The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-12-26

"D
of Paris have furnished manya salacious
morsel for American readera. They are.
tin in full blast, and judging from the
photographs one can see in a hundred.
windows Of ttis city, they ore still.
presenting nightly to Parislan youth
the same old scenes Of female indecency.
We were recently, however, in one Of
these rooms which Is now used for a
totally different purpose. The gallery
q there. from which in former years the
eyes Of lust looked down upon dancers
whose attitudes and movements minis
tered othe lowest passions, but these
galleries arc occupied now by those
seeking q better life, and are adorned
in front with notices from the Holy
Word On the ground floor we find
now, instead Of the gay yotaries OF vice.
D decent assemblage OF middle-aged
danes, with a bright intermingling Of
innocent, clean.faced childhood. 1t is
q Mothers Meeting, held under the
auspices of the great McAll. The wo-
men are all poor, but they look very
clean and remarkably intelligent. Most
oiithe two hundred have brought their
knitting with them, and the diligent
plying Of their needles, while o young
lady reads TO them some wholesome
story, is a reminder to US Of how, in tho
gathering storm Of a hundred years
ago, tho women of Paris used to knit
into their work the names OF those
whom their revolutionary vengeance
had marked for the guillotine. But
what a change since then, we reflect,
and how delightfully."- suggestive is the
scene we now behold OF the revolution
which Is quietly going on in these days
IN the morals aud habits Of the Partisan
women.
LowLY LIFE.
In our yisitito this interesting place
We wore chaperoued by a gentleman
whose knowledge Of the poor Of this
great city has been gained by many
years Of self-sacrifcing labor for their
advancement; and when we saw v
this erstwhile ball room, "SaNe New
York," indicating that the work done
in this particular locality was backed by
American meaus, we felt quite sure
that what our guide could tell us and
show us Of lowly life in Paris, and oil
what Is being done to redeem it, would
be as welcome to the better class OF
American readers as other and less in
nocent views are TO readers who delight
in having scandal and vice described to
them.
sThe poor of Paris" began our
triend-"well thoy are not so vulgar,
not so brutal, not so drunken as the
poor Of London. They arc more self.
respecting and will make altogether a
better impression upon YOU" This
was the opinion OF ono who is proud OF
old England as his native country, and
st Is a yiewfwhich is fully borne out BY
our own observations. Glow do they
five2 Well, to begin with they have
scarcely any home comforts. That's
whythey are on the streets so much.
OF fire they have next to none and
lights the same. The candle or two
they may keep about are brought into
service only when someone drops in.
Cooking2 Why, the very poor hardly
ever do any. They got their food from
the numerous little shops where meat
and vegetables are sold ready for the
table. Cheap? No, meat is not, un.
fortunately, but vegetables are, and
these form the staple Of their living,
Perhaps, by the way, you've visited tho
great markets and have noticed the
stalls there where plates of cooked edi-
.bles are sold at 4 sous IA cents a piece.
These are eagerly snatched up as spe-
cial d6itcacles. They r scraps from
the tables Of the wealthy. How coll
lected? Well, it is something OF a
mystery, but there they are, and it 10
generally supposed that they are OBJ
tanned for a triftng bounty through the
servant"
IN DIE PARIS.
So our friend talked on, and occasions
ally. as We logged together through the
narrow and crooked t%horoughfares in
the nsiehborhood Of Ruo St. Antoine,
he would call u attention to some.
thing particularly squalid or ancient IN
our surroundings, We should not find
here, no said, many Of the poor. It was
not the worst part Of the city, but It
appropriated TO that distinction, and
Il had some features not to be found
anywhere else. Tho district is known
as cold Paris.n' Beioreth the time Of the
grand monarch the French nobility
dwelt in this quarter. What were
palaces then ire now either BIdgdEfn9 OF
trade or common tenement houses.
Several medieval towers were pointed
out to us, one Of which is associated
with tho murder by the duke OF Bur
Fundy Of the brother Of French king.
Hesaw, also, the old palace which for
long years was the residence Of the
archbishops Of Seine. Now the courts
Of this vast structure resound TO the
tread Of poverty, and its massive stair
ways are climbed by those who seek
in hunger rooms which are bare and
cold. For the narrowness Of some Of its
thoroughfares this part Of the city
which, by the way, Is seldom seen ~
Visitors-is without IN equal. A small
alloy was pointed out to us as the a
rowest street in all Paris. It Is not
more!than q yard and q half In width,
and only that lite name, with the ubt-
quitous "Rue," Is plainly given on the
walls OF its high buildings, you would
not suspect Il of being q street at all.
But we saw several not more than three
Yards wide. On either side, too, were
The inevitable five and six story dwell-
ing houses. Which moves us to re-
mark, that the poor OF Paris are worse
OH than the poor Of London in some
respects. They certainly have less
light and q deal more climbing to do.
This, because the dwellings are go
much higher. Weare still Of the opin-
ion, and In fact are moro fully confirm
ed in Il, that for the necessity Of stair
climbing it imposss, Paris beats the