ON rHE KOVTNG SIDEWALK
CCBIOUS SENSATIONS AND SIGHTS ON A
NEW PARISIAN INSTITUTION.
Paris correspondence of The London News.
On uj e south side of the river the Exposition
buildir:^ stand upon three sides of what in
London would be called a square. Trapezium
would be the right word, lit square is the more
popular. The longest side, ensuring three
noarters of i. m:it; and containing the Avenue
of the Nations, is formed by the river. The
xjpxt longest ;s formal by the Champ >• Mars
Palaces, and the third and shortest by the
Palace of the Invalides section. The fourth
side open to the city, is iKiunded by the Ave
nse d«* 5a Motte Piequet. It is obvious that under
ordinary circumstances a visitor intending to
■nass. sa>\ from the Invaiides to the Champ de
ilars must, without ppeciaiiy contrived means
o f communication, traverse a large block of
s tree'- s . jvi-nufs and boulevards. The rolling
platform, "trottoir mutant," Ifl the special con
trrvanc«. It is not a detached structure like a
nilway train, arriving at and passing certain
points at stated times. In the "trottoir rou
lanf there Ea no break. - In. engineers' language,
it is an -endless" floor. The "trottoir rou
lant" is a narrow ribbon of a finer raised thirty
feet above the level of ib* ground, ever and ever
glidinz along the four sides of the .are — a
wooden serpent with its tail in its mouth. .
The roping platform is about two and a
quurt?r miies in length. There are ten entries
to it and as many exits from it. distributed
over ;h«- river face, aiung the Champ de Mars
and the Lovailde*. It never slops for passen
gers; you step ■ to it or off ;t as you do on
or off a London 'bus in motion, but with the
Important difference that the rolling platform
is only two inches above the level of your shoe
Boles.'.and that its rate of motion is slower. As
U isms '-iiu corners of the huge trapezium, or
D
■verves r:ghtward or leftward at seme point
on one of its sides, its moti'm resembles the
Bnnous -rawl of a snake-
Thirty feet overhead, supported upon a forest
of scaffolding, are laid the st?ai rails ' upon
which revolve the dwarf whet-Is of the "trottoir
roulant." Upon the two and a quarter msies
are ongregated tiro and a quarter miles of
more or '.ess idly curious humanity — a ribbon of
humanity, a? a French journalist calls it. Mul
titudes of Parisians, provincials, Americans,
cockneys, Germans, but principally the first
two, glide overhead on the back of this sinuous
monster. I*, is odd to witness, when a shower
cot.-'s. the sudden shiny apparition of the long
r:;jao'i of umbrellas. The monswr'a voice
Bounds unceasingly the day '-one, and half the
n - • >orr.eiimes it resembles the din made by
the ds >f twenty million Broiidir.gnagian ket
tle from which the steam :s escaping, some
s the roll of the massed drums of the entire
F :. :i army. At other times it concentrates
Itself .:: a high pitched, fierce iron screech.
How ri.vs ih:s infernal mutterirg. groaning,
_- • .r.g. rattling, screeching affect the dwellers
of the Avenue de ia Bourdonnais. the Avenue
■2- !a Motte Piequet; the Rue Fabert, in front
nt whose third story windows the "trottoir" rolls
pn-st with its load of humanity? In London,
where peojil*? make a fus3 about organ grinders
and the tambourine girls of ihe Salvation Army,
It would. I fancy, cause an insurrection. But
I have h**ard <if no wild protest in Paris — not a
wrathful fare have I seen in ail those half miles
of windows. What shopkeepers and profes
sional people have done is to seize this rare op
portunity of advertising themselves. The most
srr:k:r.:r advertisement is the figure of a doll
meant for a newly born baby, stuck in a win
dow. b ( :ir:ns the sign of "Mme. Poussin, Ac
cuucipusp." That baby of flannel and sawdust,
with its rir^matur^Jy wideawake smile, everiast
in:r!y holds out its spuds of arms to the ribtion
of humanity that glides past everlastingly alike.
For the man of business, intent upon prompt
transfer from this to that region of the Exposi
tion. an<: the idle looker on caring most for the
rummer air and a smoke, the "trottoir - i.ant"
la a convenient; comfortable and ingenious de
vice. In the first place, the aerial structure is
not all mobile. It is dividi-d into three longi
tadinal parallel sections, the first stationary,
the second moving ai the rate of about three
miles in hour, the third at about six. If you
want -,o make th-? circuit quickly you stand on
the third, and if you are in a great hurry ail you
have to do is to stride ahead and bo add your
Individual movement to that of the "trottoir
roi :.:." If you want to take it easy and look
lejs^r-iy about you, you simply step down two
inches to the second section, or if you want to
const: o a dead stop the two inches to the
stationary strip. You will often do this in order
tv admire some street view, or glimpse of the
Bun::t river, or beautiful building !n the Avenue
of the Nations, or on the opposite bank of the
St'ln-.- the '-iustt-r of steep roofed old Paris. Go
hie on the tmttoii roulant" is easy as walking,
bu: f.ir ill that scores of people come to grief
QUUe harmlessly and comically when Brat they
try It- In Cockayne no sail" person gets face to
tli* r»-ar oat nf an omnibus, or attempts to
enter it with his silly bark turned toward ta<!
horses. Many try it on the troctoir roulant."
It is gn at fun. A stouush. jolly looking woman
has done :t, and ihe result Is that she has
eansone 2 agaiast somebody who cannons
against a third, who pitches against the stom
■«■ of a fourth, whom the unexpected shock
temporarily deprive of hifl umbrella and cue hat.
Innocuous iisaster <ift*»n happens when a per
son*! foot becomes ---i,' •-<! behind toe calf
NEW-YORK TRIBUNE ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT.
ahii «lher'«"»:« lher '«"»: «eh leg become, as unraanage
fih?« as a towel whipped round the leg of a
£!t a Ensnared thuswise. the person raani
**■ an uncontrollable tendency to spin round
like a teetotum. After long and leisurely ob
servation, I am inclined to think that of all at
titudes on the trottolr roulanf this is the
most absurd. Th.it the victims inspect so too
I gather from the sheepish expression of their
races, but these quite innocent misadventures '
are. in comparison with the great numbers on
ENTRANCE TO PALACE OF UETTKKS, SCI
ENCE AND ARTS.
the "trottoir roulant." few and far between.
You will have gathered that the trottoir has
become a favorite place of resort. For those
of its passengers who have friends in the ave
nues before whose windows It crawls along it
might become a convenient substitute for long
deferred calls. Standing on the trottoir. one
might chuck one's visiting card through any
open window lr. tne Avenue de la Motta Picquet,
and exchange salutations with old cronies in the
upper stories of Rue Pabert and Avenue de la
Bourdonnais. Indeed. I have seen many such
exchanges of becks and nods and wreathed
smiles. It 18 also oovious that the "trottoir
roulant" may. in its own lazy, loafing way, be
made the means of forming .lew acquaintances
One -who sticks to it all day long can scarcely
help making some, and for his ;» centimes one
may. if he chooses, stay there all day long.
Crowds of lien would do it. but for on« thing—
the lack of seats. That is doubtless the reason
why the company has not provided seats.
CONTROVERSIAL PRAYER.
From The Detroit Journal.
The Layman Candidly, do you xpeci your prayer
in behalf of the Boers Co be answered?
The Pastor— l natter myself it Is unanswerable
sir. Three or four rranks have tried to answer it.
through the pws. but it terns to me they have
failed egregiously.
HIS FIRST RISE.
From The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
"It ■was the critical point :n my career "
"What wasT*
"The point of the pin I sat on just before I quit
country school teaching and came to the big dry
HAMBURG-AMERICAN LINE'S
CRUSES AROISD THE WORLD
Lpon the specially constructed and magnificently appointed new
Twin-Screw Cruising Yacht * Prinzessin Victoria Luise"
the Midnight Sun and to the Orient has prompted this Company to extend this delightful feature of Its services to a CRUISE AROUND TUB
WORLD. With this end in view. It has constructed a Twin-Screw Cruising Yacht, which Is to be used exclusively for these cruises. Sho
will carry first-class passengers only and no mails or cargo. The staterooms are equipped with everything to enhance comfort. Suites with
private baths and toilets, staterooms for single passengers, magnificent saloons, a gymnasium for exercise and recreation, a dark room for
amateur photographers and a grand promenade are provided.
TILL FIRST CRUISE, for which the following itinerary Is proposed: from Hamburg, Sept. 25; from Cherbourg, Sept. 27. 19OG.
Direct connection can be made from New York by the Hamburg-American Line's Twin-Screw Express 3. S. Anguste Victoria, leaving New
York Sept. 13, 1000, due in Cherbourg Sept. 20 and in Hamburg Sept. 21, 1900, or by any earlier steamer of this line. Lisbon, Gibraltar, Nice,
Genoa, Athens. Constantinople, Jaffa (Jerusalem), Port Said (Cairo and the Pyramids). Lsrmailia (Egypt), Bombay (visits to Poona,
Khandalla, Karl! Cave, Eiephanta Island). At Bombay passengers may also leave the yacht and make the grand overland tour through Northern
India, visiting Aimedabad, Jeypore, Delhi, Agra, Cawnpore, Luckaow, Benares, Darjeeling and Calcutta, where they will again board the "Prln
zessin Victoria Luise," which will have proceeded trom Bombay, via Colombo, to Calcutta. After embarking the passengers, the cruise will b«
continued to Singapore, Tvra-nni^ Hongkong (excursions to Macao and Canton), Shanghai, Nagasaki Kobe (here facilities will be provided
to take the passengers for an. inland tour to Hiogo, Osaka, Nara and Kioto). The steamer then proceeds to Yokohama (Enoshima and
Komakura, Mlyancshlta; Tokyo; Nlkko), Honoluln* thenca to Hilo and San Francisco, where the American passengers will leave the yacht,
and from where they will receive railroad transportation to their homes. The Second Cruise will leave San Francisco Jany. 2G. 1901, cover
ing about the same itinerary m reversed order. l>u« m New York May 11, 1201. For farther particulars, rates, etc, address
T=r a i^r m 1 t-t <-^- a itr %-t Ttr? a -rvr t .t^jt-f^ 3*7 Broad-way, New "STc^arlx-
Here Are T h re c
Notable NNewe c w Novels.
UNLEAVENED BREAD
By ROBERT GRANT. I2mo, $1.50.
ft n^HE contrast between Seima s words and her character is profound. Mr. Grant
1 exploits :t with merciless industry. He leaves no foible untouched, no
secret unrevealed. At the end of the book Selma, though still unconscious
that her life has been despotically egotistical and ruthless, is presented to the reader
with no humiliating line in her portrait missing ; she is the shallow, selfish woman
in apotheosis. . . . Not only Selma, but the three men she successively marrirs,
and the other types included are all realized with force : they seem taken bodU)
from actual life." — Neve York Tribune.
THE TOUCHSTONE
By EDITH WHARTON. i2mo $1.25.
who tasted the tine literary flavor of Mrs. Whartons The Greater
1 Inclination' a year ago will not be surprised to learn that ' The Touchstone'
is a work of rare distinction. The novel places its author at once in the
highest class of living artists in words. It is fine cf texture, perfect in its unity and
dramatic sequence, and as remarkable for its grasp and :ts :nsight into human
character as for its easy mastery of language. . . . The Touchstone ':s no
ordinary novel. It is a short book and can be read in an evemrg. but it will be
strange if it does not find a host of enthusiastic friends among those who appreciate
genuine literary art." — Chicago Tribune.
THE GRIP OF HONOR
A Story of Paul Jones and the American Revolution.
By CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY. Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50.
k4 TNTENSHLY stirring descriptions of sea fights, n vivid account of the desperate
1 encounter between the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis, and the graphic
portrayal of the conflicting emotions which assail a young Irishman righting
ior the American flag, who is asked to choose between love and honors, and the
ignominious death of a spy and traitor, constitute some of the elements in this
highly stirring romance. The development of the stcry is natural and the setting
given it is realistic, it is one of the most thrilling ot American historical novels." —
Bdli:mors Herald.
CHARLES SCRIBXER'S SONS. Publishers.
450 Feet Long.)
The unqualified suc
cess met with by the
Annual Summer Cruises
of the Hamburg-Ameri
can Line to the Land of
s