Some one wants to know whether the - French Municipal Council cannot be persuaded to leave standing the handsome pillars erected as part of the decorative scheme at Koukaza for the celebrations on July 14, or alternatively, if they will not stand constant wear, to duplicate them in permanent material. Our inquirer points out they were things of real beauty, fitting in perfectly with the surroundings, and as such should not be lost possibly for ever, or at the best until the next celebration. The principal difficulty would seem to be that, even should the pillars be left standing, our French friends will not be content when July 14 comes round again, and they will make further additions for the day. These also are sure to be artistic and' then some admirer will want them left up, and so on until in a few years Koukaza will be fenced about with works of art and the superfluity will spoil the general effect. When it comes to decorative work, the French are almost too good and in Shanghai we never see anything prettier—in dumb decorations that is—than the illuminations in the park every July 14. The French probably themselves would veto any proposal to leave the temporary architecture standing for just the reason that each succeeding year would bring the danger of overcrowding, and therefore vulgarity. That is just the difference between Paris and Berlin. Paris has statues, de~ curative' bridges and ornate buildings in enormous numbers, but they are judiciously spread over a wide area, and the resultant effect is charming. Berlin has many good things of a like kind, but they meet one after the manner of her troops in attack, in mass formation, and that is not artistic.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.