The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1878-10-11
Paris Peculiarities.

y
other foreigner visiting Paris, goes
once to the 'sBal Mabile" to satisfy an
unslack curiosity as to what the devil
ish things is like. don't know that l
have ever seen a description of the
place in print. I will give you brief
one: The visitor (who is generally
several in bunch, if Ameriean) enters
through doorway into q garden. On
the right is a shabby summer house,
with gen d'a,me bull-frog holding on
to the shelf outside of the pigeon-hole
Through which one says farewell to his
money!, as if fearing that the little
building would rise to Heaven. The
admission is five francs, it was former
ly three francs, but this being an ex-
position of its own, with large expo
sure, the price has been raised. Close
to the ticket-office, like an infant bar
rier in a popular French Revolution
the usual elevated bench, and seats
holding the three Judges of the Su-
preme Court is thrown across the gravel
path. The junior Judge takes the
tickets and keeps them. The three
ticket-takers, all abreast, I find is ar
idea borrowed from the Jesuits, who
always made their pupils go about in
threes for the destruction of secrecy
and confidence. We walk up the
gravel path, swing to the left and find
the trees full of lights and colored Ian
terms, the borders of the path thick
with chairs and little round tables. and
behind them white jackets waiting fol
their prey. Oh the left, and occupy
ing large space in the center of the
garden, is platform, a polygon, with
a family likeness to circle in fetters
and from the midst of this platform
which is of wood, rises an elevated
stage for band, the base of which
stage is thickly concealed in shrub.
and flowers to the extent that the heads
alone of the fddlers are to be seen
There is continuous procession
marching in the gravel, meeting an
other continuous one coming the othel
way. At the sound of warming CHORD
from the orchestra, the public swarm,
on to the platform, leaving small
space open for the dancers. A quad
rille is formed. Frequently the CROWD
is split up into three, with the attrac
ton of three different sets of quadrill
es. The dancers are hired by the
proprietors of the garden. The me1
are small, degraded-looking wretches
with the stain of every vice upon theil
faces. Their movements are fantastic
They turn their legs like cork-screws
and cut up antics that are uncommonly
monkey-like. The women are merely
brazen trollopes, with, as general rule
no pretension to good looks, and ne
Nf Oh r,f
cence. Their dancing is nothing bu
active audacity, the regular stereotyp
ed movement being to kick one Lee
straight up in the air, and Craze some
spectators hat with the toe of the boot
or kick the cigar from the mouth o
some foreigner in the front rank o
gazers. The dress is that of the ordi
nary walking-dre of the day, more o.
less costly or more OF. less plain. Their,
is no pretension to Terpschicorean art
none to grace, none to any pantomime
but what poetry would spit upon. /
is merely bounce and canter, with a
much studied exposure of the person
as the law will permit. There. is al
attache of the garden that stands by. tt
see that the dancers do not go too far
which is but q dubious phrase after all
The women LIT their outer skirts ur, t.
Fheir Ws perl9fIy 2z&4gn %aYYzSt
YWhen Il adrille or waltz is oyel
/ the cro eaks ranks, the dancer
disappear, and everything preserves th
appearance of an ordinary pron,enad
in q garden. When the music agai
sounds. the circle, five or six deep, in
mediately forms around the dancer
who go through the same stereotype
performances. Everywhere one heal
the English language spoken in th
crowd.
There is a very curious commerce.
feature about Paris. I said to
Dane by birth, and cosmopolitan /
nature, ST see no wholesale hous,
here" He replied, ''There are none
which was certainly good reason ft
my not having seen them. He addet
"My dear sir, the Frenchman has I
idea of a rebate for quantity. If yo
are asked one franc for one bottle ,
wine you will be asked ten thousan
francs for ten thousand bottles, or
million francs for million bottles
In the retail business they look upe
trade with this solitary retail ey
Thirty centimes for some, little lat
edging per yard. Two hundred yarl
of It could not be bought centin
less per yard than was asked fl
one yard. The last was person
experience, while looker-on, whe
three women were being struck dun
with this monsterous idea. Fren6
manufacturers, of course, have the
agencies here, perhaps, occupying
little room, but in all Paris one CT
, not find jobbing house, a big Who'll
sale commission house, or anythil
resembling stock of goods for sale
wholesale prices. Paris is essential
in trade, a city of shops, ga celebrs
ed case" commenced this morning
the Court of Assize. Two men, one
medical student and the other ne
ary's clerk, were placed on trial fol
murder committed under circul
!, stances as stupid as the act was brut.
The victim was a milk woman who b
accumulated twelve thousand francs
diligence and water. She was invit
to dinner by those two ruffians at t
lodgings of one of them, and on ente
ing the room was knocked on the hea
They afterwards quartered her and p
the pieces in box. The President
) the Court received 4,500 applicatio
for tickets of admission to the tril
: more than one-half of which were fro
, women. Each of the scoundrels 6
cused the other of being the princir
in the murder, and each gave as m
tive of their crime the imperati
necessity of supplying money to the
mistresses. This reason seemed to
perfectly satisfactory to Gustaye Al
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