t he cuisine (kitchen) is in the middle, and oper 
Of course, it. is u model of neat 
There are groat caul 
For Educational Purposes 
It Is almost incomparable. There are lectures 
upon almost every conceivable topic, by the 
most eminent of men, and free. Hut I am 
sorry to say that women arc not admitted to 
all, that men are. For Instance, I had a very 
lively desire to soe and hear IThnhv Tainb, the 
eminent essayist, and applied for a ticket of 
admfssion to his lectures in the Boole des Beaux 
Arts (School of Fine Arts). But the director 
told me women were not admitted. The room 
in Which the lectures were ordinarily held con. 
inu over the bannisters of the gallery. .\ 3 
institution, the Bourse Is the most complete 
developer of the total depravity, the ferocious 
passions, the demonlsh characteristics or men 
to ho Imagined. The struggling for flnancial 
success or financial salvation in that buying and 
selling and gambling sort 
Imagine a thousand or 
to full view 
ness and arrangement __ 
drons of soup and of vegetables; jars of con- 
served fruits; inclosed ranges for broiling meats, 
and rows and rows of cutlery and crockery, with 
stacks of napkins. The interior of this estab¬ 
lishment is very pleasing. The roof is hand¬ 
somely frescoed; there are large mirrors by 
every table; there is a gallery running entirely 
around, where you may dine and look down 
upon the people below; pots of Parisian llowers 
OUR EUROPEAN LETTER 
Paris, Feb. 9,1873. 
Co-opcrnttve Housekeeping 
Is almost realized in I he extensive organization 
of eating houses in Paris, of hotels, there are 
nearly ;5,(XHi; of restaurants, 1,000; of cafes, be¬ 
tween 2,000 and8,000; of establishments Of bouil¬ 
lon, 05 Or 70 j and of cafe concerts, upwards of 
to. As 1 have breakfasted or dined In twenty 
or thirty different establishments, I feci “in¬ 
formed" on the subject of eat ing, and as appar¬ 
ently “all the world” In Paris dine in restau¬ 
rants or cafes, it 1s a matter of positive interest, 
at least to Parisians. Even the poorer classes 
the working people, take their families every 
Sunday, at least, to “dine out." And one great 
beauty of these cafes and restaurants Is that, 
nearly all, down to the fourth class, arc respect¬ 
able. 
The expense of dining varies from two francs 
(1(1 cents) to eight francs for table d'hote. Table 
d’hote Is at six o’clock, and the tables are usual¬ 
ly very long. One Is served first to soup, then 
fish, various courses of meats and fowl, vege¬ 
tables, snlade dessert and vlnordinaire (the ordi¬ 
nary wine Of France). In I he restaurants, where 
there is a fixed price for dinner and one can 
dine exceedingly well for two francs and a hair 
—you are furnished a bill of fare from which 
you can choose soup, meat, fowl, vegetable, snl¬ 
ade. and dessert, with wine or beer included. 
You always have a large, clean napkin, clean 
cutlery, china warmed, and a little wooden stool 
for your feet. While wait ing for your dinner, 
you are furnished with a Journal to read ir you 
like. In addition to the price you pay for your 
dinner, you are expected to give to the waiter 
who serves yon from three to six sous (one .sou 
is equal to a penny). The waiters receive no 
other compensation than these gratuities. These 
sous are all deposited in one common Hind, and 
at the end of each day or week an equal divis¬ 
ion is made among the waiters, tin* proprietor 
himself coming In fora share. The only restau¬ 
rant in which I have boon where fees were not 
expected, was where a table d'hote dinner was 
served for two francs, and where the waiters 
wore all women. 
As a general ride, table waiters and chamber 
“ maids" are men. In one hotel where 1 stm>- 
of a way, Is fearful, 
more men in one room, 
packed close as matches in an unbroken box, 
all clamoring, yelling, red, angry and excited to 
the utmost tension, and the whole mass sway¬ 
ing and surging,at limes crushing a man nearly 
lifeless, and you may form some Idea of the 
Bourse, which regulates values, and the pro¬ 
ceedings of which are telegraphed every ten 
minutes all over France. 
I went, a few clays since, to hear 
Ernest Renan 
discourse In the College of France. He is one 
of the professors In the college, and on this oc¬ 
casion spent, an hour in making explanations 
on one of the chapters In I lie book of Job, and 
in drawing comparisons between the Hebraic, 
Chaldato and Syriac texts. He Is very learned 
in ancient tongues, and although lie does not 
accept the deity of Christ, his Scriptural his¬ 
tories have a high value. Ho Is a short, stout 
figure, with a, Teutonic face, an immense nose, 
a large mouth, (lorid complexion, bright blue 
eyes, and light brown hair a lilt I,, gray; he has 
handsome hands, gesticulates constantly, and 
is Intensely repressive and dramatic in his man¬ 
ner. There wore about twenty-live men present 
(mostly savants) to hear him, and three women. 
He teaches conversationally, and Is very cordial 
CHINESE LIFE 
CHINESE "WIXsTISrc 
are well arranged in various places, and when 
the great salle is lighted at night, the scone Is 
very brilliant. 
In all the cafes a small bottle, of cognac Is 
served with the coffee. There are establish¬ 
ments where you can buy chickens, turkeys, 
geese, all kinds of fowl dressed and stuffed, 
ready lu roast, or buy them already roasted; 
sometimes t hey are most deliciously prepared. 
One of the latest French dishes in which I have 
indulged was a dozen snails; dressed and cook¬ 
ed, i hey cost but a sou each. I found them de¬ 
licious not so much so as oysters, but, exceed¬ 
ingly palatable. 
The Cnfe Concerts 
give, usually, gratuitous admission ; but when 
an admission fee is demanded, you are entitled 
to a glass of beer or coffee. Qt horwlse, you pay 
Tor your refreshments aftcnvnrd. The seats aro 
arranged as I'nr a concert, except that, a shelf 
fashioned at the back of each row of seats 
forms a sort of table for your boor or coffee, 
for matches and cigars if yon are a smoker. 
The singing commences about half-past seven 
and continues until eleven. Everybody comes 
and goes as ho pleases. The performance con¬ 
tained a small gallery shut, off by a grating, and 
behind this grating women were sometimes ad¬ 
mitted. But this room was undergoing repairs, 
and even the Immense privilege of peering 
through iron bars Into Paradise could not at 
present be granted. However, I concluded to 
appeal to Monsieur Taink himself, and he 
wrote mo a charming letter, full of regret at 
his Inability to grant me admission, Tor as ho 
declared, the presence of one lady would de¬ 
moralize I ho entire class; they would hear 
nothing of the lecture ! 
The Paris Bourse. 
^Aifopos to this, was a visit r paid one day to 
r ue Bourse- the Wall streot Exchange of Paris. 
I'horo is a wide gallery surrounding the three 
sides of this Pandemonium, which is open to 
women as well as men spectators. 1 went In 
with a gentleman, and he led me cautiously 
around until lie found a vacant place under the 
shelter of a pillar, whore he installed tru*, stand¬ 
ing immediately hack of me, as if to secure me 
from observation. It struck mo as being droll, 
and I asked what, ho was afraid of. “Simply 
this, he said, “if a policeman sees you looking 
on at the men holow, ho will march you away;” 
A (.HINK8E traveler says it is difficult to say 
what wo have borrowed from the Chinese. The 
traveler In China cannot, fail to observe many 
contrivances In use which are considered new 
with US, and may be as old as ChinoBe civiliza¬ 
tion. Agriculture was one of the earliest, arts 
practiced in China. When we look at the im¬ 
plements used, anti notice their close rorsern- 
hlance, or even Identity with our own, wo aro 
forotid to own that wo owe something of our 
* iviii/.utioh and our appliances to these rnuch- 
dcsplsed Celestials, who in t heir turn owe the 
idea of their tails to our common ancestors. 
I heir plow, the mode of thro thing grain, and 
winnowing (see Illustration), nil resemble what 
were in use among ourselves half a century ago. 
Trades of all kinds are practiced In the open 
streets in China. There are traveling black¬ 
smiths, hatters, joiners, umbrella makers, tink¬ 
ers, tinsmiths, cooks, confectioners, lapidaries, 
barbers, doctors, dentists, Jewelers, clothiers, 
and cobblers, like the one In our sketch. They 
all carry their shops about with them. If a cus¬ 
tomer wants IdB shoes mended, ho will lied his 
man at the first street, corner (see Illustration), 
strike a bargain, lake olf his lines, smoke the 
cobbler’s pipe, and wait patiently till he has 
finished. A few steps further ho may doff his 
coat, and hand il for repair to a street tailor or 
tailoresn. Should he be afflicted with toothache 
while he waits for his coat, lie may have Ids 
tooth extracted by some traveling dentist, who 
will place a little powder in the decayed tooth, 
cause his patient to sneeze, and it will drop out; 
or, If desired, the dent ist will fix in a new* fang 
for about sixpence of our money. 
i"' ’"i ■ *; i (i 
POWERS AND TWO ENGLISH WOMEN 
Soon afterward the ill-bred women paused be¬ 
fore the bust of a lady, and the following com¬ 
ments were uttered : 
“ What an ugly face J” 
“ What a mean expression about the mouth!” 
“ Isn’t It 'orrlblo?” 
W hose is It ? asked one of them, addressing 
Mr. Powers. 
“ That is a portrait of my wife,” said the artist, 
modestly. 
“ V our wife!" repeated one of the women, and 
then, nothing abashed, added, “ Who are you ?” 
“My name Is Powers, madam,” he answered, 
very politely. 
This discovery evidently disconcerted the im¬ 
pudence oven of these visitors, and they Imme¬ 
diately loft the studio. 
CHIN E S E STB 
slsts of ballad singing, the playing of a little 
comedy, some gymnastic or trapeze exhibition, 
and the like. There are from half a dozen to a 
dozen singers and players, and one sometimes 
hears singing more pleasing, if riot, so artistic, 
than at, the opera. It Is in these numberless 
things, and the free and independent way of 
BET COBBLER. 
aud almost Immediately I felt a slight touch 
upon oiy shoulder, with, “I regret, madame, 
that it Is not allowable here for ladies to stand 
by t he railing.” It was too ridiculous to be of¬ 
fensive-the women being allowed to enter, to 
talk and promenade, but not to look! However, 
we eluded the gens d’armes, and I looked as 
long as 1 liked ; but tiro most amusing thing of 
all was to see the poor policeman walking and 
spying to and fro, in search of a woman look- 
