The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-11-02
LETTER FROM PARIS.

| Special Correspondence Paia.ka NEWS.
Good Americans 80 to Paris when
/ they dit," says . witty writer: but i
may he added that great many. both
good and bad, manage to get there il
the flesh. This great city, so wonderful
/ in is beauty. so strange 20 eyes which
have looked only upon the new world,
is perhaps the most attractive OF ali the
sights" Of Europe. It's maCnificeuce is
unparalleled, its contrasts the NEST
striking, for nowhere else do you see
such lavish displays Of wealth, such hid.
eous depths of poverty. Its historic as
sociatiOns are fascinating beyond ex-
preston, and the charm is heightened
by the beauty of those time-hall5wed
monuments Of the past by which you
are surrounded. You cannot move
step without seeing some grand work Of
art, or some spot made famous by the
great or terrible deeds which It wit
messed, for Paris is not only a city of
beauty and luxury, but also the seat Of
romance, of mystery and crime.
Z
/ everything Is plain aud practical. you
are plunged suddenly into the midst Of
/ beauty, gaiety and thousand wonders
/ which fairly bewIlder you. You pass so
/ rapidly from the bright. merry life OF
the Paris Of to-day, 10 the crumbling.
/ mysterious monuments OF the Paris Cf
/ centuries ago, that YOU seem to be living
/ in two different ages of the wcTld. Ev-
/ eTythiEg IN Paris Is so strange 10 an
! American, so attractive to lover OF the
4 beautiful and wonderful, that il Is easy
| 10 understand why so many Americans
/ fall victims 10 the destinations which
/ surround them. The beauty of Paris,
1 SO different bv day and by night, en-
/ chants you. The city IS full of strange
/ sights and sounds, and its streets are
/ thrOnged with queer people, such "a are
/ never seen in our own land, but which
remain indelibly stamped upon the visi-
! tors memory.
| Business in Paris does not begin until
/ o'clock, a. IN. The milk women are
/ the first out, and then follows the umni-
/ buses. BY o'clock the boulevards are
/ alive. The shops are open. the shutters
are down, and the cafes are ready to re
/ Ceive guests. The lines of voitures (car-
riages) are IN their places on the streets,
/ with the drivers half doing on the
! boxes. The newspaper stands solicit
! your custom and you hasten 10 purchase
a copy of Gahgnani's Messenger, the
standard English daily of Paris. II
/ Your boots require brushing, call that
quiet, respectable looking man sitting
/ at the street corner. Don't wait for a
| boy, for you find no Juvenile bootblacks
in Paris. Men do the work here.
The cafe is an institution peculiar 10
/ Paris. 1t Is neither a restaurant. pure
and simple, nor a bGr-room, but is q
! happy medium between the two. The
/ cafe is the chief resort OF all classes who
! have little, or great deal of leisure
/ time on their hands. IN the morning
/ between the hours o, eleven and twelve
/ the cafes are thronged with men of bust
/ ness. Idlers come later. 1t is only in
4 the evening that they are in their glory.
/ As soon a. the sun sets the cafes are all
/ aglow. Scores OF lights dazzle the eye,
and multiply themselves in the long
/ mirrors. In summer no one thinks of
/ sitting indoors and the sidewalks are
/ lined with little tables and chairs Pre-
/ sons Of all classes SIT here. smoking
I drinking, chatting and reading the jour
mails. The Erenchman holds that il is
/ not only right, but the duty Of every
/ man 10 enjoy himself TO the extent of
/ his capacity, and here IS where he does
/ il. Nothing can be more interesting or
| moro brilliant than these brightly lighted
/ streets with their cafes and their crowds
/ of pleasure seekers sitting or stroliing
about. The common drink of the
/ Partisan is wine. Here, where drinking
/ is universal, less drunkenness is seen
| than in any large city in the world. One
I Paris drink, absinthe, is kept in glass
/ bottles simply because 1t would eat
through the slaves of an ordinary barrel
in fifteen minutes. TIE effects of its use
are summed up in sentence, by DIR.
/ MOtet, as a general poisoning Of the sys-
( tenn, which terminates in insanity and
death.
No city in the world is so well sup
pied with vehicles for hire as Paris. It's
cab system has been brought TO a state of
perfection impossible, perhaps. in n city
less thoroughly governed. There are
some fifteen thousand vehicles for hire
in the city. The drivers are under the
strict surveillance of the police. and pun
ished severely for any ill-treatment Of
their passengers. They have uniform
established 10y law, consisting OF tall
hat with a glazed cover. black coat.
and red waistcoat, with gilt buttons and
pants Of butternut hue.
Parisians live out of doors As much as
possible. From morning until eight
o'clock in the evening the gardens are
thronged with people. Old women come
with their knitting or sewing and stay
all day. and nurses with children.
All classes Of Paris have one thing in
common, that is the love of fresh air and