St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-09-11
ENNOBLED FOR ONE NIGHT.
French ssGens De Maison" Enjoying
Themselves at Ball.
Family RfvaIries Below Stairs -
Dukes and Duchesses.

hoped to see sort OF DlckenSy fete, but
was disappointed. The house of lords itself
could not have been more dismally aristo-
cratic than most of them among whom I
fell. You have no idea what an air Of rank
the elderly gems de maiSon wore. All the
gentlemen" bearing for the evening their
masters titles and all the ladies (whO were
not cooks) their mistresses', there was no
stint of dukes" and ''Duchesses, " to say
nothing of ''Marquses" and smaller nobil-
larry fry, The chefs looked important per-
sonages, aud | heard it said of one, HE
has earned enough money to buy himself a
chateau in Normandy, where he soon
means to go and plant his cabbages."
The honorary president or governor of
the fete was coachman, who had befor e
1918 the honor to drive the Citizen King
whenever he went out in a carriage, and
was cOachman of Napoleon Ill. up to the
night of the Orsini attempt III front of the
old opera house. On that occasion. to re-
peat his expression, ''the wing of his nos
tril was carried clean away by the splinter
of a bomb" AS victim de Pattentat, he
was granted a civi-list pension, which he
has been allowed quietly to enjoy, and so
he has reached the age OF "a IN dignified
ease. His dignity was something magniti-
cent, Notwithstanding his childish garrulity.
He and other cOachmen OF great people,
retired and in actual service, compared
| notes about past and present masters, and
talked about old scenes and bygOne adj
ventures He assumed an air of amiable
superiority which nobody resented. This
patriarch had also an advantage over his
| fellows, to which he was indebted to the
| splinter of the Orsini bomb. That projec-
a. bic ti,oE hfN Loaf
teeth, and at the request of the empress,
and at the expense of the emperor, he was
| supplied with set ''in all respects prefera-
able to the natural ones" They are still
| in capital order, and are help to the old
mans garrulity. A superanuated butler
| who was in the service of the late Baron
Sina and who is still designated by courtesy
as m. lie Baron" reminded me of Wash
ington, much of whose circumspection of
speech was due to the dread in which he
was of his artificial and ill-contrived dental
mechanism falling out in the midst of a
| sentence and preventing him from ending
| it. The dancing of those Dukes and Ouch
esses d'occasion were so correct that the
| quadrilles were positively solemn. Why is
! it that gems de maisoh are not gay when
! they set up to be festive? Is it uncOnSci-
| Gus imitation of masters and miStreSSeS
who. in being spared the struggle for eXis-
| tence, exaggerated a hundred-fOld the
! trumpery ills and crosses of their daily
| lives? Or is it that the dOmeSticS are pam
pered and that theft liverS suffer from full
ness of luxurious bread and idleneSS? The
coachmen, by the bye, were more CHEEKY
! than the Wallets and maitreS d'hOtel, and
cooks were less disposed to be super
| ciliOuS and calmly formal than
lady's maids. Theie were some superb
beings of the latter class, but they had in
| general that sad air which comes OF want
] of expression and OF the habit of bottling
| up envy, hatred, malice, contempt and
other non-C Christian virtues, which personal
attendance on Oeauteous and high-bOrn
butterflies may be supposed to render
| active.
Like the Republicans in the chamber. the
dukes and duchesses were subdivided into
number of groups, each of which had
| small sympathy with the other; but they
were solid in resisting the attempts OF the
marquisate class to stand on an equal foot
| ing with them. The English duchesses
were the most scornful creatures magma
BILE of ''those beneath them" One of them
represented a Ro.hschild who is married to
| French due protesting to be descended
par La main gauche from Henry ~. She
made the monetary and nobility Importance
| of her mistress felt. But after all, she
was only logical. The real Duchesse de
Luynes and the real Duchesse de Bisaccis
hold their heads very high; but they woulo
carry them higher still were the Comtesse
de Paris to be queen of France and to APP
point them bearers of her bouquet and
| pocket handkerchief.
Conversation was not. as a rule, lively,
but refreshments at the Bullets Embossed
many tongues. The spirit OF criticism they
revealed was sharper and more clever than
would be expressed in the servants hall
say at Hatfield OF KnOwsley. A curious
fact; the unrighte0uSneSS OF miStreSSeS was
in way imputed to the maids. There was
marchioness for the nOnce, Of whom it
was said she had no right to be proud of a
title which was made use of to cover over
too professional use of beauty.
And the dresses. Some of them had a
style of a very high order and good many
of them were very pretty. There were
others trimmed with lace that might figure
in the trousseau of a royal bride Jewels
were not so largely borrowed as might have
been expected. But still there was good
show of costly gems. The gloves were
very U6dG ulS. lucIe Is \ldlhllS VI JOWcloD,
an unwrtten law which tolerates the I'M
authorized borrowing of them on an occa-
sion of high and exceptional festivity. No
Judge would condemn washerwoman in
the mi-Careme for wearing the
daintiest undertaking which she had
been given by customer to wash, clean,
starch and do up Perhaps the solemnity
of the dancing at the bal DIES gems de maison.
which have alluded to- is to be explained
by wish on the part of the danseuses not
to damage their borrowed plumage.
A much gayer ball was that of Lies
Demoiselles de Commerce" at the Eden
thearter The commercial young ladies
who gave it were shop-assistants. book
keepers, forewomen of milliners, mantua-
makers. commercial correspondents and
feuristes. Partisan lady or young lady
bookkeepers and correspondents are well
educated and earn high wages. The for
mer excel in arithmetic, but other things
are required of them. They must have
pleasant manners, regularity and quickness
and look on the whole ornamental. Pref
tiness is not needed if they are nice-looking
and know how to dress well in dressing
plainly. l don't know where the CONNER
cial young ladies get their dresses. They
are the beSt-itted class in Paris; and to
what wonderful account they turn bow
of ribbon or cravat! The Frenchwoman
alone makes a bow prettily, and the neatest
bows are those of the neckties and bonnet
strings of the "Demoiselles de Commerce. :"
At their ball one saw why Paris dominates
la mode. There were no rich gowns, eX-
cept on the backs of elderly and rich pa
tronnes of young ladies. But the old mas
tiers did not draw more effects out Of the
four or five colors to which they were often
limited than those shop-girlS obtained with
very poor materials. They were above
everything fresh, light and neat, and
whenever ribbon or flower was brought in
it told The manners of the gentlemen
who took part in the dance showed. per-
haps, too much exhilaration. But, as Lent
is at hand, the wealthy employers of them
and of the young ladies who attended the
ball did not mind youth being youth"
At 3 the cotilon began and the corps de