Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-08-16
MAGNIFICENT PARIS.
Wonderful Attractions of a
Famous City.
WHERE PEOPLE SEEK ONLY PLEASURE.

WHERE PEOPLE SEEK ONLY PLEASURE
Wide Streets and Low Buildings
Grandeur Of versaiIIes-The Memory
of Napoleon-Relics of the Old
MonarehiaI Days-No Regard For
sunday-PersonaI and Other Notes.
Correspondence Of the Yorkville Enquirer.
PARIS, August IL am now in this
beautiful city. Some think 1t the most
beautiful city in the world. For lit
tie while after we reached this place,
was disappointed; but it grows on
you and 1t is certainly a place of
beauty. 1t Is so different from Lon
don. The latter place has many parks,
but her streets are narrow and conse-
quently crowded with people. Some
Of the streets in Paris are narrow, of
course, but great many Of them are
wide, very wide. don't suppose there
Is any city in the world that has any
thing in the way Of streets that can
equal some Of the boulevards in Paris.
The pavements on some Of these aven-
ues are twice as wide as many Of the
important streets in other cities.
Some of these pavements are twice as
wide, should say, as Broadway. N.
Y. These streets are perfectly clean
and almost as smooth as floor. All
along the sides Of these streets are
beautiful flower beds and groves of
Of thriving trees.
The houses in Paris are not very
high compared with our sky-scrapers
in America. and this no doubt Is one
reason why the city did not make a
very favorable impression on me at
first. Many Of her churches and public
buildings are of the Grecian style
and architecture which Is not so con-
spicuous as the Gothic; but when you
enter these buildings, they show off to
great advantage. Some Of these build
ings are among the finest In the
world. They are simply grand, gor-
geous and beautiful. I visited sever
al Of these buildings, among them
the Madeleine church, the Notre-
Dame Cathedral. the Pantheon, Eglise
ies Invalides (Napoleon's tomb Is
here), the Grand opera house, the
Louvre, etc. One who has never seen
these large buildings, or others like
them. can have no conception of their
symmetry, greatness and grandeur.
Some of them cost millions Of dollars
and were ages in building.
Everywhere there are signs OF the
peoples devotion to Napoleon and to
the glory Of warlike achievements.
monuments commemorating the great
victories Of the illustrious gen.
eral This spirit seems to have
dominated France and her peo-
pie entirely too much, and she
has been reaping the harvest Of her
own sowing. I understand her public
debt is five times as large as that of
the United States, and that the inter-
est on her debt Is ten times as much
as that of our country. The people
have suffered on account of the ex-
travagant and luxurious living of the
kings and other celebrities in the past.
After visiting Versailles and Witness
ing the evidence Of these things. it is
not surprising that the great Revolu-
ton came.
Our party spent the good part of
day at Versailles, twelve miles from
Paris This was at one time the home
Of the kings of France, and the public
buildings which we visited while there
give US some conception Of how lux
uriously the kings lived. There are
some Of the finest paintings In these
buildings I ever saw. In the building
called the Palace there are miles OF
pictures and other things to Interest
us. The Salon des Glaces. or grand
ball room, in the building, is consider
ed one Of the finest in the world. 1t
Is 239 feet long, 35 feet wide and AZ
feet high. 1t is lighted on one side
by seventeen large arched windows
that correspond with arches on the
opposite side filled with large mirrors.
This arrangement gives to the room
splendid effect. There is still another
room in this building larger than this.
It is the Grande Galerie des Batailles'
which is 393 feet long, 43 feet wide
and 43 feet high. This room contains
magnificent paintings illustrating mill
tary triumphs.
Some of the carriages of former rul-
ers Of France are on exhibition at
Versailles. Among them are the we'd
ding carriages Of Napoleon 1 and Ma
poleon III. These are magnificent; but
the most magnificent in this lot is
the coronation carriage Of Charles x.
This carriage is said to have cost
over two hundred thousand dollars
and is no doubt the most costly car
riage that has ever been built to hold
only four persons.
While at Versailles I visited the
private rooms of Napoleon, with fur
niture, bed and bath all intact.
These rooms are in the building called
the Grand Trianon. The word grand
is a great word in this country. In
this building are rooms which were
prepared for the reception of queen