Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-07-21
LOVE FOR FLOWERS.
A PLEASANT CHARACTERISTIC OF
THE PEOPLE OF PARIS.

THE PEOPLE OF PARIS.
A Passion Which Affects the Rich and the
! Poor Flower Sales Beginning at 3
O'Clock in the Observation-Disclosures Of
the Flower Market.
An English writer once mentioned flowers
as the smiles of God" Jules Claretie,
manager of the theatre Francois, speaks Of
them as "the poetry of Paris" If there Is
another city in the world where flowers and
verdure are SO loved as they are here, do
not know it In the salon of the fashiona-
bic lady, whose carriage door is coroneted,
and who nurses poodles and pugs instead
Of pretty little infants, cut roses in great
punches stand In real Sevres vases, and
and green plants and blooming flowers are
growing in pots imported from Japan; up
yonder by Montmartre, where the poor sew
ing glrl sleeps in the little attic under the
caves, there are sous worth Of violets in q
broken lumber, while by the window is q
geranium, now almost leafess and slowly
dying, in an earthen pot that a poor man
threw away.
II the love of flowers is instructive in hu-
manity. then it is certain that in this re-
spect, at least, the people Of this town have
human hearts which beat at fever heat
The Partisan has passion for politics, a
passion for pictures, a passion for betting, a
passion for vice, but he has a passion for
flowers, and that is q good deal in his favor.
The Towering plants, bushes in pots, pansies
and crocuses in thick punches, girofes,
pinks, roses-all the fora of the smiling
month Of April-are to be found now in
every corner of Paris, filling the air Of the
city with the purfumed breath of q long
spring.
WHERE THE FLOWERS GO.
We have use for flowers over here every
day Of our money spending lives We send
them to the lady who has honored us with
an invitation to dinner. We send them to
the lady whom we should be pleased to
have invite us to dinner. We send them to
the parsons wife, and see to it that our
bankers daughters are not neglected. We
see that they are carried to this or that act
ress, to this or that ballet dancer, to this or
that grand dame who is of great assistance
in making &C luaintanceS in society. Life
is, SO to speak, begun and ended with the
fragrant gifts They are placed in the oelts
and on the brows of blushing brides, and
bridesmaids carry them as they go about
the church collecting money for the poor.
Then, when the young mother or the baby
dies, flowers are the offerings which We
cast into the earth where she is laid away
until the mystery is solved at last The
trade in flowers amounts to several millions
annually, and their cultivation, transporta-
ton and sale give profitable employment to
q great many persons The wholesale bust
ness is ali done at the Halles Central or pub
lie market house, yonder by the Church Of
St Eustache.
at mignight the wagons and carts from
the environs of Paris begin to arrive They
are unloaded bv market men, each basket
being placed in rows along the pavement
between the butchers pavilion and that
given over to vegetables These baskets are
all pretty much alike and are placed side by
side one after the other. Each flower mer-
chant must take his or her stand back of
the baskets, never in front OF them, and
each dealer is compelled to put up with the
place which happens to fall to him on that
particular morning AT 3 O'Clock the sales
begin in the midst OF an indescribable din
and a confusion which is sometimes quelled
only by calling the police. By ESQ o'clock
every thing is sold, the customers are gone
and the empty baskets are being reloaded
in the carts and wagons Many of these
horticulturists are rich, and some own whole
fields of flowers in the neighborhood of Vim
cennes or Versailles. There are rises and
falls in the prices, and when the day threat
ems to be rainy and dreary bouquets can be
had for the asking almost Only cut flow
ers are sold in this flower exchange. Flow
ers in pots are never carried to Central
market The principle trade in all potted
plants and flowers is on the quays, or river
banks, at the Madeline, and in the Place du
Chateau d'Eau, or that Of St Sulpice.
THE FLORAL MARKET.
Formerly the only place in Paris where
flowers were soli at retail was q sort OF mar
ket held on the Quai de la Ferrailie, now
Quai de IA Megisserie. In 1908 this market
was moved across the river to the island
known as the Cite, where it is still held on
the Quai aux Fleurs That part of the Cite
now occupied by the prefecture Of police,
the Hotel Diem and the Quai aux Fleurs was
in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
network of short, narrow streets, some Of
which were still in existence when first
came to Paris In those other days these
narrow streets were the abode of the arls-
tocracy, and shabby as was the outward ap-
pearance of their mansions, there were vast
gardens planted with trees. shrubbery and
flowers behind them Roses grown there
had great reputation, and the gardeners
and servants had the privilege of selling
them to the flower shops in the reighbor-
hood
The most famous of these was at the corner
of the Rue DIES Trois Canettes and was kept
by handsome girl named Isabelle. who was
such coouette that ouarrels on her &C.
count was o: daily occurrence between the
young nobleman and officers of the guard
1t is only within the last ten years that re-
tail flower markets have become quite num-
erous For long time there were, besides
the one on the ,.uai aux Fleurs, only those
at the Madeleine, in the Place du Chateau
d Eau, and On the square Of St Sulpica
These four markets yielded the city
a revenue o. $500 a year, but in 1872
the charge for stalls was doubled
and then other markets were
opened in various parts of Paris The /
price of flowers at all these markets varies !
3 great deal, not only according to the sea-
SOD and the temperature, but also according
to the caprice of the venders- Il. Haynie