Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1900-07-26
FROM GAY PARIS.
The New Dominion Correspon-
dent at the Exposition.

/
derful Exhibition Cheap admission
one Feature While moi Likely TO pay
Out the Great Show Will Not be
/ FaiInre-A Better Class OF Atirac-
tions Demanded than ever Before
How France Celebrates Her Natal
Day Something about French No-
men and actors.
PARIS, July II, 1900. Owing to
the surprising fall in the price Of tick
cts of entry there is an impression
| among strangers here that the Paris
Exposition OF 1900 is a failure. Some
ground, no doubt, exists for the idea.
Tickets issued by the government at
20 cents apiece are now purchasable
| for from II to l6 cents according To
TO the daily demand, so that one must
conclude the demand Is not nearly so
great as 1t was expected It would be.
And this Is true. Government sold
TO bankers and other retailers exactly
so, 600. 600 tickets at 90 cents apiece:
the bankers and retailers sold them In
turn to the public; SO that both the
government and the retailers have not
lost In the transaction. The public
has. or rather the public Is not avail
ing itself of its tickets, but is resell.
ing them for what they will fetch in
the ticket market that Is held every
morning at The Bourse. To this ex-
tent the public may be said to be a
loser and, in SO far as the public is
not going to the Exposition, the Ex-
position may be said to be a failure.
But consider little, 1000, 900 tick
cts used would mean an average at
tendance for six months OF about $780,
600 people day. That is very
large and unreasonably large number
10 expect to attend, and one need not
/ think the Exposition Il failure be-
cause, as is the case, the actual aver
age daily attendance is only ITO, 900.
| On certain occasions, fine Sundays es-
| pee lilly, the attendance has touched,
or very nearly, 500, 0o0 but for the
whole period of the show, April 18th
/ to November 18th, the average daily
attendance is very unlikely to be more
than 200, 900. How can show that
draws this number Of people--36 mil
/ lions--be said TO be failure, even If
/ failure is TO be judged by numbers?
1t Is right however, to say that a great
many Of the attractions and amnse-
ments are losing money, serves them
right for Offering an educated public
In ali cases costly, and In several cases,
indecent entertainments. For the
IS HI In Is tar Il
than those OF the expositions that pre-
coded it, and, being so, they require
better class Of article for their money.
The fact is the old and layishly spend
| ing tourist Is no more. Money is too
! hard to earn nowadays for it TO be
lightly spent, and II that is not 50,
| people who have money to spend,
spend it on more utilitarian and really
beautiful things. This, believe, is
one great lesson OF the Exposition
mean the elevation In popular taste
all over the world. Go into the Uni
ted States section, or into the Ger
man section, nay into the charming
little payilions OF Norway or Fin
| land--out OF the way places one might
think nothing Is SO striking as
the high standard shown In both COM
| fort and art. France alone seems TO
have stood still, as superficial and
sensuous, and garish as OF old.
This appeal to the eye and the SEN
ses is in no way more remarkable than
in the luxury and brilliancy and cost
illness OF the preparations Paris is
making. and has made as | write, for
celebrating the great French national
Fete day the French Fourth it may
rightly be called, the 14th OF July,
the anniversary OF the taking OF the
Bastile, the inauguration OF the reign
OF Liberty. Equality and Fraternity.
Republican France does not celebrate
her Fourteenth as republican America
celebrates her Fourth. France does
not recall to the mind OF her rising
generation imperishable examples or
men like Washington and Lafayette.
no: France lights bonfires and hangs
out flags aud--dances, while Paris
spends Incalcnlable sums on flooding
the streets with electric light and put
ting up all sorts of arches and In short
making the city like some gorgeous
transformation scene. 1t Is undenia-
bly,, beautifully, fairy like, magical If
you will, but is it the way to read. on
the one chosen day OF the year. solid
and abiding lesson Of national patriot
ism? Patriotism?
Be it admitted however, that
France is greao in some things, for
two OF them her women and her act
Eors- The true Frenchwoman is, deny
it who may, an epitome OF all the vir-
tues and no more can or need be said
of her. In acting, too, the French
are pre-eminent; the pity Is that only
a small proportion OF foreigners under
stand French well enough to perceive
it. ! had the pleasure the other night
Iof seeing Mounet Sully, the great
tragedlan, and Coquelin the younger,
d great comedian, on the same stage
and almost 10 the same half-hour. IT.
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