The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-10-05
STUDYING AND STARVING.
Hard Experiences of American Artists
in Paris.

None of Them Starve to Death but Some
Have Very Hard Times.-Pathe,ic
Stories.
No American. artist or otherwise, has
ever starved to death in Paris, to my
knowledge writes a correspondent from
Paris to the Chicago Inter- Ocean. but
I am sorry to say that numerous girls
whom their fond parents and friends on
the other side imagined to be comfortabl
settled here are living from hand to
mouth in such a fashion as to imper1l
their health. They came from well-pro'
vided homes, out Of gentle surroundings;
they have never known what it Is to wish
for piece of steak, for Il warm cup of
tea, for juicy pie Suddenly they find
themselves in a strange country, the Ian
guage of which is to them q sealed book
The people upon whom they must depend
are constituencies sharpers, prying fof
every opportunity to profit by the ignor-
ance and -heartedness of their clients.
The poor girls little fund of ready money
soon wanders into the pockets of these
cheats, and the days fare grows smaller
and less nutritious every forty-eight
hours. Now, take the case that one of
these women falls i'll and is obliged to
spend part of her allowance for doctor and
| medicines. How can she gather strength
after rising from sick bed?
Outwardly. in her written reports to
~ rxpbo CHI toll IN
paper representative, the American girl
studying art against such awful odds will
always keep stiff lip and put on brave
front generally, but when we are among
ourselves the case is quite different. OF
course, one helps the other, and all chip
in, if necessary, to save a sister artist
from the worst; but there are cases of
silent suffering that cry to heaven, and
I have seen them, and do see them daily,
in.this big town among my very friends.
ALWAYS HARD UP.
The worst of it is that American girls
come here with the idea Of staying year
or a year and half, while, TO complete
their studies, at least three years have to
be sacrificed To do this they must cut
their allowance in two and thus it hap
pens that even the better situated stud
ents are always hard up. The casual OBJ
server, the tourist who gallops through
Paris with q guide in week or two, in
clines to regard evidences of penury
| noticed among his student country
women as illustrations of jolly bohemian
| ism, and, if he has any kind of "pulp
| with his home paper, he sits down at
once to describe this agreeable phase of
Partisan life. 1t looks well enough on
paper, admit-but, oh, tne dreadful
| reality
| But what about the wonderful Ameri
can Woman's Club established by Mr.. and
Mrs. Newell in Rue dc CheyreuseP 1t is a
fine institution, but so are the public
schools and universities of Men York and
Chicago But can these latter accommo-
date all that crave for their beneftsp Only
the other day the Figaro gloated over the
fact that so, 900 American school children
in one of our great cities h ad to go with
outStuition for want of room in the public
schools.
Again, we are told..of the great artists
that became famous in spite of almost
insurmountable obstacles. Diaz de la
Pena. the books say, never got moro than
francs for picture during oonsidera-
BILE number Of years, while Paul Bandry,
who created the ceiling and wall paint
ings in the Paris Opera House, studied on
stipend Of 400 francs per annum, out Of
which sum he paid IS francs per month
| for tuition. These tales may be true or
| not; I am sure they do not make the lot
of the poor artist of today one whit less
hard. I am tired of hearing these alleged
facts awarded round for our benefit.
| There may have been Others, but my SYM
pathies are with those struggling against
adversities today, and with those that
| succumbed today and yesterday. The
mortality among poor artists in Paris
from consumption and kindred diseases is
extraordinarily large; hunger, exposure.
are the chief agents Of death. -.
COLD AND STARVING. ~
Last winter I saw an American girl,
struggling landscape painter, warm her
self at bonfire lit in one of the public
squares for the benefit of the poor. I was
about to withdraw discreetly, fearing that
any interposition might hurt her feelings.
| Then I observed the police agent, superin-
tending the distribution of hot soup in
the neighborhood. speak to my country
woman. MADAME" he said, mastering
her dress, that still showed traces of
former elegance Madame, if you come
here only out of curiosity, I must beg of
you to withdraw. There are too many in
want to whom we must attend"
The American girl grew shade paler.
monsieur, she said, with sad toneless
voice, 81 am hungry"
I waited for the unfortunate at the next
corner and there met her as if by accident
Little by little she confessed her sad story.
At the beginning of the season her
money had given out; still she deter
mined to finish her studies at any cost.
So she tried to exc out an existence by
working for the hign-class stationary store