AFFAIRS IN FRANCE.

Globe, Volume V, Issue 565, 10 April 1876, Page 4

AFFAIRS IN FRANCE.

[FROM A CORRESPONDENT. J Paris, February 10

If colliery accidents be rare in France, thfy seem to be the more teirible wnen th«y do occur. The catastrophe at Saint Etienne has caused the death of 216 pitmen, that being the number of lamps delivered to the colliers on the day of the recent calamity—a calamity almost overlook'd in the hur'y burly of the elections, and which causes at the same time the appeals for charity lo lie forgotten—temporarily. As the miners cannot open the lamps given to them, it is supposed the explosion has been caused by a spark produced by the striking of a pickaxe against some flinty obstacle. The fire soon enveloped the whole pit, but the majority of the bodies indicate that suffocation was the chief cause of the deaths. The eagerness to descend the pit was disputed between the colUers who-e off day was that of the accident, and the men of the neighbouring mines ; the old workm°n first claimed the perilous honour to go down and help their unfortunate comrades, as they were experienced ; then the younger, as they boasted of greater agility ; and finally the single men, as having neither wife nor family. There was nothing to be done in the way of saving life ; to collect the corpses, and send them up by batches of four, was the main duty. To clear away the wrecked materiel, and extinguish the fire by stopping the entrauce to the galleries with sacks of brick clay, was all that could be done. Forty-five horses perißhed, and were found lying on their sides, covered with about two inches of dust. It was a frightful spectacle to observe men, disfigured with blood and black mud, skinning these animals by the dim light of lanterns, and then sawing and chopping up the carcass into portions sufficiently small for men to carry them to the base of the shaft, it being impossible to act otherwise. Every tribute of honour was paid to the remains of the 216 miner* ; their funeral was attended by the highest local dignities in the administration, the army, and the church. Paris continues to be still in electoral fever ; but it is a salutary one, and the interests at stake, are so vast that the country may well be excused for being absorbed in the elections It is for a few weeks more an ungrateful time for those straDgers who count upon official balls for their great attractions; tradespeople sympathise with the ennui of such visitors, for mazurkas stimulate business. Theatrical managers also have reason to complain, for caucus meetings and pollings entice away their clients, It is also notorious that when the public funds experience a sensible decline, the playhouses are also deserted ; the same incident is observable on quarter dayp, After the coujj d'etat, dramatists rubbed their hands, while politicians put on sackcloth and ashes. At the present moment managers of theaties further suffer, becaisi they cannot bring out their new pieces since a long time rehearsed. It is useless then sending them any more dramas, as they are in the position once revealed by Dumas, who was solicited by a talented girl for a letter of introduction to a certain impresario " Nothing more easy," replied Dumas, " only I can assure you that gentleman is more occupied about engaging his watch than engaging artistes." There are 2000 candidates for some 500 deputyßhips, so it can be easily imagined that bill 6tickers are content. Indeed, the variety and colors of the posters are very picturesque, and being occasionally covered by other bills, produce amusing reading. The addresses are printed on salmon colored red or yellow paper ; aristocratic can didates prefer the first : suburban candidates the red, and bachelor candidates the yellow. If the paper be thin, old bills can be read through them, or if badly " huug," may produce ridiculous contrasts, for it is notorious that ordinary advertisers impiove this occasion. Ine heading of the agricultural show bills, ''exhibition of fat animals," follows "elections of 20th February;" also, after a " vote for me means no taxes," succeeds "nor wet feet, headaches, or constipations;" and a " be early at the poll," by a " recompense of fifty francs" for eome lost scented poodle. The existence of the state of siege may explain why the preparatory meetings are not so lively or witty as usual. Every Frenchman can propose himself as a fit and proper person to represent his district. It is the favorite moment for the inquisitors to commence work. One candidate was asked where he was on the 18th March, 1871, when the Commune broke out—" In my bed, sufferiner from a surgical operation;" "Its nature?' "The law prohibits your making enquiries into my private life." Qodfrin, the spiritist candidate, has no chance; he is a tailor, as melancholy looking as Jacques, and as solemn as a mute at a first-class funeral; he has lost nearly all his long and lanky hair studying the unknown; on rising to speak he opens his eyes wide, surveys the Audience, leaning on the table. " Take care, you are going to make the table turn," exclaims an elector, which raises such an outburst of laughter that the tailor has to retire without saying a word. Doctor Thuilier is a candidate, and is reproached with accusing Minister Buffet of clericalism, while he himself married an aristocrat, and had the ceremony performed in a church to please his rich mother-in-law. The dector retorted, " The charge is very grave, only—-I am not married." " Then why do you wish to be 3 deputy, when you are Dot in want ?" A reformer proposes that the law ought to include candidates in the categoiy of noxious animals, and bo liablu to fee dealt with as a nuisance. The candidate combines the characteristics of the animal and vegetable kingdom ; a mollusc, in adhering to a portfolio, and cryptogamic from the difficulty of tracing his origin. His mouth is immeasurably wide, from smiling during the canvassing season and broad grins at the voters after they elect him. Kick him, box him, abuse him, be will smile not the less, aud give you both hands till the results of the poll be known ; he is draped in all the best qualities and charms of humanity. The urban candidate must have a powerful pair of lungs, have all shibboleths on the tip of his tongue, and wear a high hat. The rural candidate ought to be a good rider, have a proverbially dry throat, and a complaisant stomach, know a few agricultural terms, and the christian aamei of the peasantry. The modest candidate awaits the arrival of a deputation that he has organised to come and invite him. The impudent candidate never doublg a moment about his success, and the poor candidate aims solely to support his wife and family, aud is perhaps the best of all. Since the raising of the state of siege in those departments so liberated, 150 journal,

have been either established or re-established in the Eepublican interest, and all are animated with the desire to have the Republic moderate, liberal, peaceful, and progressive. This is the dominant feeling of the country, and that it is reasonable to expect the elections of the Deputies will ostensibly confirm. The Bonapartists continue to lose ground, and are not at all in good spirits. Their appeal-to the-people dodge does not pay, so they are gradually getting rid of it; their violences are less, Imperialism, when it becomes orderly, ceases te be Bonapartism. The country is at last convinced it has nothing to gain from .lynasties, but everything from its own Sovereign rule, honesty, and upiightness. An effort is again being made to abolish the custom of gratuities to waiters in cafes and restaurants. The crusade is difficult, honeless even, for the garenns are not only paid by the few sous given by the customers, but often the proprietor has his share also of these gratuities, which, collected in an urn throughout the day, are divided on the nightly closing of the establishment, There are 30.000 of these waiters in Paris, and they are employed from seven in the morning till after midnight. The cafe waiter is proverbial for his smart appearance ; hair well dressed, whiekers bushy, chin well shaven ; quick and attentive, obsequious and reserved. His costume consists of black cloth, with white apron closely fastening round the waist ; light shoes without heels ; he serves two persons at once, answering ten at the same time, and winks to the butler, when a new client appears. The garcon of the grand cafe3 is solemn and majestic ; he does not serve, but " officiates" ; estimates you by the cigar you smoke, and brings you your favorite journal, or a lighted match after the sulphur is burned off, according as he thinks well of you. The head waiter or walker, is a positive personage, and must be bald, so as to appear dignified ; though risen from the ranks, he is not less a conservative, and has visions of social peril, such as M. Buffet claims to possess the monopoly. In the second class establishments the garcons are more familiar, and study better the wants of old customers, and will have your favorite drink prepared at your usual hour of arrival. They lend clients five francs occasionally, on the understanding that they will be repaid next day, with the sum doubled. The French Tribunal has just ruled that editors are responsible for rejected manuscripts, and are bound to preserve, if not to return them. The notice at the head of a journal declining such responsibility is only assumed to apply to trivial matters. Mmc: Lieutier forwarded a manuscript story to the editor of a Paris daily journal. Receiving no reply, she requested one, then called at the office, and finally took an action against the editor, to return the manuscript, or pay 2000 francs compensation. The Court fixed the latter at 600 francs, the newspaper in addition to pay the expenses. Suicides continue to be very numerous this season at Monaco, owing to losses at the gambling tables. The report of a revolver too frequently is heard between the clinks of the banks' rakes. The local authorities endeavor to hush up these suicides They slip fifty louis into the pocket of the deceased, and the journals are informed death resulted from disappointed love;