The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-04-14
fTERS FROM A COUNTRY GIRl.
IN PARIS.
No. 4.

surprise that the Latin Quarter comprls'
es about one-sixth Of the city Of Paris, a
quarter made up of broad Boulevards
and Avenues, gardens, palaces, churches
and most of all, schools, art studios and pic.
ture galleries. OF course there are also the
narrow, dark streets, which betoken age,
and we'll they may, for this first began to
be the Latin Quarter in the l2th century,
when, what is now the Sorboune, was
founded for the use and accommodation Of
20 moor students and their masters. The
Sorboune has ever since been free, but the
students now number 1900. There are
two reasons for calling this the Latin
Quarter. One is that it is full of schools
from end to end, and you know Latin .
used to be synonymous with Learning"
Another is that this part of the city is the
only part that has any relics Of the Roman
invasion, All around the Sorboune are
remains of Roman architecture. There
is the great arena, recently restored
where. 1 doubt not, many Gallo gladi-
ator struggled for his life, with wild
beasts for opponents. There are the
caves with iron bars where the lions
were Gagged while waiting for the Emper-
or Julian to give the signal for the
struggle to begin.
At the Museum of Cluny, once the Ro-
man Palace of Thermes, are the baths,
with their subterranean tunnels to the
Seine, the lovely river which flows
through the heart Of Paris. The Roman
name of the city was Lu!ice, ana 1t was
made up of the Island called Isle of the
CITY. and the Latin Quarter. The Sor-
boune itself is the centre Of the Quarter.
n is near the Street of the Schools on
which are schools of medicine, law ana
all the sciences One of the Oldest is the
College of France. There are free !ec-
lures every day from to 5 o'clock, one
hour each, on every conceivable subject
under the sun. The lectures are all
in French, and great many Americans
attend them in order to hear the best
French pronunciation. have been to a
great many, ranging all the way from
Political Economy of the United States
to Hebrew Archaeology.
Another side has the Latin Quarter,
the artistic side In the dark, narrow, old
time streets that lead away from the gay
Boulevards live the students of all kinds,
and especially the Art Students. They
live there because they are near the
schools and studios, and because it is
about the cheapest part of the city. It is
sons. One is that the Palace of the Lux
emburg, with its beautiful gardens and
its fine museum Of pictures, is open all
dav long. Then there is the Pantheon, a
grand monument to the great men OF
France. and now the tomb of Victor
Hugo The Museum of Cluny, too, that
quaint Roman palace filled with the rel
les of gorgeous past, in which kings
and Queens bore the prominent parts.
Near us is the entrance to the catacombs,
that underground tomb, where the bones
of 8. .O0O, 900 people are turning to dust.
The names of the streets and Churches
here are interesting. One street is "Our
Lady of the Fields" another "The Way
to He'll" "The Street of the Vanished
Sheep,1 "Street of the Green Mill" Some
of the names seem very sacrilegious, as,
for instance, "Street of the Infant Jesus" "
and "Street Where God Was Boiled"
This last was named from legend to the
effect that wicked Jew took piece ol
consecrated wafer, the Sacrament Bread
of the Roman Church, and broke it very
irreyerently. It bled. and the people
were all frightened. Then the wicked
Jew cast the wafer into pot of boiling
water, and the water became blood. The
Jew was burned at the stake for sacrllege.
The French seem very irreverent to US
anyway. They dedicate saloons to the
Holy Virgin, and beer to the Infant Je-
sus A sign reads like this: "Gloves
cleaned by the Grace of God;" the stores
are named for the saints and martyrs
Sunday is the holiday for some of the
well-to-do working people and for all the
upper classes. The poorest people seem
buster that day than any other. The
building of houses, hauling Of stones
etc., 90 on Just as on week days. But
the eaily-dressed crowds in the Parks
and Art Galleries show that to the French
Sunday is grand Fete-day. The matt.
nees at all the theatres are on Sunday and
the races, baseball and tennis all come
off on Sunday.
must tell you about the only Protes-
tant Church in the Latin Quarter. 1t is
an Episcopal Chapel, and was built here
for the benefit of American and English
Art Students. Some years ago Presby.
terian clergyman happened to be il
Paris, where he incidentally learned thai
there was no mission for the Art Students
and that consequently they left off going
to church altogether. He at once begun
services in studio on Sunday evenings
He soon had crowds of hearers and did 8
lot of good. Then he petitioned the large
Presby teriau Church here to help him
build chapel for the students. The
church refused and he went tor help to
the Episcopal Church. The Vestry there
decided that they would build the chapel
on condition that Episcopal service should
always be held there. The chapel was
built and there was no one else to carry
on the service, so this noble missionary
gave up his own Church views, studied
for the Episcopal Ministry, and was made
rector of the chapel. He showed the true
missionary spirit in giving up his belief
for the sake of the students. He was rec
tor for only short time, when he died,
lamented by all who knew him. His
friends say that his heart was broken be-
cause he had sacrificed 30 much. Well,
the chapel is there, and we have very
fine clergyman. The students call this
little mission the Tin Church, because it
is covered all over with zinc. There is q
Presbyterian Mission held in studio
now, where they have fine singers from
the Opera, lecture, and afterwards So
cial gathering and refreshments. The
students call it the Lemonade Counter.
Here in the QUARTER Latin we have
splendid country markets twice week
Wednesday and Saturday. Then you
may see the Art Students, men and wo-
men, sally forth with large network bags;
later, you may see them return with those
same bags packed to bursting with pota-
toes, lettuce, apples, horse-chestnuts,
cheese, maccaroni and a little Of every
thing you ever saw and perhaps some
things you never saw, in the way of eata-
bles. The last are cookies, snails and
mushrooms. like the mushrooms very
much but draw the line there. There
are some girls here who say they have
tasted everything the French eat, notably
horse-fesh which is on sale at most ofthe
markets though mule flesh is said to be
more delicate and consequently costs
more. You can get a quart of snails for
three cents, and a quarter ofa pound OF
straw berries for 81. Molasses is sold by
the pound and bread by the yard.
In my next letter I want to tell you
about the magnificent festivals and pro-
cessions which the French have every
year. The principal ones Mardi Grae,
Micareme and the Battle of Roses. They
are more characteristic of the people than
anything else in France. D. j. 3.
Destruction by the Flood.
CIR or-rc pr;1 IN 81 T,ouis factors