PARISIANA.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 242, 12 October 1929, Page 11 (Supplement)

PARISIANA.

JEWEL THIEF OUTWITTED. GAOL FOR FALSE INTERVIEW. TRAGEDY IN. DENTIST'S ROOMS. (By GEORGE CECIL.) Those who recollect how; a short time ago an enterprising Spaniard got clean away with a super-valuable pearl necklace by introducing a sedative into the brandy, which, the jeweller's messenger :was enjoying, .may be , interested ,m learning that another Paris, jewel thief hae been singularly, unsuccessful. The laugh, in' short, is very much on the jeweller's side, for the newspapers have accorded him so much publicity that Ms establishment- has been crowded for the past few days. 'Tie as well known as the Eiffel Tower; even more /popular tlan the movies.

■A eingularly alluring lady walked into the shop one afternoon and requested to be shown an 'emerald ring. To see was to admire prodigioui-ly,^ the stone being a veal beauty,, something quite out of the ordinary, a gaud calculated to render every woman possessing an inferior emerald madly jealous. While the admiring customer "was occupied in looking at the ring from every point of view, the assistant, growinc suspicious, consulted an invaluable work in which the description of .certain undesirable callers is entered. A glance strengthening his distrust, he conferred aside with the manager, who, to. the salesman's great astonishment, raised no objection to the bauble changing hands in return for a cheque "Allow me to pack it for you,' said the manager, with a gallant bow. The lady-having left, the assistant looked ead, and, on being pressed for a reason, unburdened himself. "When you 'find that cheque returned with the fatal words 'no funds' written across it, where, alas, will my commission j)e? quoth the cautious assistant. "The cheque will not be presented," replied the directeur with the merriest of twinkles in a roguish eye. "I know all about Madame, and I would give a bottle of champagne to be present when she attempts to sell the ring, which, during packing operations, I substituted. It was a five franc imitation which we used ae a model." The relieved salesman, with his employer's permission, quickly phoned the story to a news agency, to receive a hundred francs honorarium. Better than a poke in the eye -with a burnt stick, as* the highhrows v say.

"And the lady," you may ask. "Did she offer the ring for sale,to some rascally dealer in ill-gotten merchandise?'. .Your scribe cannot answer.the question, for, though his acquaintance embraces "all sorts and conditions of men," it does not include receiver?- of stolen .property. A lamentable oversight.

Gaol for Adventurous Journalist. English justice, so often kind to that mighty engine ' the , Press, and to all who are connected with it, lets off lightly writers of faked interviews with prominent persons. In France they do tMnoB better, as a too-enterpnsmg journalist has found to his cost, a years imprisonment having be,en awarded him ior his impudence. Employed by a, shameless American daily paper as .Tans correspondent, and given a free hand in the matter of invention, he was peremptorily, ordered -to interview M. Clemenceau. Ready to face anybody, the intrepid scribe welcomed the_ difficult task and sought the "Tiger" in his country lair. M. Clemenceau, however, was not in the least anxious to see the. would-be visitor, sending out a message to that effect. The not-to-be-denied fellow, then waylaying the aged statesman as he took a walk, greeted him with a too familiar salutation. M. Clemenceau very properly turned his back on the unabashed bounder, who, speedily returning to Paris, covered several pages with highly-coloured inventions, cabling the rubbish, to his empjoyer. "Gee!" said the recipient. "This is the goods!" No doubt it was "the goods." But, appearing in the news sheet's Paris edition the. paper quickly fell foul of the police authorities, who, tracking the conscienceless scribe■ to a mean cafe, where he was drinking heavily, bore him off to the lock-up. A very short trial resulted in his being pilnished—and rigorously.

A Mad Dentist. dentists are so circumspect, both m*"public and in private, that the profession has long been held up as a model of demeanour. Yet, one of these people has disgraced himself, and under extraordinary circumstances. A pale, trembling lady recently introduced herself to the practitioner, an oddlooking fellow with a murderous expression. . . "I have been unable to make an appointment," she explained. "But no doubt you have time for a short operation—to extract a tooth. I wish to take gas; I have, in fact, gone without lunch for that purpose. All is in perfect order: let us, then, proceed. .." The unfortunate woman little knew that she had rushed on her doom, for no sooner was the victim well under, than the operator falling to, extracted tooth after tooth. Had the patient not awoken from the "twilight sleep" she might have left the surgery with her mouth as empty as a baby's. Meanwhile, on coming to, and discovering what had been done, she gave a mighty shriek, which brought her waiting husband on the scene 5 . Observing ' much blood on the poor thing's lips, and noticing the dentist's fiendish looks, he promptly drew his revolver and laid the practitioner low. Never will the monster draw another tooth.

Scarcely had the smoke cleared away than a docto'r, accompanied by'the dental surgery assistant, precipitated himself into the room. .-,'. "I suspected my employer to be, a lunatic," gasped the agitated man, "and I went for a physician, in order that suspicion might be confirmed. That is why, in my absence, he administered gas unaided. . ." Truly a gruesome happening. >Jiy-

The Russian Boot Vogue. Paris, drawing the line at fashions which are favoured in London, has long jeered at the Russian boot. Lately, however, rainy weather has played such havoc with the shoos and stockings of those ladies who were forced to be out on wet days that Parisiennes are tolerating the footgear which they once considered unsightly. So Russian boots, in brown and patent leather, the lastnamed for choice, abound on the boulevards, and, with their moderately high heels and smart cut, they are the reverse of eyesores. Mistinguett has been observed wearing them, while Lil Dagover, her rival in the shapely calves direction, also favours the innovation. Mistinguett prefers brown leather; Lil Dagover, while admitting that colour has its attraction, plumps for the patent variety. Her boots certainly are the neatest thing imaginable.

Cecile Sorel, not to be outdone by these distinguished representatives of the music hall and the "movies," possesses lizard skin Russian boots, the costliest of their kind. Few women, either on the stage or off it, follow her example, unless they have the luck tn be rich beyond the dreams of avarice, fjr lizard skin is amongst the dearest of Paris luxuries, a vast price being charged for it. A pocket-book (the smallest of all leather articles) means a more.or less considerable outlay, when 'tis of .lizard skin.