New-York tribune., 1901-03-03
TWO SIDES OF PARIS LIFE.
a woMAN's VIEWS OF THE CAPITALS
VIRTUES AND DEFECTS.

The following first impressions Of Paris are
IRON the pen Of the same young American
woman who has already told in The Tribune Of
her trip through Belgium and Switzerland.
Paris February Il.
Who ever heard any express a lukewarm feel
ing for Paris? It is rare 10 hear one discuss
ga Ynly the beauties or imperfections OF Bottcelh
One adores or one deiests and that is the end or
The matter However much / may have prided
myself upon a more impartial mind. I am forced
70 acknowledge that Paris affects me just as it
does every body else. There slight difference
belong 10 both the adorers and the detesters.
without the slightest perjury in either case.
when I wait a solid hour and a half al the
Madeline for a place In omnibus going Bon
Marche-Wards; when, finally. if / wish 10 reach
that store creations end. an obliged 10 take
the cab which economically refused sixty minutes
earlier: when on trying 10 the street, every
c. driver starts after me. with the evident inten-
ficn of adding my mangled corpse 10 his already
long list of victims; when can't stand alone be-
fore p iewelry shop window without suddenly hnd-
sng q weary eyed smrkng man apparently
taking II for gra lted that my real purpose is 10
look him; when day after day glooms gray.
Grizzly with a piercing cold which even Boston
never knew; when the cost for the coal in my
CRATE which according the andlady alone,
warns my room exceeds the price / pay to heat a
whole apartment at home-on these and a few
other occasions | revile the very name of Paris.
in fact. such times fear I as helligerent AT
American : "a ChicaEnan met Swiss train.
Through most abjeot piece of stupidity the
conductors part young foreign couple had been
carried far beyond their station Our train how
ever, was due reach the next station al about
sae time going in the opposite direc-
sion Consequently. if an went well. the two might
hop" gel back within a reasonable length of
time. As bumped mp the platform tho other
train was Just beginning pun away The dis
gVs' NJ the Chiosgo when he found that no
signal not the slightest effort. was made to hold
shst fra IN til the couple could board !l was loud
ard dep TEe expressed his feelings language
Whose forcibIenoss sincerely wished not
Nbollv lost upon the solid faced conductor. He
wound up tira6s which swept unfalteringly over
everybody. every piece and every custom in
9urope With the remark that ali ne wanted
TO eet home: amy spot i'm America big enough Ia
plant hls tUo f'et on. no matter where was good
enough for him"
THE CHARMS or THE CAPITAL.
on tho other hand when pay only 80 cents TO be
driven IA state in my cab the opera: when
once there il only s. a seat always & a
home. better still cents for place certainly
rnor" desirable than any for s. in the Metropolitan;
Then. day after day I may 70 the Louvre and
seas my eyes without let or hindrancc upon the
soessures kings cannot buy: when before fashions
hour 70 driving I'm The Bois. and wind in ami
Su; among 1he hung trunks and watch the
CHANGING sky tbroH2h the web Of branches: when.
sfter suen dark day. a walk up the Champs
Blysees shows vaporous sky that suddenly
pulsateS with epano hushes that shift and change
snd deepen til through the magnificent distance
of tlai magnificent avenue the sun CLEANS and
eiows and drops of sight behind a molten.
golden haze that only Paris knows; when I
pare the delicious cooking the pension with that
et boarding houses Of equal stains in America
when look at Mademoiselle a the head OF il and
contrast her charm. her exquisite gentlewoman-
hooo, her tact and her gayety with the iandladies
sortune has given a home: when 80 cents buys
she glove YOU must pay s. for in our land Of
'lnfani industries'-these times, and truth say.
Very many others make repel with scorn all
insiDuations against this mobile town. Indeed 7
feel then half tempted to wrap from sight the
Stars and Stripes in mantle of the simpler tri-
color.
have hinted that we were fortunate in our
choice of a pension But the time the cab fares
tho bodily strength and nerve energy that we ex-
pended I'm finding this haven of refuge. After a
most varied experience both sides of the river
have come 10 the conclusion that there are Doubt
less plenty Of desirable boarding places in Paris
6ut that few Americans know them We had
scores of addresses from All kinds of people With
rhe exception ot few eXorbitantly expensive ones
she vast majority compared unfavorably with the
Irish boarding house the far East Side Of New
York. In narrow, garbage filled Streets I'D five
siShis OF stairs, over the worst sort of cafes or
liquor shops with closetlike rooms opening into a
well or at most a court. while all the smell
of garlic fought for supremacy over the odors
from below-that was the sort Of place Americans
whom We had supposed rather fastidious had
recommended
II was in this everlasting search for an abiding
Ilace that We discovered the size Of Paris Some
bow. AZ first didn't seem TO realize the vast
ness Of the city at all. But in one day We went
from the Place de rEtoile the Gobelins and
from there 10 the Care St Lazare By the time
we reached our final destination we had about
concluded that most Of visit to Paris was to
ne spent IN getting 20 places And even that cir
Suit leaves out most Of the town.
COMPILER TRANSIT SYSTEMS.
The omnibus system in Paris is most complete
seompieK and-oonfounded. IL took me several DAYS
no understand that there are just three ways of
arriving any desired point on the city man.
taou can walk, II the point ISN'T beyond your walk
fing capacity, and one hour or five on the tourney
makes no difference: you can wait your num-
hers turn at the omnibus stands, and thus ea-
,@reise more patience than you ever knew YOU had
AFTER even this unsuspected stock has been ex-
hausted, you may finally have the satisfaction Of
climbing 20 the roof IN & drizzling sleet accom-
panied by wind that rules umbrellas down or
iinsoe out. II nature never intended you for a
walker. and If waiting soaking curbstone. or
shlVering on the roofs OF buses fills Won with
chilly apprehensions 10 possible interruption Of
,1urther travel anywhere, then you have one re-
source left; take cab. IT is certainly true that
three people may not uncornfortaby ride ,n one
OF these cabs for the total sum Of 80 cents This
iinal alternative can scarcely be considered there
fore. either soul or pocket narrowing experience
But 10 me il isn't the thing ITSELF it's the idea Of
The thing. What in the world is the matter with
Paris. anyway? Has she never yet heard of cables
and electric cars? i have asked that question Of
pretty nearly everybody l have met In Paris
Americans who 1--we here laugh and shrug their
shoulders In Frenchy style as their broader
hacks and different heritage will allow French
men simply look me in plying SUNRISE aud
remind me that omnibuses go everywhere and il
one is in too much OF a hurry there Is always m,
most excellent cab Perhaps this Is the solution