Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-01
MORE BEAUTY FOR PARIS.
A Hall of Fame-Champ de Mars to Be
Improved.

From the Boston Transcript.
Paris Westminster Abbey, an academy
in marble, a hall of fame which shall COM
memorate in statuary some of the most
notable figures in Gallo literature is the
latest project for the artistic adornment
of the French capital The purpose is to
glorify an epoch-the nineteenth century
to give Chateaubriand the place of honor,
and surround him with Balzac and Dumas
Gautier, De Nerval, De Vigny, Deschamps
and the others. and place the whole group
in the fittest site left from the very COM
plete adornment OF the larger squares of
Paris.
The idea seems to have originated with
NJ. Paul Meurice. M. Jules Claretie tells
in the Figaro how M. Meurice called on
him, apropos of the coming centenary of
the birth of George Sands, to plan for a
fitting celebration of that event. Between
the two the dream of the projected PAN
but in him the new scheme Is happily
backed by all the enthusiasm of a youth
OF twenty. Paris is full Of statues" he
says, but they are scattered, disorganized.
AS new ones are erected they are placed
here and there, anywhere, by chance. We
have found a fairly good corner for Bal
FAC, but where shall we put Alfred de
Musset George Sands? Sheer lack of
available space threatens to drive them to
the outskirts of the city, there to join the
much too distant monument to Pasteur.
d
those who by their thoughts have illumi-
mated the past century shall assemble as in
a congress. a superb reunion. What
pleiade of poets what a convention of rhe
talented what bouquet of geniusr'
The interest of Meurices and Claretie fused
in the heat of their. own enthusiasm and
the two preached their project to the Paris
public. There was a cry from some quar-
| tiers of too many statues already" but
| the two projectors pointed to Florence.
| ''Too many" said they" only If they are
| ugly and If they incumber the city. But
| IL the statue Is a work of beauty and COM
memorates an illustrdouss man, let us null
| be admitted. is more or less banalized.
Corneille and Racine have no monuments
! while So many lesser lights are glorified"
The more utilitarian project of a new
subway in Paris is much farther advanced
Paris is almost a perfect circle, and The
| new electric road Will cut the city straight
| through the center from north to south. 1t
| enters the city wall at the southern gate
| leading to Versailles, dips beneath the great
| thoroughfare of Vanguard and follows It
! as far as the principal railroad station
| south of the Seine, the Care de POuest
| Then 1t cuts across to the Boulevard St
| GERMAN, crosses the Seine and cuts Direct
! Place de la Concorde. From there 1t cuts
! .across lots to another great railroad sta
| ton the Care st. Nazare. Thence 1t strikes
| direct for the northern city wall. In pass
! ing under the Seine, because of the soft
! ness of the earth, solid metal tube will be
used.
| The left bank of the Seine is soon to
| have its Champs Eiysees. The Champ de
| Mars, which has long been a more or less
uIsightly waste is to be laid out in the
| most picturesque and beautiful plan con-
| ceived in a competition Of French land