European Correspondence

From oar Regular C'orrcsuonduut. Paris, July 2, 1883. Had the weather for the Grand Prix to-day been special ly made to the order of the thousands to whoin it was of interest it coiild scarcely have been more suitable. Truo, the sun was hot, at times over-powering so, bnt a westerly breee soon brought up sorne fiiendly clourt tluit shaded without lessening its wanntli; and the Parisians were not slow to avail them selves of their good fortund. From early morning until tlic latest inouieut admittint; of a sight of the great r;ice a wellnigli unceaslllg streain of caniages and foot passengers youred ulong every boulevard and every Street, even of the smallest, towards the general meeting point, the Are de Trlomphe. There the many tributary streanis fonned one river that rolled down the avenue du Bois de Boulogne into the Bois itself, and so on to the race course. Every one was going in the same direction, and no one thought of turningback, so that ihe Parisian "cabby1' to whom a rul'i of the road is proverbially obnoxious, had no opposing currents to perplex him. luteresllng, indeed, 111 its varied aspects was tliis hurrying, laughing, gesticulaling, and perspiring throng that poured on as though it had no end. Here carne the coroneted four-in-hand, crowded by ladies in the most bewildering toilettes, and by the gentlemen, regardless of heat, in the shiuiest of hats, the tightest of coats, and tlie llercest of moustaehes, dasliing quickly past the lumbering brake, witli its over burdened horses and it noisy oceupents. Not so easy, however, was, its victory over the well liorsed little brougham or the bright yellow hack victoria, whose driver, gay in red waistcoat and white glazed liat, gets no little speed out of his unprornising looking beast. Lastly, in contrast to the varnish and smartness of its surroundings, plodded along the rickety shandrydan, cargoed with loud voiced and unsheven knights of the blue blouse. Without stay or stop, those types and their many links trotted, rattled, and dashed on between the green trees of the Bois and through the dust, which not even the most untiring watering could lay, past the critical crowds seated by the roadside, and on to the smooth turf of the ioirsejin such numbers as though all Paris liad migrated to the eventful tield. Here was the fiuest sight of all. The successive arrivals of carriages drew up oue behind the otlier in dense and almost impenetrable ranks. and the motley crowd dispersed itself over the open, or poured into the ring. The merry voices, the gay dresses, the cries of the vedors of programmes officials and the bright and many colored parasols making up the ever changing scène only to be found upou a fashionable race course on a field day. But despite the mixed characters of the crowds there was none of that noisy and witless badinage which is one of the privileges of an American meeting. "Chaff" was conspicious by its absence, Under such conditions the duties of U-e well mounted Gardes de Paris, with their brass helmets, blue coats, and the white breeches wcre but slight and nominal. Inaoort, had me tíranu Fri been me occasion of the meeting of all the most turbulent characters in Paris, a greater number of soldiers and policemen could not have been present. But if they were happily, not useful, they were at least, ornamental, and added another element of variety to the scène. All else, however, paled its ineffectual tires before the brilliancy of the ladies dresses. The Grand Prix would seem to be the signal for a last expiring effort on the part of those fashionable dames to eclipse each other and to show that the repeated needs of a long season had not exhausted their wardrobes. Nothing else could account for the evident newness and extreme spiender of their apparel. To enter into descriptions of the costumes, the hats, and the laces and flowers and parasols, that everywhere dazzled the eye, is obviously impossible; they are best lef t to the imagination. But if the crowd was better dressed and more orderly than is usual at our American meetings, it was at flrst less enthusiastic so far as outsiders went, and less sporting.