Morning journal and courier., 1886-09-04
CORRESPoNDENCE.
From London to Paris - The Gay French ity-NapOleon-Good Har- vests in Europe-Sunday fin Brussels The RaiIroads-At R Waterloo.

PARIS, France, Aug. 5. l To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER: departed from London by a night excur- | sion train which had been extensively adver- 1 tised, to avail myself of the reduced rates. l How regretted the act few hours later. | Deprived of a view of the charming English | landscapes, the profusion of hedge rows and | attractive villages on the journey, an unfail | ing source of delight to me on previous trips. additional trials awaited us. The night, fol 1 the season, was intensely cold on the steamer from Dover to Calais. No shelter was fur
 nished from the strong wind which blew fore and aft with considerable violence; the seats l were all occupied and the water was rough. At 1:3O a. m. we landed and learned that | the excursion train would not start for Paris until five o'clock. So the remainder of the | night was spent miserably enough in the | dirty and dimly lighted railway station. In the gray dawn of the morning I strolled | through the quaint and sleeping city. The footfall of a drowsy policeman or the rum l bling wheels of approaching market wagons l alone broke the silence. The antique build | ings-monuments commemorative of the military struggles of 1858 and 1636-attract- | ed attention, together with the Notifications. Paris was reached st ten o'clock. The l bustling and mercurial city of pleasure and fashion was in state of unwonted excite l ment. A national fete day was approaching. l The armies of France were to contribute l thirty five thousand soldiers for the accession. 1 From all public buildings, shops, cafes and l thousands of private residences national col ors foated in great profusion. Preliminary 1 indications of the coming event in the spora- die discharge of firearms, and cannon crack CTS in various portions of the gay city were | manifest. I was privileged to witness the grand military review when the day finally l came. Paris was wild with excitement. All street cars or 'strams, as they are called in l Europe, leading to Long Champs were crowded. An army of civilians came also on foot and in carriages. vast sea of French were at last crowded together-sol- diers and citizens. A flood of rain fell a | few moments after the various columns were | in motion. It was endured patiently for a season by the populace. but shelter was soon sought under the adjacent trees. The sol diers of course endured the drenching. Wa ter was fearlessly faced, even if France quailed at Waterloo. Excellent marching and delightful music from the numerous l bands. The latter were entirely too near
 each other, producing at times marked dis cord. Soon the rain disappeared and when night came Paris was in blaze of splendor. Electric and colored lights flashed every where Many public buildings were bril- liantly illuminated. The theaters and ball
 rooms were thronged, while thousands of we'll dressed pedestrians crowded the streets until very late hour.
 While the review was in progress thought of the Franco-Prussian war and the over throw of Napoleon III. and his plans, his death and later the sad end of his only son
 by the hand of barbarous warrior in dis
 tant land. The various regiments were com
 posed chiefly of young men, the majority of
 them being small in stature.
 of I at ha nbr
 of St. Louis was surrounded by throng of
 sight-seers on the day of my visit. Here the
 great warrior slumbers. The victor in fifty
 battles; alas! the man of blood.
 He sleeps his last sleep, he has fought his last
 No sound can awake him to glory again.
 Several of his mighty generals repose near
 him in the same structure
 An extract from the will of Napoleon in
 French is inscribed over the doorway of the
 crypt. The following is translation: "l
 desire that my ashes may rest on the banks
 of the Seine, in the midst of the French people, whom I have loved so much." The hat and sword worn by Napoleon at Austerlitz are here on exhibition. At Les Invalides other relics of the Emperor are found in this military museum and home or aged and crippled soldiers.
 As customary with tourists, the Church ot Notre Dame, the Tuilleries, the Palais De l. oN the internal Bastile, the boulevards and other points of interest in the great city were duly visited. Sails on the little steamers of the | Seine, with rides through the prominent DOT ! tions of the city, furnished needed rest from the severer labors of sight seeing, though in | another channel.
 | Some fragments of French derived from early studies and travels in Canada were of l little value to me. The accent of Par1slan French is peculiar. Much depends on the expression or the codntenance and the inevi- l table shrug of the shoulder also.
 l Sunday in Paris is violated in manner that is positively shocking to New Eng | lander if not to the average American. 1 The sidewalks in front of the principal | cafes are crowded with little iron tables to | the curb stone, where men, women and chll- dren sip wine, drink beer and eat. In some l instances two or three rows of tables are
 placed in the roadway, among the vehicles, | when others are occupied. Military process sions with bands of music are common. Hand organs are heard ever and anon, while I the inevitable monkey solicits centimes from
 the public for his lynx-eyed master. Thea | ters are open-small shows with> wheels of fortune and other games of chance line the l s.dawalk while peddlers distributors of cir