New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-07-06
PARISSUMMER SUNDAYS
Under the Weekly Rest La5c-Pop-
uLdr Theatres and the Elections.
Paris. June %.

Inc Sunday rest law has brought about
marked change in the aspect of Paris. Tens
OF thousands of small salaried employees set free
Tor this one holiday of the week take possess
sion OF the Bois de Boulogne, Saint-Cloud Yer
saiiies Meudon or Vincennes. accompanied by
'ne!r wives. sweethearts. sisters. cousins or
children and return to town at sunset by boat,
traln tram or bicycle Eight o'clock finds this
army OF grocery clerks butchers bakers. bar
oeFS ana others, with whom Sunday was for
merry the busiest day Of the week, seated at
the little tables of the open air restaurants
winch py the system Of rotation OF service
among the cooks and walters are kept omen on
sundays IN the central as we'll as in the outlying
quarters OF the capital. With white napkins
carefully tied or pinned around their necks or
fastened across ample bosoms according TO the
sex OF the wearer. they study the badly writ
zen menus and select with great discrimina-
ton the five dishes for their twenty-five cent
meal tWlne included). After this they flock TO
the numerous small theatres on the exterior
ooueVards which have recently sprung into
existence to supply the demands of the en-
pIoyes who are determined to work their newly
acquired holiday for all that il is worth Burn
Ing questions of the day. such as the wine grow
ers revolt in the south, the income tax bill
and the suppression Of casinos are dealt with
IN a realistic and easily understood way At
the Theatre Moliere. at La Chapelle in the north
aration OF Church and State are treated At
this little house the most expensive seats are
forty cents each. and the gallery, at ten cents &C
commodities about two hundred and fifty euthu-
siasts. There is only one entrance to the house,
50 the orchestra stalls or boxes fraternze with
the gallery, while being nearly crushed to
death under the eyes Of the two soldiers who
guard the narrow portal through which all
must pass to purchase their tickets.
Now and then, when attendance at this and
other similar houses he suffering from
an@mia, an announcement appears In those
daily papers which cater for this special week
| ~ holiday class of the community informing
them that II they present themselves at the
box Office with the newspaper in their hand all
seats will be charged half price, and. more
over, the performance will be heightened and
spiced by short lecture between the second
and third acts on some such suggestive theme
as Woman and the Priest" Then, indeed
there ensue lively scenes ct the theatre door
Victory is not however invariably 10 the strong
Don't crowd the ladies. messeursw cry the
two soldiers on duty. some portly members
of the fair lift up their voices in protesta-
ton and complain vOlubly Of the conduct of the
men behind who. In defiance of justice
deavoring 70 get TO the door before their turn.
Most Of the crowd are armed with one. If not
more newspapers. and those who are not are
good naturally asked why. Then there Is a
stampede Of the uninitiated 10 the nearest
paper STALL which temporarily relieves the ten
sion at the doors to a slight extent.
When at length all are seated-there are
carpets In the house. so II is to the interest
of all to get their neighbors into their places
as quickly as may bet becomes evident that
the company not much critical of the
drama avid of illusions to party politics and
the impurities of the clergy. "Monselgneur' shows
n handsome priest of whom all his woman friends.
led by his sister. are determined to make
bishop and the intrigue is watched and fol-
lowed with breathless interest Frantic ap
pause greets little digs at Senators or Deputies,
| the male half Of the audience apparently taking
| n delight In thus publicly admitting the infamy
/ Of their kind. while shrieks of laughter from
| both sexes greet the ingenious reply Of the
! pretty wife OF the Mayor dressed in moderate
| republican blue> to the priests sister. clad in
ecclesiastical black, who tells her that the next
! elections will certainly make Deputy OF the
| Mayor: Dear me, He never gave me that I'M
| preston"
| But the lecture Is the real business OF the
| evening The orator tackles his subject boldly:
| time Is short. and he has much 10 say. He
| opens his battery by arraigniug the Church
| for keeping the people in ignorance, whereat
| a suppressed murmur Of regret runs through
| the house. and then he softens the heart of
| his audience by depicting the heplessness and
| ignorance of tho child and its right to protec-
! ton and information Dropping his metaphor.
| he excaims in ringing tones with appropriate
| gesture that woman Is that child, since eduCa-
| ton and convention make OF her a perpetual
minor. and sthen In a trice he sets up before
| the Imagination OF the audience the institution
| Of the confessional From this point 10 the con-
| cIusion IL is easy work. and his points are
| rounded off by clapping Of hands and shouts OF
! apDroyal After the emotions aroused by this
stirring address the last scenes OF the play seem
TO he OF secondary interest; the orator had. in
deed exhausted the theme. Sttl having paid
its money for the spectacle the house sat II
ont and watched with mingled Amusement. and
scorn the success Of the handsome priest With
his women admirers. 1t is considerably after
midnight when the curtain falls for the last
ttr,e and the company pick their way over the
heans of orange peel which bestrew the floor
Of balconies and galleries, corridors and stair
WAYS to the brightly lighted Faubours St
Denis From the point of view Of the propa-
sandists the evening had been huge success
THO Theatre MoItere is the type OF a new class
of small playhouses that have cropped up with
,nushroon1 growth all over Paris To supply the
.or+s NJ the weekly holiday community and
which are deity handled by the municipal au-
tbor,tIes 10 influence political elections I'm each
ward of the city. = l. H.