The herald., 1896-02-02
THE PROnENADE DEs ANdLAIs, NICE

against the iron-handed bank? 1t
has often been said that it is pity
such somber countenances should
make Nice their home, and thus re-
mind one of all the horrors of life at a
moment one is prepared for all its
joys. But these men will not remain
at Monte Carlo; they are afraid of
themselves; afraid of shooting them
selves or of throwing themselves from
the rocks into the deep. But, verify,
no place for loafing can beat Nice. 1t
is curious, nevertheless, to note that
the presence of such individuals would
not be tolerated twenty flour hours in
Monte Carlo. What does the bank
want with penniless creatures? 1t
knows how to get rid of them, too.
They are no longer flesh for the bank;
they are bones, mere bones. The bank
cares not for such food.
Perhaps, after all, the Partisan is the
most interesting man for one to meet
in Nice. If you question him he will
tell you that he only comes down in
order to be near Monte Carlo, although
he frankly admits that he is not high
player. The Partisan thinks much like
Sardou's tourist in the second act of
"Odette." Il don't care for anything
here" says he, 81 look at the olive trees
as if they we're chimney tops, and to
me the orange trees look as if they
we're weeping and calling out for hot
house or case. As to the palm trees,
of which poets and scribblers talk 30
much. when they are paid for it, sup
pose, they look like feather busters
turned topsy-turvey, all ready to be
taken hold of to sweep the dust from
the street. Nice is overdone. People
believe it is paradise. Il is nothing of
the kind. There are hundreds 1 tell
you who think as do; hundreds who
only come here Tor the roulette at
Monte Carlo and the ladies'"
Nice, however, makes different i'm
pressions on different persons. Many
have the above mentioned fin de steele
views on the queen of the Riviera,
others find it a most glorious place, es-
pecially all those who do not transform
their days into nights and their nights
into orgies. In some Of the haunts of
Nice there ars scenes of daily occur
ence which would have shocked the
prince regent in the palais royal, and
the early morning bather often meets
the noceur, with festive garments
somewhat awry as the first rays of the
warm sun are dazzling in their splen-
dor and transforming the terribly pale
face of the overnight reveler into
CHASTITY white mask.
Nice has scores OF other places of
amusement, most of them being of
low order. A few, however, such as
the Italian opera and the Theater
Francois and one or two others, are
first-class theaters. OF the cafe chan
tants, in which so many of the side
streets abound, the less said the better.
As to the site of Nice and it's wonder
full environs, more than enough has
already been written. Nice has been
described so ofton that it remains no
longer interesting but in its new as
poets. The cafes are, one and all, little
gambling hells; not permitted" by the
municipality, but tolerated, and they
run with open doors. They are fre.
quented by the weaker sex almost as
much as by the sterDer, and are strange
retreats when the shutters are put up,
and when they are to ali outward ap-
pearances "closed." They are remark
able for their many ladies to marry.
that particular class to which the late
Dumas refers in his Francillon-ieunes
files marier le soir meme.
One cannot leave Nice with pleasure,
Notwithstanding all it's drawbacks. It
must even be with regret, although
hotelkeepers make out such heavy bills
that one must not be at all surprised
if one day he finds on his account an
item Of dollar or two for beautiful
sunrise. And so when it comes to pass
that when the thermometer IN Paris