The side show proprietors have been the chief sufferers. Reckoning on an enormous attendance, they agreed to pay lange percentages on their receipts and made their arrangements in anticipation of doing a big business. The public, however, very soon found out that the so-called attractions were not attractive at all, and all the devices that ingenuity could supply in the way of advertisement were powerless to bring people in. It positively painful to watch the unsuccessful struggles of the Rue de Paris eonceswionnaires to fill their houses. The Maison clu Tire and similar establishments clowns outside the Grand Guignol, the
would shout themselves hoarse, and luscious damsely in all kinds of fancy costumes would cast alluring glances on the crowd, but not a single man, woman or child would come forward. The manager of the Manoir &!'Envers, or house upside down, became a confirmed misanthrope towards the close, and could not refrain, from ing unplonsant remarks whenever a de: head appeared on the scone, He deserved little sympathy, however, his show being a painfully poor one, and he practised an exasperating imposition on visitors by com-palling then to give up their sticks and umrellas and charging a cloak-room fee. As for the little theatres above-mentioned, they Proved foley, attrantie during the' early ays of the exhibition, but, when the noveltybad worn of, the Pasisans abandoned them completely, the thrifty provincials were frightened away by the high prices charged for seats, and foreigners found that' the peculiarly flavoured Montmartre wit of the es on the programme was beyond their comprehension. Lolo Fuller's Little theatre alone did well, the Japanese histrions, Kawakami and' Soda Yacco, creating a mild sensation. On the Champ de Mars side, the Swiss village appeared to be the most popular feature, and the Palais de I'Optique also attracted a good many sightseers, but the wonderful astronomical discoveries which were to have been accomplished with the big toles-cope have not yet been heard of. The Great Celestial Globe was handicapped by an accident in the carly days of the Exhibition, but it was a painfully poor show, any way. The Tour clu Monde panorama, the Mareorama and other *+ramas"" with which the Exhibition was plentifully supplied, all suffered from the prevailing indifference of the public to the side-shows in general. The only unmistakeable success scored by any of these enterprises must be credited to the Palais clu Costume, organised by the costumier Felix.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.