New Elks Club House
at Council Bluffs
American Student
(Copyright, 1901, by V. Clrlbuyodoff.)
PAU1S, March 1. Time a havo changed
Bluco Murgor wrote his "Scenes of Doho
mlau Llfo," with Ita pictures of wild rovol
und duliuuch, In thu Latin Quartor. Tlio
student In Paris, with ull hla natural gaiety
and love of u frolic, la every year becom
ing u more unil more serious being with u
uaner outlook on life. Iu tho cuso of the
American student colony, especially, the
change amounts to u revolution. Today tho
traiiButlantla "freshman" has the advan
tage of foreign experience and of the un
rivaled educational facilities of UiIb city
without necessarily abating one Jot of his
native Amurlcnulsm, either In his moral
view or In his dally habit of llfo.
Sometimes, Indeed, tho newcomer Is u
little disappointed with l'arls on that very
account, lie arrives, full to tho top of his
heud with ideas of a picturesque Doha
mlaulsm, and 1b Bcurcely lu tho city a
week beforo ho haB made a tour of ull the
cufes of tho quarter lu search of "types"
clad In weird artistic costumes, whoso
baggy corduroy or velvet suits and tre
mendous slouch huts and wildly lleatlnK
black tics (n yurd long und a foot wide)
ho hastens to Imltuto on his own person.
Hut ho very soon learns sense from the
compatriots whom he begins to moot at
his cafo or at tho university or art schools.
Thoy "guy" him unmercifully until he bus
discarded his eccentric raiment and ap
pears on the street clothed like them and
In his right mind. An art studeut who
came over a whllo ngo from a northorn
city, which had granted hi in a "bourse,"
enjoys to this day the tttlo of "Mossoo,"
In inomory of tho wildly Bohemian nttlre
which ho donned In tho flrBt weeks at his
arrival. lie 1b now a sane nnd soborly
dressed student, Ilka all tho rest, not dis
tinguishable In costume from fifty young
mon of his age on tho Btroots of any Amer
ican city, but ho will probably carry to his
grnvo tho iiamo which commemorates his
brief period of Murgercsquo Insanity In
TarlB.
Homo for Aim-Mean.
One institution which has a very dis
tinct tendency to keep Americans in touch
with their country In tho strange laud Is
tho American Art association of Paris,
Bltuato on tho Qual Contl, Just opposite
tho Louvro, noxt door, almost, to tho In
stitute do Franco, the classic homo of the
"Immortal" academicians. Consldorublo
historic Interest attaches to tho houBO, lu
that Napoleon Donaparto, when a young
lieutonant of artillery, was a constant vis
itor there at the salon of brilliant Mmo.
Permon. The old house retains evident
Life in Paris
signs of Its ancient grandeur lu the spa
clous, low-celllnged rooms with curved wood
paneling and largo, old-fashioned windows,
llut Ub llttlngs uru very modern and com
plete; with Its reading and smoking rooms,
Its library uud Its restuurunt, it mukes
an excellent club, very Amcrlcun, u bit of
homo lu tho hourt of 1'nrla to tho charac
teristically young manhood that frequents
It.
Thoro Is, In fact, vory llttlo pretense
and posing among tho members at the
American student colony. As n rule, thoy
nro much liked among tho swnrtu of stu
dents of ull countries who muko up thu
population of tho quarters. Curiously
enough, howovor, tholr popularity has
suffered somowhut ot late on accouut of
tho English war in tho Transvaal. The
avorago Europeau Ilnds it vory hard to get
rid of tho absurd notion that an Amcrlcun
la lu most ot his Ideas only an KugllBhman
who happens to live- 3,000 miles from Lou
don; besides, tho American accent In speak
ing Frouch Is not very different from that
ot u Ilrlton. Occasionally a bund at young
Americans at a cufo has been tho subject
of Insult from Borne desperate pro-Doors,
who have taken tho strungcrs for fellow
citizens of Mr. Chamberlain. Then there
has been trouble Sometimes the Amer
icans havo had to give fistic demonstra
tion ot tho proposition that a man with an
English accent to his French Is u good per
son to lenvo alone.
Social l,ir In riciiMiuit.
Hut In normal times, nnd especially whon
tho native students get to know their
American confreres Intimately, the youth
ful citizens of tho two republics got on ad
mirably together. Tho Americans, for one
thing, provo themselves a distinct gain to
tho social life of tho clrclo ot comrades
they fall among by their froc-handed hos
pitality. Almost always thoy aro better oft
than the bulk of tho other students, who
qulto frequently pnss tholr wholo univer
sity llfo on nbout $5 n week. Tho Amorl
enn, ns often as not, lias n brightly fur
nished llttlo lodgement wbcro he can re
colvo his friends lu tho evening In modost,
but sufficient student luxury. Thero will be
coffee nnd cakes for tho comforting of the
Inner man, plenty of tobacco to holp on the
talk, a plana on whirl) to pound out the
latest "chansons" of tho quartor, which all
tho guests will roar In chorus. Two or
thrco girl students may look In for nn hour
or two, there will bo plensant, friendly
conversation, perhaps a llttlo mild Illrtn
tlon, a good deal of happy-hearted, Inno
cent fun, a goneral atmosphere ot home
like good fellowship. Tills kind of thing Is
qulto an Institution among the American
students, they take It lu turns to oiler
tholr rooms tor such familiar reunions,
und so they cement friendly relations with
"tho natives," who go away delighted with
American hospitality, vlvuclty and camara
derie. One quarrel, by tho way, tho other stu
dents have against "les trunsatlaiitlqucs,"
as thoj cull the Americans In thu quartor.
It Is that the "transatlantics," with their
preposterous Ideas as to money, spoil tho
waiters In the cafes, the men servants who
look after the roams In the furnished apart
ment bouses, nnd tho jouclergcs who re
ceive jour letters and parcels and pull the
cordon to let you In nil through tho
wntches at tho night. Tho thrifty Caul gives
tho waiter 1! cents an evening. On the
gnrcon do chamber he bestows CO cents a
mouth (for cleaning room and shoes every
day; thirty times each for GO cents) and
he gratMes tho conclergo with $1 evory
twelve months for tho New Year's gift.
Strange though It may soem, thoso are tho
customary rates nil over tho Quartler Latin.
Hut the American simply can not conform.
Ho astonishes waiters by leaving an Indis
criminate heap at capper coins on tho cafo
table when ho has paid his consummation;
he Is capable of doubling tho hotel servant's
monthly fee; ho la even addicted to giving
Mmo, La Conclorgo tho overwhelmingly
largo reward of fl n month. It Is truo he
gots his shoes really shlned a rare luxury
In Franco; nt tho cafo thoy mako a cleau
sweep of ull tho Journals for his reading;
nt homo ho gets hla lottora early, qulto fre
quently thu very day thoy nrrlve, and hla
friends nro greeted with n plcaBant smllo
and can count on knowing when he Is out
without having to climb up nnd down five
or six stories for tho Information, Uut hla
comrades protest vehemently. "Don't go
to t hat house," an old habltuo will say to
a friend who Is seeking to Install himself,
"It has been spoiled by tho transatlantics;
you would be ruined by tho extortions of
tho personnel,"
Where Old (Jlory Files.
Thero Is forming In tho Montpnrnnsso
and of tho quarter, at tho far end of tho
famous Doul' Mich', nn almost exclusively
American settlement. Passing down two
or threo streets In this neighborhood one
Is likely to hear moro United States than
any other language From an upper win
dow of ono house Hies over, wot or fine,
feast day or work day, a gorgeous Amer
ican flag, thrown out on the breeze, ap
parently by soino pntrlotlc person who can
not rcfrnln from proclaiming his prldo of
nationality from tho housetop. The
"creamorles" In tho side streets nro filled
with Americans nt tho hour of tho "petit
dojouner" which opons tho day. In the
only good enfo nearby, tho waltors, when
ycu glvo "your order .are apt to murmur
on absent-minded "nlrl!" This neighbor
hood has Its merry side, but It could toll
Borne Bad tales, too. For If most of our
young countrymen over here are suffi
ciently provided with tho means of living,
thero are, of course, some who fight n dally
lattlo with poverty and Its attendant pri
vation and humiliation. Often these nro
young men und women who have recklessly
como over tho water, attracted by tho glit
ter ot Paris llfo and hoping to make a
living by teaching English whllo they pur
suo tholr studies. Generally theso Ideas
provo absolutely unfounded and tho un
fortunate dreamers drng out moro or less
of a martyrdom till good sense sends them
homo ngaln or till misery, cold nnd hunger
kill them.
Mori Women Than Men Starve.
Women seem to have more ot tho foolish
courago for thoso risky experiments than
men. At this moment there nro not u few
bright Amcrlcun girls halt starving in
Paris garrets of tho quarter, unnblo to 11 nil
any teaching to do and either too wedded
to their studies or too ashamed of facing
tho questions of their friends to roturn to
their distant homes, confessed failures.
Very often theso girls mannge by u thou
sand woman's arts to conceal their pov
erty from tho bulk of their associates. Thoy
dreas with quiet neatness nnd pass for hav
ing some small private means, nnd nobody
over suspects thnt they live on half a pint
of milk a day with a tiny roll of bread and
n raw egg. To nssuro themselves of this
miserable Insufficiency of food they have
to get a llttlo sowing to do, or even some
domestic work for tho beforo-brcakfast
hours. Somotlmes these resources fall. One
day a girl does not appear at the nrt clasB
or literary lectures sho has been following;
her friends find that she has had to pawn
her things ono by ono till now sho has
nothing left In tho world. Thon thoy ninko
a collection, porhnps, and sond her homo,
for the colony Is very generous to Ita poorer
members, Somotlmes nobody finds out tho
truth till It Is too Into. Some threo months
ago an American studcnt-glrl committed
sutcldo lu her room, unable to hear any
longer tho black misery and hopelessness
sho had been struggling against for moro
thnn n yenr. Sho had always shown a
bravo faco to tho world, and of all her dally
associates not a. slnglo ono hml any Idea
that sho was ever In need of a meal. Yot
It was proved at the Inquest thi.t for months
sho had lived on bread nnd milk, and that
for threo days beforo her death sho had
eaten absolutely nothing,
Not All In Hard l.ui'k.
It must not, of course, to supposed that
most of tho women students, or even nny
notable proportion of them, llvo under
theso hard conditions. Tho great majority,
whllo not rich, are at least comfortably
situated. Thoy have charming llttlo rooms
to study and frolic In. lu the summer they
aro nblo to take tours with bicycle and
skotch book In Normandy or Drlttany, or
four or five of thorn club togethor to hire
u cottngo somewhere near tho wooded
glades of Fontnlneblenu In tho artist col
ony that has made tho foreBt famous In
water color or oil whoiover pictures aro
seen. When winter comes thoy havo tho
rosourco of tho theaters and the opeta and
tho countless literary, artistic and musical
reunions which mako Paris so delightful to
people of cultivated taste. All theso pleas
ures aro within reach of almost every
purse; nowhere elso In tho world can tho
highest class of Intellectual pastime bo had
nt so llttlo cost. Hundreds of women who
nro now filling Important places In the busy
llfo ot America, either as artists, writers
or hard-headed business women, look back
on their two or thrco years of student llfo
In Paris ns the brightest and In somo ways
most profitable period of their career.
V. GRIDAYEDOFF.
A Bachelor's Reflections
New York Press: The best euro for a
woman who can't bear tho smell of tobacco
smoko Is to make her eat a cigar.
A meal to a man means a pleco of meat
and a cigar; to a woman It means some
thing new to talk about and a fluffy de.i
sert. A man's letters to a girl never begin to
bo really dangerous till after ho gets too
fnr along to bother with quoting poetry In
them.
It Is tho opinion of nlno women out of
ten thnt the averngo man believes ho Isn't
getting everything that is coming to him
unless ho is leading a doublo life.
Apostolic
Detroit Journal: Impossible, thought I.
"Surely," i exclaimed, "thoso peoplo havo
not romoved you from olllcol Why, thoy
nro tho very apostles of civil service re
form!" Glendowcr smiled wanly.
"Hut tho ax of tho apostles, you know!"
ho faltered.
This remark Interested mo. For tho
qunllty of tho fellow's humor showed that
ho was English nnd not Scotch-Irish, as ho
had claimed.
Furnished by Russell
A notlcenblo featuro of tho furnishings of
tho now Elks' clubhouse nro tho gas and
electric fixtures, which In thomselvcs are
not only ornamental, but thoy add an artis
tic harmony to the surroundings. Tho main
hall is dene In Moorish; tho fixtures are
mado of wrought Iron, tho lights bolug In
closed in ruby opalescent glass. Tho effect
Is vory pleasing. The largo reception room
Is lighted by nn elegant twonty-four-llght
chandelier of tho Prostor design and Is a
gem within Itsolf.
Tho various other rooms nro trented In a
heavy Flemish stylo, thus adding to tho
harmony of tho decorations nnd furnishings.
Tho designs nnd work were mado by F. M.
Hussell, tho gns flxturo artist of Omaha.
