanes and shovel hats, who, as
| tuey lounge on one of the divans, whis-
per to each other so confdentially and
exchange such hilarious chuckles that i
fancy one priest must be relating to the
other such a "bonne historic" as that
suggested in the well known picture.
Or, it may be, IL ese estimabie occlesias-
tics are conversing about the Orphelinat
at Auteuil, in which NJ. Saint Gernest,
the military riddcteur of the Figure, has
taken SO laudable an interest, and in aid
of the funds of which excellent institu-
! ton tn rea lers of the Figoro have sub
/ scrbed in a few days the sum of some.
thing Ike 300, 900 f. The fact is all the
more worth mentioning when 1t is re-
membered that the French, although
bountiful in private almsgiving, have
hitherto been slow in responding to ap-
peals for public subscriptions. That
wonderful system of ours of voluntary
contributors" is virtually in its infancy
among our French cousins, simply fol
the reason that they have hitherto been
accustomed to look, in times of pressure,
to the State and to the State alone.s
| could very well understand why a
chasseur in a plumed cooked hat, and
holding note in pink envelope in one
of his buck.skinned gloved hands, should
have been cooling his heels in the ante
chamber; Madame la Marquise de Grand
| CONNIE had some request, no doubt, to
make. There was an old gentleman
again, in black skull-cap, very comfor-
tably bestowed in corner, where he
was sleeping the sleep of the just Sleep
on, harmless chucklehead | have mel
you before the whole world over in
omnibuses, on board steamboats,, at
church there is always the man who goes
to sleep. He is the lineal descendant OF
Eutychus. He is the living and snoring
type OF the Roman Senator who indulged
in forty winks while Messrs. Brutus, Cas-
sius, Casea and Co., were stabblug Caesar
to death at tue base of Pompey's statue
While / glance not unsynpathslngly
on the slumberlng veteran-it is so nice
to be asleep and to forget the world and
other worries!- Ia Turk came in-lht
regular modern Turk, the "battle OF
Bordeaux" Ottoman-his closely button
cd black surtout figuring the body of the
bottle, and his feZ the red-sealed cork
thereof. He puzzled me even more thar
the Zouave had done. could not refrair
from asking my courte Gus guide whether
they were troubled with any mad folks
who came that way. eyes," he remark
ed, "the average was about half n lunatit
day. The Archangel Gabriel generally
C Ills on Mondays; Wednesday is the day
|, Tor gentleman in straw hat with /
blue ribbon who has discovered the per
petual motion;and he is followed on Fri
DAYS by humpbacked man in cloal
who has found out the feasibility ofaeria
navigation. The great-great-grands
of the man with the Iron Mask only call
OcCaSl SlOHdlly W dsh lol uuo ttullcso VI oh'
=, son of the Dauphin Louis XVII; ant
r since tfe collapse of the Compte d.
Chambord's candidature, nothing ha.
2 been heard of the lady who declares sh'
: Is j Joan of Arc, and that she was burned
a but got over II by means of electro-gal
yanism and the Eau de SOurdes." M,
hosts would not suffer me to go ava.
/. without showing me the composing
/ rooms" of the Figaro, of which l nee'
!, only say that they intimately resemble'
!, some other composing-rooms which
have seen in the course of the last quar-
er of century, and then, with great fea
= and trembling peeped into some room
where number of gentleman were buri
: ly employed in writing. They were tn
: Cyclops forging the bolts of Jove. Fo
c aught | could tell, l had been gain
: momentarily on the profound %. Mys
= tere," the inscrutable "Ignatus," the IN
etfable "Deplomate" and the unapproach
, able "Monsieur de'Orchastra" of thi
!; cunningly contriyed and extremel
! clever paper.
was hidden on departing to look OIL
a portrait of his Royal Highness tn
Prince of Wales, an excellent likeness
: superbly framed in the Hispano Moi
y esaue patio. In the tapestry-hung cham
, ber took place the famous nocturnal cor
= cert and banquet concerning which =
g MANY absurd stories have been told. TIL
q Prince simply wished to see the stear
printing machirery of the, Ftgrro, an