PARIS

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 497, 3 May 1909, Page 3

PARIS

AN INSIDE VIEW. . It: is pleasant to hear, theso days, of : . -civilised, town where the, question of-domos--tic' soirico does .not agitato tho minds ol mistresses from .morning till: night, and form : : ■» staple, subject of. conversation. Of course, in Bavago towns Mozambique, or Constantinople : one; . understands' :.thai thero is: no domestic servico problem, .anc . ' that there. • the mistresses' simply, discus: •'■■"lithe;.manifold -perfections of their maids,-but . - wherever-civilisation has placed a vision ol ■ progress -before tho jininds of workers one ' espects t-o find domestic 'scrvantß' in'.a: state of- revolt, that is probably/'as uneasy foi .;. themselves', as'for their.mistresses. ■ This is. not so in •Paris; however. There ■ tho-servants:are.ofEcient,,pleasant,,and in- - terested in their: work. • So' says Mr. Gotz. a New: Zealand .lady- who married .'a: French gentleman and. lived for some years in Paris, ;.;• whero she' had an opportunity ' granted to few New Zoalandors of knowing Parisian so- ' ciety from ' within. ■ She 'expresses great admiration for tho French serving man or : maid,and New Zealand women might;"well ir .feel envious" 'at!:the;luck '.of-.their French •. sisters. Tno poor people in Paris are oxcccd- : - Singly careful and' thrifty,-.as everyone knows; . Their garments may" 1 bo' shabby in tho extremo, but they aro beautifully patched and ' cleaned, and, •in tho; samo' careful spirit, ■■; -"everything : jn';tho _larder is; made V.the - very . most of —nothing .is wasted. It is only to bo ospeoted that girls so trained to 'look •'after' their town 1 possessions'; will know vhow - to take care of.their:mistress's proporty, and so it' happens that a French servant, never : has to be told to mond somo tmy liolo in the ' table-linen, or to polish tho silver, or dust the. corners. Thiso things are done, and - , done thorouglily/as a matter of course. -It is a little 1 "disappointing to learn that -the of .bathing, is. hot-,general. among fPari- - sians of tho loiyer or even'the middle classcs, and that in many houses ho - bathrooms' are provided. - .- V.- v. Eately.-extensivo plans havo been -made for : the-fuTther-beautifying; of Paris. .' Hundreds of thousands of. pounds are -;to bo spent, according to' a careful schemo, but, in Mrs. ;V, Got'z's^■;^pinion., I :,fParis.Jhardlyi' requires it— bo beautiful is : .the "city already, so strikingly .•'■■) unlike • ! sipoky^...London its white cleanli- '■:' ;-neis:'> Tno'. 'i?;, nearly , r al}, the hoiises and the absence of railways in-the :: :'";,town aro largely res'ponsiblo:for this. . Every : . .'onq;buros wood there, i Now- why cannot'-wo. •.dc;so_in';Now,:Zealand?•"> ••' . r •-'. -Lx Earisiah life" is -bright and chafinV' . ingj . and .very, frivolous, anil yet tho women whp play, and.frivol most of their time.havo . : • received 'splendid . educations,; arid can; talk intelligently :on very many subjects; One :' would havo thought- that there was ample' room in .'Paris for .large privatoschools, after the stylo of tho English:' girls' collegiate Schools,'{for : the closing of all, convents -has '. meant necessarily tho closing of all tho excel- . . lent convent'schools. But, as a, tho :'. FTench ; girl of the upper classes' is educated by ,aV governess,' with the [aid [of .various' cours, which take _ tho place of schools Fo- two hours -in tho ' morning, or i -.jafternpon;.shei attends'- lectures, in special sub- " ' jeot-s." Her governess conducts lier ' to'. the classroom, sits- there: during lectures, and ■'. escorts her home again.! She-has 'little l'oppor- . *:; tui^ity: of-a becoming acquainted with the other girls, a,nd there, is no school. life, us yifc . is -understood _in England, for their only ;-•.; * meeting .time iV durfng a five minutes' interval. Children's parties aro not much more ;.-■;;: social; ManyV delightful parties- aro given ..:; for; wealthy, .little, children,- but;, they., more often" than .not'-take' the form■ of 'entertain-: ; . ments.: ; A', conjurer tor "a - kirie-, -matograph,Viand; : the 1 -children: sit,'.gazing! at' thom in .delight; and if. they' chatter,-it is ; onlv with ; their next-door neighbour.. ;.; ■;. ;/The 'French girl does 'hot come , out till she is eighteen or nineteen,; and a vast amount ,::;:,of,instruction; 'is 'crowded; into'.: those prelim- -. Mary - years. Slio •- has ' hot: the - distractions that, often provent the little English girl froni -'applying: herself, to her lessons, and, as she must have . occupation, it' takes the • form of ;-; study, : lectures 1 the. Sorbohne, and .' wide and thorou.jlr reading. 1 .'"-,■ .' 1 It siems-a; pity that such; training does' not.-.result':in a;greater : respect for intellect." .In: the'old.days, 1 , ;writers, poets, soien-t-ists were the idols of Fronch society. , To- "; day, apparently, '. society-people. read about ;,*;;them in.the newspapers, 1 and tho people who would be lionised in London are not to be . met.with in-the houses .of.the:■• leaders, of , society.' ■ , This' is,; "of.: course, only ■■:; partly true. -French society is divided itno : '.many little cliques, and:the bitter feeling between the republican "and tho; aristocrat .■■ accounts for the loss of 1 much,social pleasure and development; In, his ;■lasthook, "The Weight of a-Name," Bourget;points this out : very, clearly, . showing how a noble iiame is a ■ bar to- all preferment in ©very (profession except a-military one,- and even there is a very: serious drag. 'It ■ will take: very many' generav tions before -Parisian .'social circles, military, : . naval,, administrative, intellectual, and purely • leisured, coalese.'..