The Connecticut labor press., 1919-12-27

WV HE boulevards of Paris, which
 ~a-extend for length of four kilo'
 meters and a half from the
 Madeleine to the Bastille in a semi-circumference, are the rendezvous of the world; picturesque crowd composed of the most heterogeneous types of humanity, promenades cease lesSly the wide sidewalks, where the terraces of innumerabie cafes lend an air of good-humored if rather vulgar familiarity to the whole scene.
 The Paris boulevards may be said to have originated in the deep muddy trenches which were hastily dug around the city in 1856, to repuise the mach dreaded attacks of the Eng fish who. having devastated Picardy, were now threatening the capital. says the Christian Science Monitor. The first trees were planted in 1888, and have been continually replaced since then. although they have not ceased to struggle bravely to live and thrive in spite of the scarcity of light, air, and sun.
 Entrance to the 1ouieVards.
  wards can be located at the BastiIle i; before the eighteenth century they be- gan at the entrance of the Rue St. Antoine. so that the attention of the stranger who entered Paris by the Porte St. Antoine was at once at- tracted by the looming mass of the state prison, and by the beautiful resi- dence of Beaumarehais, which played "a part in the Revolutionary drama.
 One soon reaches the Boulevard du Temple, today so calm, and essential ly commercial with its numerous baker, butcher, and grocer shops Once upon a time, however, and not so very long ago, it was called "the beau tiful boulevard" for it was then the favorite meeting place of courtiers and rich bourgeois of the Trout Paris" which even then was docile in obey ing the dictates of fashion. Innumer able theaters and shows lined both sides of the roadway, giving the bOule- yard the appearance of 8 perpetual fair in which a gay, laughing crowd paused to listen to the songs of Colle and Pron-sung by the lovely Fan chon Ia Veilleuse-and amused itself with the antics of Nicolet's extraor- dinary monkey.
 After the Place de Ia RePubliqne has been safety crossed, one saunters up the Boulevard St. Martin, the road way of which is encased between high sidewalks reached by mounting sev- 'eraI steps. It extends to the Porte St. Martin. erected in 1874 by the municipal corps of Paris to the glory of Louis XIV. At nightfaH the Boule- ward St. Martin acquires certain anil nation when the public presses around the doors of the Ambigu Comfque, the Renaissance and the Porte St. Martin theaters. The Porte St. Martin was built in 90 days by Le- moine, at the end of the reign of Louis XVI. to serve as a temporary opera house.
 But the sidewalks suddenly cease to be terraced and slope gently down. ward until they reach their normal height, and the noisy Boulevard St. Denis extends between the two monu- mental gateways, the beautiful bas- reiiefs of which remind the passerby of the taking of Limburg and the de- feat of the Germans, as well as of the passing of the Rhine and the taking of the provinces by Louis XIV-ex- ploits of which the "Sun King" was Justly proud. It must be remarked that the escutcheon of the Porte St. Denis with its feur-de-lys is the only royal emblem which was respected by the Revolution of 184S.
 Landmarks Along the Way.
 The Boulevard Bonne NouvelIe has preserved a number of OId-fashiOned houses presenting a strong contrast to the modern construction, which has considerably spoiled the charm of the