New-York tribune., 1878-11-09
PARTISAN SOCIETY.
THE CLOSE OF THE EXHIBITION SEASON.
THE GRAND BALL GIVEN by THE PRESIDENT
AT vERsA1ILEs-DETAILs OF THE MIsHAPs
THEREAT-GRAvB DIsC0MFoRTs- MACMAHoNs

| PARIS Oct. 25.-The Exhibition season has closed
in stormy and dismal weather, unusual in Paris in
the ST. Martins Summer and in ball at versailles
which is we'll called the ReschOffen OF French les
! tiyity. Those who have witnessed 1t Will Detler
understand the utter defeat of the armies OF the
Third Napoleon in 1870. Two days before IL
took place General Rivieres went to see, at the
Elys6e, the President of the Republic about war
Office business. He found him in gee-
ful sp,rits. The Marshal told the General
| that the ball would astOnish the world by
its splendor, and put the ParisiaDs in the
| best humor with him. It would be entirely PAID
for out of his own pocket. and organized by none
| but military men. No civilian was to have hand
in it,, the Marshal tapping his visitor on the shout
der as he spoke assured him. The ball
came off on Tuesday night and Wednesday MORN
ing. Like O'Rourke's noble feast,
IT will n, 'er be forgot
BY those who there anu bv those VINO were NOT
But 1t will bo remembered in manner not cred
liable to those who presided at IT. Yesterday after
noon General R,vieres had again War Office
business 60 transact with the Marshal He found
the gallant old warrior weeping and sobbIpg
MacMahon is a veteran of the temperament that be-
comes a soldier He is fond of his gun and OF ms
dog: hardy and simple in his manner of liie But he
does not know now to bear revcrscs with sih lip
He wept at Chaons when he met there the En-
prror Napoleon after the disaster of Resehohel.
He wcpt. also, when, his return from cap
tvty in Germany, TmeTs rehabilitcd him by
giving him command OF The Army OF Paris. lie
also bathed IN tears the hands uf the then Pres dcnt
as he kissed then. like French child who had been
in disgrace for badly learned lesson and uneXpect-
edy forgiven. The fountains near his eyes again
overlooked on Thursday, whom he read Ill the papers
the hard things sad about the ball IL should not"
e hTnLya aI
with his visitor "havo invited toe whole universe
to Versailles if l had anticipated what was going to
happen Versailles, | Ought TO have remembered, is
an uniuclly place for France"
"You iould not talk that way. Marshall replied.
with the readiness of a courticr, the General. I'VE
owe 10 Versailles the honor aud the happiness OF
having you for President Of our Republic"
"No matter" pursued MacMahon, Versailles is
an unlucky place. It's an dccurscd town. The
Marechae and thought to break the other night.
the evil spell llc geigaoHl which hangs over 1t.
We wanted to have oHr pacific revenge on the Ger
mans, who proclaimed William their Emperor there
Bisnarck's spies OWNED our intention and scented
from afar our coming misfortune. They VIII
roast us with their sarcasms. am told
that in Pans every one calls our ball
a second Resch.il'n. | have half mind
10 feign illness ana not 90 tonight 10 Wadding-
the face after what happened on Tuesday at the
ball {; Curse the ball.
General Riyiegcs. whom vou not to confound
with General scI6 dc Rycre. nephew of the
dIscovorcr of the Venus of Milo. scarcely
believed his eyes when be saw the Marshal
last might enter the brilliant salons at the Foreign
Office with the Princess of Wales beside him, and
talking 10 her with the utmost chccriuincNs. Nmle
the quadrlie of honor going forward he chatted
away with tho MARKETABLE and the ex-husband of
the cX-Quccn of SPAN. aud appeared 10 be
in the highest spirits General RiyTeres
expressed to me his pleasure and surprise
ar seeing his old companion IA arms 50 jocosc and
joyous. / said to him. " Blessed IS the Irish Cct,
for he is easily c0miorted.' Certainly, the elias
ticity which the Marshal displayed is nm
enyIabe quality. 1t enabled him when
he came back from Germany seven years
ago. utterly crushed aud humiliatcd, TO take new
departure. which ended in his turning ono OF
greatest men of time out ot the Presidency. and,
in the character Of "a saviour OF society, slipping
into his place.
A. the ball at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs the
Versailles 1Gjo the universal topic Of conversa
ton. Almost every there had been to it-thaf
is to say had been inVi,ed TO il by the Duke and
Duchess Of Magenta. and had attempted 20 get III to
see it, Each had congratulated the other on having
escaped without broken bone, or other serious bodily
hurt. Madame Christophcr,on, tho pretty young
wife OF the Norwegian Executive Commissioners at
the Exhibition WAS tallcu out of the Gaicyie des
Glaccy in faint and the cOrsage OF her bail
dress aud her stays cut open with
a pcnknifc. NJ. do Portals received CON
tusions in the face which have left bun
in the condition of defeated boxer. cousin Of
the Duchcsse DGcazcs lost q pllcot which lie pur-
chased a few days previously III the Exhibition for
81 400. II was lined with far. and through the in
tcrcst of the Russian Commissioner he
had obtained 1t cheap. Three ladies ear
rngs III a sculls for precedence III the
line. were torn ont of their ears Fourteen car
rages were broken INTO fragments in the COur
dHOnncur, where the horses got frightened and
attempting t. run away, became entanged IN
labyrinth of cquipagcs. The names Of divers
great persOuages are mentioned IN this even
iHg's papers being laId up with pleu-
rEy, bronchitis and Intlamed lungs, all III con-
sequence Of the bad organization at this ball. Con
temcn were boxed in the noses by exasperared ladies
, whom they had attempted to shove aside, and la
dies were literally "wiggcd" by gentlemen.
Chignons which caught in tho buttons of
coats and the epaulcttes Of uniforms were torn
away. and with them the flowers, diamonds and
other ornaments winch adorned the false har.
Frenchmcn used to enjoy, in former times, repu-
taLon foI mathematical genius. If IL was deserved.
the present generation is a degenerate one. Nono
of the MarshapS military engineers who were en-
gagged 10y him to make preparations for the ball
kept in mind the mathematical truism that
the whole is greater than n part. The rooms
they threw open 10 the $1,000 persons who wore
invited arc scarcely large enough to hold 5000.
One set of stairs only apportioned to tho or
dlnary guests, and it not the widest in the
palace. 1t is known as the marble stair
case" and leads from the left corner of
the Court of Honor TO what were, before the Revo-
luton, the Queens apartments. The approach to it
from the Court is zgzag yestbuc, of falr enough
proportions but much too narrow for a crowd to