The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-06-06
END OF A HISTORIC CAFE.
PrOcOpe's~ Famous Paris Restaurant
Closes Its DOOFR
(From the Philadelphia Telegra,,.)


(From the Philadelphia Telegra,.,D
Not since the doors OF the Clfe Tort nj
we're closed forever. IN the summer Of 1893.
have the traditions OF Paris sustained such
a blow as was given the other day by tie
closing OF the still moro ancient and more
famous Cafe Procope. ToItSni's stood in
the very path of the stream OF Partisan
life, at the corner Of the Boulevard Cos
Italiens and the Rue Taithout. In the first
quarter Of the present century IL was famed
as being the rendezvous Of the most b IL
liant and fashionable men OF the day. nd
II fairly kept up its standing and leputa-
ton until the end Of its career, which had
numbered altogether nearly a hunlred
years
The Cafe Procope's establishment ante
dated that OF Tortoni's by more THAI cen
tury. and since 1855 II had extended a = l.
come TO its guests in the same SOB
Rue de IAnCienne Coincide. Ii W2s Cpsne
on the same evening in that year en- hi
the -Seule Troupe du Rel" in later times
known as The Comedie F. ancaIse. took
possession OF its second permanent home in
the reconstructed Star Tennis Court ~
across the way Between the acts OF
~Phedre' and lie Mecelin Ma gre Lui
en- the historic occasion, all The pc s1nagss
Of note in the audience made their wy
across the street to assist IN the ops ming
T the nsW TefTeshmC u house which lad
been set up by an eccentric Sicilian nan ed
PrOcope CultelH Pro OPS as he was i'm
ply called, lad been educated as a plysi-
cian, and was msn OF culture and OF con
siderable literary requirements. He IVES
3efoTE,od II perscn. and ugly TO look Upon,
but possessed a rare Wit. even for ID So
days and the most agreeable manners. The
new cafe Obtained q tremendous vogue t
the very start Coke Vas served IN a
style and &c an extent Heretofore unknown
IN Paris, and TO PrOcCDe's tfor:S the p p
ularizat!on OF the beverage is usually
a5cribed. But an even greater novelty v 5
the ices which we're sea seJ by Fr-c-p1,
Who enjoys tie credit OF introducing this
nCw common luxury 10 the fashionable
sorIi CT Paris.
One Of the most famous patrons Of p. o
cope's early days was FirOn. the author =
many licentious Cdes ard OF some brilliant
comedies. in the list CT which La Metro
mamie" or The Mania for Writing
Verse" is the most remarkable. In those
early days. too. the Cafe Proeope was fire.
qufnted by Voltaire, Diderot. Grebillon.
Fontenelle. Rousseau. d'Alembert, and
such a host of famous and learned men
thai IL was called , branch of the Acad-
envy The portraits OF Noltaire Rousseau,
and some OF the others stiII-a few years
back, at least-loOked down from the
walls. and the tables at which Voltaire
and Rousseau habitually sat were shown
with enviable pride TO the curious The
marble top OF the VOltaire table showed
a fracture made by the heel OF Hebert,
while delivering a fiery speech from this
high vantage ground. during the revolu-
tionary days at the close of the eighteenth
century. He and Danton and Marat who
were also frequenters of the place. turned
ii practically into a evolutionary --ub-
house in their day.
n - IL.
ers OF the cafe in later times was Gam
5etta, who vas accustomed under the
second empire, to meet here Floquet
Ferry. Spuller, ana other leading Repub-
llcanS. and to and with them denounce
the existing regime. So thoroughly was
Gambetta Identified with Procope's. that
the name Of the place figures in one OF
the exciting episodes of his political ca
reer. Once, when be paused. overcome
With passion. in one of his great speeches
in the chamber. the mock-heroic taunt
vas hurled at him: The beer OF the Cafe
Procope sufocates hint When in the
course Of time, Gambetta became the viz
tual ruler of France. he deemed il pru-
dent to cut" Procope's and all its be-
longings. So did other of the celebrities
who had been in the habit of frequenting
it. and. overtaken by evil days, this lit
cary and political landmark has at last
Of note were the poets Paul Verlaine and
Paul Arene
But. although the Cafe Procope has
closed its doors. there are many 'afnous
establishments OF similar kind still to be
found in the Latin Quarter Of Paris.
Among these one Of the most notable is
the Cafe Vachette, which, from the days
OF its foundation, had been the chief re-
freshmeDt and Capitalization resort Of Sc
date professors, litteTsteures. lawyers. doc
tors. and serious stu1ents who objected II
the taverns of a lower kind which abound
In the district These WORTHLESS used to
play cards and read the Revue des Deux
Mondes' in the Vachette, which stards at
the corner OF the Boulevard Saint Michel
and the Rue des Ecoles. few years ago
the Cafe Vachette changed owners, and the
new landlord began to cater to a some
what different clientele from the old, by
infusing some up-to-date Latin Quarter
life into the concern. This change was
needless, for just across the street, at the
opposite corner stands the SoufHet, which
Is the headquarters of a crowd of noisy
young men, who are always ready to- pre-
cipitate political disturbance when the
slightest provoca:ion or opportunity pre-
eantc