The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-12-24
THE Paris or iMERICl.D


CINCINNATI. Dec. l9.-The hotel cards and
railway posters OF this smoky town tell you that
you are in the Paris OF America. The local
guide books. the advertisements Of ready made
clothing. the leading articles in the newspa-
pers. and the placards in the shop windows o,
the tobacconsts repeat the same Information
With n frequency that becomes little tedious.
Ii Is said that once when that excellent and
warlike man. Field Marshal Murat Halstead.
returned to Cincinnati after a visit OF several
weeks 10 the Paris OF France he was struck by
the resemblance between the two cites-R re-
semblance that had occurred to nobody before.
Asa mntter Of fact tho water Is very bad in
Cincinnati us 1t is in Paris. and is little used as
q beverage.
Besides this the front Of the Merchants Ex-
change reminded Field Marshal Murat Hal
stead 81 Notre Dame. The shops Of the Arcade
carried him back to the Palais Royal and the
Passage dos Princes The bronze figures
around the Probasco fountain transported him
in imagination 10 the Louvre and awakened
host Of aesthetic recoections. Viewed from Il
distance through the medium Of thick black
smoke. the tall establishment near Rose Hin
for the slaughter and rendering OF hogs
makes a toleraby good Are 4 Etoile and Field
Marshal Murnt Halstead swore by the god Of
war that. barring their chimneys. the river
steamboats, at the Public Landing resembled
nothing in the world 50 much as the floating
baths on the Seine.
Thereupon Field Marshal Murat Halstead
sat down at his desk and wrote u really able
article congratulating his feow-citizens Of the
Pork City upon inhahting n place where the
art Of living was carried nearer perfection
where tine amenities Of civilization were 10 be
found in greater abundance. and where a,stheiic
culture made existence a serener JOY than any
where else west OF the Atlantic Ocean.
Il did not need many OF Field Marshal Murat
Halstead's vigorous. earnest paragraphs to con
vince his fellow-ctizens that they were indeed
Parisans in all but the name.
Then Il lady in Cincinnati discovered new
way to initiate faience. and Il music school hired
Mr., Theodore Thomas TO come West and teach
people how much nobler and more elevating
are the strains OF Wagner than the shrieks Of
swine about to die. These two events did not
tend to diminish CincinnRt's conviction that
Field Marshal Murot Hastead was right.
Cincinnati is lively town. well built In some
| parts. and with suburbs which must boz
| pleasant 10 live in when the wind blows the
! smoke across the river into Kentucky. II 1t is
n Paris. 1t is Paris after Bismarck's own
| heart. for quite one-haf Of the population
speak German. drink beer aud prefer the
| black pumpernickel and the crusty zweback
| TO any other product OF the oven. II it is a
Paris. it is n very small Paris. for from any
central pont-say at Fourth and Vine or at the
! Probasco fountain-a brisk walk OF one minute
and u half in any direction will take you to the
extreme limit Of the we-bu III quarter As for
the artistic aesthetic. cultured phases OF life
gagged by the windows Of the print shops. the
desire to hear Mr.. Theodore Thomas's orchcs-
| firm nd : ha oil ~ al
writings, Cincinnati is still far behind Boston
| oven.
When an individual or city has a just and
reasonable cause for pride it is mistaken
kindness to allow It to go on congratulating
itself on tho wrong thing.
Now. Cincinnati is not the Paris Of America,
It Is not even the Frankfort. the Brussels. OF
the Stoke Pogis Of America. lis chief hotels
are merely enlargoments OF the crossroads
tavern idea. It's cooking has not got beyond
the pie and cruller stage Of culinary develop.
ment. Its bronze fountain is artisticaly supe-
ror to the painted wooden statue Of George
Washington that adorns tho Court House yard
| in CovlnGton. ncross the bridge. and against
which tho Cncnnatians level the shafts Of their
refined sarcasm but Paris is something more
than bronze fountain. with tin cups attached
by chains. Its Arcade, with shops. is nearly as
extensive MS Il similar establishment in Provi,
dence. H. |. Its culture" is Il promising ign
Of awakening interest in desirable things. just
MS Intelligence and curiosity displayed by 4
kindergarten pupil indicate tho dawning o.
tastes and habits that may become admirable
after years of education. 1t surpasses no one
Of a dozen other cities on this continent In an,
respect save tho superior density of its pail Of
smoke and the moral interest that attaches to 4
ms the chosen home of the paragon of tru,