Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-01-09

CHATEAU FRONTENAC FROM LOWER TOWN. to General Montgomery, modelled after the one in front of St. Pauis church ill New York, will be erected on the spot where the generals remains lay for 40 years before their removal to the Ameri- can metropolis. Altogether the week beginning Jan. 29 promises to furnish festival of unusual interest and magnifi- cence.
 But aside from the novel spectacles in ice and snow, the picturesque pageantry and mimic warfare, there is much to in- terest American visitors in quaint old Quebec The city is situated on high ridge on the north shore of the St. Law renee river and from its impregnable position has been called the Gibraltar of America. It is divided into Upper and Lower Town.
 A large part of Upper Town is taken up with the grounds and buildings of re- ligiOus societies and corporations, promi- nent among them being the site of the Jesuit college, founded in 1633. The sub- urbs of St. Louis and St. John extend southward and eastward. Lower Town takes in the suburbs of St. Koch, St. Saul veus and BoisSeauville, extending to the junction of the St. Lawrence and St. Charles rivers. In this lower town, near the wharYc5, is the market place, in which can best be seen every type of the Canadian, from the country folk to resi- dents of the city. Women are in the majority, and the French and English languages are mingled i'll the babel of tongues. The most original characters are the peasants, who are genuine ones in gray homespun-the men wearing long legged mOccasins and felt hats, while their wives look easy and com fortable in straight skirts, loose sacks and broad hats. all homemade.
 One of the striking contrasts between ancient and modern Quebec that impress the visitor is the view of Chateau Fron- tenac from Lower Town. This magnif- cent building is one of the newest struc- lures ill Quebec and is surrounded by houses moss covered and gray with age.
 Near the market is the little Church of Notre Dame des Victories, one of the first churches built in America, the walls dating about 1900. Quebec's first build ing and the first garden in Canada arc also near, and in the same locality Cham plain founded Quebec by erecting his house in 1908. It was on" Champlain street that the houses were demolished and people killed and injured by the landsl de from Dufferin terrace few years ago.
 St. Koch is the pure French quarter. The houses are generally small and of irregular shape to suit the street angles and quiet tastes of the occupants. But, fhoHr built of brick or stone and have com fortable, substantial look, with no sug- gestion of the shanty. Nearly all the shops and stores are under the living rooms of those carrying on business. There are scarcely any signs on the streets. Even the corner grocery store does not blaze with golden letters. It dis plays in window a broom or at the door bunch of birch bark.
 Midwintcr is the citys grandest sea- son. There are blockades of snow, trees are bare and country houses buried be- meath the white mantle, but the people light their fires, and all is sociability. The market place is thronged with sleighs and peasants in furs. A snowy twilight gives Quebec a still more strik- ing aspect. The distance is hidden in the gray obscurity; gables, dormers and chimneys loom out in single groups, and the view of picturesque individual forms changes suddenly at every step. The place is muffied and yelled. People creep into their collars, bow their heads or even turn their backs to the wind to get breath as they hurry on to shelter. The women of Quebec are always attractive fron1 tbciY bnn1tlV and wholesome an- pearance. lley are met at all hours go- ing to or returning from mass or con- fession. Their manners are unobtrusive. their voices sweet and low and their bearing toward the opposite sex modest