Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-08-26

~ the mixed charms of
| @SA oldness and newness,
| richness and poverty,
| seriousness and gay ETY.. But one thing is
lacking, and that Is ugliness. Whatever
along the Seine is mean Is in so small pro-
portion to what is solid. beautiful and ap-
propriate that it is lost in the general
effect.
The river runs winding course west
| Ward. dividing the city into halves. north
The south side contains the Latin Quarter
| Swhere the students herd1, the Faubourg
| on). and great part of that Paris which
| Is supposed to retain its ancient flavor and
appearance.
| The north side Of the river comprises,
roughly. the business section and what
strangers properly look on as modern Paris
with the Boulevard, the tourist hotels,
newly rich, the great shops. theaters, res
tanrants. cafes and promenades.
III, me riverside is everywhere banked up
| crossed by handsome bridges; the north
pank Ii lined with parks and palaces and
psomenades: the quais Of its south bank
comprise an inexhaustible museum Of an
tiquity shops and old and new book shops.
Further west, the river divides the museum
the a IN IL
| exposition grounds Of 1889, where the Eiffel
tower rears its height amid the great
buildings which are left standing. though
often empty. Then begin the suburbs and
| the country.
Along the Seine.
Each section Of the river, as 1t runs
| through Paris. gives to the contemplative
| fdler different set of Impressions and
amusements. By the Palace of the
Louvre there are the swimming baths the
| haunts OF fishermen and the landing stages
OF those tiny river steamers which are SO
happily called the swallows of the Seine -
| me sportsmen are angling for the little
fish in which the dirty water of the river
abounds. gudgeons and dace for the most
part. These are the poissons which chiefly
| inquire In the celebrated FIXTURE de Seine
which anyone in America may have with
the absence of perch or sunfish. The fish
| ermen are a curious and inscrutable tribe
| OF time-killers the degenerate SUCCESSORS
OF those classical loafers beloved by Musset
and Balzac and other men Of letters of the
past. They seldom appear to have caught
sscess ,, ana they carry OF their non
OF their poles dabble in the green ooze OF
one OF the dirtiest rivers in Europe as they
cape AZ passing steamers. chat with each
| boys.
The little passenger steamers constantly
travel up and down the river up to Charen-
ton. where there is an insane asylum and a
terrace with with view, and down to Meudon;
Rher who was once Vicar OF Meudon
| Suburban residents find these boats swifter
than the morse cars and American ladies
boarding in their quarter make use of them
In going to the Louvre shops. But on
Thursdays and Sundays they are unpleas.
antly crowded by family parties who wish
to take the air and eat sugared waffies In
the groves around Saint Cloud.
Secondhand book Stalls.
| For the walker who dawdles along the
! quais the chief pleasure Is the ever new
| and cheap excitement of rummaging
| through the secondhand book stalls. These
| are presided over by a tranquil and sympa-
thetic set Of servers who only stand and
wait, whom the miasma of Seine loafins
mas UNITED Tor any more active occupation
The side of the street nearest the water
Is protected by a thick and heavy stone
wall about three and a half feet high. This
| Is wide enough on top to support broad
| open showcases and boxes, and these are
| crammed with books. 1t is only neces-
space along the wall. Then You stock up
| with such an assortment of volumes as the
great second-h hand book shops wish to get
rid of: you join the Seine Book Vendors
Mutual BENEFIT Associa ton and you are al
| once a dealer. Although these petty deal
ers are usually innocent of photography.
| rare book when it chances to come their
way. This often happens in the rifling OF
| libraries by servants and in sales made di-
| rectly to them by ignorant heirs and
widows
While the .quais are great hunting
| ground for those who wish to complete
/ tons are as thick as blackberries at z
| francs a volume, few really great finds
technically speaking) are ever made by
paSSers by In the course of several years
| I once came across a book printed in Amer
lea before 1900; IT was copy Of the fables
NJ, officer Of Infantry" with the imprint
Of Philadelphia and the date Of 1884
Dog Baths.
At the side Of the bridges there are places
! for washing dogs. or, more correctly. places
| where an infinite number of dogs are wash
ed each morning. They are the dogs OF
well-to-do masters and mistresses, and are
| led by servants down a sloping path to a
| low embankment which slants gently into
the water. The device Is also for the con:
| venience of washing and swimming horses
| but this latter is generally to be seen only
in the evening. Throughout the whole
morning they are washing the dogs, span
I iels. bull-pups. Enthusiastically clipped poodles
notwithstanding Danish dogs as big as
calves, and more placid hounds and mas
tiffs. There are more dogs In Paris than
/ there are in Constantinople; and in u sin
gle year 800 Parisians have been treated
/ for alleged mad dog bites, where there has
| not been single case in Berlin.
A Curious Section.
The eastern end of this lazy walk is
| Bercy. on the north side of the river. Bercy
| was once a suburban town and for ages the
| most famous wine market in the world
! 1t still remains a market of wines. a Gu
| rious section of modern Paris, half town.
! half park in appearance, all surrounded
! by high iron fence. 1t is open to every.
one. in spite of the air of administrations
| given to it at each gate by the ocIroi Of
| ficialS. Once inside you walk in thick
/ groves of horse chestnuts and plane trees
| These exist for the purpose of keeping
| cool the lis great cellars for the storage OF
| wine, with which this whole villaie-like
| enclosure is undermined. There are also
vast buildings and streets marked off by
| a StrQef2 ha2r ha N ,aS
of famous wines and cities and districts
known for wine, Dion. Chablis, Rousil1on
Saint EmiliOn, Thorins. The Off cial name
OF this strange town, where no one lives
but thousands work. Is the "Entrspot des
| WINS 1t is at once q wine exchange Of
| bourse for ordinary brands as we'll as fol
the finest vintages, a bonded warehouse
| with respect to municipal taxes, and a
| ripening and manipulating center, where
wonderful juggling is done with fermented
grape juice. water, alcohol and other in.
gradients. Here the weak and watery
wines of many an obscure vintage are
, blended with blackberry Favored Spanish
/ wine, almost purple in color, that cuts the
stomach like two edged sword. Here in
a word, Is mixed up that red ink Of Boz
| cy" so unsympathetically spoken of by Mr
| feature on every Paris table
The Seine here in the east of Paris as
throughout its whole course in the city
I lies some twenty feet below the level of the
streets. upon which its docks do not there.
| fore, encroach. The traffic is by canal boa Is
and steamers not much larger. They carry
wood, sand, coal, little general merchan.
disc and great deal Of wine Along the
other side of the river a half dozen SQUARES
west or Bercy, and nearer to the center OF