Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1907-08-21

PARIS, FRANCE, July ~, 1907.
The great "Fete Nationaie OF francs
~ on sunday this year, but II made mo
~. anoe whatever in the observance Of
W. asv The celebration really lasted
~. saturday, Sunday and Mon
hut Of course Sunday, July IA, was
The principal day.
~ Tss special feature Of it was the review
:, ,he French army at Hippodrome de
Jopgchamp, in the Bots de bouiosne.
~ rsyiew was to take place at O'Clock
M .he morning, so an early start was
~ in order to get where we could
We rose at 5, and were on our way
The first indication that We had Of
~ festivities was the condition Of the
.oaebman. who had evidently begun to
..,sbrate in the wee, small hour. we
Ia opr breath every time we saw . cor
-, ahead, but only once did we think we
we're actually going over.
Tbs streets were alive with people, all
n.t;ng their way to the Hippodrome.
The Champs Elysees fairly swarmed. One
.h;ng that is very noticeable in the French
..onIe at such time 10 the good humor
an display. They are likely to jump into
.,v open carriages that may Be passing,
81, thew mean no harm whatever. 1t Is
Al in the spirit Of fun and part Of their
celebration. They apparently enjoy
.mrs;np their friends in thss way. When
70 had nearly reached our destination, .
most unattractive man jumped on the
stem of our carriage, and rode there almost
- Tar rs We went. No effort was made to
drive him away; but as the carriage win
doxs were open, and he was enjoying q
o;oarette. he was asked not TO smoke, and
very willingly acquiesced. When he I'm
slly left US, it was with ''merci, mes
Danes. Once, when we drove near the
sidewalk, some young girls raped on the
window. One OF our party jokingly cried
out. .sentrex," but they gaily waved their
| hands and went on.
The review was truly wonderful sight.
and well worth the effort we made to see
il. The president OF France was stationed
in front o, the grand stand and the troops
simply passed before him. The number
seemed endless. There were lines and
lines Of infantry, cavalry and artillery,
| and as they sped OF the field, their he'll
! NETS elistening in the sun, II seemed as IL
thew must be on their way to = great
battle. In the early part Of the review a
balloon went up, which kept the French
Gag over the army.
II seemed to me that there was lack Of
enthusiasm on the part Of the French peo-
pie, however. 1t was q greater crowd than
/ had seen in all my life, but verify be-
lieve that we exploded more enthusiasm
on the ''Potsdam'i on our own glorious
"Fourthn than /, at least, witnessed in all
that seething mass. Finally, at 10 O'Clock,
oil the lines many OF them should say
fifty or more deep-have passed. We
watched some OF the steamers, loaded
with soldiers, glide down the Seine, and
the strains OF the "MarseiIlaise" were
waited to US over the water. / saw more
enthusiasm displayed then than ct any
other time during the morning.
We went home and tried to make the
rest of the day seem like Sunday, but it
wasn't an easy matter.
Saturday, Sunday and Monday evenings
there were balls in the public squares Of
the city. Monday afternoon we took a
bus ride to Place de Ia Bastille, the site OF
the prison whose destruction on July II,
l1se, all France was then celebrating.
Monday evening we drove about the city
to see the festivities and the illumina-
tons. We screwed our courage to the
point of going in an open carriage, but
we felt little timid about it, as we had
heard so many tales OF the experiences of
others. We were told Of lady here who
went out in an open carriage, was sud
denly seized from it and whirled in q
merry waltz, her partner turning out to
be her charcoal man. She knew just how
10 take it, however, finished the waltz
good naturally, jumped back in her car
rage and drove away. We, however,
reached home without any experiences
ether than being shouted at now and
then.
In most OF the public squares, there
we're stands for the orchestras that fur
nished the music for the dancing. The
oancers, everywhere, had the happiest ex-
pfessions on their faces. Children were
having ring dances around bonfires, ev-
sfswhere were merry-go-rounds, tcbog-
gan slides and other amusement afford
ing devices that l had never seen before.
The Examinations, OF course, surpassed
anything in our experience. We rode by
aotre Dame, Hotel de Willie, Place de la
Das'iile, Place de la Republique ana
.afoueh Favenue de l'Opera. In the Rue
oe Riyoli there was such crowd Of
i*opie, and the carriages were packed SO
.ioseiy, that We had difficulty in adYanc-
aug. 1t seemed as il We must lock
wheels with some other carriage, but the
eocher" threaded his way through, as all
MS KIND seem to be so skillful in doing.
one s'rasburg, in the splendid Place de la
.'hcorde, one OF the eight stone figures
.uete, representing the chief towns Of
rance, was decorated with some fresh
ssriands concentrating the lost Alsace.