St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-05-26
Paris i'm May.
Paris Letter to the London World.
In these dayS of welfare of armies an


In these days of welfare of armies and
warfare of millions and warfare of opinion,
Paris, while taking part in the general
movement of the world-building schools,
laying down telephone wires, combating
priestcraft, and reading newspapers re
stains, nevertheless, certain peculiarities
which make it unique city, In the opin-
ion of Anacharsis Clootz, Prussian, Paris
was 'sthe Vatican of reason;" Victor Hugo
has called it the city of light and the ''brain
of the universe;" but for most men Paris is
the 'sMecca of pleasure" the city to which
all make pilgrimage in Imagination or in
reality. Now, to all who wish to see Paris
in it's glory, and to astonish their more sed-
entary compatriots by their glowing nara
tives, would say, come to Paris in May.
The season is then at its height, the con-
course of pleasure seeking pilgrims puts the
Parisians on their mettle, and in the streets,
fragrant with mountains of flowers, under
the fresh green. foliage of the boulevards
and the Champs Elysees, and in the shady
avenues of the Bois Gle BOulogne they do
their best to show the stranger how to be
happy. The recipe is simplicity itself
do nothing, and appear to be enjoying it:
and the eternal aStOniShment OF the OBJ
servant foreigner is that Paris contains so
very many people who appear to be in a
chronic state of doing nothing with serenity.
The fact is that Paris and Partisan life are
arranged with view to avoiding friction
and to promotiong calm enjoyment. The
broad streets and avenues, lined with anus
ing shops and animated by incessant move
ment, become, in fine weather, an immense
democratic salon. From the Bastile to the
Cascade there is abundance of public sitting
accommodation, and hence thousands and
thousands of ParisianS pass the greater part
of the summer in the peaceful occupation of
s'holding down chairs in the open air. All
the details of life are siniplified; rapidity in
business transactions, for instance, is ad-
mired, and remarked, but not considered
necessary, and the tradesman who fails to
keep his promise does not lose considera-
tions; the newspapers are so small and their
type is so large that dozen of them may be
easily read in half an hour; the streets are
so clean that you never get your boots dirty,
and the shoeblacks, unable to live by their
brushes, are obliged to carry love-letters in
order to earn their bread; the very am,lse-
ments, such as the theaters, the concerts,
the circus and the hipp0drome, can be en-
joyed without mental fatigue, for the pro-
grams remain unchanged for years together,
and everybody knows them by heart. AS
for the Parisienne, that quintessence of
femininity, who plays the leading role in
the life of Paris. the experience of ages has
shown that her varieties are innumerable,
her nature undefinable and the analysis of
her manners and customs subject so OBJ
yiously inexhaustible that it is useless to
adopt any other attitude but that Of serene
admiration--an attitude which harmonizes
perfectly with the Partisan taste for calm
material enjoyment.