The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1880-05-01
PARIS.
It's Sights and Shades Depicted by
q Salt Laker.
Story of Last Winters Cold and
Suffering.
The Gay Metropolis in al its
Spring LONELINESS.
Opera and the Drama.
a Word About Bernhardt.

/ AhloJ EhANOEI Apili o 4OOO
Editors Herald:
Change, change, change makes 81
the sum of life. Since writing from
London l have changed n1y place o
flying residence, and long before thi
will have reached you l shall have
again changed. How different poa
is Paris from the Paris of December
and January when the snow GlleC
each rue and bllckaded nany. Then
Paris was not a place to which We
would choose to 60 after DEATH it war
a true Dantesque hell. AS the colo
came on the people said It was
undsaal, and could not last long. All
conversation between strangers aad
citizens hal for its burden the accuse
ton and defense OF sunny France. "
The stranger said it was Siberian, or
that the boasted balmy air came from
the frozen shores OF the Antarctic
ocean; tbd Frenobman defended with
the ardour of one who loves his
country, and deems his country the
world. He bade the foreigner look
for the morrow and hope. The
Frencnman had never read Cato's
soliloquy on Tomorrow; the strange
had, and knew how false are the
promises of the morrow. And yet
the cold increased, and never came
there warmth. Crossing the Seine
one day huge blocks of ice we're seen
floating down. It was s coed omen,
and said now is the cold giving way
to the suns power. How false the
prediction; how terrible Inc cold
which succeeded. Crossing again on
the following day the whole river
seemed a moving mass OF ice. with
here and there a fssure. What did
it portend? Were the suferings of
1872 and 1913 to be again repeated?
Was. there to be two 6TmGe terrible
in '79 and 80? But a few days after
and no ice was seen floating; all was
quiet in the river; its calm and still
ne and solidity seemed that OF the
ice fields OF the frozen north. This
lasted until into Febrgary, when there
came warm spell during which the
ice broke up, and 90 suddenly that
fCod succeeded; many of the bridges
we're In great peril 0! being carried
down the river. The suffering among
the poor was intense. Fuel became
50 dear that it was not attainable by
the poor; IN the absence of fuel, they
hocked to the haunts which gave
them warmth OF body and peace of
soul. The death rate increased
alsrmingly, and during the severest
weather ranged from !. 800 to 1000 a
week. To go out from the house into
the streets, was to go from cold and
dresry place to see misery and suffer
ing in the highways. at first one
encountered long and many process
sions. What could they be? A near
approach soon told the story OF
poverty, cold, starvation and death.
1t may have been a long train of
carriages, whose funeral trsppings
showed that wealth cannot escape
death and lung disease. These had
mouruers and ostentatious followers to
tell OF grief. They would find q rest
ing place in Pere LAChaise and their
monument might tell of the year of
their death; a passeT-by would see it,
and recalling the terror of that year,
shudder and be thankful that in his
own home warmth, and as yet, the
family circle that each night gather
round the cheerful hearth incurred
no departed one. But who will pause
at the nameless grave of the poor? In
life they were never known, and in
death are lost, lost to the world, but
dear to their God. The solemn mass,
the flaming altar, the burning in
cense are imperial and fill the mind
with sad and melancholy thoughts;
but these are for the rich. The quiet
service for the poor is more impress
sive, and the last mournful sob OF
parent performing the last devotions
for the dead rends the heart. 1t was
these numerous services for the poor
that told how intense was the cold.
To have seen a coffin carried away.
followed by the friends and parents, or
it may have been children weeping
for good parent. moving silently
along to the churchyard, is to have
seen true SORROW, and the sadness OF
life. Tney can never be forgotten.
These are past, and now Paris is re.
joicing in good weather, clear and
warm, and the budding Of flowers and
bursting Of leaves. To stroll any
afternoon in the garden of the
Luxembourg, or of the Tuilleries,
the Park Monceau, of If these be too
confined, to 90 beyond the foTtihcs
tons into the Bots de BouloSne, ID
delightful and full OF charm. Here
will be found the world of Paris, each
seeming to have no care, but enjoy
ing spring and renewed health. It Is
astonishing how many abandon them
selves to these psstimes, net caring
for aught beside. 1t is not the
wealthy and middle class alone. but
the laboring man and his family. On
8 Sunday afternoon, TO walk mp the
Avenue Champs Elysies is a sight
and might be stady. 1t IS almost
impossible to wend ones way
through the dense masses which
crowd the walks. The drive Is q
solid mass of carriages and horses.
The drives in the Bots dc Boulogne
are much finer and more extensive
than in Hyde Park; but Rotten Row
presents an appearance of life and
animation nowhere to be surpassed
even if risaIled London affords NJ
better entertainment than to watch
the riders down Rotten Row. 10 the
last days of February, which were
clear and pleasant, the Row wa;
filed with ladies and gentlemen
What will it be during May, wher
the season is at its height?
Tue great event Of the season a
Paris has been the production o
Aida" at the Grand Opera House
| The first three performances wer
conducted by Verdi in person. l
was his presence, and not his opera
which filled the house, and made It
struggle, weeks beforehand, to obtall
seats. It WAS my fortune to secOr
seats for the second performance. Tn
first perf0Tmsnce was dslsyed wee.
on account OF the sickness OF Maurel
Verdi not allowing any cnang
| in the cast he had made
Whether aida" is productio,
which was inspired by Wagner an
his theories cannot be- sstisfa3toril
decided. Wagrersus say 1t is bs
aud feeble imitation of tie Garlic