Day Of The Dead In Paris

Paris, it is said, thinks once a year oí those vhorn she has lost. The truth i she thinks very much of tener of them. for their tonching devotion to the memory of the dead is one of the finest sidea of the French cbaracter. The day aftcr All Saints' is the "day of the dead" - the jour des morts. Then Parisiaüs visit the great cerneteries - Pere Lachaise, Montmartre, Montparnasse, Passy, Vaugirai-d and Saim-Ouen. It is a curious sight to see the crewds sweeping like a torrent aloug the boulevards of Bellevue and Menilmontant between the tworowsof booths piled up with emblems of grief and piety. About half the number are simple sightseers - badaubs, vho are attracted liy auy crowd, and who can be readily recognized by their indifferent and gaping air and einpty hands. The othérs, in mourning habits, carry ín their hWdd wreaths of everlasting flowers, sprigs of boxwood and yew, bouquets, medallions under glass, with a weeping willow and some artless inscription a ma mere, a notre pere, etc. I jLhe cerueteries themselves present an ,unaccustome,d spectacle. The entrances are guarded by mounted guardes de Paris in fulr uniform ; polieernen are stationed to regúlate the circnlation in the interior, and aronnd the cernetery hawkers of all sorts spread out their wares in terupting array - immortelles for the dead, cakes and petit bleu- -cheap wine - for the living. The exterior boulevards are too small for the crówd of mourners, md the inns and wiueshops too small for the custora. Side by side with the sellers of souvenirs eterna you fmd the camelo, whó offers his collection of 300 jokes for J cent ; the open air lotteries with their grating and rattling wheela and an asthmatio huvdy gnrdy playing the eternal "Boulanger March. " This is the first act of the tragi-comedy. Each proceeds to the tomb that interests him or her. The oíd wreafchs are removed, and the glass covered medallion of the most approved áesigu is hnng up