Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-05-28
THE MOULIN ROUGE
Famous French Place Of the Long Ago
Lives Only by Name.

amouS ! Fronch FIaCe OF tno long A9o
Lives Only by Name.
During the last thirteen years hun
dreds Of American tourists, thirsdng
for a taste Of the famed gayety of
Paris, have sought out and patronized
a place called the Moulin Rouge" ia
nous in books and plays the world
over as one Of the gayest and most
wicked resorts in the "City Of Light"
AS matter Of fact, says the Indian
apolis News, the Moulin Rouge OF
worldwide reputation, ceased to ex-
after the Worlds fair, and the Ameri-
cans who boast Of having visited 1t
since are merely mistaken. After the
original Moulin Rouge died a natural
death it was seen that the name had
commercial value, and the site, in
Guiding the entrance and the imitation
windmill arms, ready to revolve, was
used first for a restaurant cafe, then
for a rather ordinary cafe chantant,
and until it burned down a month
ago for a sort Of variety show in a
dance hall This may explain some
Of the expressions Of disappointment
which late visitors to the place have
been heard to utter.
The original and unique Moulin
Rouge was founded by one Oiler, a
Canary islander, who had given Paris
a swimming pool and invented for the
races the "pari mutuel," and Zeidler,
an Alsatian, with reputation as a
manager Of shows. In 1889, when
Paris was celebrating the centenary
of the French revolution, they opened
the Moulin Rouge. To this day there
is dispute as to which attracted more
persons to Paris, the exposition or the
Moulin Rouge. At any rate the pop
ularity Of the Moulin Rouge was ex-
traordinaIy. Its fame spread over the
world, and it became the ambition Of
every person living in Paris to carry
home with him the boast that he had
done Paris, even to the Moulin Rouge.
According to the Paris correspond
ent Of the New York Evening Post,
1T was 8. mixture Of the cafe chan
tant, dance hall and pleasure garden,
with numerous unexpected side shows
each cheap enough, but together
ending up the expense Of an evenings s
exploration to the level of grand opera.
The greac attraction was not the
curious feminine tribe-not worldly,
not unworldly, but just half worldly
which might have been matched else
where. II was the chahant-a new
dance inartistic and unrhythmical,
grotesque and acrobatic, demoniaeal
and set to discordant music. This, for
a few years drew the unanchored mas
culine population Of Paris and all for
eign visiting men-and women when
they dared-to its precincts. 1t was
said that some dislocation Of bones
was a necessary training for perform
ers Of the dance. 1t ranged from the
grand erect which was distressing to
see, to the port d'armes,' which was
considerably more than high kicking"
1t is said that a clergyman, now
prominent in an eastern city, was
urged by his brother to go to the
Moulin Rouge in order to get a
glimpse of the world he was to preach
against. His comment afterwards
was: 1T did not shock me as much as
the ballet at the grand opera" Anoth-
er American-a young college student
impressed with the tremendous dis
cord in the music, relieved himself Of
a yell thai sounded above the uproar,
and was 80 stared at for being out of
tune that In telling how he felt he
quoted Whittier, saying he felt like
some damned hereto that shrieks from
hell Thus to the credit Of Ameri-
cans it may be said that while their
curiosity led them to visit the place,
no amount Of drink and discord and
wild dancing could make them enjoy
the wickedness which the European
appeared to delight in. Even Paris
grew disgusted and the Moulin Rouge
dropped all of it's former self, but its
name, and that has been kept alive
with American dollars.