Middletown transcript., 1878-09-14

tifcial Optics-The Omnibus System of the
French Metropolis-A Ride for Three Sous
| What Tourists See and Fail to See, etc.
tFrOm our regular correspondent)
PARIS, August 1878.
| American dentists are, I think,
about the only Americans who make
money in Paris, and it is a little re-
markable that the French who are so
skillfull and artistic as surgeons, and
have such exquisite taste in all deli
cate mechanical arts should have
yielded this field almost exclusively
to Americans. The sign: dentist
American" may be seen in small gilt
letters on the doors III almost every
fashionable quarter Of Paris, and from
DR.. Evans, who fills the decayed teeth
of half the soveregins of Europe, and
who was so intimate with the family
of the late Emperor that he breakfast
ed with them every Sunday, to the re-
Gently arrived young practitioner from
Philadelphia, or Boston, ''.,they are, 1
am told, all making imOney; for the
economical Frenchman will spend on
his personal appearance what he would
consider rash prodigality if expended
for the mere comforts of life. But if
Americans excel in the manufacture
of false teeth, the French excel them
in false eyes. Thes..'average sale of
manufactured eyes in Paris alone, in
tended for the human head, amounts
to four hundred per week. The French
capital appears to have the manopoly
of this strange trade. Twelve eye
manufacturers flourish within the bar
riers; each of whom furnishes employ
ment to about twenty workmen. Eng
lish and American enamellers have
vainly tried to compete with the
French occulist artists. "Do You see,
sir )" remarked one of the latter,
"Englishmen have not sufficient taste
for this trade; their eyes are only
good enough for stuffed animals" F."
This Occulist, who is at the head of
his profession, receives his customers
in a magnificent saloon, resplendent
with gliding and mirrors. His serv-
ant has but one eye, and if you would
judge of the effect of the goods, the
master rings the bell and tries the false
eye in the socket of the servant. The
charges are forty or fifty francs per
eye, purchased at this well-known es-
tablishment. For the poor, there are
secondhand visual organs which may
have been worn by some Duke or
Duchess, and exchanged for a new
one after several months service.
A feature of Paris life, justly at
tracing the attention OF the foreigner,
is its omnibus system. From halfpast
five in the morning to twelve o'clock
at night, hundreds of omnibuses cir
cuIate through Paris. The omnibus
company, one of the richest and most
prosperous in France, pays an annual
sum to the government for this monop-
oily which amounts to 100000. The
Paris Omnibuses convey about one
hundred millions of passengers per
annum. Different offices or Bureoux
are established in the streets, Boule-
wards and squares, to take up passen-
gers and to transfer, by CORES
pondence ticket" those who wish to
deviate from the direct line, and con.
tinue their journey by entering anOth-
er omnibus. Thus, for the sum of six
sous, you may go from one end of
Paris to the other. There is no cheap
er way or better method to form a
rapid idea of the extent and beauty of
Paris than to go on top Of a "bus" and
travel from the Arc de Triomphe to
the Bastille, returning by the left bank
of the Seine, especially of an afternoon
when the whole city is swarming with
life. Should the excursionist renew
the same drive between eight and ten
in the evening, when the streets, Boul-
evards, fOuboungs and squares, are
traced in long lines of light, which ap-
pear to link there together as with
golden chains, he will then have ac-
quired, in few hours, as correct an
idea of Paris outdoor life, as if he had
lounged for a week in the metropolis.
The same promenade through the
veins and arteries of the huge leVia-
hon ought to be taken in the still
hours Of the morning, amid the mo-
nentary lull SO soon to be awakened
" the collision of countless interests.
1t may be said that at least 80 per
ent. of the time Of the average tour.
st is frittered away in Europe. Many
.ome without the least preparation,
lot knowing what to see, others see,
without appreciating it, only what is
,ut down in the Guide Books. Few
indeed, bring the information and .ex-
,erience that will enable them to read,
nth the spirit and understanding, the
ich and solemn pages everywhere un-
olded in the old world. 1t is a won
erfully true saying that no tourist
an carry back from foreign countries
lore than he brings. G. A. s.
You cant plant cats too early, nor