The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-09-02
PALACE HAS FIGURED
 IN HISTORY
Hall In Which Germans Surrendered Mark of
 Other Ages.
MONUMENT LEFT
 BY LOUIS 14TH
William of Prussia Pro claimed Emperor
 There.

On June 29th. 1919, the Treaty of Versailles, now up for ratification by Congress. and over which a bitter con test raEcs, was signed in the historic Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Yer sales. On Sept. I. 1715. the monarch who built the gorgeous cdtfce.-Louis &IF-died after reiEning 72 years. The Palace of Versailles is a monu- ment 10 the king whose title in history will forever be. '"The Grand Monar- que"
 The Palace of Versailles is a mon ument which makes the philosopher thoughtful of a reign that was mark ed an era of ma6uifccnce. learn ing and licentiousness in France. Louis XGV left behind him many mon- uments of splendor in palaces and gardens. but the unprecedented glory Is Versailles. The town in Is In suburbs of Paris, but 1t owes it's exItence to the Palace. Versailles" means the Palace. Upon first behoIding it one is seized with a kind of awe. It Is the grandeur of the art of the Rcraos- sauco at Its apoEee. On the site where the palace now stands there was. or1- ginally, hunuuE-chateau erected here by Louis XIII in 1894 Louis XIV the Eumptuous monarch and patron of the Arts came frequently to the huntnK-chsteau. and gave famous en- tertainmer here. Noliere the celehrat- ed drsulatist with his players here entertained the king But the chateau was rot large enough nor splendid enough for the splendid king. II" be gan to eu'srEe the chateau. and end ed by adding sacN GuTe additions. supplied by he genius ot his a-ch.- tects Levau and NIarsa.rt, that a pal I~fHT sF behold and u.sr1eI ut today. II be- came the seat of the Court of Iou's XIV, and the imposing seat Of gov ernmsut Here everything ttat could add 70 .ho noparch's pleasure WIS supplied. T. supplied rooms for ] o. 900 guests. In it's galleries of unapproe CH- able splendo- finger the ue1oOrles of royal intriRues, natchi-ss festyals, beautiful women. .-succcsHive mistress ses of the kiug,-and the naughty domination of the very clever Ma dame de Maintenon-whom the king married.
 Today tEs palace of Versailles is the National Museum. After inspecting the ''gran1s apartements" of Louis XIV. the bedCho uhcr kept intact and the cauOpicd bed wherein the mon arch died; after wandering through Marie AntOinette's suite, her bed room, boudoir, library, music room; after spending hours in the galleries of Paintings that celebrate the whole sweep of the History of France; It's Halls of Sculpture; tho Gallery "des Batailles,' paintings of the celebrated battles of France; the Halls of the Cr1lsades: salons of gods and goddess sea-we feel that all is illustrative of the compelling though pompous motto at the entrance to the Palace of Versailles. "A Toutes Les Gloires de la France" CTo all the Glorious History of France-)
 Of the Gardens of the Palace the Park of VersaiIles,-we cannot here speak at length Through these fine gardens only recently the Pres 4dent of the United States anG the President of the French Republic were almost carried off their feet by an enthusiastic mob of excited peo- ple. We have not space to speak of the allure of the Trianons of the park of yeraaiIIes.-the two little palaces built by luxurious kings. Louis XIV and Louis Xv. for their faVorites. In thsss tiny architectural bon bon boxes royal coutesans held their orgies planting the slow, sure seed of the French Revolution in the outraged anger of a famished people. At the Petit Trianon Marie AntOinette and her court revsl1cd as shepherddesses in the toy farm and hamlet they had caused to be built out of the depleted national treasury.
 We turn into tho Hall of Mirrors in the great palace itself. where the Treaty of Versailles was signed the other day. It is n matchless gallery 25S feet long. looking out on a sup erb park. If is lavishly decorated. by the great Le Brun. Seventeen arched windows command a magnificent view of the Gardens; seventeen bevelled mirrors adorn the Gallery" from ceiling to floor. In this Hall William of Pruasia was proclaimed German Emperor. in 1871. What future for the triumphant but troubled nations did thoee unsparing mirrors reflec in the Hall of Mirrors as the Treaty of Versailles was signed.
 From the Palace of Versailles Lou fa XVI was carried a prisoner tC Paris there to expiate the secret sin. of his ancestors, kings of France.