PARISIANS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 144, 19 June 1926, Page 32

PARISIANS.

.i ;.. a ... . MIDNIGHT WALKING RACE FOR GRANDPARENTS.

(By GEORGE CECIL.) i

HSTO. 6. Parisian grandparents usually are ii bed and asleep long before the hour a which, churchyards are supposed to yawi and graves to give up their dead. A fey nights ago, however, 12 o'clock found i vast crowd assembled outside a cafe 01 the boulevards, and from time to timi cheers greeted elderly couples, who panting and perspiring, entered the estab lishment to sink exhausted on th< nearest padded bench. The aged visiton panted because they had walked tw< I miles, from point to point, througl ; crowded thoroughfares, and they per I spired most frightfully because the arcti< temperature of the afternoon had sud denly risen to summer heat. Decidedh blown were the athletes. The race was the outcome of a brain wave. A widowed purveyor of cat's meat having read that younger women, lik< Suzanne Lenglen, are astonishinglj active, suggested to a 70-j-ear-old retiree policeman a'two-mile tramp. "Othe; grandparents must be asked to join ir the nocturnal walk," said granny. "W< will meet at tei» o'clock at the cafe nexi door, there to drink success to our under taking in rum-hot-with. Each grand father, with a grandmother as his part ncr, will then stem the tide of traffic, making for a boulevard cafe two mile: distant. Let us subscribe three franci apiece, so that the winning couple maj be presented with a nosegay of sweet smelling flowers. If any money remains over, the grandmothers can provide th< grandfathers with cigars." Off started the old couples—all forti fled by rum. Some were held up al street crossing; others, stopping~to gazi at the dazzlingly-illuminated shop windows, lost time; several, greatlj incautious, were all but run over bj murderous- omnibuses. And each paii of pedestrians, surrounded by sympathe tic onlookers, was further impeded Indeed, the last arrivals took over ai hour and three-quarters to complete the course, owing partly to grandpapa and grandmamma having wetted then whistles twice en route. Supported by more rum were their lagging footsteps Finally, the competitors assembled in the cafe. The posy, almost sniotheml in ribbon, was presented to an ancient (and sturdy) dame aged eighty-five, hei partner, an ex-butcher, upon whose silvery hair ninety summers had left their mark, delivering a- flowery speech The francs remaining over from the purchase of the floral trophy went ir rum, the cafe proprietor having generously provided cigars. A kind heart. Film Cutting Resented. Parisian movie patrons, when displeased, rarely proceed to extremes. Long suffering and law-abiding, they merelj relievo their feelings by telling each other what they think of the manage ment, recommending their friends to give the unsatisfactory establishment a miss Recently, however, a disturbance occurred at a suburban picture palace, the pro prietor of which, after running an excit ing film, crammed with love, blood, and hair-breadth adventures, for a week greatly annoyed those who came to see it a second time by calmly omitting several interesting episodes. Half the audience had paid hard-earned money tc enjoy the show again, and, enraged beyond endurance at the unwarrantable "cuts," they made a wild rush for the proprietor's room, surprising the timid official in the act of flight. The directeur, to gain time, bade the malcontents descend to the box office. . "I will," said he, "telephone instructions to the young lady in charge; you have but to present the counterfoils" of your tickets to have the price refunded. . ." The wary man did not keep faith witli the disgruntled ones. He certainly used the apparatus, but the police-station was his objective, and five minutes later a posse of very stern policemen, armed with revolvers, had interposed their deter , mined persons between the infuriated audience and the treasure chest. The propriotaire, though very far-seeing, made the mistake of thinking that the angry crowd, on being dispersed, would go quietly home. A hundred strong men and revengeful women, lying in wait for the foxy one, beat p.nd buffeted him till his face became unrecognisable. Stretched on a bed of sickness, he now regrets not having kept faith with the public. Sporting Dogs Favoured. For many a mouth the Parisienne has set her, affections on the Pekingese, the little Belgian toy dog, the French bull dog, and other varieties which, so to speak, are in the picture. Sport, however, now dominates the lives of countless mesdames and mesdemoiselles; consequently, sporting dogs are favoured. No longer is there a demand for "Tonton," curly, tiny, and (once) so alluring; his place is ruthlessly usurped by the rat-worrying bull terrier, the rabbit-chasing whippet, the coursing greyhound—and even the fox hound. Indeed, one lady, noted for advanced ideas, always is accompanied by a couple when she takes her morning and afternoon walk in the Bois. Imported from England, they make their proud owner the envy of equally advanced and less fortunate women. She has been interviewed by the pushful reporters of an enterprising Press; many a newspaper photographer has prevailed upon tlie hounds to pose for him. One was taken in the act of chasing a cat, the picture appearing in a satirical news sheet, under the mocking and playful heading, "Vive le sport!" Incidentally, the proprietress of the hounds had to pay a huge import duty on the acquisition. Another lady, who earns her living by displaying a pair of shapely (and heavily insured) legs at a music Hall, goes one better. Through the good offices of an' ex-admirer in India, she has procured ' a Ram pur deer hound, a leggy animal j which looks as if it had been rolling in feathers, so fluffy is tlie creature's' appearance. Bre.d by a Rajah, Bigli (the Hindosstani for "lightning") is fleeter . than the wind, as the possessor of the , treasure recently found to her cost. When ! enjoying the air with his adoring mistress, greedy Bigli snatched a small joint from a butcher's shop, and, after upsetting the enraged master of the ; establishment, darted off with incredible speed. The butcher, unhappily, sustained, damage to a protuberant nose—the bone w_s broken. j The music hall performer, after settling the doctor's bill, is five thousand francs poorer than she was. But, philosopher-like, she declares: "My Bigli is worth the outlay! One cannot be the only woman in Paris to own a Rampur deerbound without paying for the privilege!" Adversity has no terrors lor her. •-•• • - - 5»•'«•- ? • X