Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-08-28
THE FRENCHCAPITAL
Adventures Of Our Absenlees In the
Beautiful CITY.
A VISIT TO THE MoRGuE.
Assenes OF weii-Kaewn visrlsia rnsslta-
sions-vers Popular virainia Names
peing the Leavre--other Notes.


tStan corrcspondence Of the Dispatch.l
PARs, August i0.--This earth is large |
and many are the things upon IL, but after
ell there is only one Paris--one city where
the arts. eayetv. and beauty OF the world
ere concentrated. We came within the
portals of this lovely metropolis two
nights ago. and fifteen minutes walk in
the vicinity OF the Place do Ia Concorde, |
iilumined as it was by hundreds OF lights,
snfiiced 10 convince us that the French had |
built the most beautiful town we had ever |
seen. From early morn until late at night |
there u one amending whirl. and few in-
deed are the places which fail 70 interest |
the stranger.
our BILL OF FARE FRENCH.
Some OF the members Of our party |
prided themselves on the beautiful bill-of- 1
fare French they spoke. but when our car |
rage drove up TO the humble little hotel /
at which We stopped, their knowledge, by /
some mysterious force. vanished into parts
unknown, and We stood grimaclng 20 our |
host on tho sidewalk like band OF |
monkeys. One Of the crowd managed 70 |
make the statement that We did not speak !
the language--a very evident fact-but |
this only served 10 render the proprietor |
Oi tue fsthDtibUu1fut lDNTf
and. what was worse, his wife, Sarah |
Rernhart type with hundred or so pounds |
added on. joined ia the melee and deluged |
us with enintelligible verbosity.
The FRENCH WOMAN.
The average French woman seems TO |
labor under the impression that she has |
only two minutes to live and that II Is
NECESSARY to say everything conceivable IN |
that time, and so she hurr1es accordingly. |
But the worst of fortunes is bound 20 |
end, and finally we managed to get into |
the house. and then upstairs, where the |
valet OF "garcon" was introduced. lie IS
an exceedingly accomplished gentleman, |
but as his sole English vocabulary is |
Good evening" we were deprived OF
those scintilations of wit and sparkling |
bits OF conversation which his moro Iutl- |
mate friends are wont 70 enjoy in his com |
pAny. Fortunately, be can understand
ANYTHING YOU say to him--no matter |
whether you know what you are talking |
about yourself or not-and so we managed |
20 reach some sort of understanding with |
him. In order to save US any ombarrass- |
ment, however, he managed 70 procure an |
Interpreters lady who formerly lived IN
New York-and after that everything vas
smooth sailing.
THR cABMAN.
The Partisan csb-driver Is another indi-
yidusl who speaks only one language but
manages 10 comprehend everything said
20 him. His memory is very defective,
though, and he ls exceedingly prone 20
forget the exact hour. you started out and
charge you double price. He must always
have bis Tip" or pour. bore, which
by the way, one of the mem
bers Of our party very appropriately
translates as poor boy" The adjective
poor, in this case. is of course applicable
TO the donor Of tho tip, tor by the time he
finishes feeling everybody who expects IL,
he is O pauper indeed.
STARVING IN THB MIDST or PLENTY.
Nowhere have we needed knowledge OF
French more than in the restaurants, and
with starvation staring you IN the face on |
one hand and a pretty waitress on the
other, the situation is extremely embar-
RAISING. Unless you happen to know |
enough French 10 ask her for the butter or |
so,nething like that, the hayward maiden |
takes II for granted that you under |
stand the language perfectly and she |
fires volley at You. Now, everybody |
knows that it's horrible to have pretty |
girl talking to you and not be able 10
respond, and 80 we have come 10 the con- |
cluson that il is always best 20 yell Tor |
somebody who speaks our language the |
instant we get into IA cgfe.
PoLITENEss.
The Parisians are the most courteous |
peOple IN the world. and they VIII listen |
patiently while you are mutilating their
language and never as much rs crack a /
smile All of our party and we are yerY !
critical-are delghted with the French as |
nation. Our host Is Chesterheldian In |
his manners, and If he could only be con- |
WINGED that we cannot speak his language |
he would be delightful fellow.
THE woRoUE.
Paris has so often been pictured by able |
writers that II is useless nowadays TO at
tempt descriptions OF such magnificent |
things as the Pantheon, Eifel Tower, the |
Irmmphal Arch. kOtre Dame, and other
points OF interest.
The Morgue, though not so frequently |
visited is well worthy OF inspection. IL -
just Ia the rear OF Notre-Dame Cathedral.
ON the day we went into II there were SIX |
oorpses laid out for Identification, and all
of them appeared TO be III good state OF |
preservation. The bodies we're those |
OF grown people, and the two sexes |
were about equally represented, Inc
general public. of course, are not allowed |
To come in actual contact with the dead. |
but are separated from them by sort OF |
Class-door. When our party went into the |
gbastly place II looked very much as II we |
were peering at the corpses through two |
Of Saks 4 Co.'s large show-wlnaows, as
the unfortunates are laid out IN recumbent
positions behind the glass. by this ar
rangement the spectator can, OF course,
examine the bodies without touching
them.
The room 10 WHICH IUt uulbINuhaN'o oiN
laid is kept cool by artificial process,
md each corpse IL exposed to the pubic
view a week or more before burial. They
are then photographed, and the pictures
are placed in large frame, which Is also
accessible to the public.
All of the dead we saw appeared 70 nave
been very poor people. One could see
this from their clothes. The men, IN
nearly every case, had on the blue jeans
blouses which the working classes wear
IL Is astonishing TO see the number OF
women who visit the Morgue and inspect
the bodies. They appear 10 nave out ~
tie of that reverence OF fear when people
so often experience when IN the presence
Of the departed. and view the unknown
dead merely from curiosity.
THE SIoGER AND THE MULE ABSENT.
Two prominent Virginia institutions-it
they may be so designated-aren nowhere 10
be seen IN Paris. In all our walks we have
heheld neither the "nigger" nor the mule.
The first is conspicuousy absent and his
mace IA taken entirely by white peo-
pie, while the latter IS only represented
by that diminutivc specimen OF the asinlne
snecies known as the donkey. darky
would attract considerable attention here,
and II he appeared with his beloved com
panion. the mule, sensation would doubt
less be created. il is true We espied one
klnky head and black face in restaurant,
but il is hardly probable ina. w.. ne was
We saw were all in the neighborhood OF
Versailles. and judging from the burdens
they carried IL Is safe to presume that the
ionc-eared little brutes would gladly have
become metamorphosed into mules, for 1t
was evident tnat they had more than they
could comfortably attend TO.
The horses here are by no means so hne
as those IN England. but they are equal to
our equines. aud appear TO be very well
kept. They pull the most immense carts
we have ever seen, hut their labors are
greatly lessened by the excellence OF the
roads. which are always smooth and care
fully kept
"rABAc."
II there Is anything above all Others
which has endeared Virginia 10 the mascu-
line members of our party IL Is the excei-
lent tobacco of the Old Dominion mar
kets. Here in France and likewise IN
England the weed" sold in the shops ~
Accountable, and what IS worse. II brings
enormous prices
The Britisher almost invariably smokes
pipe, but the French prefer cigars and
cigarettes. In London tho names OF Allen
A l.inter and Henry CLAY are perhaps as