Wichita eagle., 1888-05-06
Written for the Eagle.
THE NATIONAL FETE DAY IN PARIS.
How it Was Observed in 1887-Paris
Illunainated--GeneralB ouianger

Illuminated--G General Boulanger.
The Military Review at Longchamps-La Place de
|. la Concorde-Beautiful women-Exquiste Cos
tumes-Dancing Oh the Boulevards. BY the Rev.
S. s. Mathews. Pastor Olivet Congregational
Church, this city.
"The thing that will seem strangest of
all to you will be that these wonderful
French people, of whom you think as so
volatile, after drinking and playing all
day will, at II o'clock at night, be as
quiet and docile as lambs. Yes, what
ever else you do or omit doing, you GER
tainly must not leave Paris till you have
seen the fete."
The above sentence was uttered by that
gifted and most interesting lady who
was my hostess at dinner in Paris last
July, the wife of my friend, the Rev. w.
W. Newell, of McAl mission. My
friends had been residents of the great
French metropolis for some ten years,
and were so enthusiastic in their love for,
and even admiration Of, the characters
tics of that curious people that decided
to postpone my return to London until
after the National fete day, July 18th,
answering to our fourth of July, and see
for myself.
was the more ready to do this in view
Of the fact that, although my friends
were familiar with life in many differ
ent countries, they insisted that to them
the French are the most curious and in
teresting of all peoples.
could not forget, either, that as long
ago as 1870, amid the excirements of the
Franco-Russian war, | had allowed my
self to be hurried away from Paris just
few days before the celebration of
what proved to be the last fete day be-
fore the downfall of Napoleon and the
overthrow Of the empire: nor that had
just missed witnessing for myself the
horrors of the commune in the following
year. q was in Germany Unsteady
Only week or so before the converse
ton above quoted, that memorable cpl
sode (Which nearly became famous in
French history had occurred. which had
resulted in sending the popular and dan
gerous General Boulanger away from
Paris to remote province, where the
populace would be less likely to take
him and thrust him forward as-what !?
First consul? Leader of the people p
president? Who should say what name
might be chosen for the leader and
champion of that large and restless ele-
ment in Paris who allowed their
fiery hatred of the quondam
German invader-not to say their
own native temperament and
restlessness under restraint in general, to
embitter them under the pacific efforts
of NJ. Grevy, and to long for the termin-
alton of his government!
Who should say that in the present
restless state of things the familiar cry,
Vive la Republic, might not shortly be
exchanged for Vive L Emperor! or that
the Fete jour of 1887 might not be the
last of the republic as that of 1870, which
had so narrowly missed, was of the
empire and the Napoleonic dynasty?
So marked had this restlessness be-
come, and such had been the demon
STATIONS of the communists in the great
square in front of the st. IaZarre Sta
ton, in connection with the unwilling
departure of General Boulanger, "the
coming man." from Paris, few days
before, ''the most serious and threaten
ing since the days of the Commune in
1871" that grave fears were felt in many
quarters that La Belle France was soon
to witness still further disaster, with
possible rapine and bloodshed. A general
feeling of suspense and uncertainty
was apparent on every hand.
Who should say that another coup
d'etat was not TO be expected?
All things considered, determined to
take my friends advice, see for myself
the wonders of Partisan Fete day and
witness the denoument, whatever it
might be.
Thinking upon that day and night of
memorable experiences | have resolved
to somewhat expand for the benefit Of
others the items jotted down in my note
book at the time The first item thus
recorded is this:
Hotel du Prince Albert, Rue st. Hya-
cinth, st. Honore, Paris, France, July
10, 1887.
= Whoever has not seen Paris on Fete
day has not seen the real Paris at all. 1t
is 2 o'clock a. NJ. and | have Just come
home to my hotel from careful and
somewhat extended survey of this beau
tiful city upon a fete night. l wish to
confess at the outset that
the scene beggars all de-
scription. The utmost that [ can do will
be to make prosaic mention of few
things which especially impressed me-
The great event of the morning was
the military review at the famous race
course, known as Long Champs, in the
historic Bots de Bologne. We decided
to go out by boat to near st. Cloud and
walk across from there. The scene upon
the river Seine as we took one
of the multitudinous little steamers
which throng this famous stream was
one long to be remembered. Here were
all sorts of crafts. and all sorts of peo-
pie. Every craft, be it canal boat.
steam tug or what-not, was gaily decked
with bunting and with profusion of
French flags. The steamers ran every
three or tive minutes, but the crowd
waiting for conveyance never seemed to
grow much less. Fortunately the police
regulations were equal to the occasion,
and never more than the regulation
number of passengers We're allowed to
go on board any one steamer, however
many might be kept waiting over for the
next boat. In this respect there was a
most marked improvement upon the
custom which prevails in Boston or New
York or any of our American cities, so
far as am aware, where the rule seems
TO be the more like sardine box YOU can
make a steamer the better.
The Review itself was imposing. though
less SO than one witnessed at Windsor
Castle ENGLAND in 1850 whom bsr
ma jesty the queen of Great Britain and
IL. l. l. I