New-York tribune., 1896-01-19
TOPICS IN PARIS.
HENRI ROCHEFORTS INFI.UENCE-TEM-
PERANCE AGITATON-M. BOUR-
GEOIS'S AVOCATIONS.
Paris. January 10.

Paris January 10.
1t would be difficult TO determine whether 1t is
because NJ Henri Rochefort has become more
conservative or the Government has become more
radical that we read OF this ci-devant Marquis
as being responsible for The long delayed promo
ton of the veteran dramatst Adolphe Emery
10 the rank Of Commander Of the Legion OF
Honor Ii is all the more astounding since En-
merry was one Of the friends Of Napoleon III ana
of Empress Eugene. and an habitue u that Yer!
palace Of the Tuileries which Rochefor' as one oI
the leaders OF the commune, helped TO destroy py
means of fire in 1871. 1t Is doubtful whether even
in MS widest flights Of fancy Rochefort ever con-
ceived the idea cf France being ruled by gov
ernmcnt that would honor his recommendation
for any promotion, or that he himself would
figure in the guise Of applicant for the grant
OF the national order to a friend Scarcely year
has elapsed since RochefOrt returned to France
after several years Of exile imposed upon him
about the time OF the Boulanger episode and
nrior TO that he mad served time as a fe-convic;
sentenced to the most cruel form OF penal labor
In New-Caledonia whence he made his escape
under circumstances which furnish far more
exciting reading than ally story Of Jules Verne.
OF his conflicts with the authorities during the
reign OF Emperor Napoleon ii is unnecessary to
speak at any length save to say that he spent
more time in prison than ont OF 1t for attacking
In the press both the Government and the 1m-
pera family.
simultaneously. VI. de Rochefort has come
forth as an advocate Of temperance. not surpris-
Ing 70 those who aware that he pr!des him
self on never having touched drop Of wine or
spirit in his life. 1t is especially against the
abuse of absinthe that Rochefor raises his voice.
and in this he appears TO be acting in concert with
the Minister of Public instruction. who has just
issued a circular to all projects of departments
and to all recognized heads of educational insti-
tutions impressing them, in their several
spheres OF authority the urgency of emitting no
occasion of holding up to the eyes Of the young
the rremedable mischief wrought by alcohol and
especially by absnthe. The Minister in his cir
cular and Rochefort in the columns Of his news
paper, the '1ntransigeant" unite in declaring
that absinthe drinking has become a veritable
cul, among French youth of both sexes. and that
the premature decay of physical and mental
powers resulting therefrom is running the rising
generation and menacing the future one. ldiocy
resulting therefrom is threatening to become en-
demic not only in the great cities, but even in the
rural districts. and here in Paris in certain dis
trcts of the metropolis not only men and women
but also children are half paralytic through al
dction to this horrible drug. which II it gives a
temporary relief from care, brings disease IN
sanity and death in its train People tipple II all
day long and especially in the afternoon; the
boulevards and faubourgs are lned with men,
women and children. all Of them absinthe-Dioers'
noisoning their lives away with the distilled bev-
eraee. which even in its most pure state is death
at once TO the body and 20 the mind
ARsINTHE running THE COUNTRY.
Men as rule. take 1T diluted with water,
sipping it slowly. as If to prolong the ECSTASY
NJ feeling of how it sends the sluggish pIooo
coursing through the veins. the brain growing
gradually clearer and the world brighter But
the women TO the CONSERVATION of the DOCTORS
insist as rule drinking 1T neat with
most terrible results to their CONSTITUTIONS 1t
e. TO this fatal drug that the medical authori-
ties attribute. in a great measure, the sta-
tionarv character and even decline Of the
French population. families in which absinth-
ism has become chronic and hereditary quick
" Incoming extinct; while the number Of brill
liant men whom France has lost through the
abuse of the opalescent but poisonous fluid.
from the great poet, Alfred de Musset. who
used to be picked up drunk and half-dead every
night In the streets. down to the celebrated
artist and caricaturist, Andre Gill. Is simply
appalling An idea of the extent or the eVli
NAV be gathered from the recent returns OF
the Ministry Of Finance, which show that at
the present moment there is a marchand de
vim or absinthe seller, TO every three houses
In the metropolis
NJ de Rochefort is now engaged in publishing
serially his memoirs in one Of the Parisian
newspapers. 1t had generally been supposed
that so red revolutionist would have scamped
the period Of his youth when he was little
nobleman among his aristocratic kinsfolk OF
Icut he pX-('ommuniSt
take a pleasure in expatiating on the loftiness
OF his lineage and on his blood relationship
with the ducal houses Of De MOntmorency and
Rohan 1t is surprising that these memoirs
have not attracted a greater degree Of atten-
tion abroad; for apart from the fact that they
contain the history of a life which has known
more ups and downs than that or almost any
other man of the day, they likewise comprise all
sorts of interesting details, many OF them long
forgotten, concerning the prominent people or
the last half-century. Probably no one In
France not even Daniel Wilson, the son-in-iaw
of President Grevy. who possessed a collection
Of no less than 1000 dossiers. or records or the
private lives Of eminent personages here, is
SO intimately acquainted with the Skeletons
that exist in every closet.
There is literally end to the awkward ana
forgotten secrets tending to compromise great
names that Rochefort fully knows, and every
Imaginable effort has, and is still being, made
by the Bonaparists. the Royalsts ana by
host Of prominent Republicans TO appeal to
his forbearance and kindness of heart. For the
man has O. very soft heart far more so than
most people imagine. and, In spite Of all the
democracy of his expressed opinions, Is every
bit az much an aristocrat in breeding. feeling
and ideas as his most intimate friend and
fellow-Repubcan, Maurice de Taleyrand-Peri-
CORD who now bears the title Of Due de Dino
AN ODD COUPLE
They are an odd couple. this Duke and this