Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1886-07-16

the discovery of America, of Napoleon
the Great and the politics of the day.
Of course, you have not the remotest
conception what he means by all this
or what he has for sale; at last he raises
the cover and produces eitber a new
blacking paste or small instrument to
be used at once as toothpick, penholder,
itkstand and eraser, and only costing
five cents, or so on. Still none of the
crowd are ready to buy the thing; but
this does not confuse our hero; he dis
tributes on all sides the flacon, or
whatever it may be, and says: "You
can pay me tomorrow, or when you
are passing" AT length there is pur-
chaser, and directly afterten, as no one
wished to be first. At times it happens
that the improvised dealer suddenly
breaks of in his speech, seizes his table
and bolts with it, to the great surprise
of his hearers, who look after him, and
of whom only the initiated are aware
of the true reason of his hasty flight.
A sergeant dc vile has shown himself
at the next corner, for whom all the
street sellers, who have no cards of
licenses, entertain great respect, as lie
simply takes them by the collar and
leads them to the prefecture, aproceed-
ing which always ends badly. We see
that the daily bread of these poor fell
lows is not lightly gained in Paris.
Further on stands another man, also
at n small table, but he has no cause to
fear the police. He is an artist, as h,
says, recognized by the Government,
and stands under the special protection
OF the Minister. His ,EXcellency, he in
forms us, has repeatedly offered him a
situation in the writing and reckoning
schools, but he declined it in order to
serve the public. At the same time he
is perfect artist with the pen; with
rapid, sure and graceful lines he draws
in few instants an eagle with out
stretched wings or well executed like
ness of some well known public char
acter. He then offers them to the spec
tators gratis and merely for the honor
of having his talent recognized
by an amateur. At the same time
he sells steel pens, which are good
and cheap, and honestly declares that
his art is based on the pens, which per-
sons need only buy in order to draw
and write like him. ut only requires
little practice" he adds, with know
ing smile.
A colleague on the other side of the
boulevard loudly offers twenty dollars
to the man who can mend china better
than he. Twenty dollars Heaven
knows where he got them from or if
they are real-lie on his table before
him and attract not few gamins. al
could, he relates, "long ago have bern
rich man if would have sold the g.
cret of my composition to the Govern
ment. The director of the great por-
celain factory at Sevres would give
half his fortune for it; but then my dis.
covery would only benefit the few,
while now it is common property y
and so on. The bottle costs only ter
cents. He then feels in heap of gay
pieces of china, and very cleverly COM
poses of the pieces of china plate or a
cup, which he strikes in order to prove
the solidity of his composition, and
finally assures us that he once mended
broken gun-barrel, with which its
owner still goes out shooting. Really,
more can not be expected.
Wherever there is a free spot on the
bouleSards, formed by retreating nghouses
and broader trottoirs, it is at once occu-
pied by a singer, an acrobat or Jug
gler; large circle is formed round the
artistic, who first harangues the specta-
tors in the usual way, and then displays
his skill. Such is Paris every day, and
while we are swimming with the uni
versal stream we will loiter on, no mat
ter where, for we are sure to see some-
thing amusing We.need only join that
crowd from whose center we merely
hear the words; "Forty cents, gentle-
men, no more; fifteen, sixteen, twenty
it wants twenty cents more; forty
cents, that is ALL" From time to time
we hear coppcrs falling until the art
iste suddenly cxclaims: "Stay, gentle
men; do not throw any more; there are
already three cents too many. | only
requested forty cents, and am man OF
honor" But what will he give us for
the forty centsp He Is a tall, thin fell
low, hungry looking and shabby. Be-
fore him, on the ground, there is a
wooden box; it is very small, and yet
he promises to get into it and have the
lid shut on him. "Impossibler" every
body cries. for a boy would scarce have
room in the box, much less so tall a
man. The posturer laughs condescend.
ingly, and simply repeats: "Forty
cents, gentlemen, and you will see. "
When the money is subscribed he gets
into the box, gamin jumps on the lid,
and he is really in it. This postureman
daily shows this trick ten or twelve
times in Paris, and so earns about foul
dollars.
Let us go into the cafes-that is to
say, sit down outside in the shade Of
the awning, if q place is to be had.
The large cafes on the boulevards are
filled from eight o'clock in the morn
ing till midnight or past. On the in,
ner boulevards there are at least one
hundred cafes, which all do roaring
trade. We have secured table and a
couple of chairs and survey the heav-
ing mass, but have not been seated five
minutes ere we are laid under contri-
button. The flower girls, of whom
there must be legions in Paris, are the
first When sent away they lay a small
bouquet on the table and 60 aside. The
stranger or novice who is not up to the
trick probably takes up the bouquet
and smells it; at once the girl is back
and asks for two cents. She will say
quite boldly: "You have accepted It
and you must keep it, sir" What
can you do, surrounded as you are by a
hundred ladies and gentlemen, and in
all public localities in Paris you must
be very careful not to make yourself
ridiculous.
A man approaches our table with
most lamentable gestures; he is deaf
and dumb. He hands us small
printed paper, on which which we find
the sign language Of the deaf and dumb;
above it is the motto: "Have pity for a
poor deaf and dumb" Although we
are beginning to feel annoyed at being
so incessantly pestered, still the woe
begone face Of the man in the midst of
this merry, rejoicing world moves us.
We give the man ten cents, but he has
hardly taken it ere sergeant de vile
seizes him rather roughly and leads