Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-11-13
IN THE sLUMs OF PARIS.
The Strange and Wonderful Sights to be
Seen There.

~
Excursionists and travellers who have
visited Paris and gone the round of all
the sights, have no idea that the modern
Babylon still possesses quarters and
streets such as those which have been
described by Eugene Sue in his "Myster-
les of Paris Privat d. Anglemont has
gwen many details as to the unknown
professions followed by the thousands
who sleep out of doors six months in the
wear, and have been driven to take shelter
by the inclemency of the weather. 1t
seems almost impossible that in such a
center of civilization as Paris, the suburbs
should be quite as dangerous as the
famous forest of Bondy, and that every
now and then some stranger is way
laid and murdered in the wood Of Vim
cennes or along the banks of the Masne
for the sake of the money and
valuables he may have about him.
The project of police is on the point
of asking for additional grants, so that
the number Of policemen may be in
creased, and thus diminish the frequency
of those street robberies which. recorded
in the columns of the daily journals,
show that even the center of the city is
dangerous after midnight. Baron Hauss-
mann's improvements cleared away rock
cry after rookery, and the old network of
houses round about the Louvre, the Gen.
trail market and the Latin quarter were
pulled down to make room for mansions
bordering splendid streets and boule
wards. Each incident mentioned in the
Mysteries of Paris comes wildly before
the mind of the visitor who, under es-
cort, cares to plunge into the streets sur
rounding the Place Maubert, which is the
grand center of the sanctuary Of rufian-
ism and fraud, getting support from
the other portion of the city. 1t
is the plague-spot of the modern Baby
Ion; but it stands, as did old Whiteiriars
in the days of King James, defying
the police, and threatening those who
attempt to penetrate the mysteries of its
existence. There is the Rue Maitre-
Albert, avoided by the detectives deputed
to pilot the crown prince of Sweden on
his visit to the Maubert quarter, and
there IS the famous cabaret called ''La
Bibine," in the Rue de Bierre, which
out-Herods the description of the taps
franc given by Eugene Sue.
In the daytime all the alleys and mar
row thoroughfares are silent as death.
During the morning, when the rest of
the city is busy, the Maubert quarter is
sleeping off the effects of the carouse Or
resting from the fatigues of the night.
The chiffonnier, or ragpicker, was the
last to enter the sanctuary, and the inhab-
itants will not give any signs of life until
close on sunset. There are very few
children in the street. No laughing,
playing throng of lads and lasses occupy
the pavement or stretch their skipping
ropes across the roadway. The shop
keepers gossip with each other at the
door of their establishments, for they
are not requiredfto make any tempting
show in their windows, and nearly every
one of them can tell the visitor that the
staple article in request is drink Of some
kind or another. Now and then, toward
evening, woman in tawdry fnery,
bought at the Temple, steadies herself as
she energies from the doorway Of her
house, and then, with lettering steps,
makes her way to the wine shop, or to
one of the asSommoirs patronized by this
class of unfortunate creatures. The two
policemen who go their rounds together
take no notice of what is going on about
them. They are accustomed to the scene
and pass along One by one the inhabit-
ants creep out and make for the eating
houses and dram shops which abound.
Now and then some lads who have been
thrown on the streets by their parents and
ed by the Maubert quarter. They may
be seen with pale and sickly faces, loung-
ing about with their hands in their peck
o&al1, f1,.fr 11I r, ,.,,lr
or going on errands for such guerdon
as bunch of bread and glass of
brandy. From time to time murmur is
heard in the drinking shops and the po-
lice are sent for. Some unfortunate crea-
ure has shuffied off his mortal coil in the
very midst of the jewellers to the sound
of clinking glasses and rlbald songs. No
notice is taken; the glasses are not even
removed from the table On which the
dead man has bowed his head; and when
the police have satisfied themselves that
death has arisen from natural causes, and
not from any act of violence. the body is
carried down to the Place Maubert and
tumbled into the cart sent by the morgue
In the cabarets the conversation is car
ried on in argot, or slang, and the schemes
which are invented to provide drinks are
discussed. The inhabitants of the Mau.
bert quarter come to drink and smoke,
and as long as they can indulge in fiery
alcohol and the remnants of cigars and
cigarettes made up into tobacco again by
the more industrious among their col
leagues, they require no luxurious fare
The tobacco vendors sell the little pack
cts they make up for halfpenny,
but the fumes arising from the
weed are so pungent that only throat
accustomed to absinthe and vitriolic
drinks could stand smoking it. The
average income Of those who consent to
work may be estimated at from three to
four francs a day. The man who can
make his four francs in the morning can
indulge in carouse. His room, Or rather
his bed, costs him, including two matches
to light him up stairs, 4c., and he can
live at any of the restaurants in the
quarter for 80 sous, or Is. Sd. Thus he
can supply all his wants for about Is. 3d..
day, including tobacco, and the same
amount remains over to be invested in
drink. The hotels where these men sleep
are never inspected; the sanitary COM
missioners do not care to trust themselves
in houses inhabited by men who have
all the instincts Of wild beasts,
and who would think nothing of
yo,,rdorior ON official Clothinr CON