The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1893-01-20


seek religions ends. senat 4 y ples slEnpH
said Of Il some time ago, f'We desire
that our workman may have u days
rest once q week, and Sunday Is patu-
rally the day we have chosen. But our
undertaking Is a difficult one, because
it runs counter to numerous customs
and interests Two years ago our So
Ciety numbered twenty persons, to-day
we count over $500 members, made up
Of Republicans, ,MQnprehlsts, Catholics
and Protestants bishops anil Dies
thinkers, We have already achieved
some practical results, In the post
office we have got the hours shortened
on Sunday, and We ars now laborlng
with the railroad companies"
These words sufficiently disclose both
the objects Of this spkietYisnd thRgaPld
growth it has had, But as an index OF
what the recent past has witnessed IN
Paris in the way Of Sunday reform, they
are too modest altogether. Some OF the
signs Of improvement the visitor to this
city can see with his own eyes, but to
get the broadest and trpest view one
must converse on Ans up HTf@ MthN p-
telligent and progressive Frenehmen.
Twenty years have wrought changes for
the better which are truly marvellous,
No statistics are available, but the best
Judges hold that within that period the
number OF workmen following their
ordinary occupations on Sunday has
been reduced by more than one-half.
In railway circles the chief reform is in
the Sunday delivery OF goods. Former
~ this was carried on all day longi now
It ia only done in tho morning AS TO
the retail stores, tho common notion Is
that they are all open, with rare excep.
tioas, at all hours on Sunday, and that
the heaviest trade ia done on that day.
This; however, Is scandalous lallacy.
Such notion may have had only too
good foundation in times gone by,
but the Partisan Sunday OF to-day is al.
most as different in this matter from
what it was formerly as Paris itself is
from the aspect 1t presented prior to
the third Napoleon's time.
At present many OF the stores do not
open at all on Sunday, and, many OF
those which do open are closed again
after a few hours. This is especially
noticeable in those quarters where the
best class of trade Is done. In poorer
quarters, as q matter OF course, the i'm
proyement is less marked, and it need
hardly be said that cafes and places OF
that kind are no more affected by this
change OF sentiment in Paris than they
are by the wholesome but inadequate
laws which regulate the Sunday traffic
OF Berlin. AS to the postotlice it is
quite true that a number OF deliveries
have been dispensed with, but the post
man still waits upon'you several times
in the forenoon, and experience has
shown us that on Sundays, rs on other
days, you can be troubled with letters
very late at night. 1t lie gratifying to
note, however, that, excepting in those
lines in which the letting out OF the
fires would involve. considerable loss,
manufacturing is very generally at a
standstill during tho hours Of Sunday,
and the same may DO said also, with
even less allowance for exceptions, OF
the great wholesale trade OF this city.
A Partisan gentleman who is very
prominent in literary and philanthropic
circles pointed us with pride to the
Sunday aspect worn 1.-THE, present day
by the Rue AbaukiE This IL the very
heart Of the wholesale quarter. "Forty
years ugo," he observed, "my father-in-
law, a Wholesale woollen dealer, moved
into that street from the north Of
France. With him he brought his Gus.
tom OF resting from business on Sunday.
To the amazelnent and disgust Of those
about him heperseysred, in his'Sustom.
Ho would neither be laughed out OF 1t
by ridlcule, nor frightened out of it by
predictions which foretold his ultimate
bankruptcy. Finally, seeing that he
his example, and the course OF some
years witnessed the closing on Sundays
Of every wholesale house in that neigh
borhood, which is now as much charac-
terized by an air OF Sabbath repose us
the wholesale parts OF London itsell."
Such an instance as this, besides
showing how much good may be done
by worthy example, shows at a flash
also how, in recent years, this city OF
Paris, which very many have thought
hopetessiy welded to Sabbath traffic
has been gradually cmancipating itself
and taking on better habits. She is
still very far, OF course, just as is Ber-
lin, from approxtmating to either Eng
liah or American ideals, but one has
only to look about him with eyes and
ears open, and to inquire with unbiased
mind in well informed and we'll dis.
posed circles, to discover in both these
cities a decided improvement, and TO
fully convince himself that both cities
are travelling In the right direction.
In regard to amusements and recrea-
tions there is little or no change, and
what makes the prospect in this direc.
ton particularly gloomy from the point
OF view occupied by Christian Ameri.
cans is that oil over the continent there
seems to be an utter luck Of conscience
on this subject. With the exception Of
small Evangelical contingent, which
is almost wholly confined to missionary
churches, the Protestants OF France and
Germany seem TO DO no more sCrlpn.
lous in these matters than their Roman
Catholic neighbors To give an exam
pie, we were in conversation recently
with one OF the most devout and learned
OF the pastors OF the Reformed church
OF France, and in answer to our question
as to what would be expected from his
mombers in the way Of Sunday observ-
ance, his reply was that 1t would not be
in the least improper, after attendance
at church In the morning, TO occupy the
afternoon by a visit to the Louvre, or o
ramble through one Of the parks, and
a. TO his young mon he did not feel at
nllwarranted In cauDioning them against
tho little games OF lawn tonns they
played on Sunday, because they were
constantly offered IN Parls 30 .imany
diversions that were Immoral.
The same gentleman, however, was
lnstinted in his commentator OF the
vood work going forward undsr tho mt.