THE GRAND FIASCO AT VERSAILLES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LI, Issue 5589, 23 January 1879, Page 7

THE GRAND FIASCO AT VERSAILLES.

The cm respondent of the Adelaide Observer •write* from Paris on Oct. 26 : “Grand Fete! the Grand Fiasco of Versailles it ought to be ca’led,” an indignant guest of the Marshal’s on the night of Oct. 22 said to me: “I shudder every time I think of it. It was a d : sgrs ?e to France, to the Eepublic, to the Marshal, to the Duchess of Magenta, to the Governor of the Palace, to his staff, to the Marshal’s staff, and to every one connected with it L*om the first to the last.” And it must be owned that my irate friend is a fair representative of the voice of the majority of the guests on that occasion. To hmbier people like myself who not being invited to the Palace spent the evening in the grounds att : red in greatcoats, and saw the fireworks and the people arriving, and laughed at the piercing east wind, it was to a certain extent enjoyable; but I must own that tfa's was one of thecases in which the first were last and the uninvited a great deal better off than the invited. I will not however anticipate, but wi'l give youa full and detailed account of the events of the night as far as possible from both points of view: — In spite of the torrents of rain which flooded Paris throughout the day, as early as noon each of the ha'f-houriy trains from the St. L&zare station to Versai l, es were crowded with people. Parisians, provincials, strangers, no one hesitated; some bent on amusement, others thinking that they were fulfilling a national duty. So fall were the afternoon and evening trains that no attempt was made to keep any dut’nction between the classes in the trains. First, second, and third were all mixed higgledy-piggledy, and very glad were many of the first-class passengers if they could get a tbird-class seat without waiting more than an hour for it. Alas! alas! organisation is as much wanting in railway matters as in everything else in Paris. A* a rule we are troubled with too much organisation on the railways, but as soon as a difficulty arises down breaks the too tightly strung rope —exit red tape, enter chaos. Tableau ! Between two and four the downpour of rain became so intense md the wind so strong that the men employed in putting up the illuminations had to stop work. The crowd poured like the rain out of the garden and into the palace, and although there were several doors open there was great difficulty in getting shelter. At the foot of the bronze statue of Louis XIV., which stands in the centre of the enormous cour (Thonneur , a number of shrubs and small trees had been planted as a sort of decoration. By 4 o’clock ono-ha’f of these bad kissed their mother earth, carried away by the wind. The rain was stiU coming down in bucketfuls at 4, when all of a sudden the wind completely won the mastery and the weather cleared up, but not before the majority of the pleasureseeking crowd had got so drenched os to make it impossible for them fo stay t; 11 the evening file. At 5 o’clock the cour d’honneur was emptied at almost the point of the bayonet, and a disgusted, third commandment-! t making crowd of some couple of thousand people were turned into the streets of Versailles. 1 spent the time batween 6 and 9 as best i could. I dined as best I could but not as 1 would, for the Paris crowd were all hungry and the flesh-pots of Versailles apparently were empty. X fancy the Versadlais are neither a very hungry nor a very f“tidious race. At last 9 o'clock armed, and now 1 will steal again from the programme tne material details of the file. At the principal entrance over m 0 mental gste and inside the seventy-five electric lights effectively night into day. I wonder what the "i™" Monarquo would have said if bo could hav t seen Jabloohkolfß apparatus invading in precincts of Versailles. Would one of hu many loves have expelled it for not »uitmg her complexion? and would uot mtng have been less frequent if it had fc existence a few centuries sooner? A think any one who saw the court of , that night could help thinking of the oontwrt between the Versailles of the present and tne Versailles of the past. Alas! tO , ma^ uc i l ; them that contrast was _ made fflucu 1 more forcible later on m

iug by crush and cold than when first awakened to it by tho electric light. Above tho central portion of the palace wore five more apparatus which lighted up tho gardens. As far ns light goes there was nothing to complain of. Tho events of tho evening may bo divided into two portions, as they concerned the invited and the uninvited respectively. To begin with tho latter. At 9 tho band of tho Republican Guard began to play in the Park, tho paterres and basins of tho terrace being very prettily ,: ghtcd with oil lamps. “ The lines of tho famous tapis vert (green carpet) wore easily distinguished by tho same means, and at the edge of the terrace a long lino of artificial arclics had been raised, richly lighted with rod, white, and blue glasses. The fine bronxo statues on tho terrace of tho chateau, tho beautiful causes in white marble, as also the magnificent groops which lino the parterre iVeau, stood out in bold relief, illuminated by the spotted J'ghts which lined their circumferences." Mho night was a really pretty one. At half-past 10 tho fireworks began, nnd a better display I have never seen. This was tho end of tho outdoor /die, which may be pronounced a very fair success. Of the bsU in tho palace itself I do not know what account to choose. OalignanCs Messenger speaks of it in the following terms: —“As for the entertainment given within the palace there is unhappily no possibility of speaking of it in terms of even faint praise. So huge a failure has not yet been recorded in the annals of official festivities in any country. A thorough absence of organisation, an utter disregard for the comfort or indeed for tho safety of the guests, resulted in such a scries of disgraceful scenes as will engrave tho Versailles fete only too deeply on tho minds of tho persons who were unfortunate enough to be present. Having arrived at the specified entrance the guests had a first trial of tho patience that was to bo so sorely tested during the rest of the night in their struggle to the cloak room. Probably it every corner in the spacious palace wore to be searched none could be found so unsuitable for the purpose of a cloakroom as that selected. After a scramble of half an hour a broad-shouldered individual might have been lucky enough to get rid of his impedimenta. How ladies fared it is needless to say. Buttb’s was only a foretaste of what was in store for them. Only one staircase was open to the general body of guests, and it may be imagined whether it could be easy work for ten thousand perspns to make their way up and down it. Once in the rooms, their overcrowded state was at onee made evident. One was carried along by the throng, elbows, knees, fans, opera hats, swords, and cocked hats being stuck in pleasant succession into every point of your face and body.” “ From every one who went I hear complaints. Hundreds I may almost. say thousands—of the ten thousand guests invited were turned away from tho doors. Many, and amongst them an Honorary Commissioner for South Australia, having managed to get in were unable to get out till 3 or 4 in the morning. Hundreds more were obliged to leave without their coats, many only escaping suffocation by jumping out of the first-floor windows. One of my friends who tried to leave the ballroom at 11.30 did not manage to get away till 4in the morning. It is almost impossible to credit the accounts one hears on all sides. As the Austrian Ambassador is said to have remarked in the middle of the bJlroom, *lt is an affront to every guest invited.’ The Journel Ojfficie I of Oct. 22 contained a notice asking persons who had left garments behind them at the Palace to claim them before Thursday, all garments remain-'ng unclaimed on Friday morning to be sold tor the benefit of the poor. Figaro mentions that * many gentlemen are to be seen walking about the boulevards with coachmen’s cloaks on. These are borrowed by the Marshal’s guests from their coachmen ti" they can get their own hack gain.’ I extract a few remarks from an article in the Temps : — ‘ From 9to 11 the scene in the barrooms was magnificent. Such dresses have rarely been seen s-ice the days of the Empire, so many distinguished personages have i .irely been gathered together at one time. At ha’f-past 10 the mess ( gdeeis) began. If the fireworks had failed it would been an accident, but stiH it would have been bearable. But at a quarter to 11 a friend informs me that over a thousand guests are besieging the only one out of the 48 stair-cases of the Palace wb'ch has been thrown open for the ball. *lf yon remain! ten minutes longer,’ he said to me, ‘ you will be nailed to the floor and won’t be able to move tiU 4 in the morning.’ I must admit that this warning gave me the shivers. The rooms were already so crammed that women were fainting and crying out; what would it be if more guests were coming in! I managed, however, to make my way somehow or other as far as the top of the staircase. Here the scene was beyond description. The staircase was as black as an ant-heap. A thousand guests were trying to get up the staircase, another thousand were outside, not even able to get shelter from the piercing east wind. Men wore swearing, beautifully dressed ladies were shrieking. In trying to get out I tore my coat and left my tie behind me. Princes, generals, distinguished guests of every kind were in the same box. A special Providence watched over the Marshal’s guests, however, for I understand that no serious accident happened in this ‘return from Moscow.’ This from a Republican paper which had been previously proclaiming that the fete of that evening was to eclipse all splendours of the Empire, and to show assembled and astounded Europe that republican simplicity was not incompatible with a more than royal magnificence, I fancy none of the Marshal’s guests on Tuesday are likely to wish for another specimen of republican magnificence. The few rooms that were open, including tho famous Salle des Glaces, appear to have been magnificently decorated. Over the refresh-ment-room table was the famous picture of Napoleon I. giving away the captured ensigns, in which the soldiers are making almost an attack upon tho grand stand to bear away tho trophies. Charivari makes a cartoon of this, the waiters taking the place of Napoleon, and tho food of tho trophies, with the hungry guests instead of tho soldiers. Tho number has had an unprecedentedly large sale, every guest being anxious to get a souvenir ofhis troubles. Another comic paper, devoted to tho Bonapartitt party, has ft picture of tho guests in torn dresses, &c., &c., trying to make their way up tho staircase, headed, ‘ The attack on the President,’ and another, headed ‘The Rejected,’ of those outside the door unable to obtain admittance. A largo heading over the two pictures bears tuo legend, ‘ Republican hospitality.’ “ Such was tho grand fete of Versailles, for which everybody sought invitations so anxiously that it was rumoured that some people had recourse to quasi-bribory to get them, and others went with invitations made out in other people’s names. This was tho f&te which had been the talk of Paris for a fortnight beforehand, and appears likely to continue to bo tho talk of Paris more than a fortnight afterwards. Truly ‘ many are called but few are chosen,’ ana I do not regret not having obtained either tho call or tho choice. The following South Australians were present at the ball Sir Wm. Cairns, Mr and Mr# Boothby, Mr Ramsay, and Mr and Miss Twopeny. Mr and Mrs Evorard also received invitations, but took tho better part and stayed comfortably at home. "Lost my account of tho evening’s proceedings should appear too gloomy, let mo add that tho Versailles’ restaurants made a small fortune out of tho Marshal’s hungry guests. I am sure he will expect their votes to bo at his command for tho rest of their lives, I am sarcastic, but it was very cold on tho top of the train coming homo. You should hear the opinion of those who were kept waiting in the open court in dress clothes and ball drosses without any shelter.”