Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-14

Is at the first beginning constraint, inse-
curity. uncertainty. timidity. How dare 1
admit to the Misses McGrew. so elegantly
fashionable, that 1t Is my fixed, well-rea-
soned-out intention to send my Aunt Mary
only gilt, hand-painted calendar for 1896,
my Brother George an imitation brier-
wood pipe, marked Paris, but made in
Germany, and my three little girl cousins
each a packet of the Paris edition of the
New York Herald's world-celebrated col
ored-paper-doll supplements. saved up
Sunday after Sunday for them with loving
care?
The party skurries down tine Rue de Riv-
OIL, by way of an ice-cream-Soda and cocoa
nut-cake emporium. 1t is a delightful win
ter afternoon in Paris, crisp and bracing,
the air laden with the perfume Of absinthe
and two-sou punches of violets. musical
with the cracking of coachmens whips,
the hum of conversation and the swish
ing of silk pettcoats.
The arcades of the Rue de Rfvoli are kali
eidoscopic with the play of electric lights
on thousand shop windows where repose
IN mere tricious splendor imitation pearls
precious stones, oil paintings suitable to
be packed in trunk, lace handkerchiefs
made by machinery. bronzes. marbles and
gilt statuettes marked down below cost
price. Persian tapestries and gimcracks
from Jerusalem sham antiquities and an
tique novelties. German made cheap china
dogs to put on mantelpieces. birthday
cards and Christmas greetings, models of
the Eiffel tower and photographs of every
thing on earth at one franc each.
Streets in Holiday Dress.
The Christmas presents are already on
their way across tie broad Atlantic, and
as each hour passes Christmas day is COM
ing nearer. Mistletoe Is being hawked
about the streets. The restaurants and
shops are decorated with the festive holly.
The giant Christmas tree of the Louvre
shop Is drawing its multitudes Of wor-
shippers. And on the Boulevard itself the
baraques of the Christmas fair already
crowd the promenade.
However occupied one Is, with educa-
tional matinees at the Theater Francois
and the Colonne concerts. 5-oclock teas
dressmakers' appointments, hygienic BIZ
cycling in the Bois de Beulogne, skating
lessons al the Palais de Glace, with char
table visits to poor young painters
studios. not to speak of evening dances.
the opera and going to the Scala to hear
Yvette, despite the strain of making up
the winter trip to Nice or Cairo or
through Spain. they must find time to see
the fascinating baraqEes Of the Boulevard.
Everything Is sold In these sheds along
the sidewalk, from gingerbread horses only
fit to hang out the window as barometers.
to kerosene lamps labeled useful pres
ents' at thirty-five cents each. For dol
lar you may have nest of Pharaoh's ser
pentS eggs, a raZor-edged corn cutter, a
box Of baby-powder with puff, an In
dia rubber statuettc of the Queen of Mad
agascar. a photograph album, box of
paints and three punches of violets. In the
baraques of the Boulevard you may also
procure cheap pulse warmers to present
to the choir boys. 1t helps the poor also.
for all these leprous little sheds are con-
structed by rich company and rented
out to bankrupt shopkeepers. speculative
widows and orphans and sewing girls out
of work, who are obliged to sell below
r,rin In RI RI 1Ini 10
volume of business to pay their rent.
The Midnight Mass.
The reveilIon and the midnight mass come
next Naturally all the Americans desire
to attend the inspiring religious Office at
the fashionable Church of the Madeleine.
1t is true that hundreds of tourists annual
ly, Germans, English and Americans may
be seen grouped disconsolately around the
Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, waiting
for it to light up-as it never does-on
Christmas eve. They even go to the Sainte
Chapelle, which is no longer church.
These are serious minded people, who.
avoiding the glitter of merely exterior
Partisan life, desire to penetrate to the
truth Of things and comprehend something
of the life of the people. l myself have
conducted. during the past three Christmas
ewes. three parties to the midnight masses,
either to Saint Gervais to hear the wonder
full Palestrina music, or to the Madeleine,
to be in contact with the rich and worldly
audience. We have never yet been able to
get inside. either, on account OF the crowd,
and have always consoled ourselves with
promising to attend the midnight mass
next year.
The reveillon is easier for us. for all you
Iced do Is to enter restaurant. The
| everybody will be cold. wet. hungry and
rejoicing. In families they have always
had a substantial supper waiting at
home. Chocolate soup. blood sausage
| to tIo I,,N
feast for serious people. The custom
of the reveillon supper Is so firmly
fixed that no one dreams of neglecting it,
Those who do not go to the midnight mass
worldly indeed, they come in full ball cos
tune. drink too much champagne and
dance till daybreak after eating. For all
such crab soup, lobster salad and truff1ed
turkeys take the place of the blood sau-
sage.
Not the Real Thing.
There are three ways for Americans to
! eat Christmas dinner in Paris. 1t may be
in a boarding house, in restaurant. or in
| a private family. In any case festivity is
given to the occasion by making the hour
/ o. clock noon, instead of 7 in the evening"
as on ordinary days. The Partisan restau-
rants advertise roast turkey and cranberry
sauce. They know no other Christmas.
The boarding houses frequented by Ameri-
cans add canned corn and sweet potatoes,
| not to speak of timed plum pudding from
England.
In private families the height of luxury is
reached in stufltng the turkey with bread
| crumbs, sausage and chestnuts. The
French, bad luck to them. have no idea of
stuffing a fowl. alleging that to do so
| draws away its juice and flavor. They
| look upon cranberry sauce as the innocent
| mania of primitive people, on green corn
as food for cattle. They no more dream of
cooking an oyster than a baby. Give a
| -, Itch nf 10 Tie
| doeuvre some fried brains as entree, to be
followed by monkey veal on Shiny bed of
chopped spinach or a stew of domestic rab-
| bit and onions, and she will not ask for
| turkey and cranberry sauce.
If you want a true American Christmas
| dinner, you must go to one of the American
restaurants of Paris. There is nothing you
cannot have, from corn bread and hoe cake
| 10 numpkin pie. from fried oysters to mo-