Morris tribune., 1884-08-06
THE ELYSEE BALL.
Partisan Society in Parade ara Pres.
idential Reception.
Incidents OF Mammoth Ball Where
There Was No Comfort How
the Populace Treat Pres.
ident and Premier.
IParis Cor. Intnr Ncean.l

Paris Cor. Inter Ocean.
The most important event of the past week
in social circles has been the mammoth ball
at the Elysee 1t is generally believed,
especially by foreigners, that doing things on
I grand scale is an exclusively American
characteristic. This may be true in certain
directions but in the matter of balls, France,
to use very expressive colloquialism, beats
us all hollow. Ten thousand Invitations were
sent out for Thursdays fete, and not less than
COCO men and women-it would not be very
exact, in every case, to say ladies and gem
tlemen-tiled before NJ and Madame Grevy.
The jam was only equaled by the heat. 1t
was like being squeezed to death in furnace.
An army officer was soon put hors de COM
bat, and if it had not been for the prompt
attendance of physician, who happened to
be seething hard by, France would have had
one soldier the less.
IN THE BALLROOM.
In the ballroom it was even hotter.
Mothers with their daughters painting for
dance or more probably, for air, occupied
four or five rows of chairs ON three sides of
the room. A fine orchestra sweltered on a
platform erected on the fourth side. A solid
body of men q score deep was banked up
against the mothers and the daughters while
in the very center, covering a space of few
yards square, could be seen heads bobbing up
and down, much like doughnuts in the
caldron. 4 thousand candles and the animal
heat from a thousand bodies produced the
effect of hundred open furnace registers.
And yet there was not the slightest escape
provided for this foul and burning air,
although the ballroom was temporary
building constructed i'll the garden. There
was not q window or ventilator in the whole
big edifce.
We flee the ballroom and find ourselves
in current-a veritable gulf stream-rnov-
ing with resiStless tide through suites of draw
ing-roons, up two flights Of narrow back
stairs to the second floor of the palace, then
returning through another series Of rooms,
down the main staircase, and, at the end OF
three-quarterS of an hours struggle, weary
of limb-for there is no sitting down, every
chair and sofa being seized and held like
life-preservers in a storm-and perspiring at
every pore, we find ourselves at the place
from which we had started
ARUDE, HUNGRY CROWD.
One feature of the ball remains to be de-
scribed. We turn toward the Refreshments
room, sadly i'll need of some cool drink. 1t
requires ten minutes to work ones way
through the mass of swallow-tails and trains
which lie between You and the coveted oasis.
But finally you get into the right current,
and are pushed on slowly but surely toward
your goal. Although the entrance door is
very wide lin fact there are two, the crowd
is much wider, and after & moment Of terri
bic compression, worthy of the embrace Of
the most vigorous of grizzly bears, you are
belched forth into the middle of the floor.
But what misnonler to call the place a re-
freshment-room. The long table, stretch
ing from end to end Of this the largest
saloon of the Elysee palace, is be-
sieged by legion of department clerks, who
cling to their vantage ground with per-
sistency and ill-breeding characteristic of
the placeman There these young fellows
stood four deep for a half hour or more gorg-
ing themselves with delicate viands, never
dreaming Of giving place to the parched
multitude behind them. Some of the more
considerate would indeed pass over sand
witches and ices to the outstretched arms in
the rear, but they would not leave the
table.
Some of the scenes at the Elysee buffet last
Thursday beggar description. noticed N. Ma
der de Montjau, over 70years old, one Of the
most distinguished French orators and dep
hour within reaching distance Of the table,
and when he finally secured place and had
handed some iced coffee to lady friends, he
suddenly found himself pushed back into the
crowd again by beyy of rude beardless
boys, and had to retire from the refreshments
room without having eaten morsel or
drank drop Of anything And this was
in the capital Of France, at the palace of the
Of 70 Sy1ol To
Louis XIV and his courtiers blush if their
spirits ever "materialize."
THE SHOCKING AND THE PLEASANT.
A Frenchmah once informed me that he
was greatly shocked at White House recep-
ton during our civil war to see ladies and
gentlemen spring up on sofas and chairs in
order to catch a glimpse of Gen. Grant, then
the hero Of the hour, who was passing
through the drawing-room with his staff.
Such astounding examples of brazen- faced
ill-breeding as those continually thrust upon
our attention last Thursday were never sur
passed if equaled in the United States. The
entrances to the supper-room-I have here
tofore only spoken of the buffet-were
blocked up for an hour or two before they
were opened by crowd of men and women
who seemed to be utterly unconscious of
stood up in the broad window-ledge near the
doors in order to pounce down more effect
lively the moment the barriers which sepa-
rated them from the cold chicken and cham
payne were removed.
Having studied these various phases of the
ball, we retired to secluded little parlor or
the second floor. which the surging crowd
swept by unnoticed, and INDUCED in CONVEX.
sation with witty group until 2 o'clock in
the morning As we sat there we suddenly
saw stately usher, crying: "Please make
way for the president of the republic anG
M. Grevy, followed by his family, quietly
passed by on their way to their private
apartments. This was little after midnight
The president slyly left his guests to their dis
comforts and sought the pleasures of the
sleep of the just. Public opinion forces NJ
Grevy to give these balls. He submits grace
fully. He receives his guests most urbanely
offers them good music and bounteous re
freshments, throws open the whole Elysee tc
them, but when it comes to being squeezed
and suffocated he retires
At 2 or 8 we went down stairs again
About one-half of the guests had followed the
example of the host and gone to bed. Tht
rooms were now comfortable. There were
vacant chairs, the doorways were free, it wa.
possible to dance in the ballroom, and ont
could get something to eat and drink at the
buffet. The young people now began to en-
Joy themselves. The scene was brilliant, re
fined and pleasant. The disagreeable ex
periences of the first part of the evening fadet
away before the attractiveness of the morn
ing hours, SO that these who were patien
unto the end must have gone away feelin,
that all is indeed well that ends we'll