The Chat Noir was founded by Rodolphe Salis in 1882. This artistic tavern saw Caran d’Ache’s _début_: his silhouettes of Napoleon and the Grand Armée did much to make the place popular. Willette here presented his fascinating musical stories of _Pierrot_--_Histoires sans Paroles_. The Shadow Pantomime of Henri Rivière was also a celebrated contribution to the little Bohemian theatre. The Chat Noir has succumbed to the law of progress that sweeps pitilessly before its scythe whatsoever would hinder its course. The delicious little plays appealing to the ready appreciation of the Faubourg Montmartrois, as well as to the keenest critics,--pantomimes of ephemeral beauty, extraordinary shows and shadow dances,--find no longer this stage waiting to extend its hospitality for their interpretation. It has no successor. A multitude of little people--feeble flames--were snuffed out as the Chat Noir closed its doors for ever. But there were those to whom the Café was only an ante-chamber to larger rooms; and among these men Steinlen is conspicuous. The various quarters of Paris are magnets, drawing inevitably unto them those spirits who shall understand, who shall find their ways sympathetic, who shall become their poets, historians, painters. The sensitive Boutet de Monvel reveals the Champs-Elysées, the Bois de Boulogne, the parks, the communal schools, and the gardens; for this painter of children seeks only the reposeful ways where children go, where they study, are led, carried, or wander safely alone. In Belleville, Geoffroy has been responsive to benevolence and charity from man to man. He presents the Foundling Schools, the Asylums. The [Illustration: STREET CHILDREN] soothing atmosphere of charity envelops his work--he has seen the poor through the medium of philanthropic faith. Daumier, the father of personal caricature, sixty years ago regarded Paris with the philosopher’s eyes. Gavarni looked through the single eyeglass of the man of fashion, as it were, on the petty vanities of the gay social world. And Steinlen?