The Washington weekly post., 1900-12-25
CHAT OF GAY PARIS.

eonqueror 20 appear heavier about the
/ face and neck than the public were ac-
customed 10 believe him. Ii is a we'll
known fact that he did become positively
/ gross about the neck and shoulders. This
+ look. however. has been rectsficd in the
official statues. in order that Il should not
pass on TO future ages. During the time
/ Coquelin was giving this play at his the
/ ater, the Porte St Martin. / visited him
one evening in his ioge. where found him
armed with abundant proof that his was
| the correct impersonstion OF the first Bo-
/ naParte. Among other things he showed
| me a miniature OF the Emperor. which he
/ said had been given by his majesty TO a
/ Mile. Georges. a well-known French act
/ Tess This gift was presented TO the la0y
upon the occasion OF the Emperors last
visit to hSr. This same actress has now
/ become the heroine OF a play running at
! the Theatres des Varieties. on the Boule-
ward
Two portraits lately exhibited at George
| Petit's gallery showed 70 play-goers OF to-
/ day two cOntrasted pictures IN the life or
/ Mile. Georges. one was a miniature OF a
beauty in the dress Of the first empire.
/ The other was a sktch in which the mer-
| ciless pencil 0f a caricaturist had drawn
with Implying insistence the outline Of a
woman grown In degree OF stOutness be-
yond all grace and shape. The first pict-
ure was Mile. Georges in her triumph.
when the Emperors Napoleon and Alex
| ander OF Russia laid fortunes al her feet;
| the second was the actress after 1870 poor.
1 old, and laughed at, when a well-known
/ critic wrote of her that she was tragic
! fat" But Nile. Georges in her days Of
poverty, and amid the slurs and ridicuie
of the public, had the consolation, If con-
ISOLATION It be, to look back upon years of
dazzling celebrity.
| At the age OF sixteen this young actress
sprang into fame. Before she was TWEEN
| ~ she was recognized universally as the
| greatest tragic actress of her time. The
power of her beauty was equally as con-
vincing as her dramatic qualities. All the
! leading men Of the empire were az her
| feet. She counted among her admirers
many royalties. conspicuous among whom
was Lucien Bonaparte. the Emperor Ma
| poleon, and later Alexander, who induced
her to live for a time in Russia. Upon her
| return to France she had second period
| of triumph. and reigned supreme In the
| drama of the romantic school. as she had
| been first on the stage Of classic tragedy.
| Her Lucretia Borgia and her Mary
| Tudor i'm Victor Hugo's plays were lauded
to the skies by TheOphie Gautier. as her
| ClytemnestTa IN a forgotten tragedy.
some forty years before, had been pro-
nounced perfect by the equally forgotten
critics of that period of literary nnedioc-
rity, the consulate. But a few years later
Mile. Georges was poor, wrote begging
| letters to old patrons. and was remem-
! bered only to be ridiculed by caricaturists.
am told that Mr. Kruger's wedding
present to Queen Wilhelmina OF Holland
Will be a thimble artistically engraved by
a French sculptor. The design round the
edge represents bevy OF youthful Paris
ian seamstresses at work in dressmak-
er's shop. Among these young ladies Dom
Paul was very popular during his stay
here. They used 10 flock from the big
dressmakers' workshops in the Rue de la
Paix during their lunch hour TO 80 and
cry "Vive Kruger!' under the windows OF
the Hotel Scribe. and clap enthusiastical-
ly when their hero appeared on the ball
cony. Mr.. Kruger has carefully specified
that he does not wish TO retain rights OF
ownership over the design drawn for his
thimbIe. This hint Partisan jewelers. have
not been slow to take. In a few days
time their windows will be stocked with
Kruger and Wilhelmina thimbles, which
they expect will be the fashionable trim
ket for the coming jeur de ran.
DR.. A. S. Clark is sailing from Havre "A
the Champagne Saturday, December s. He
will visit his daughters in America ara
anticipates remaining for a month or six
weeks. DIR. Clark has been overworked
during tine last year. and well deserves a
holiday. Dame Ramor attributes the doc
tors visit 10 quite another cause. Nous
yerronsr'
The recent marriage OF Nine Maurice
Steers TO the young Count de Roielec du
Porzic has created no end OF a sensation
in the American colony. The bride IL a
daughter of the Countess de TrobriOnd
and a granddaughter oS the late Mason
Jones, the well-known New York banker.
The bridegroom Is sen of the Marquis
and Marchioness de Rodeilec du Porzic, OF
Brest, who have been lifelong friends OF
the bride. The bridegroom has just reacn-
ed twenty-five, the age Of majority re-
quired in France. The affair began about
four years ago. when the young count was
i'll in a hospital I'm Paris. His mother.
then al Brest. wrote asking her old friend,
Nine. de Steers, If she would go and see
her son in the hospital. sympathetic
visits followed, with the result that the
young man fell desperately I'm love with
his mothers friend, and neither force nor
reason would swerve him from his chosen
course. The Count de Rodellec IS man
of very good fortune and declines any OF
mis- wifes money. The marriage settle
ment gives all OF her large fortune 10 her
three children, each Of whom Is mar
ried. The new Countess de ROdelec du
Porzic is several times a grandmother,
and her most charitable friends do not
har Lee gta.g, H.
Young COrnWailis West also seems to be
living in a sort OF trance. 4 lady wno
knows Mr. and Mrs. cornwallis West
Q4ady Randolph ChurchilD very intimate
iy told me that whenever Mrs Cornwallls
West was talking. II any one ventured 10
speak, her young husband at once raised
his finger and said: Hush, Jenny Is
speaking" Call0w youth and ripe age
seem TO furnish the I'm de steele" mar
riage
The exposition decorations OF the Legion
or Honor, which II was expected would
be announced long before this. are still
unknown. and. therefore. causing anxiety
among those who have been spending
time and money in order that they might
be able 10 wear the little red ribbon in
America 10 the envy OF their less for
tunate cOmpatriots. IL has been a sorry
sight to witness the scramble which Peck
and bis fOlloHegs have made. and this un-
molly spectacle Of men dining. Winiug, and
feting those members OF Frances Official
family who might have some influence 10
bear upon the ministers controlling the
donation OF these decorations has left
very unsayory impression The average
Frenchman believes tina. this decoration
should come voluntarily, as a reward 9f
merit and have yet 10 learn that APP
pareniiy with the American the way 10
reach man is the classic road Of shake
speare. through his stomach"
II Congress dciyes into the affairs Of
our commission. ! am badly misinformed
II a condition Is not revealed which. for
the sake or the opinion that foreign na-
tions should hold Of us, were better LEFT