Evening star., 1901-02-23
Many Men With Artistic Tastes and
Soanty Incomes.
PAINTERS WHO WILL NOT PAINT
Students Who Never Succeed in
Getting asDegree.
IN THE LATIN. QUARTER
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
PARIS, February 10, 1901.
Two Bohemians of the Latin quarter,
students of the university, have just
starved or frozen to death, amid circum-
stances of peculiar atrocity. At the mo-
ment when Parisians are discussing this
mild sensation, news comes that the
students have resolved to hold their
own mid-Lent festivities this spring inde-
pendently Of the wealthy corporation OF
Paris launderers. with whom, from time
inmemoria1, they have been associated In
the washerwomen's parade. Such extremes
are characteristic Of the quarter, where 1t
is always a feast a famine. The addl-
tional announcement that the profits OF
the demonstration. 'if any," are to go to
the maintenance and education of Mile.
Lucie Bagarre the baby girl picked up and
adopted by the students during their riots
of eight years ago, adds just that rant
perfume Of whimsical generosity which,
though not to be counted on, is necessary
to complete the impression.
The real trick of the Bohemian Is to pro-
vide for himself a certain kind or artlstlc
amusement even when he has no money
One of my acquaintance. a student OF med-
icine "of nine years standing (as ne puts
iD, tells stories of the first years OF MS
university career, when he and his COM
panions were learning to be Bohemlans.
Five of them had a common purse one re-
ceived money from home in the peSlhhihs
of January, April, July and October. An
other received his in February, May, Au-
gust and November. The three remaining
ones had monthly remittances. Yet there
would be times when the purse was empty
Out of Funds.
One drizzling afternoon, cold and dark IN
the beginning of February the medical stu
dent was hunting cigarette stumps behlnd
the trunk in his freless room. One by one
the others dropped in with inquring looks
He shook his head. One by one they seat
ed themselves around the fireless stove.
and not even tobacco?" They were wait
ing for the medical students quarterly re-
mittance. three days overdue. For twenty :
four hours they had not eaten Hunt
through your pockets" at last broke in the
Oldest Reluctantly each brought up the
pennies he had been hiding for an evening S
drink-an evenings warmth in prlght
cafe. They got together ID cents. Go out
and buy the most meat you can get for IL
cents" they commanded the youngest of
the party. When he came back with half
a yard of spiced black sausage, called bou-
din, and made of pigs blood they put 1t in
pan to simmer. During this excitement
the medical student had, for some reason
or other gone to the stairway, where he
met the postman coming with his long
wated-for registered letter and the quarl
terly remittance. He concealed it and re-
entered Boys" he broke In, after si-
lence, 1.-The smell of that pigs blood sau-
sage makes me i'll. It's not wholesome
anyway. It's disgusting of our parents to
leave us destitute like this Let's give
them a lesson. ] propose to take a cab
drive to the best restaurant of the Boule-
ward and order and eat the best meal it
affords. Then we will declare we have no
money and maybe get arrested. 1t will be
q protestation. and a good lesson to our
parents" "
Followed the Suggestion.
The four yielded to the desperate sug
gestion. At the restaurant they had oys-
ters, turbot, entrees galore. roast duck and
salad, pancakes with a diable sauce, cham
pagne and fruits and nuts, and coffee and
liqueurs. Yet the feast was not a gay one.
TWO, the less courageous, admitted the food
choked them. What a scandal' they
sighed, thinking of developments. 1T may
iniure our careers. If we have condemna-
ton, We can never get the ribbon of the
Legion of Honor" They We're not yet real
Bokemians. Until, at last, the fatal mo-
ment arrived Call the waiter" exclaimed
the medical student. The waiter brought
the bill 1t was more sthan 100 francs. Sol
emily the medical student inspected its
items. The others trembled. Then he drew
forth his purse and paid it.
Il can shut my eyes and see the stupefied
faces of those fellows he says, in these
later days Especially the two timid ones,
who could not eat because they thought
they We're going to be arrested for filouterie
d'aliments, or as the ugly phrase has it,
food thieving.
And the reSult?
ooh, don't ask 1t. 1 was fined by popular
vote for cruel practical joking, and for
three days / could not call my purse nv
own. At the end of that time there was q
sad Homecoming. We had left our last
cafe, without cent in our pockets. We
were walking about in the cold. Then some
one remembered we had left some firewood
at my room-and the half-cooked pigs
blood sausage. l assure you that we sprint
ed to reach that sausage. Yes, we found
it-burnt on one side and frozen on the
other Let me draw veil over the mem
ory Of 1t"
Deal in Furniture.
On another occasion one Of the same band
Of Observation-Disclosures whose parents
were well to do, had an order from home
to set him up 'in his furniture" They
went to the dealer indicated in the order
and ran up a handsome bill. One of the
items was a bathtub, bought mot so much
for use as decoration 1t goes without
saying that the furniture was sold for cash
within two days. There remained only the
tub, an unstable article in the Latin quar-
ter. Yet at the end Of a week that tub was
the center of all their hopes. Adolphe,
funny old commissionaire and the confiden-
tiaI errand runner of the crowd had been
as far as the other side of the river try
ing to dispose of it to house agents, small
hotels and lodging house keepers. Have
you sold the bath tub?' they would cry
whenever they met him. His answer was
always the same, who wants a bath tub?"
They had put price on 1t; but now they
were desperate II might try the dealers.
Adolphe had suggested. but they had hith-
erto refused. fearing no dealer would offer
enough "Sell it where you can, for what
YOU can" were the last instructions-and
Adolphe had the bad luck to go out and
stumble on the very dealer they had bought
it FROM "Why, that's my tub!' he ex-
claimed, when it was brought to him. He
was an honest dealer. Knowing the bill to
be good, he nevertheless resolved to take
the bath tub back. Tell Monsieur Georges
1 will credit his account with it, he said to
the mourning Adolphe; and 'ft will be
lesson to the young man. he added, to
himself. ft- no
Has Made q Failure.
These things happened in 'the good old
days. Of my Bohemian eighty ago. He
IS a real Bohemian today, still a medical
student, still on the lists of the university
and-Helas! as far from his doctors de-
gree as ever His long-sufering family cut
off his supplies in 1898. Twice since that
date pride, shame and necessity forcing
him. he has attempted to earn living by
entering private hospitals as inferno; but
he could not stick. Possessed of talent, per-
haps even genius, knowing more general
medicine than many dignifed practi-