The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-04-01

, building is the work Of the famous Jean
GOujon, 1520-1572
In the Rue de Richelieu. just north OF
the Palais Royal, ye lind the wonderful
Bibliotheuue Rationale or the National
library of France, said to be the largest
in the world The Palace Mazarin stood
formerly on this site, built by the powerful
and crafty minister of the early DAYS OF
Louis the Fourteenth, but very little Is LETT
Of the original building
The library comprises four divisions;
first there are printed books and maps,
some three million volumes, many of them
very rare, and splendidy bound; there are
also about hundred thousand volumes
of manuscripts; a large collection of med
ais coins, ancient inscriptions. gems,
canoes, &c. and finally, about two mill
ions and a half of engravings. The Sale
de Travail. or general reading-room, is
not so fine as that in the British museum.
There are other fine libraries in Paris.
There is the Bibliotheque de fArsenal,
near the boulevard Henri Quatre, Rue
de Sully; the BibliOtheque Ste. Genevieve.
near the Pantheon the Btbliotheque MAJ
arin. adjoining the Institute de- France,
across the river; and the Bibltotheque de
la Vile close to the Musee Carnavalet.
The French nation has great respect
for its dead; even the more thoughtless
of Parisians, inferior as they are in many
ways to provincials. pay much regard to
the last resting places of their friends
and relatives, on All Souls day, Novem-
Der 2. most of the respectable artisans,
freethinkers though they be. make a point
of visiting the cemetery with wreaths of
immortelles. The largest and most inter-
esting of Partisan cemeteries is Pere-la-
Chaise, rather more than a mile north
east of the Place de la Bastille. 1t Is of
considerable extent. about hundred and
ten acres, and 1t contains many hand
some tombs. All sorts of distinguished
people have been buried here; Abelard
and Heloise, Moliere. lie F'ontaine, Ber-
anger Theirs, Balzac, Michelet. Scribe.
Edmond About. Alfred de Musset Emile
Souvestre, several of Napoleon's mar
shals, Chopin, Cherubini, Auber, Bizet,
Ingres, Talma. Rachel and many others.
including Deazet the well known comic
actress. The northern cemetery is that
of Montmartre which is full of interest
and right away to the south is the ceme-
terry of Mont Parnasse. There are alto
gether more than twenty burial grounds
Paris is full of amusements of all sorts
and the French being nation of actors
there is no lack of theaters. Chief among
these Is the magnificent opera house. de-
signed by Charles GARNER. the largest
and most splendid theater i'm existence. 1t
stands north of the Boulevard des Capu-
cines and the Grand hotel, and was thir-
teen years in building. Finished In 1874
1t is said to have cost, including the pur-
chase of the site, nearly e2oo0.coo Sump-
tuously decorated, its finest features are
Its grand staircase and Its foyer; this
last is adorned with sculpture and there
are some good paintings by Baudry. There
are performances on Mondays. Wednes-
days and Fridays. and In winter on Sat
urdaYs also the price Of places is high
The Coincide Franchise ranks first among
the theaters; 1t adjoins one end of the
Paais Royal. The present theater was
built at the close of last century. The
finest acting in Paris is to be seen here:
the plays are nearly always of a superior
kind and include tragedies comedies and
dramas. The great Sarah Bernhard used