New-York tribune., 1900-07-15
PART ii.
FOURTEEN PAGES.
THE EXHIBITION BORE.
,rpREsSING PHENOMENON THAT HAS
MADE ITS APPEARANCE IN
PARIS SOCIETY

PARIS SOCIETY.
Paris, July ,.
o5ng perhaps, to the keen sense of individ-
re-, inborn with every Frenchman and every
--a,cbwornan, it has happened that each phase
.he nations social life has had its appropri-
=. little cluster OF popular personfcatlous or
.-o+vpes which have always been portrayed
carjcatured III pen, pencil and brush We
all familiar with the ''precieuses" Of Mo-
,-s with the ''petits- maitres' Of Dumas with
- lions Of Paul de Kock. and with the
.,oodettes" 'gommeux,'' ''petits-creves'' and
.,.rnes." as introduced to US by Garvarni, by
,ls1bac. Daudet. Haltvy, Zoa Harvieu and
,l.-cel Provost. The Universal Exposition of
,o.o has in its turn developed a new type of
po,isian evolved from the subtle blending of
he ..uince-sans-:ire'' irony Of the Montmartre
.cncert halls. with the cantankerous efferves-
oence Of the boulevard cafes and with the gos-
.,rnv compIacency of high Partisan society.
The latter by the way, is no longer closed by
any prejudices Of caste. Nowadays it suffices
"a he merely bien eleve Cwen brought up) and
-, necessarily b,en ne (Xell born).
The most prominent and most aggressivelv
.grravatins social type so far evolved from
me worlds Fair is known the 'Raseur de
rrxpositlon." or the Exposition bore It is
,b:oujtous and irrepressble. It is the man
tvpnotized with his own particular theory Of
,be Exposition, who draws his acquaintances
into q corner. tells them what the Exposition
right 10 have been, and undertakes to demon
.,rate by pamphlet and diagram how much bet
,sr I, would have been organized had he him
self been at the head of it. IF I were Picard
could have done so and So" is a phrase that
s dinned into ones ears from morning till night.
ruckily. however. the career of the Exposition
t0a in 0lopr D11r
be first few weeks OF the fair he remained in
sort of chrysalis state Of rest and preparation,
mi he has now burst forth from the shell. and,
4,u fedged and with many wings buzzes
about at Ambassadorial Ministerial recep-
rons haunts the luncheons, dinners, dances and
al fresco entertainments at the Polo Club in
the Bois de Boulogne, the Puteaux Tennis Club.
The Racing Club the Automobile Club, and all
the favOrtte open air resorts such the
Pavilion d'Armenonvine, the "Chinois' and the
Cascade"
The Exposition bore has swooped down upon
Us ike the army worm the gTasshopper or the
locust He first came into notice at the 3
o'clock teas given by smart leaders of Partisan or
American society, and these hitherto de-
aghtful little social functions are in consequence
blighted or dead. AS far as can be ascertained
the insect has this week attained its most Wig
has been denounced by an editorial paragraph
in the "Gaulois'' and NJ. Jules Claretie, ad-
ninistrator-g general Of the Theatre Francais
zho never fails 10 keep his finger on the Paris
ian pulse writes in the Temps to say that the
Exposition bore is largely responsible for the
pess1nism and melancholy which distinguish
the present Exposition from that Of 1889. So |
far the raYages have been confined TO Paris but
a the indications are that the insect is about /
invade the seaside resorts OF Normandy and |
Brittany and the water and air cures" Of |
Savoy Bourbornais Dauphine. Auvergne and |
Switzerland.
Here in Paris the Exposition bore is a truly |
terrible parsonage, for the blade Of the razor |
which he wields-broad and long as the Exposi- |
don itself-reaches from the Porte Monumen- !
tale, IN the Place de "a Concorde, TO the Troca- |
dero. He expatiates upon all imaginable topics !
political economy, painting, poetry, sculpture,
history, music. architecture, astronomy wom-
ems rights. battleshiPs, ballet dancing, dainty |
tea dinner gowns and agricultural imple-
ments. At reception and garden party given
On Sunday at the Palais Bourbon by NJ Des-
chanel. President Of the Chamber Of Deputies, |
the writer noticed a municipal councillor button
hole the host. and for fully ten minutes monopo-
LIE his attention by explaining how much bet
ter It would have been if the Seine had been
Entirely covered with bridges, so that foot pas
sengers might walk freely from one bank Of the
river TO the other At Mrs. Potter PaImer's
Wednesday reception a well known Partisan
scientist gravely urged that it was not too late
to rebuild entirely the American National Pa
y1lon At a reception given by Count and
Countess Boai de CastelIane 1t was suggested by
young and vivacious Exposition bore OF the
Nationalist persuasion that the Chinese build
ngs should once be razed to the ground as
partial retaliation for outrages committed at
Feking. At a tea party given by Miss Fanny
Reed II was proposed that the Transvaal mining
stamp exhibit should have been filed with real
gold contributed by Great Britain.
The Exposition bore is usually Of distin-
gushed bearing, is invariably well dressed and
snted with gentle manners. He occasionally as
sunes a crushed trageGian attitude or affects
NE biase look Of those weird night birds OF
opulent Bohemia that one frequently falls in
Win On the heights Of Montmartre. Altogether,
NE latest psychologist evolution Of the Exposition
= " 1900 presents a type Of Partisan humanity
-0ftuhately Of ephemeral eXistence-which dur
'Hs the acute phase Of vitality is not less in
'efesting than the "precieuse" Of Moliere or
me lncroyabIe' Of the Directory, and if de-
.eoped in the earlier half Of the century would
-Ouotiess have been dissected and analyzed by
Saizac or Thackeray. GLIB