The herald., 1896-02-02

now expected to put his hand down
into his pocket, and it is bouquet of
violets for Madame X, box of mar
rous glaces for Madame Y, few
branches of white lilac for Madame q.
Aud violets are scarce in winter time,
even in Paris; marrons glaces attain
their maximum quotations in Decem-
ber aud January, and as to white lilac,
ths pretty florists will tell you with a
smile that it comes all the way from
Nice; that it is exceedingly scarce this
ye4r; that nothing is more chic, and
that # it be for Madame q. you must
take it, for lilac is her dream.
OF course there is fin de steele way
Of accomplishing these social duties.
1t consists in dispensing with the
costly flowers and the marrons glaces,
and merely making a call at ones
friends abode. When the maid opens
the door card is gently slipped into
her hand with the words: Monsieur
and Madame So-and-So are out? Please
give them this card, ;" and the visitor (?)
disappears down the staircase as fast
as his legs will carry him. This is
what the boulevardiers term going to
see if someone is out.
Others pay no visits at all, but as
soon as the last days of December are
to hand find it more economical to
make trip south Of Nice, and even to
Monte Carlo, than to remain in town
spending quite little fortune on pres
ents, flowers and toys for children.
The Riviera bids fair to be in full
swing again before many days, when
the queen of the Mediterranean will be
stocked with the queerest of cosmo-
politan crowds. If Nice in itself is a
curious place, more curious still is the
strange concourse of people who select
it as their winter residence. Nice
draws her visitors from all parts o. the
world. If few fortunate ones journey
there with their wives and families, in
sleeping cars or in their yachts, the
majority seem to have had no end OF
difficulty in reaching their destination.
It is still q fact that certain number
of persons come down to Nice for their
health, yet it is doubtful whether the
birthplace of Garibaldi would be as
crowded as it is were not Monte Carlo
in its immediate neighborhood. To
speak the truth, the number
of invalids in Nice is de-
creasing annually. A great number
of individuals come out of chic;
others come to follow the races.
Doctors come because a certain num-
Der OF their patients always go to
Nice; the patients, because the doctors
sent them there. But leaving the sick
to their medical attendants, who are as
plentiful in Nice as five louis pieces on
the trente ct quarante tables, and to
the beautiful promenade dss Anglais
with its palm trees and it's flowers,
who are the "others," the visitors, those
who will tell you that they have come
to Nice to get a glimpse of the blue
sky and a summer sun in the bitter
days of winter, and who remain con-
tent with the azure on the ceiling of
their room at the botel, which is gen.
orally adorned after the italian style
with numberless doves? These others,
who are not mentioned in the society
columns of the papers, form the masses
at Nice. For them, the sun in which
they say they are in quest ia replaced
by the electric light over the table
d'hote tables, and the gas burners that
illuminate the green cloth of the nu-
nerous gambling bells which are to be
fonnd in ell parts of the little city.
So far this season thre has been
nothing to arouse the enthusiasm of
the bases who prefer to remain all
night long in an atmosphere of about
80 degrees fahrenheit to breathing the
fresh air that blows at all hours across
the blue waves of the Mediterranean
sea. The center of attraction, as in
former years, is the Casino, which. al
though it has no special program,
ssrves as general rendezvous for all