Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-07-01
ICoRREsPoYpENCE OF THE SrAR. !

CORRESPONDENCE OF TIE STAR
PARIS, June l., ISIS.
The gay French metropolis is now arrayed
in all its Summer glory, and the beautiful and
dazzling sights that one meets on every side
prove the right to its title of Earthly Para
disc" The ParSians derive as much pleasure
from it as possible, seeming to realize their
small chances for Heavenly one. and desir-
ing to make hay while the sun shines. The
foreign visitors are more and more diSpleased
with their general treatment here, and visit
to the Paris Exposition has been the means OF
increasing TO an alarming extent the prOfane
RrocllvitieS of many an innocent traveller.
They won't realize here as they did at our
centennial, that the best way all around would
be to make prices lower instead of higher.
here they are not even satisfied with an in
crease of prices, but take advantage TO tack on
an addition when there is any probability that
it will not be discovered. They seem to take
particular pains to make their bills out in the
worst handwriting possible, SO that the
scholar viii pay his bill without a murmur
rather than worry to find out what he is
charged for. When deception of tins char
acter is discovered, the Frenchmal lowers his
price without blush. Only this morning
in Governor McCOrmick's Office bill for
painting in the educational bureau amounted
TO thirteen hundred francs. A careful inveS
ugatlon showed that the amount justly due
was eight hundred francs. The walters i'm the
cafes, not satisfied with the liberal pour
pores that are given them. are very apt TO
make mistake in giving change. The " pour
D0lre" business In the cafes is a very prOtita-
bic one, so much so that prOprietorS receive
salaries from their ''garconS'' for the privilege
OF plying their trade. \ couple of Washing
tonlanS here are thinking of opening cafe a
Ia Paris at home, intending TO don the garconS
aprons themselves, and expecting TO reap all
their profits from 'pOurbOireS." The QueS-
tiOn with them. however. is whether Washing
tOnlanS would stand paying eight or ten cents
Tor glass of beer, and five cents in addition
for the privilege of being waited upon
Tie republican sun has had very little chance
to spread Itself thus far: IN fact, il has not
ShOne twenty-fOur hours conSecutively for the
past month and half. Notwithstanding the
many drawbacks, the exposition gives strong
promise of final success.
MAGNIFICENT GOVERNMENT ENTERTAINMENTS
The French government has been very lib
eral in many respects, and the magnificent
entertainments given by the officials of the
government at short intervals are among the
most interesting features of the season of IS
at Paris, Every year the government apDrO-
PIRATES liberal amounts to the cabinet minis
tiers for the purpose of giving official recep-
tiOnS worthy of the respective offices. This
year being good time to show that the re-
public can not only hold universal eXpOSi-
tlon as well as an empire, but can also enter
tain in royal style, the appropriations have
been increased to one million seven hundred
and ninety-twO thousand francs. OF this
amount Marshal MacMahon receives one-half
million; the minister of agriculture and COM
meTce who is at the head of the exposition
receives the same sum- and the remainder is
divided among the other ministers. The pro-
portion OF each is amply sufficient to give re-
ceptlonS on splendid scale, inaSmuch as a
palace and household are furnished. and alSoa
squad of the Garde Republicane in full uni
form.
Very frequently, however, contributions are
made from private funds in addition. Ii can
be imagined what magnificent sight an of
hclal reception at Paris Is, when neither money
nor labor is spared. One of the largest and
most successful that has been held so far was
given short time since by the minister of
nIance. 1t would have set a Miss Grundy
crazy. His palace is really part of the
Louvre buildings, and a palace in every sense
OF the word. The exterior of the building was
all ablaZe with gas jets, simply an intimation
of the glittering magnifcence within. On
either side of the entrance We're cloak rooms.
very large and well attended to. At the foot
OF Wel me proaq staircase was double male oc-
tette, who furnished beautiful vocal music
during the entire evening. Upon ascending
the staircase the guests found themselves in a
iaoyIhtnu m OF corridors parlors and reception
rooms, all brilliantly lighted with thousands
OF wax candles. The rooms seemed mum
berless, but the guests even more so. There
were were hve thousand invitations issued, and
and Wel-loaded refreShment tables wera Sit
uated in different parts of the palace. and
the hneSt champagne flowed like water. For
several days previous hundreds of skilled
WOrkmen had been engaged upon the decOra-
tiOns and general arrangements and the reSuIt
was satisfactory in the highest degree Tba
French surpasS every other nation in tasteful
decorations. They devote apparently great
attention to details which others would never
notice, but when decorated in accordanea
with their tasteful designs, produce effects
was the regular reception room of the minister
IT was large and high, but the crowd was
SO great that dancing was almost impractical
freScOed. person in crossing the room
would notice strange, peculiar light flooding
the room, apparently coming from above. The
eyes, upon being inStinctively raised would
meet sight that seemed glimpse of paradise,
at one end of the room, at the angle of the
arched ceiling and the wall was niche i'm the
shape OF half moon. In the niche was min
iature conservatory arranged in the most
graceful and tasteful manner. Reclining
among the ferns and vines in a very life-like
manner, was female marble figure. A bright
electric light thrown from the top of the room
directly upon the figure lent an unnatural
beauty to the whole. People stopped i'm the
middle OF the room and gazed with wonder
the effect was so beautiful The large open
balcony opening GpQn the Louvre had been
rooted over and formed an immense corriduT
At one end of this corridor was a fountain
Psig ampng SGTers and tropical plants
stood a beautiful female statue in marble.
Her t;gnt hand placed to her forehead just
light which was shed from above at an
there was a. crowd of admirers around
it all the time, and the ladies seemed to
have no fear of the electric light, which is
by no means the best for compilations,
especially when built like the French ladies'
The view of the Louvre gardens from the win-
dOwS of the corridor was indeScribable. Every
tree and bush was loaded with Chinese Ian
terms every path and flower bed was net
work of gas jets, while different colored lights
were burned on all sides. In the center of the
garden stood large statue of the Centaur
which had been taken from the Louvre. An
electric light was thrown directly upOn It. SO
that it stood out in bold relief, and the bright
white light made striking contrast with the
soft mellow jets of the surrounding ilumina-
tiOn.
FEW DRAWBACKS.
There were several drawbacks however ac-
cOrding to American ideas. The ventila. ion
was not good, and when some American whose
desire for fresh air was too strong would ven
ture to open window it was promptly and
decidedly closed by some little Frenchman
with no lungs to speak of. The most serious
drawback however was the lack of pretty girls
A private reception at Washington would
be considered of little account if it
couldn't show more fine looking women
than were in that immense throng. The
dresses were supposed TO be very handsome,
but as they were all mo necked " nothing