PARIS GOSSIP.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 784, 22 June 1864, Page 6

PARIS GOSSIP.

(From .the Correspondent of the " Ne'son Examiner.")

Paris, 26th February,

The extraordinary "luck" of Dr. Thomas W. Evans, the American dentist, who is not only one of the Household Surgeons on the staff of the Tuileries, and a great personal favorite of the Emperor of the French, hut who numbers nearly all the crowned heads of Europe among his patients and personal friends, is certainly one of the most curious instances of the run of good fortnne which the blind goddess allows to her protege's. This gentleman, who came to Paris some twenty years ago, alone and unfriended, to push his way by his own skill and exertions, had taken his medical degree and obtained his certificate of surgeon in the United States, and was, in all respects, a regularly educated practitioner in both branches of the healing art. But his passion, oddly enough, from his childhood had been dentistry, and to this particular field of surgical operation he had always determined to devote himself. He therefore perfected himself in the practice of the dental art under Dr. Parmlee, the renowned deutist of New York, regarded, even in England, as the best dentist of the age. Rivalling his master in skilful manipulations, he far excelled him in all that concerns the difficult operations of correcting deformities of the jaws, changing the shape of these, and thus remedying malformations of the lower part of the face, in the production and insertion of artificial teeth, palate, and gums, the rectification of crooked teeth, and so on, in all of which operations his great mechanical ingenuity soon rendered him pre-eminently successful. Soon after he had taken up his residence in this city, where with his wife he lived very quietly, an artificial palate of his construction happened to attract the eye of a very fashionable English dentist long settled here, and eajoying almost a monopoly of the invalid teeth of the aristocratic world. Dr B was so much delighted with the mechanism and workmanship of this palate, that he lost no time in seeking out its maker.

" I know of no other dentist who could have produced such an exquisite piece of work," said Dr B , " and lam desirous to secure the monopoly ©f your skill. If you will consent to work exclusively with, and for me, on a salary of £ a year (naming a certain sum), for seven years from this day, I will then retire from professional life, and will leave you as my successor, my entire business and extensive circle of practice. Your position will thus be made at once, and your name, if you accept this offer, shall immediately be associated with mine, as that, of my partner."

This offer, onerous as were its pecuniary conditions, appeared to the young American too valuable to be rejected, and the arrangement was ratified without delay. The handsome young partner, with his pleasing manners, and admirable skill, speedily added to the reputation of the firm; and the income thus accruing to Dr B ■ became so large that it was not until several more years of constant labor had been added to the seven he had originally bargained for, that the old and fashionable operator could be persuaded to fulfil his share of the agreement by withdrawing into private life, and leaving his young partner master of the field. Prom that time, the successor of Dr. B has found his practice to be a sort of California, the working of whose golden vein tasks to the utmost the time and energies not only of himself, but also of his brother, and his two nephews, all of whom he has carefully trained in his own methods of working, and who are now, in all the ordinary branches of dentistry, as skilful as himself. But though the four are thus associated, the pressure of their practice is so great that those who desire the benefits of their skill are often obliged to wait for three weeks before they can secure an appointment. Their rooms, in the Rue de la Paix, are thronged to such a degree by besieging crewds that one might almost imagine oneself at a Ministerial levee.

The Emperor Napoleon, in his days of obscurity, addressed himself, for the repair of his molars, to the dentist a la mode, while Dr Evans was still working for Dr B , and thus made acquaintance with the former, for whom he took one of those persistent likings for which he is remarkable. On his return to France, as member of the Legislative Assembly, he again addressed himself to Dr Evans for the care of his teeth ; on becoming President of the shortlived Kepublic he named him one of the physicians attached to the household of the Elysie after the Coup d' Etat, and again after the proclamation of the Empire, the same nomination was confirmed, with proportional increase of honors and salary. His official ministration at the Tuileries, and the favor he enjoys with the Emperor and Empress, have gradually brought the fortunate dentist to the knowledge and favor of all the sovereigns of Europe, including the greater number of the princelings of Germany, their wives, children, brothers, sisters, and cousins. The Queen of England, who is almost as great an admirer of her dentist, Mr S , as the Emperor is of his, is almost the only European sovereign not upon Dr Evans' list. He is constantly called off to the different courts, to look after Royal and Imperial teeth; taking his instruments with him, and making, with, his own hands, the various plates,

gums, teeth, &c, wanted by his " august' employers. All these people have taken the greatest liking to him, and lavished on him orders, titles, diamonds, rare porce* lain, and all sorts of precious things, until his beautiful house in the Avenue de l'lmperatrice is becoming almost a museum. As for the diamond snuff boxes, the rings, bracelets, &c, bestowed upon him by his illustrious patrons, the display is something amazing. Of orders, blazing with precious stones, he has about thirty-two already. Dr Evans has just returned from St. Petersburg, where he has been, for the fourth time, in obedience to a summons from the Emperar, looking after the teeth of tne entire Imperial family. On leaving the capital of the Great Bear, he was presented by the latter with the new and enormous star (I forget of what order), which he wore, with so much effect, en sautoir, at the grand ball given at the American Embassy, on Monday last, in honor of Washington's birthday; wearing, on the same occasion, a string of about a dozen others in miniature across the left breast of his coat. Those who envy Dr Evans his unparalleled favour among crowned heads assert that he has been seen to sport, on similar occasions, twenty-nine of these miniature reductions at the same time; but this story is declared by the doctor's friends to be a calumny. Besides the magnificent great cross aforesaid, ablaze with diamonds, the Great | Bear, when Dr Evans was admitted to take leave of his august patients, presented him with a diamond ring, worth sixteen thousand francs.

But the diamonds which seem to set in to this luckiest of dentists, as a mere matter of course from every capital of Europe, were not the only things delivered to him by Imperial hands on that occasion. The Emperor informed, him he had heard that the Queen of England \\yas very desirous of possessing a dog of the famous Mopse breed (now extinct), with the exception of the Mopses in possession of the Kussian Emperor, that he therefore wished to send a dog of this breed to her Majesty, and that he would regard it as a great favor if the Doctor would consent to take charge of the animal, take it with him' to Paris, and see it safely conveyed to the Queen. "I have just now a litter of Mopse pups, about a fortnight old," continued the Emperor, "and if you consent to take charge of a pup for Queen Victoria, I will give you another pup for yourself." " And you will have very fairly earned your pup, Doctor, by the time you reach Paris;" chimed in the Empress," for the poor little things will want r.o end of care and looking after, separated from their mother at that early age, and at this season. But we shall really feel very greatly obliged to you, if you will gratify us in regard to so troublesome a commission. What, so graciously entreated by a pair of gracious Majesties, could an amiable and courtly dentist do, except to declare his willingness to take charge of the canine infants in question ? The Doctor, though not without a little interior trepidation, having signified his willingness to be made the victim of his position, the two tiny dogs were forthwith brought in and presented to him : beautiful little°creatures, with very bright, intelligent eyes, and thick, short iur, like the well-known French fabric called "velvetcloth," of a true lion-like tawny hue, darkening to a black line along the spine. The Empress left the room, but returned a<*ain in a few minutes, laden with a great quantity ot silk bags, thickly wadded, and very soft and warm, a large earthen bottle of milk, a sucking bottle, and a basket of small rolls, extremely soft and delicate. " Doctor," said her Majesty, " I bring you a stock of provisions for your little charges. These bags are for carrying them in around your neck, as you will find it to be the safest and most convenient way. If the little creatures refuse to be fed with crumbs soaked in milk (as they probably will), they will not refuse to suck at this nurserybottle ; and, as for the bags, you see that there are enough of them to allow of your changing them as often as you may find it necessary to do so." There was nothing for the Doctor to do but to sling a couple of these dainty bags round his neck; which operation being accomplished, the Empress at once deposited a pup in each. The Doctor then assumed the rest of the things, and the Emperor laughingly told him that, seeing all the trouble he Avas taking upon himself, it was only fair that, when he reached Paris, he shonld take his choice of the dogs, and keep for himself the one he liked best. " I do not wish my favourite Mopses to have any rivals," added the Emperor, " and accordingly as you will find, the two dogs of which you are the bearer are of the same sex."

The doctor was furnished for his journey southward with an Imperial pas?, which secured him the utmost attention and deference until he reached the Prussian frontier; so that he was able to look after the two pupa with no other annoyances than those inherent in the nature of the case. The poor little creatures were dreadfully distressed at not being able to get at their mother, and would not listen to any persuasions in regard'to the crumbs and milk with which they were plied by their guardian; so that the latter, to his great disgust, wa3 fain to have recourse to the nursery-bottle, at which the unhappy puppies pulled away very willingly. The doctor's serious troubles began at the Prussian frontier, the rules of the Prussian railways being the most stringent in Europe with regard^to dogs. Had the presence of the two puppies been discovered by any lynx-eyed official, they would have been ruthlessly consigned to the dog-van, where they would have been frozen to death in the course of half an hour, or else the doctor must have paid a fine too heavy to be at all agreeable. He took the precaution of engaging an entire carriage throughout the journey ; but the constant demand of his charges on the thoughts and attention of their nurse, and their dreadful way of whirling and squeaking kept him in constant agony, and prevented him closing his eyes for four nights. On approaching a station the unhappy doctor would cram a lump of soaked bread into each little mouth, stow the pair of bags as nicely as he could under bis elbows, and fold his travelling wrappers as close as possible. At one of these stoppages, he saw throngh the window of his carriage the discomfiture of a gentleman in the next carriage, whose surreptitious conveyance of a puppy in a pouch, slung round his waist, had just been discovered by one of the officials of the place; and had the pleasure of witnessing the transfer of a great heap of thalers from the purse of this unlucky fellow-smuggler to the official* pocket. As the official approached the doctor's window with a demand, for the sight of his ticket, one of the two pups yelped out a sharp little bark. "I heard a dog!" cried the official, sticking his head in at the doctor's ■window.

"Very likely," said the Doctor, _"you know there's a dog in the next carriage."

" Ah, yes; so there is!" replied the Inspector, drawing back his head, and moving on.

The cold, which is just now co intense everywhere in Europe, gave Dr Evans no little trouble, for the earthen bottle of milk froze so hard that he was, at one time, obliged to sit upon it for four mortal hours before he could get it thawed so as to be able to minister to the sucking propensities of his four-footed proteges ! The Doctor's torments, however, have been repaid by his safe arrival in this city, with the preciou3 pups undiscovered and in good condition. These little creatures are beginning to forget their mother, and frisking away a few. happy days at the Doctor's house, being immensely petted by all about them, and receiving innumerable visits from people desirous of seeing " Mopses," and making acquaintance with creatures so exalted as to be esteemed treasures by Emperors and

Queens. Queen Victoria will receive her Mopse shortly, that precious creature being about to cross the Channel under careful and trustworthy guardianship. Let us hope that her Majesty, who is very fond of dogs, will be duly gratified and amused by the reception of this new pet, and that the latter will find his royal mistress enjoying a degree of health that may disprove the silly stories that have been going the round of this city of canards, and declare that the Queen, at the last Cabinet Council, rose from the table, remarking " I must consult the Prince on this subject. He comes to me every day at this hour, I cannot decide until I have had his advice," and quitted the Council Chamber, Jeaving the Ministers aghast, to discuss the expediency of a Regency. Dr Evans, meantime, has just started for Constantinople, to which city he has been summoned by the Sultan, in order to give the benefit of his skill to that potentate, and all the ladies and children of the Imperial^ harem. Sir Henry Buhrer is taking him thither, as his guest, on board the frigate which has been so long waiting for his Excellency, in the Mediterranean, and he will, doubtless, bring back a great harvest of jewels, and some curious insights into the mysterious regions of the Imperial Seraglio.