The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-12-01
AT THE FRENCH CAPITAL
IA Miner Grisxold, in cincinn,,;s., m,

wno nave passed through numerous and
 very trying wars. One died the o,L..
 day who was lieutenant under the 6-s.
 Napoleon, and served in all the wars ot
 france since that time. Another wha
 fought at Waterloo was brought into nc
 tee recently because his residence. in o-
 of the suburbs of Paris, was r. --.e
 by thieves one night s,o ,.h,,sI s.oxen into ....s., .9ise, Among them numerous .ea.eAifs of his great commander ,ha.
 were aoove all price, to him a, least oeeing the announcement tha, the close of the harvest would be celebrated las;
 Sunday at Courbevoig, suburb to he
 north of us, went there to observe how
 .ne rench conduct " Harvest Home
 l found 1t quite different affair f-or,
 what had been accustomed to see a. lnesiot. There was no display of asr!- cultural products that could discover.
 ana no platform dancing. Above all.
 there was no speech making. 4 harvest
 home with no powerful orations from per spiring politicians and candidates for of- tlce was lamentably short Tn its harvest
 and didn't make me feel at home. l;
 needed a stump speech from Folle.. or
 Nose Wilson. or Hon. Ben Eggleston. 10
 make t complete. The French people
 have made some advances in the repab- lican line in the past ten or twelve wears.
 but they know nothing at all of the mos;
 important ingredient of a harvest
 nome. And there was no hard drink
 ing or fighting among them. or reckless
 horse racing on the return home, accom- panied by whoopng and bowling anG an
 occasional breakdown or collision. Thls
 was truly saddening. and was neare, be-
 Ing homesick that day than have been
 since Jeff America.
 But II was gala da, d, Courbevo,e
 nevertheless. 4 long and very vi6.
 street runs through the place. q, the sum.
 init of which stands censrisuorsi, monument erected las, Auels, to com memorate the defense of Paris aga.aS, the Germans in isfI. Nearly the entire length of this street was lined on each side by Booths, shows. swings. merry--o- rounos, etc. all in state of the moss feSerish activity. Bright colored flags and streamers were flying in all direc- tons, and the weather being plea san; there were thousands of seemingly hap py people in attendance. making tie scene a very animated one. indeed l. seems 10 me that the French are all Ike children and as easily amused. Grown people appear to enjoy the swings ard
 merry -go-rounds fully as much as the little folks do. A little fun seems to % a great way with them. have seer one single mery-go-roand among two nr three hundred people A crowd oi groxn folks will stand for hours in front ei ! elk
 wooden antics of the figures preseu.ed. laughing inordina,eiy. meanwhile. as though It was the first time they ever as- sisted a, such an exhibition.
 A circus IS always an adjunct of Pans fete. The performances are freqleni during the day. lastin. abou; one hour. In the intervals all the performers. male and female. parade themselves in the,r ring costumes, on d raised platform Tn front of the canvas. The ringmas.e-. in his soiled though once gaudy a.:ise. cracks his whip, while the painted clowns crack their lokes: the cannon ball per former stands like Hercules fo, the crowd to admire his muscular develop men,; the Apollo Belvidere of the ring, carefully oiled and brushed as to his hair and waNed as 10 his moustaches. smiles sweetiy upon the girls. and the fe;ua.e performers m short dresses and cotton tights ,il, along the platform in a way IT, tended to be very seductive. accelera:ing the demand for tickets of admission. tound that ten cents paid nor the bes: sea: Tn this primitive amphihea,re. and the performance was equal Tn merit 10 many more preten;ious exhibitions that have seen Tn America. There were three clowns who stumbled abou, and knocked each other down in the most hilarious manner. They fired Jokes and side-spli.- ting conundrums al each other. though my enjoyment of them was somewha, paired by the fact iha, eouldn'; under stand word they said. \ performing pony performed according to the 5es, pony schools m Paris {: a 1.-the young man did a good act ln bareback riding. and there was a trapeze performer who exc cuted some feats Tn equilibrium thA; 1 never saw eNcelled. IL carried me baex 10 the earliest circus Of my boyhood 10 see man dressed as an awkward cocr.ry boor stagger from the audience into .ae Ting and insls, upon riding circus horse. II was just as II used to be done in circus rings when Uncle John Robinson was a young man. Of course this bold bad. oiundering boor was hustled ou, of the ring-lust as they used 10 do it-bu, he as ofen-same old way-and a, length, wearied by his impor,unities. the assists the clumsy fellow 10 mount. Of couse he discards his houely attire after tumbling of few times and stands confessed an erect and graceful rider in the conventional costume. The circus can never relinquish this act, inc pubic won't allow 1t. They have tus- tom at these shows which has no: ye, been introduced in America. l believe. When performer has succeeded m win ning hearty applause, the management, permits him to pass the hat" ln the audience for his own benefit. and he sometimes secures quite collection of sous. Perhaps that IS the only way he receives his salary, however.
 A sad death has just occurred here. that of Ms. John. Russell Young. wife of . k.T .$z>4S