New-York tribune., 1909-06-12
OLD PARIS.
c Disappearance of Ancient
Buildings.
From The London Times


From The London Times
one sees in our own newspapers from time TO
tin protests and complaints at the disappear
80 81 avciant b1lildings-rnost Of them of his
toriCal interest-and regrets az the deStLuctloh
Of these gIories at the hands OF the mousse
breaker in the interest of what IS termed
progress" Among other buildings We nave I9.'
Crosby Hall. 81. Georges, bptolpn-laIt' %.
Peter Ie Poer Holywell-street. Wyoh-st.T1eet ana
New Inn Danes Inn. Barnards Inn OielleLS NJ
Inn the "Tahard.' in the Borough. ana the
"RuE' in Holboru. But the hand Of the Ge,
sfroysr is even still more busy in Paris. ana
buildings that possess memories Of pecuh3r m
tereet to all lovers of history and students or
cid Paris are year by year taillns win as,'l
ishlnE rapidity-and this without a W"Iu "I
notice or protest. To the casual visitor, the
man to whom the Haussmann houleNaIuS nl+dI' i
everything IN Paris worth considering '"sSe
demoliuons are nothing nut 70 the poe. ~
historian or the student the destruction Of ola
Paris can only he deplorable as the remark
able indifference exhibited by the Partisan tow
ara the chief monuments OF the former glories
rao7bIe through the Tie Dc Ia CITE the He
de- - Louis and the Maras Section Of Paris
reveals the rapid demolitions that are going on
az the present time. For example. the H"teI 4u
Prevt,. in the Passage Charlemasne IN the
Antoine Quarter. has Just been pull'o cow
This building was erected in the fourteenth
century as the residence Of the Mafm'usets "a
popular name for the Counsellors OF tharles w.
and this monarch sftprWaTd bestowed II upon
his Preyot. Aubriot. Its beautiful turrets and
open stairway together with the caryatdes ana
ornate windows facing the court were a fine
feature Of the house. Gone. too. Is the Tour
de- Dasoberr a fifteenth century house In the
Rue Chanoiuesse under the shadow OF Notre
Dame, and Workmen AT ms pirs''' ii.o'il'l liS
are busy dcmollshiuE the old H6tel-de-Dleu and
the interesting Amphitheatre de MtIlcInc' WIN
its Gothic arches and curious circular theatre
Not alone is the work Of destruction going
on. Quit as notable i'm proClaiming the vandal-
ism %. tho city is the shameful neglect Of exist
ing buildings. The Hotel DE- Sens. a fine stone
building in tho cite, is now glass Warehouse
This building which was erected by Louis NJ
takes its name from the Archbishop or sens Tor
whom IL aas intended. \ hundred and twenty
years after Il was the home of Queen Margot.
the Inflated wife of Henri tluatrc. In the SrN-
cutecnth century il was coaching inn ana
from its courtyard swung out into the night on
its long Journey. the famous Lyons Mail In
The Revolution of 1880 an attempt was made To
destroy IT, and IL cannon ball deeply lmbedded
in the masonry over one Of the windows exists
times Near at hand too" is the oeauiiLuI Hotel
SuIly. glorious stone building in the Rue An
Maximilicn Btthuen, Due Dc Sully' HNed, now
fl is given up 10 shameful uses. disfgurcd with
trade signs and advertisements. and the gate
way. rich with the splendid decorations Of the
time bcErimcd and bcspattered with dirt and
damp. Its front facade has been spoiled by the
huildine, Of a modern addition between the two
end paviIIous, and 10y the Introduction of shops
beneath. but the gateway and inner court re-
main as they We're i'm the days Of Suly- It was
TO this house that the King was proceeding IN
his coach to inquire as To the heaIth OF ms
great minister. when he was assassinated. In
the same street stands the Hotel Mayenne. once
The residence OF the famous Dane de PoitlcrS
and later Of the Due de Mayennc; and i'm this
house the leaders of the Catholic League met
and plotted the murder Of King Henri Ill To-
day a grocer and moneyCha4Eer hold possession
of tn" front Of the hotel with their shops but
fortunately the inner court and buildings are
used as a school for boys, and to no better pur-
pose could they be put FortuhateIy, too, the
beautiful house on the Quai Celestins. the Hotel
Fieubet has ALSO been converted TO a similar
use and has thus been saved from decay. Here
lived Fieubct, the minister Of Queen Anne of
Austria, i'm 1911 The house. the front OF which
presents one mass of finely carved stoneworl1
is fine specimen OF the architecture Of the
period.
The Hotel Beauvais. in the Rue Francois
Miron, is now used Tor the ignoble purpose Of
lodging house 1t was from its balcony that
Cardinal Mazarn watched the state entry of
King Louis XIV into Paris with his bride. The
gates and courtyard remain exactly as they
were, but they have fallen into squalor.
II is to be hoped that before it is too late the
pencil Of the artist may preserve to us at least
the memory Of these glorious buildings with
their noble entrance gates and gateways their
curious massive knockers CWired down as a
Paris boy), their hne floral stone embeIlish-
ments and spacious paved courtyards. In the
Marais district another OF these stately struct-
ures the Hotel Afghan, stands i'm a forgotten
street One becomes accustomed to finding
these mansions of state of past years given mp
TO the purposes Of trade This fine building.
with its Greek pilasters. is not only dsfgured
by trade signs and sduaIor but suffers from the
added atrocity of some hideous stables erected
to complete it's dishonor It is seventeenth
century house, and is named after certain
Duo St Afghan. who made il his town mansion.
We have nothing in London half so fine as some
Of these hotels, and yet how callous the modern
Parisians are to their possessions! The asles,
nave and chapels Of the old eleventh century
monastery Of ST. Martin-des- Champs house an
exhibition OF machinery arranged to demon
strate the progress Of the century one might
cite instance after instance of similar desecra-
ton: but probably sufficient examples Of mod
Partisan vandalism have been given. We
depIore the loss of crosby Hall although we
h14r iT iS to he tran ed to am tDarr nF
London in much of its original form. Such
vandalism as there is in London. however is
insignificant beside the neglect and the heartless
destruction Of some of the finest historical
buildings in Paris