The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-09-13
EDMOND ABOUT AT HOME.
His Paris House, His Family and
His Entertainments.
IParisian. August lith.l


lParisian, August 1ith.l
Up to 1870 About occupied his activity
in many different spheres. such as jour
nalism, romance, political economy, the
theater, travel etc, Since 1870 he has
been the chief editor and half-proprietor
of the XIXeme Steele newspaper, which
brings him in little above 100000 francs
yearly. President of the '.Societe des
Gems de Lettres" since 1876, he has the
appearance of the rich man, tooether
with the authority of the successful man.
He does not write much for his paper,
contenting himself with the direction of
il. Married in Alsace, In shut up at
the time of the war the house LIE was liv-
ing in at that moment, and since that
time it has remained closed, as he refuses
either to let or to sell it. With the mar
riage portion of his wife he bought the
house in which they are living, No 7 Rue
de Douai, which yields good yearly in
come. The proprietor, who is the father
of seven children, occupies two of the
stories-the first and second; a beautiful
staircase, adorned with flowers, leads up
to the first floor, upon which are all the
sleeping In the summer the whole
family goes to Malabry, near Sceaux,
where tn, v inhabit an old maison bour-
geoise of the eighteenth century, standing
in a magnificent park in the midst Of, tie
woods of Verrieres, upon the road to Yer
sailIes.
During the Winter, M. About receives
every Friday evening from December to
May, and gives every fortnight in the
reception-rooma, which are on the second
floor, a grand dinner, at which his guests
are alternately the Minister of the lnte-
rior and the Minister of Public Instruc-
ton. Deputies Tirard, Lacretelle, and
General Billaut, Municipal Councillors,
Violet LIE Due, and GARNER; all the
writers on his paper, Henner, baudry,
and Jacquet; men Of letters, both of
France and from abroad; Henry Aron, of
the Debats; Tony Revillon Louis Leroy,
Assolant, Sarcey, Henri, Pouquier, doc
tors, lawyers, Maitre Leon, Clery, and the
members of the Committee OF the Society
Men of Letters, Among the lady quests
are the wives of the Deputies and writers
and Nine. Edmond Adam. The lady of
the house, Nine Edmond About, is small,
stout and very lively, with an irregular
and open countenance, she is very grace
full, and receives her guests charming y,
assisted by the governess of her children.
The dinners are excellent, too copious,
even, with two or two or three rare
dishes sent in from Bentueux or Chevet,
and are served in large and most COM
Portable dining-room. About, although
born in Lorraine, has lived in Alsace,
and still keeps up the old open-handed
hospitality of the country; moss of ex-
cellent beef from Strasbourg; champagne,
also in moss, half-filed with ice; Bor-
deaux, syrups, fruits, cakes, pates and
enormous brooches in abundance, are al
ways on his table. "1'ake what you likew
"Drink what you like" is the cordial
invitation of the host, and it makes ev-
erybody feel at his ease. We may say
that this cordiality is somewhat neces-
sarv, for the guests who have come there
for the most part during the past two or
three years are still little strange to one
another. There is not much intimacy,
and they do not yet amuse Themselves.
Attable you talk with your neigEbor,
and to sum up in word, there are too
many people and as yet no Friendship"
That however, is coming by degrees, for
the guest is always sure OF an open
hearted and gay welcome. The elder
daughters, of Ia, l2 and 10 years old, as
sist their mother; they possess fine and
spiritual features, if little irregular,
and resembling their father when he was
young. NJ. About is stout; his beard
and hair, which were formerly blonde,
and now gray; his eyes are some
what overhung by the heavy eyelids, but
his mouth is smiling; his speech is live
ly and always engaging.
The principal salon in the house is full
of beautiful and rare furniture; bufets,
tables. etegeres, chandeliers and clocks
conveying general impression of rich
ness of modern date, directed by the ar
ti5tic luxury of man of taste, with more
abundance than fine understanding of
life. There is a cordiality of reception
and hospitality which is rarely found in
Paris, but nevertheless, 1t is not yet quite
the "maison montee" of the rich. In
this splendid salon there is an admirable
portrait, by Henner, of one of the little
Girls, toee her with the portrait, by Bau-
dry, of About himself. This same artist
Baudry has painted upon the wall of the
smaller salon a fresco, and, with an ar
lists caprice he has counterfeited across
his picture as in an old fresco, the cracks
of the wall. The illusion is perfect.
.