The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-12-11

burned to light row of gas lamps, 10'
feet apart, all around the globe burning
10hours.
The women of America can be thank
full they are not dwellers in Europe, fol
they are so far behind us over there IL
hundreds of labor-saving devices. The
facilities for washing clothes such as we
have are almost unknown; in the cities
situated on lakes or river, great build
ings like baths are erected by tile corpor-
alton; divided into little stalls which are
rented at small sum per day, here the
washwomen bring their clothes, and
kneeling close to the water, wash them
in the stream. The extra fatigue must
be very great. In Italy especially, where
ever we passed q stream there would be
women kneeling on the edge of the wa
+ ter, washing, with the hot sun beating
down ON them.
The so-called Latin Quarter" where
all the schools and colleges are grouped,
is very interesting in many ways. Here
have been laid the plots of innumerable
stories and novels, notably Les
Miserables." The queer old streets and
houses in this part of the city have
scarcely been touched by the march OF
improvement, as we wandered through
them we thought many times of Victor
HugO's wonderful book. Many of these
street pavements have been torn up to
make barricades during the various rev
olutions.
On this side of the Seine is the "Pan-
theon," a grand building, standing on
high ground, so that the great .gilded
dome is one of the principal landmarks
of Paris. The crypts are wonderfully
massive, perfectly dry, and contain the
tombs of many famous men, Victor
Hugo among others. Just back of the
Pantheon" is small church, st. Etienne
du Mont, whose interior is one of the
most beautiful l ever saw, a gem of re-
naissance architecture. Not far away is
an old abbey, the cluny, now museum,
one of the prettiest bits of medieval
work l saw anywhere, while the quaint
courts and lovely gardens full of queer
old sculpture, made lovely picture. The
interior is even more quaint and charm
ing than the exterior, the peculiar stair
cases, the magnificent carved oak cell
ings, and curious old fire-places make a
setting fit for the splendid collection
kept there, consisting of old china,
faience, lace, tapestries, armor, carved
work, coins, queer old state carriages
and most peculiar of sleighs, some of the
latter made in the shape of a great bird,
or some strange beast, also quantities OF
other rare and valuable things.
The Palace of the Luxembourg, is just
at the edge of the large park of the same
name, which is the great resort for all
that part of the city; beautiful place
full of grand trees, large fountains, many
beds of flowers and nice shady walks; a
considerable portion of it is in sand
where the children can romp to their
hearts content. The palace is rather small
and plain, having few very nice apart
ments, one on heground floor having been
used by the famous Queen, Maria
Theresa of Austria. The palace and
park were taken by the government,
and are now kept for the pleasure of
the citizens; the President of the Re-
public and the Senate have quarters
there the whole palace is used as gov
ernment offices. The picture gallery is
in brick addition; asplendid collection
of modern paintings, nearly all by living
artists of the French school, the entrance
hall has a fine though small collection OF
modern sculpture. After an artist has
been dead SO many years, his pictures
are transferred to the Louvre" The
government has bought two or three OF
the pictures painted by the Russian girl
Marie Baskirtseff; think if the glamol
if romance had not enveloped her work
they would never have hung in the
Luxembourg.
The Seine divides at one side of the
city, forming large island, on whicl
stand several famous buildings. Th'
most prominent is the NOtre Dam,
Cathedral, fronting great open squar,
on the river banks, the enormous twil
towers rising to great height. Th
general effect of the building is grant
and massive, while the interior is one o
the finest in Europe. Here before tn
high altar Napoleon and Josephine wer
crowned, Napoleon Ill and Eugeni
were married, and in it occurred grea
many other historical scenes, including
its use as temple of reason by the com
munists during the war with Germany
Close by is the new and handsom
Hotel de Vile, built of stone on tn
site of the old one burned by the com
munists and totally destroyed. Thre
hundred of the Williams were inside a
the time, and quantities of oil and gun
powder were stored there. When tn
rascals found the Versailles troops wer
beating them, they fired the building
without giving those inside any notice o
chance of escape, and nearly all wer
burned to death, those who escaped tn
fire were shot down like wild beasts b.
the troops, and Justly too, for q wOrs
set of demons in human shape, than tn
lower strata of Paris inhabitants. ar
not TO be found in the world. Thes
people are to-day just as ready as eve
to resume their work; dwellers in tina
city must feel as if they were on
volcano.
Not far away, on the bank of the othe
arm of the Seine is the Conciergeri
prison where Marie Antoinette was i'm
prisoned previous to her execution; til
two great round towers on the river sid
are all that was left of the enormou
building after it was burned by til
Commune; it is now rebuilt and is tn
Palace of Justice. 1t is built about
great open court, in which stands til
famous "Jewelled Chapel or 81
Chapelle as it is called, building who's
walls consist mostly of the most mag
niiicent stained glass windows, giving
glorious appearance within: strange +
say, although surrounded by terrifi
flames, it was entirely unipjured.
The Louvre" is a famous old palac
standing near the centre of the city o.
the bank of the river, and is simpl
enormous, although without muc
architectural beauty. The front
about 300 feet wide but it is hundred
of feet in depth, along the Seine
enclosing two large courts, and wit
two great wings at the extreme end
Only small part of the building, abou
an open court is used for the gallery
all the rest is occupied by the differen
departments Of the State, like ou
Treasury, POstoffice, etc., but thi
small portion of the building yet is
large place, and is full of paintings
acres of them, all by masters, now dead
miles of corridors are lined with antiqu
sculptures, and bewildering array o
curiosities of all kinds: to examin
everything thoroughly would take years
indeed simply to find ones wa,
into all the rooms is no small task. II
lretrace our steps to part we wished b
examine more carefully, after wandering
it seemed to US, miles, we were finall,
COMPELLED to go outside by the neares
exit, and re-enter by door near tn
place we wished to reach.
From the front of the PALACE Charlie
TX and his equally infamous mother
Catherine di Medici watched the begin
ming of the massacre of st. Bartholomew
on the bell in the tower of the churcl
of st. German L'Auxerrois, across tn,
street. the signal was sounded. Churcl