Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-08-02
AS WITNESSED BY AN OBSERVING
AMERICAN.
THREE DAYS OF FROLIC
Racing and Dancing With Grand Mil
itary ManoeuveTs-Not Like 1t
Since the Days OF Louis Napoleon
Athletic Contests in Which Ameri-
cans Play a Winning Part.

/ has just come to an end and Paris Will
now attempt to resume its daily rou-
/ tine again. Those who were in Paris
during the gayety Of the second empire
say that this years fete was nearly if
not quite equal to the best 6f those
| famous holidays which Napoleon III.
| instituted in order to work up a little
| popularity for himself among the COM
mon people. Of course the fact that
this is exposition year had something
TO 10 with the magniicence OF the
whole affair as Paris is noted for its
catering to the pleasure Of foreigners.
The illuminations this year were on a
grand scale indeed. II is officially
stated that over $4,000 was expended
by the city alone, to say nothing Of
the large amounts which were spent by
places of business. Nearly every i'm
portant street in the city was illumi-
mated by electricity or gas and every
nouse and all the trees on the boule-
Yards were decorated with Japanese
lanterns. The center of the whole
system of illumination was the Place
de la Concorde and the Champs EIysee.
These two places were made nearly as
light as day by the use of thousands
and thousands Of gas jets with vari-
colored globes. A row of these gas
lights extended on either side of the
Champs Elysee from the Place de la
Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe, a
icra Of mi 10 hill +bD
Place de la Concorde itself was fairly
crowded with them. Besides these
gaslights the city provided fireworks
for the evening of the 18th. These did
not compare in extent with those at
the worlds fair or even with those at
Madison in June. 1898. during the
semi-Centennial celebration 1t may
be that the administration was fearful
of setting off too many fireworks right
in the heart of the city.
The principal event of the 14th was
OF course the grand review of the gar
rison Of Paris at the race course at
Long Champ. The number of soldiers
in this review was nearly 1000, every
one Of them fully equipped and ready
for active service. The review took
place at 3 o'clock in the afternoon Of
the 14th, but long before that hour the
different bodies Of troops began to as
semble along the roads leading to the
race course so as to be ready for the
word to march into the field. The
race course was entirely empty until
about 10 minutes after 2 when the
troops began marching in from all
sides and arranging themselves in the
center of the field facing the grand
stand By 10 minutes before all the
troops were in position and ready to
begin the manoeuvers, which COM
menced shortly after. All the branches
of the service were represented. in
fantry, cavalry, artillery, etc, as well
as a group of cadets from the st. Cyr
military academy which corresponds
to our West Point
Not the least interesting feature OF
the review is the crowd which goes to
look on. The review is free to all;
that is to say, no admission is charged,
but of course those with friends in
high places manage to get tickets to
the grandstand from which place the
best view of the proceedings can be
had. Those not provided with special
tickets, and even some of those pro-
vided with them begin to move toward
the Bots de Boulogne soon after day
break. Quite a proportion OF this
crowd is composed Of vendors of
lri1 Ecri, ,ho r,
be found wherever there is a crowd.
Besides these, are the owners of push
carts who are to be seen with their
carts full of planks with which they
will eXtemporiZe grandstand on some
Of the little hills near the course and
for a place in which they will charge
anything from a franc up. The race
course is surrounded by rising ground
so that those who are not fortunate
enough to have tickets to the grand
stand can obtain a very good view of
the manoeuvers. These last about an
hour or an hour and a half, but it is
| we'll along towards midnight before all
the crowd has disappeared.
The soldiers who take part in this re-
| view comprise the garrison Of Paris
and nearby suburbs. In all the larger
cities of France the feature of the days
| celebration is the review of the city's
| garrison. On these occasions the tax
| payers get a look at what they are pay
| ing for and they appear to have been
we'll satisfied at the review last Satur-
day as the cries of "Vive IArmee!"
were many and enthusiastic.
Another feature of the celebration
and the one which seems strangest to
Americans is the dancing in the streets.
For three nights in succession the
| traffic in certain clean and well-paved
streets is suspended and the thorough
| fare is given up to dancing. The
music is furnished by a small number
OF musicians with either brass or
stringed instruments who manufacture
some fantastic contortions of sound
which pass for music. 1t is said that
420 Of these bands were hired for the
celebration this year. The Americans
followed the custom and the piano in
the barracks Of the guard force was
dragged out into the streets and cake
walks, tWO-steps and waltzes were the
order of the evening and the morning
for these perfOrmanc lasted well along
into the next day, it being 4 a. N. Sun
day before the Saturday night cale-
| brati0n was ended.
One thing about these French cele-
brations that is particularly noticeabl: