Paris, May 3.
If the ideal May Day, from the Socialist point of view, is twenty-four hours spent at home, this year's celebration was quite a success, The cafes and places of amusement were closed, transports in the city were uncertain, there were no cabs, and doubt prevailed as to whether there would be the usual supply of gas and electric light.
The result was a city in which three-fourths of the inhabitants seemed to have nothing better to do than lean out of the windows and yawn. Those who mustered up sufficient courage to go out had little resource except the public parks and gardens.
The suburbs -were barred, on account of the shortage of trains and the general feeling that though one might get to St. Cloud or Robinson or some such favourite resort, there was no telling when ther one would be able to get back again. The Bois de Boulogne was astir with walkers, but there was no boating on the lake. A little languid shopping was done in the morning at the provision
open all day and did much busi-dealers. The Rastrycooks were ness. Lily of the valley rose from 20 to 50 centimes per small bunch, but was bought and sold in the streets all day long, the flower hawkers being the only busy people to be seen.
As the day wore on, the warm stillness of the air changed into a slight fog. The caretakers brought out their chairs and sat at the house doors watching their neigh-hours. Very few police were visible. At times a cavalry patrol rode quietly along, just to show that authority was awake. ' Children played about the sidewalks and parents yawned on the benches.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.