MILLIONAIRE'S FUNERAL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 574, 31 July 1909, Page 12

MILLIONAIRE'S FUNERAL.

EXTRAORDINARY SCENES IN PARI3. PROCESSION HOOTED. ,; Tho ostentatious filnoral which M. Chaoohnrd, the Paris millionaire, had ordered, took place early in June, Jt. Loubet,, and several.. Ministers being'present,'and militarj honours feeing accorded.- Popular dissatisfaction and irritation took very unseemly form; tho prrxosion being brokoiv and hooted, and disorderly scencs taking place outsido bh< Madeleiiio and at Peru Lachaisc. * After all, and in Epite of many disquieting symptoms observable in these latter days, tho Parisians have not lost their sonso of tho ridiculous (says the "Daily News' 1 correspondent). Still, it is a pity that tho death and the funeral of 11. Alfred Chauchard, or anybody's death, should bo the source of this reassurance. The feeling of reverence, of mystery, of awo which the passing away of tho veriest waif eliould awake appears .to\ have boon totally wanting among the ecorco of thousands of idlers who marched round tho gorgeous coffin in the Avenue Velasquez mansion, or watched tho immense prooession to tho fashionable church of the Madeleine and to tho cemetery of Pere Laehaiso. ; For its lafck of everything suggesting th« saerodness and majesty of death tho exhibit tion' appears unoxamplcd. Amongst the mul- • titudes who trooped in to view tho body during the two hours beforo the funeral procession thero were jj*mical whisperings about tho splendour of tho £2000 ooffih and tho still jihwo valuaßfe pearl studs arid 1 sleovotnks on tho dead man's dress-shirt, the expensive buttons on bis white waistcoat, ajid tin dandified cut of hia dress coat and trousers. A man in the crowd, who »aid that hia business as a small shopkeeper had been mined by M.'Ch'auchard thirty years ago, cried out: "All that money spent upon the funeral tho philanthropist would have given to the anacmic girls and shopmen and clerks who earned his dividends while he slept." Employees'. Crlewance. Maay_ of tho rougher spirits amongst Uh crowd, impatient to get: inside, made a rush for tho entrance. The police' drove thera back. There were scuff lings, whistlings, and somo arrc-ste. Tbo pc-ople of Paris are renowned for their manners, and particularly for tbo respect they show to funeral processions, however humble they mar be. But on this occasion there wag scarcdy a tra« of their habitual doforencc and decorum. The hundreds upon hundreds of clerks and shop assistants from the Louvre stores wta followed the gorgeously-dcoorated funeral car considered that this dnty fenist upon them was' a humiliation. Nor were t».*rc any signs of ' reverence or of sorrow^—except at the waste of' money—in tho CTordi who lined the ruuto from the mansion to tho church. v - ;

There were,': indeed, many attempts te break through the police oordon, ,and son* of the rioters sucoeedcd in reaching one of tho ychiclce. la'denVwith wreaths and floral tributes to the deceased, of which they secured a quantity estimated to be worth several hundred pounds. Camelots ran about Telling: "M. ' ChaachardV Last Will and Testament.'' .And on every hand wa6 heard the. joking inquiry: "Has ho left yoa nothing?" .'v. , At the iron gates in front of: the Madeleino.»tho. crowd tried to! rush .into . tha church, but the police and- gendarmes-held their ground. Many people were ~ much knocked ' about.A band of "midinettes" (droseiflakdrs'. apprentices) j who-had vainly sought admission, ' revenged themselves by" uttering shrill remarks on tho destiliy of, their in. tho Louvre stores.,M. Erailo Loubot, ex-President of tha French Republic, appeared in tho profession as also tho official representative or M, Fallieres, tho present Chief, of State; arid several Ministers. Cavalry and infantry formed an honorary guard to tho , deceased Grand Cross of the Logion of llonour, and his jhsigniSjhf the Order wore borno on a cushion in the' proccssion. ■ : J Horseplay at Pore Lachalsa. A noisy, "demonstration began after . the cortege had .started.from tho church'for tho .cemetery,* and. this* oontitoledi in the* lluo do Rivoli, Place ,i3e la .B,astillo s ;and on;, the ' Boulevard Voltaire. Jokers cried out..."Raise your, hats. I '/ To which the reply was, "It'f not worth; while." , The crufelv and horseplay at tho cemetery gates nearly developed into a' free light. - ;' \ v'- - ; • ' The funeral has given rise- to a flow of steriek about M. Chauchard's 1 laclr of' gonerosity, his gift to tho French National Gallery being tho one act of his' which meets., with' unreserved praise. The Municipal Council, who: let hiiji have one of . his town mansions, ; which was : jiublic ( property, '" (it something like, half rent on the strength of : an; implied proft.isb' that in his will ho would deal' bandaomfely by : the town' whore he piled ,ui) his millions. are highly disgusted at his legacy of modlocre bronzfcs, statues ( and—garden scats 1 \ ,-; 'X • On tho around that he was a subspriber; to the : Piijjlic■, Aid Society M. Chauchard always; refused ' to help individual distress. Having bought' Millet's "Angolus"' ftom its American owner, he . considered, lio had,'sufficiently honoured the memory of tho artist, who Kid-received' a few, pounds; for ono of : tlid fliest paintings in existence,, and "He, would not help Millet's children when they \voro .left''destitnte.' . . ... \ Tho millulnairo'sintenso ; vanity is, shown by the following anecdote, among, many ..re* tiiled' by!'his' personal acquaintances.;: "The century, has produced slirccL groat, uien, an ex-Minister-Hiis intimate friend—said to hutti one day'; "Victor Hugo, Pasteur, iiuid j'oiirself.l' "W&ll, ', yes," was the rci>ly,.- ; after a long, reflective pause; "I hadn't though# of Pasteur." ■' :• '■