DARKENED PARIS

Grey River Argus, 3 February 1917, Page 7

DARKENED PARIS

NEW LIGHTING ARRANGEMENTS ] The new order prohibiting the use of g-as and electricity tor the lighting of the shops after six o'clock in the evening came into iorce in Paris on November 15th, and had the strange result of giving the boulevards daring .the earliest parts of the evening a greater animation than they have displayed for a long time past, crowds of sightseers cQming out. curious to see what the streets would look like , in the evening under the new conditions. I In obedience to the decree of the Prefect of Police, all the shops, were forced to put out their gas and electric ligh.t at the hour laid dpwn, ana then either shut or lisrht with candles, or oil lamps. t Most of the large department stores like the Bon March e and the Printemps closed at six o'clock, as it was impossible for them to improvise sa- s tisfactorv means of lififhting; but most; of the smaller shops in the met»t streets remained open, and used makeshift lighting installations ranging from bicycle lamps to Chinese lauterris. The appearance of the boulevards, however, showed surprisingly little change, mainly because the. cafes and j restaurants, which abound there, are permitted to remain lighted as before. But their turn came wh»n. a* , q.-k> (instead of as usual At 10.^0). . they had to close their doors and do ' their part in war economy. Some diners, conservative in their habits, grumbled a little at being hurried over their after-dinner cafe and liqueur, but the Parisian is "bon garcon." and most took the matter phi- ! losophically. By ten the boulevards ' were dark and as deserted as a coun- [ try road