Morning journal and courier., 1893-01-02

those who seek in hunger rooms which are
bare and cold. For the nRrrowness of
some of its thorouRhfsres this part of the
eity-which, by The way, is seldom seen
oy yisitors-4s withoRt an equal. small
alley was pointed out to us as the narrow
est street in all Paris. 1t is not more than
q yard and half in width. and only that
| Its name, with the ubiquitous Rue" is
plainly given on the walls of its high build
inge, 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 Eve and six story
dwelling houses. Which moves Us to re-
mark that the poor of Paris are worse of
than the poor of London In some respeots.
They certainly have less ngh. and q deal
| more climbing TO do. This because the
dwellings are so much higher. We are
still of the opinion, and In fact are more
full confirmed in 1t, that for the necessi-
ty of stair climbing 1t imposes, Paris beats
the world. In this matter poor and rich
are sufferers almcs. equally, aud one won
| ders that, with such decided revolutionary
tendencies, the people here have never yet
taken mp arms against tyrannical srohi-
tects.
Oar kind chaperon was too much occu-
pied by good work for the poor of Paris
to give a whole afternoon TO the mere task
| of showing an ineulsItive American where
and how they live. Hence hs mingled
business with pleasure, 60 TO spsak. In
| other words he had made out a calling list,
| and, fortunately for Us, We were to share
talked. "0ne thing about the working
people of Paris" he said, sis very note,
| worthy and highly commendable. They
wear their own clothes, not the cast of
| inery of the rich, and what they wear Is
| neither ragged nor dirty" We had
thought as much, and remsrking upon The
large number of women who 60 about the
streets bsrehesded, our friend observed,
That is mGtisr of economy. See the
| same peopls on bright Sunday or other
gala day, or at place of worship, and
you will find them looking quite different
ly- nsat bonnet Will appear, and as for
the men, they must be low down indeed
not to have q respectable suit for holiday
wear But they understand economy
They are different in that respect from the
poorer GLASSES in England. The bonnet,
which costs something and looks well,
must be taken care of aud made to last.
So with tho best suit of the nan. Hence
these are not worn except on great occs-
sions, and never when it rains"
THE last uprising of the Commune" !"
We suggested, was il shared In actively
by the people among whose sbodes we are
now movingF" To which our friend re-
piled that il was not The working peo
Pile here are scattered about amongst class
es thst are better of. Consequently they
have less opportunity to become clannish.
Their social views are modified somewhat
by their surroundings. The really dan
gerous classes are in places Ike Belleville
Yhsre vast hordcs of wOTkmsn are hud-
died together, and where the spiIit of
these toiling Thousands, aggregated and
solidihsd, is a dominating power in social
and municipal life" All Of which was
excsedingly instructive; but Just hsre we
| followed our friend into the hsll-way OF q
| tenement, and the ever wa.chful concierge,
or porter, having been satisfied IS to the
propriety of our intentions, we CROPPED our
way mp Eve flights of stairs. The build
ing had formerly been a mansion, and 50
| thick was the bannister thst to clasp if
with the hand ss a help to our ascent was
| impossible. But 1t was SO dark and the
| ascsn' wss so steep that We could hardly
have gotten along without come help of
\ this kind Hence il was c relief to find
that landlords in this quarter hEi been re-
4 Guired by Law 10 attach TO these ancient
| rSilings thinner rail of Iron. BY such
| assistance as We SOt fsom ons OF these sTe
Il found ourselves ct last in the apartment OF
i Paris workmBn, one who, unfortunately.
had been ont of employment for soae
time, with a Eick wife on his hands.
Here was the abode Of honest poverty.
4 II Was a single room, but was made double
by curtains. The curtains were an exact
matoh in color and pattern for the blue
tinted wall paper. This was only to be
Il expected, for to combinations and match
i es-the little things which indicate q pre-
III r-sT-Fnrr for hn haansNF-H nd
\ tic-tLs poor of Paris are as passionatsly
l deyotea, NllnIn LheIr Iaeaus, q. LE- racl
and leisured. Tbs apartment was rented
as q furnished one for eight francs q
week, but the furniture was anything bui
| abundant, and the beisteai was of q
plain iron pattern. In its size tie faml
ly vas = typical Partisan one. 1t con.
Sisted of a bright looking girl of ten
years. TIE working people of France,
We have before remarked, are economi-
cal, and here Is a practical illustrAtion Of
tie sort Of economy on their part which
Is giving 80 much trouble these days tO
the so,iAl scieutisis Of this country.
Kind words from the good missionary,
with 8 short invocation, introduced by
the familiar ''notTe pSre," g hearty bon
| iour, which means good day" aud S
| hand shake which meant 10 the bonne
dame that she would be better Of there
| after to the extent of "a modest silver
coin. So began and TO ended our fra;
visit. 1t was brief, but it gave rs 6
touching view Of French home life and
delightful insight into The good work
of Protestant missionaries in this city.
| Another call had an element of genu.
Inc romance in 1t. We were forewsrned
of the situation, but the curious denou.
ment was quite unexpected. "Don't trou
bic yourself If the good woman cries g
/ bit," our friend had ssij. She's poor
and sne's in trouble. A man wants &c
| marry her, but he's out of work aud I'm
discouraging the match. Ny visit to day
Is for that special object" Here Were
grand possibilities opening before us, and
we entered the apartment prepared for
anything, as we thought, and yet hardly
prepared for what really took place
The woman was fat, not fair, and much
beyond forty, but che was tidily dressed,
aud in her trim black cap looked ma
tronly enough to be not only a wife, bat
the mother of a lot of olive branches.
In what took place duiiDg this Visi.
we were imposed upon, owing II our i'm
perfect knowledge of French. But though
the lsngu. deceived US our eyes did not
We were quite sure that we saw 6 third
man enter the apartment, and that, after
an introduction to the visitor from Amer
/ lCdt pEO-Ctuc4 ~ D4aAG AalAsGA NCIl
much at horne. We were sure also that
there was n general and very animated
conversation, and that the new conner, in
sustaining his own special part therein,
became nervous and had recourse FIRE
quently to his snuf-boI. We also heard
little prayer, and, as We had been fer
warned, saw a woman in tears. Then We
ssw the good dominic siga paper, and af
forwards he read from familiar looking
book what sounded very much like a ia
milisr ben.dictiop. Then parting ssluta
tions were exchanged, and Afterwards
when the courtyard had teen gained, th,
astonishing explanation came.
Actually, this kind clergyman, Will,
swearing he'd ns'er consent, hsd CONSENTED
on the spot. He couldn't help 1t, he said
because they pleaded so eloq1snly
"ws're both poor" the man had urged
"snd we are both miserable as we are
She goes home and finds no comfort,
go home and there is no comfort for me
Let as share our miselles and zee If IL
that way we may not tighten them" s.
the man, happening to drop in, had urset
| his suit. with such SUCCESS too, that tn
paper which had been signed was the doc
ument which will be present d TO the may
| or by and by as the lsst preliminary In th