MABILLE, or JARDIN MABILLE, a place in Paris famous for brilliant public balls held nightly, which are frequented by the gay, rollicking youth of all countries, and by travelers drawn thither by curiosity, in numbers almost equal to those of Parisian visi tors. Fantastic revelry, marvelous dancing, intoxicating music are the attractions in the midst of a panorama made gorgeous by the blaze of 3,000 gas jets shaded into all colors to light the bail-room, the passages, the alcoves, and the groves of this fairy gar den of men, women, and flowers. Tlte garden, established in 1840, is on the s. side of the Champs Elysoe. That part of the garden which is under roof, and that which bas only the boughs of trees and the sky above it are so blended that one hardly notices whether he is under one or the other. Formerly youth who went for their own pleasure were the main performers in the grotesque extravagances of the dancing. Of late years, how ever, professional daneantes are employed to astonish visitors, by whom they can be dis tinguished front other revelers only by the extraordinary fantasies of their performances. One of their characteristic feats is to lift a toe suddenly t,o the head of a dancer Or aston ished visitor who presses too near the dancing circle, to dash a hat from his head with out touching his face or arresting their own swift course in the dance. The visitors to
the Mabille are from every part of the world. Middle-aged, portly Englishmen, Ameri cans, Turks, Arabs, Russians, and even their ladies are seen in the throng around the dancers, and go prepared to be trifled with. France furnishes the larger part of the men who enter frankly into the hilarity of the dancing scenes and all of the peculiarly sup ple, fascinating, and soiled women. Though physical exuberance of joy and fuss is .allowed the widest license in the dance, vulgarity of language is very rare, and when exhibited results in quick expulsion of the offender. It is thought that the resort is not so largely attended or in so good repute as formerly with English and American travelers of the cultivated classes; and it would seem that a proper taste—not to speak of decency—might operate against its peculiar style of attraction.