Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-11-05
ISpeclal Correspondence.l

Especial COrrespondence.l
PARIS, Oct. 15.-Once again have seen
Paris, where all good Americans go after
death and take in all its joys and delights.
But, alas and alas! know one American
who doesn't want TO go there, and who would
rather spend an eternity amid the smoke and
dirt and fog and mud of London than very
little span under the electric glare and tinsel
and tawdry show of the gay capital. All day
long you hear the steady clang of the sound
ing brass and the monotonouS chime of the
"tinkfng cymbal, but you listen in vain for
a genuine deep Souled tone. There seems to
be a restless expectancy pervading the very
air. That colossal chrysalS, the people, is
still struggling for a new phase Of existence,
but is not at all sure of its future evolution.
Hence this high wrought, nervous, almost
ftful eagerneSS for the next move.
The very public buildings are affected. The
antique repoSe that once per1meated and lin
gered around the Louvre, the Tuileries, the
Luxembourg and the other Old haunts has
vanished with the paSt-and republcaniSm
has turned everything topsy turvy.
The Paris of to-day is separated from tho
Paris of the empire by gulf so wide that
no bridge can span it. Everything IS done
with a view to amusing and astonishing and
overawing the blessed people The bare
headed women and tue Ouyriers in the blouse
who swarm the streets and monOpolize
almost everything public must be considered
by the government or they might prove dan
gerOuS So the lovely old Gothic Hotel de
Vile, torn down by many of these same people,
is replaced by a white staring mongrcl editico
calculated to astOniSh the mob and warn Off
the sacrilegious.
Do you remember the lovely gardens Of
the Tuileries with their shady walks, foun-
tainS, flower beds and velvety turfi lch0bod!
IChabOdl There is no glory left even the
nurse girls and babies have been obliged to
seek other and more congenial quarters.
Some kind Of fair is in progress, and where
the flowers once grew and tho turf reigned
queen are peanut stands, booths for the sale
Of eatables, trinkets, nick-naclis of all sorts,
from altar of roses from Persia to wooden
tOothpicks from America, and tents to ex.
hibit fat women, lean men, electric women,
boa constructors and other curioSities and
monstroSities from natures cabinet. ThI
chaSte show is wound up by truly magnili-
cent display Of fire works in the evening.
About two years ago tho government in
stituted the Fete dies Fleurs, which comes OIL
variouSly, according TO the weather in the
gardens of the Tuileries. The demtmOnde
and the masculine elegantS, laden with
flowers, in fower-trimmed equipages, drive
around the gardens and shower the people
with these floral offerings The blessed people
laugh and scream and make a rush for the
flowers, get, perhaps, a single rosebud, go
away to abSinthe and sausage, fancy some
thing wonderful has happened, and that they
are the happieSt people ON earth. Nive Ia
republiuue! You can see that the republican
government of France is wise in its day and
generation in dealing with the masses, esps
cially the inflammable material of Paris
Entertain them, keep them in good humoi
with shows, blind their eyes with glare and
show. blot out all traces Of the Bourbon and
the Bonaparte. LOl it has been done. The
palace Of the TuilerieS has been turned into
government Offices The pictures are moved
from the stately old rooms Of the Luxembourg
into a new gallery typical of the Paris Of to
day, and republican officers tramp where
once the stately Mediciswept in regal Splendor.
The problen of republiCaniSm in France Is
far from its solution The equipolSe requisite
to self.government seems lacking in the M
ton, and, wanting this foundation, the fair
est republican fabric may be demolished IN
an hour.
To turn from this royal refuse to the hv-
ing present is relief. l went to the Sa-
lon to compare French art with that
had seen in London. Well, there isn't much
Of a comparison. French art leads the world
to-day and foreShadows future greater than
any past
After the wilderness of mediocrity adjoining
the walls of the London academy it seemed
veritable fairy land as we stood at the head OF
the great staircase in the Salon. Exquisite
technique, ideality, thought, life, soul, every
thing that can make a perfect art, were there.
1 had a glimpse Of this art in the Grosvenor
in London, but in Paris alone does one realize
what a great art should be. 1t is nature, but
nature localized. EMMA W. hIGLEf.