Evening star., 1901-01-05

the same boiling cloth, lined with cotton
plush. The color note is struck In a con-
fusing variety of ribbons, which, for the
girls themselves, are orderly distinctions OF
grade and residence. There are green rib
bons. violet, aurore. blue. mother-of-pearl.
white and mixed; that Is, the union of the
six; and they are worn like belts and like
suspenders. Green being the sign of the
beginner, mixed indicates the srande. ap-
preaching graduation. while the others
make up the gamut of the intervening
years. Already, by means of these color
badges, the young creatures learn the great
lesson of inequality, missed by so many un-
! fortunates throughout their whole exist
ence. The motto of the republic proclaims
equality, and their black bolting cloth con-
firms it. But the little tenderfoot in green
would be laughed at verdant indeed
should she invite herself to the society OF
the violets or blues. Their fundamental
ideas of life being bound up in the dstinc-
ton of the Legion of Honors own little red
ribbon, another of their early lessons is to
distinguish the rank of fathers, uncles,
grandfathers and brothers on visiting days,
whether they be chevaier, officer, COM
mander. grand officer or grand cross. The
little girl whose parent is commander learns
to hold herself worthily in the presence of
the little girl whose parent is only cheva-
lier
To make the lesson more emphatic the
very dress of the teachers proclaims to the
demoiselles of Sant-Denis the great principle
OF respect for ones betters. While all
these DANES de la Legion d Honneur wear
distinctive cross in silver surmounted
by white enameled palm, with the words
'Honneur ct Patrie Maisons d Education
de la Legion dHonneur,'' the superintend
ent bears it only at the extremity of the
grand Gordon. The intendantes and danes
dlgnltaires wear it attached to the rib
bon of commander. The higher teachers
carry it on the left breast, with the officers
rosette, while the others wear it in the
same way attached to the ribbon of cheva-
lier Apprentice teachers, called "stagi-
only. without a cross.
Who May Attend This School.
In this way the little -year-old in
green soon gets girls solid notion OF
who's who and its Importance. For that
matter, the girls have the lesson ever be-
fore their eyes In the fact of their pres
ence at Saint-Denis. Unlike the two other
boarding schools of the Legion of Honor.
at Ecouen and Loges Sa.nt-Dehis is accessi
BILE only TO the daughters or relatives OF
members of the legion having in the army
or navy at least the grade of captain, or in
the civil professions a corresponding" po-
sition. 1t falls to the grand chancellor OF
the order-sole judge of candidates-to re-
solve these delicate riddles of 'equiva-
lents,' for which there exists no absolute
criterion. Whether, for instance, a mil
ionaire sugar retiner decorated for his
republican rally, be socially equivalent to
captain in the army, when the application
of an fmpecunious physician, who has.
nevertheless. managed to keep open a free
clinic for the poor of Paris during the last
twenty years, has been rejected
worthy.
Here, too, we strike the great line of de-
markation in the Legion of Honor between
the military and naval and the civil ele-
ments. The former wear the cross of the
order; the latter wear only its ribbon OF
rosette. For the military and naval ele-
ment active service in time of war counts
double time against the intervals Of wait
ing for promotion. While both elements
have rights to military funerals, the squad
company. battalion or division, after salut-
Ing the passage of the body in front Of the
home of the dead accompanies the process
sion to the grave. there to repeat the salute
when the dead man Is of the army or navy.
In the case Of civilian members there is no
following of the procession to the cemetery.
And. greatest distinction of ALL while the
civil members of the order must be content
with the simple honor of "belonging" the
military and naval members one and ALL
enjoy annual money pensions. unseZable
for debt Chevalers draw $50 francs, or
500 a year; officers draw 500 "a year COM
manders draw $500 a year, grand officers,
$500 year, and grand crosses, 5000
Military First.
When it comes to the education of their
female relatives the same superiority is
conceded to the military and naval legion
aries. While the three girls boarding
schools of Saint-Denis, Ecouen and Loges
are, theoretically. open alike to the fighting
and non-fighting elements, the practice
has always been to serve the military first
At Saint-Den.s the simple difficulty OF
equivalents shifts daughters of civilians
to the two less aristocratic establishments
In seasons of crowding while the gratui-
tous places-reserved legally to the daugh-
ters of civil and military legionarjes-fal
notoriousy to the daughters of the land
and sea forces. Except in the case of or
phans only one daughter in a family may
be admitted gratuitously. All the others
pay the fixed rate of $500 year. the same
for the youngest for the Oldest The
other conditions are of age-at least nine
years and less than twelve-and civil status,
certificates Of birth, legitimacy baptism.
religious denomination. physical health, vac
clnation, summary preliminary instruction
ana the certificates of the parent on whose
credit the admission is demanded. AT the
present moment there are 475 pupils at Saint
Denis, of whom only seventy-five are paid
for by their parents The remaining 400,
boarded and taught gratuitously are so
much of military origin that the proportion
for the whole is put down at ninety to the
hundred pupils. There are a hundred or
phans.
The Buildings at Saline Denis.
The school buildings at Sant-Denis, orig
inally those of an ancient Benedctine alb
hey suppressed in the French revolution
are beautiful with the dignity of age and
spacious by reason of the wealth and love
of ease Of their original builders. The old
gardens are shaded by trees that have
stood for centuries. The school itself has
traditions and relics that date back almost
hundred years. The line of portraits of
former women superintendents discloses a
series of strange gowns and headdresses.
And the young creatures, never fOrgetrul
of their imperial origin, put a kind of CO.
quetry In playing ola games in their recrea-
ton hours and in maintaining old tradi-
tions of formal politeness and ceremonious-
ness. This latter practice is supposed to be
responsible for much of the charm of man.
ner distinguishing the "demoiselles of
Saint-Denis in society. and it has had
much to do with the brilliant marriages
that these girls so often without fortunes
have been celebrated for making.
Not Fin de Steele Girls.
There is nothing up to date about these
girls. Croquet. their great spring summer
and autumn game. when 1t came into fash
ion again found them still playing it from
old times. They derive intense enjoy
ment from "drop-the handkerchief and
"blndman's buff But chiefly, it is said,
do they walk arm in arm through the ro-
mantle. melancholy aisles formed by the
great oaks that oVerhang the garden paths,
exchanging In their recreation hours those