The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-05-23


to the streets on the other, the republican CEN
ter was solid and could keep its temper and it's
own counsel The lesson has never
been forgotten. l have not come
to Paris for years without hearing
awful rumors of impending revolution, but the
revolution seems further off now than ever, and
the third republic is nearly sixteen years old,
and is making ready to celebrate, with another
exhibition the centenary of the establishment
of the first republic, in 1889. dissatisfaction in
politics of cold common sense for crude emotion
is due mainly to the influence of Gambetta him
self fiery southerner, whom NJ. Theirs called
either fou furleux or faux furieux-probably
the latter. The influence abides, although the
man has gone and although his place is empty
STILL No later French statesman has shown
half his force or skill AS M. Coqueln the
great comedian of the Theater Francois. who
was Gambetta's closest personal friend, once
said to me. picturesquey, "the French politi-
clans of to-day are not the small change for
Gambettal"
Carlyle saw in Napoleon the Great the man
who ended the French revolution with s'whf
of grapeshot." Perhaps it was to prepare for
the administration of these whiffs of grapeshot
that Napoleon the Little remade the map Of
Paris as his uncle had remade the map Of
Europe The broad, straight streets which re-
placed the crooked alleys of old Paris are NOT
only more attractive and hospitable to strangers.
they are far better fitted for the charge of regi.
ment of dragons the sweep of battery OF
artillery. Even the joining of the Louvre with
the Tulleries, completed by Napoleon III, may
be explained the military device of an un
certain usurper, although none of these pretty
schemes delayed for day the downfall OF
dynasty From different motives the republic
has continued the work of the empire.
The half-made Avenue de rOpera was soon
completed. and it was indeed in 1878, the first
street in the world to be lighted by electricity.
The Opera itself, a typical monument of the
second empire, was finished hastily when the old
opera house, in the Rue de Pelletier went tho
yun " nf oil fhnof IN do 70
great public works are in contemplation, nota-
bly, metropolitan railroad, either elevated or
underground probably the latter, and expected
to be ready for the exhibition of 1889. All these
things cost money, and taxes bear heavily on
Paris The empire and the indemnity to Prus-
STA left weary burden. AS the pun said, in
1867 "LEmpire, c'est la pale" Living in Paris
is much more expensive than it was twenty
fewer strangers = relatively fewer. There
is now an immense number of va
cant apartments. There are more beg
CARS to be seen in the streets. Possibly
this is not very significant, for under the empire
poverty was not permitted. and begging was
crime punished by instant arrest This increase
of beggars is perhaps the most marked change
in the streets of Paris in twenty years. Only
less marked, however, has been the gradual dis
appearance of the distinctive costumes of the
laboring classes, the blouse of the man and the
cap of the woman. The blouse is not frequent
now and the cap is rare Most of the women
wear bonnets or go bareheaded, a particularly
Partisan custom. which seems to be growing.
Despite the dampness of the climate, the streets
are kept as clean as ever-perhaps a little
cleaner. now wooden pavements have been in
troduced Another American invention only
recently adopted here is the street-car intro
duced into Paris after it had been acclimated in
London, and here called by the English
name of tramway. An invention nge-
NOUS enough to be American is the
pneumatic clocks, lighted at night by gas. and
standing at prominent corners These clocks in
the streets, with many in hotels and in private
houses are connected by pneumatic tubes and
are driven by an air blast sent from q central
station once minute. Thus all the street clocks
of the city and most of those in hotels keep the
same time-a sweet boon, as Artemus Ward
would say--of which no traveller will deny the
saccharne quality. This is sample of the great
strides which Paris has taken of late years in
making life easier. The French are no longer
backward in applying the modern improvements.
In all the newer houses and hotels there are gas
and water even on the upper floors; and in most
of them there are bathrooms with baths. Now.
1t is not score of years ago that visitor to
even firstrate hotel in Paris had to send out
for a bath when he wanted one.
In these changes the influence of the Ameri-
cans and the English has been felt, and since the
war Paris is more open to extraneous influences.
Time was when the French were grit about by
Chinese wall of self suficiency. A Partisan still
thinks Paris the center of life and light but he
is not quite so sure as he was that you think so
too And the great trouble with Paris is that
the rest of the world is beginning not to think
too Paris is no longer the exclusive center of
art, and fashion, and skill, as it was twenty
years ago. Americans for example, have die
covered that clothes can be had in London, and
shoes, also. American women get their tailor
made dresses in London now; and American men,
II they buy their clothes in Paris, get them from
one of the English taiors here, of whom there are
now scores. Paris is still the place where the
fashions made, but the fashions seem to
spread by telegraph, and they are so adroitly
copied that not few BUYERS for large American
houses purchase their dress models from Ger
man dealers, who sell cheaper than the Partisan
inventors Even the famous articles de Paris,
the pretty trifes made of ingenuity and taste
and fantasy, are made admirably in Vienna. 1t
is not, perhaps. that the French have fallen be-
hind so much as that the rest of the world has
gone forward. Now and again the French
awake and make another step in advance. For
Instance, this Easter the shop windows were full
OF delightfully."- attractive little nothings quite
worthy of their reputation as articles de Paris.
In other respects they are still asleep. For
example, quarter of o century ago all instru-
ments of precision were made in Paris with the
utmost dexterity and SKILL but they are no bet
ter here now than they were then, while the in
strument- makers of London and New York have
gone ahead and are now much superior to the
Partisan. This is especially true of surgical in
struments of certain kinds In siverware, too.
the Partisan has been satisfied to repeat himself.
He had taste, and French silverware has never
sunk as low as English; but American silver
ware has pushed to the front Perhaps as sig
niicant as any of the changes in Paris in twenty
years is the existence in the Avenue de rOpera,
almost facing each other of the salesrooms of
two American houses for the sale of sverware
-Tffanys and Towards. That one of them is
also agent for the Waltham watches is perhaps
even more significant
BRANDER MATTHEW'S.
The Loudest CONGRESSMAN.