New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-08-04
FOREIGN NOTES !.
Street TheatriCaIS in Paris in
Summer-A New Kind Of
Theatre ON Columns.


When It gets to be too hot for indoor
theatricals the rank and Gle Of Parislans
find stage on the street corners and In
roped-Off sections Of their parks. 4 great
many things have changed in the city OF
Ste. Genevieve since the days Of Mollere
bur the feeling that the street H. as good
a stage as any nas not changed Moliere
learned the art of drama from hanglng
about the corners In the vicinity OF the
Pont Neuf and watching the sketches
acted out by the stroiling players OF the
day. So might one gather a tumut OF
dramatic notions and impulses during any
summer day or night still wandering from
bridge 10 bridge and from street to park
I'm the parts especially where ''the PEG.
pie" 1--we or where they walk.
THE summer aspect Of Paris" says
Charles Dawbarn in The Pail Mall Ga
zette," Tends itself 10 enlargement II
suggests a difference from the winter
aspect. which IS true enough, not merely
for the verdure of the parks and gardens
and Of the boulevard trees, but for that
air OF pleasure which the town assumes
with the arrival OF n myriad strangers
and. the appearance Of gay insoucance
given by the open air entertainments
Has not Paris been called Paris Vile
d'eauX?
Take merely the Magic City. Sitting
At one OF its cafe tables you have the
sensation OF being at Trouville or Ca
pourg. True, there is no siken sea, M
nojse OF. gentle surf I'm your ear, no els-
CANT tents on the fiat stretch OF sand and
no pretty bathers in costumes such as
mermaid never Wore. and yet the feeling
is Of seaside resort You are at the
Casino. evidently. Before you is a stretch
Of nebbles. and IN the immediate fore
GROUND baliroous cfo,~le.l 'to.is .utpqft
canacitv. where society on Fridays dances
tho turkey tot. tie tango. .et quot ep-
core
moreover. there is the cat plau spd
the dwarf. the legless lady the giant,
and tho other freaks tina. personally bl
me with horror; but are they PEI part
OF the great scheme OF holiday enjoy
ment? Alsddin's Cave. the Oriental
dancers. oven tn" scert-tho pprc White
ros,-thst turbancd merchants sell. does
Il not conjure up tho pier tho promenade
by the sea OF some great watering place?
The Bots is a vast region 81 illusion.
We may have il TO ourselves those days.
The Partisan. TO whom Il belongs p
right. has discarded IL for Honh Y
Dieppe. Dinard. AiX-les-BainS' or te1'
little corner in Normandy where the pea'
sion IL FIVE, francs, sud a miniature g.
a,po tho sole diversion, beyond. periaf'
an exciting search for shnmp4. The bof
Is al .yeup disposition AT, thG hour Eve
Rcis with lts handsome restauraptS, MY
nurirg moment ago with the iayspIF
and the life-of RGris- 49, ... .-.....;
This city OF chDrches aud.f paia''t'
broad bouIev3rds. aud quaint hsioHe
strsets has certainly tho. summer io2K
that belongs TO caastwise towns ana
towns that live for the paying SueS'
Ard the fair that have Just visited 81
the heights. OF Montmartre ADDS 10 .U*
Influence. Despite the great heat P''F
ding themselves upon it viaien[ JOYS
scaling dizzy heights 70 drScCud i'f~
with velocity. mounting pigs ana CANES
and entering cup-shaped vessels '''
they NAV be turned and twisted AS II i'F
process were some novel sort OF dary'9s
~ convert them into butter or COLE
rub TO wash them clean by friction
"The bare arms and half-nakad iorsV -
vrestlers before booth challenge 70 '''"'
bat All the world may come. tedt'@
weigh, and bantam. middle and hfa"
weight are there. Even female "f's'is7'
I observe. whose skill Is tested by oi"AS
OF her sex as full OF sport as she thous"
7 imagine the sight is not aesthetic ths
noble art has fallen upon evil days h0'
can summon enthusiasm for the coInpe-
tItion In music halls in which ia' "'S'
struggle in greasy catch-as-catc'l!- '''.-
The meanest restaurant the nleres.
,h,stro' nAlshes chairs and TABLES on' "a
doors that its customers may orea'i'
afr. or as much Of II as Is TO De tV"'.' -"
a street on the hottest day. 4"e ~
ATTEST Of all these places lies removed
little from the common track ana IL nv
shadow of a public garden Here one may
sit beneath q trelIis-clambering vine "n'
eat q modest meal with price .con'me"
surate And when the cloth IL clsareo
tho diner, companioned by a BOOK %
newspaper may hear the songstsrS "a
the neighboring boughs or the light iaush
OF children playing amidst the lehe'hsF
ing shadows OF the trees.
"A bnth in the Seine suggests heroF
pleasures. not without dread OF deEelSS
aoating awesome in the three-mile stream
But it is safely, even asreeaofy' |"
has a
borne. Indeed, the river, whose "s.,i'
arc divided by the early cradle of Luteus'
10 ,ass black than painted, less desde
,,on the statisticians' figures OF the MI
crobes found In tho imprisonins tuos'
yes the experience IL worth while es
necially when the bath is followed ny
luncheon taken at the buffet and post
pranaial cigarette. with siesta in the sun
= atm in the costume OF the early man
and surrounded by other studies az ciose
10 nature and representing the vigorous
youth OF France.
Lastly. there IS the Eifel To""'
Perched upon it's second story one ga
look in cool survey upon the town go"
ing in the sun. far. from the roam ana l~,
tie OF motor traffic. the dust and TURN
~ the street. We glance downward a.
the tiny houses. the specksi OF peope
straight avenues ruled In slender llnes
green. or upward 10 where the Tow
head, piercing the skies, speaks in ~.
derous flashes 70 the southern coast S"S
thence 10 France overseas, AhleNn
feeling the breath and whisper Oh W.
earth. that isa sensation as eShila'"S
as any in this open air Paris.