The Washington herald., 1907-10-06
By DEXTER MARSHALL.

not entirely his own, James Hazen Hyde
IS not very prominent parsonage in the
American colony to-day. His house, al
the corner Of Boulevard Lannes and Rue
Adolph won. is In the Sixteenth Ear
rondisseinent, which means that it is
due west of the city's center; the western
edge Of the ground is separated by the
street only from the forudcations which
form the city's boundary line. Near by
are Port Muette-deaf womans gate
the chateau and Pare de Ia Muette, where
George Kessler, not altogether unknown
IN New York. Is building a costly resi-
dence for himself
Hyde's house. set flush with the street
line. as many fine Paris houses are, is OF
white stone and decidedly French; SO is
the treatment of the corner lot adjoln-
ing. which forms his garden. The ordi-
nary street wall, shutting IN the beauties
of the garden completely is absent. 10 be
sure, but the high metal fence and close
ly-set trees and shrubbery are as efec-
tive. almost, in preventing the wayfarer
from more than guessing at the gardens
delights as any wall could be.
HYDE himself has much wider ac-
quaiHtance among the French than
among the American coIonists. His name
does not appear often i'm the papers. he
IS not seen often in public places, he Is
not much IN evidence at American social
gatherings. He seems to care very little
for his compatriots. and they as little for
him, and he would be as unlikely 10 ac-
Cept an invitation To one of Mrs. j. j.
HOh's Y w. c. A. entertainments. OF
which I shall speak a little later, as she
would be TO invite him. Nor does he-pay
much attention to the races, or. in fact,
10 any other of those things I'm which
he might be expected 20 be interested.
His arrival in Paris after the insurance
troubles attracted some public interest.
Of course, since the Equitable and sew
eral of the other big life insurance com
p4nies Of New York have branches here.
and have insured thousands Of French
men; but what little attention his COM
ing aroused soon died down
Hyde is a prime favorite in university
circles. however. as the founder and for
mer president of the allied French and
American societies organized 20 promote
the numerical increase of Americans who
speak French and the exchange Of French
and American Couture" through the uni
versity systems of the two countries. II
has been Hyde's money that has paid the
expenses Of the various French lecturers
at Harvard and Columbia, and Of various
American lecturers at the Serbonne here
in recent years.
Although Hyde's college course was
taken in America, his preparatory school
ing was largely received i'm France Thus
his personal point of view and his sympa-
thies are almost wholly French. and here.
as in the States. he would be taken for q
Frenchman nine times I'm ten He is of
a type that is often seen in the most ex-
elusive salons Of Paris; correct in dress
and manners, and Of high cultivation in a
dlettaute way and accepted as such. bur
without the slightest initiative or orig
inality whatever. Some of Hyde's per
sonal friends on both sides of the water
might object 20 such Characterization
of him, but that is exactly the sort of
chap he seems TO most OF his fellow
American-Parisian 1T the present time
Like most Parlsians, nearly all the per-
manent American residents Of tie French
capital live in apartments. II is much
more OF an apartment city, even. than
New York. Were it not So. il would be
impossible TO crowd its 100000 or more
population only about lHUm0 less than
New HOrEs inside the f0rtiGclti0u. or a
territory much smaller than the territory
Of the five boroughs that make up the
American metropolis territory that
covers less ground. in fact. than the
Borough OF Brooklyn alone.
Edmond KeIly's Remarkable Place.
But the handful Of Americans who do
Gown their own houses" IN Paris and
within easy distance thereof. have very
handsome places. To my mind. the rnosr
interesting of them all IS owned by Ed
mond Kelly, the American lawyer, who
acted as attorney for the Fairs in SET
tllng the estate of Charles Fair after the
death Of himself and his Wife in an auto
mobile accident a few years ago. and OF
the Gould family in conducting the action
brought by Anna. the Countess de CasteI-
lane, against her precious husband. You
may remember that Mr. Kelly's clients
won in beth cases; ha has been extraordi-
uarily successful in many other instances
before the Partisan courts, too, although
no others among his cases have attracted
as much attention in America.
Mr.. Kely's remarkable chateau" IS
located az Coucy De Chateau, q town of
about 1900 inhabitants, on a branch of
the Chemin de Fer du Nord. in the De-
paFtment de TAisne about 100 miles
north of Paris. This queer town dates
back 20 the thirteenth century II was
built and fortified by a fine old French
man of the middle ages who was known
as EngueTrand H., and who bowed the
head nor bent the knee 10 no one, neither
did he care for q title Upon his great.
thick-walled castle he made this clear In
a Chiseied announcement. which, freely
translated, read as follows.
Il am neither king, nor prince. nor
count either; I am just Mr. Coucy."
Beyond a doubt the history Of Coucy
de Chateau. if itcould be obtained, would
be full of thrilling incidents, Of des-
perate fights and of determined sieges.
But the assaiiauts must have been
beaten of almost invariably. FOR its walls
and towers to-day are practically intact,
magnificent witnesses TO the soliditv
with which the bavons of medieval
France built their forufcations. Some Of
the walls Of Mr. Coucy's" castle were
thirty feet thick and more. Il stood
partially within the walled village and
partly outside, and was fortified almost
as strongly on the village side as else
where
In places the village walls are as thick
as the walls of the castle; the three
village gateways are stiE in use and the
strong-founGed towers still stand firm
and gray and grim. rank grass growing
or the soil-covered tops of all save one
1t is this tower. which faces the west
that Mr.. Kelly has taken and turned
into a home. It is his boast that il is
the only thirteenth century structure in