OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 73, 23 September 1922, Page 12

OUR PARIS LETTER

WAR NAMES FOR STREETS

"THE MAN WHO BROKE THE

BANK"

(Written for "The Post.") PARIS, 2nd August.

Numerous proposals, made during the last year or two, for naming Paris thoroughfares after Frenchmen who rendered eminent service to their country during the war are discussed in a report submitted to the Municipal Council by MM, Ernest Gay and A. Deville. They recommend that, the Avenue dv Bois de Boulogne be called the Av«nue dv Marechal Foch, and that the continuation of this avenue to the lakes.should become the Avenue dv Mareohal Petahi; that the Cours de Vincesnes be named the Avenue dv Marechal Jofire ; the Boulevard Ragpail (as regards the portion between the Boulevard .SaintGermain and the Boulevard dv Montparnasse) the Boulevard dv President Poincare; and that the portion of theAvenue Malakoff nearest to the Avenue dv Bois de Boulogne be, called the Aevenue Georges Clemenceau. It is also proposed to give this street-corner commemoration to several eminent personages who had nothing to do with the Great War, such as Montalembert, the Catholic orator; Jean Delent, the art critic; Massenet and Planquette, the composers; Henri Bechefort, the politician and journalist; Alfred Roll, the painter; Edmond Rostand, the poet; Bottin, the founder of the Paris direotory, and several other Parisians of lesser note. , DEATH OF MONTE CARLO WELLS. Mr. Charles de Ville Wells, famous as the man whose exploits inspired Mr. Charles Coburn's celebrated song, "The Man who broke the v Bank at Monte Carlo," has died iD Paris at the age of 81. At the time of his death, the man, who, according to his own account, made enormous winniiigs at Monte Carlo, was only in receipt of an allowance of 2500 francs a year—utter poverty in these days of' dear living. ' Although he was reported to have made a fortune at Monte Carlo, soon after his returr to London in 1893, Wells, became -bankrupt. Later he was sentenced in England to eight years' penal servitude for obtaining money by false pretences, and, on his release, he came to Paris, where he was again sentenced to a long term of imprisonment for fraud. On. regaining^ his freedom, Wells open- r ed a business m Paris called "La Rente Bi-Menseuelle," He offered 1 pei cent, interest per day on money sent to him for investment. Within six months, more than 2,O0O;0OQ/francs was ; re-; ceived, of which 900,000 francs was paid out in interest, and of th- remainder, the greater part was invested. in the purchase in England of annuities: and mortgages in favour of his mistress, said to be the wife of a doctor. For this Wells was sentenced in Paris to five years,, and his mistress to thirteen months' imprisonment. As it was to the.interest of his creditors that he should live as long as possible, when it became known two' •oi three years ago that he was in Paris :in a state of destitution, it was agreed that he should be given the allowance of 2500 francs a year mentioned above.

'MONSIEUR CAFFE BILLARD."

• In France it is forbidden to call your child by any name yon like. The law •on the subject dates back to 11. Germinal, year XI. (Ist April, 1803), and ordains that only those Christian, names shall be allowed in the registers which are to be found in the different calendars, or are those of some personage of ancient history. As a matter of fact, it was soon found very difficult to abide by the letter of \his law, as the calendars contained very few women saints, and, accordingly the endings " me," "ette," or "cc " were added to some of the saints' names for the benefit of baby girls. Recently, however, one of these names, Henriette, was declared, not to be acceptable 'by the registrar. Consulted as to what would ba the best solution to such a state of affairs, M. Edouard Levy, Secretary of the Registers' Commission, said that at first sight it would seem the best thing to do would be to leave entirely free choice to the parents. The drawback would be, he continued; that some parents would give their children freak names, and he quoted an authentic case of a cafe-keeper who, a few years, before the law was passed, christened his soil " Gaffe Bil» lard." So he thought the best thing was to go on as at present, and leave the registrars to decide whether a name was acceptable or not. A STUDY IN ECONOMY. Many are the suggestions which are reaching M. Haudin, the new Prefect of Police in Paris, for the solution Of the city's traffic problem. According to " La Presse," one suggestion which has been made is that funeral processions should be prohibited in the busiest pslrts of the day, the allegation being, of course, that the traffic is much disorfanised by a slow-moving cortege. "La 'resse," however, points out that there are" many interests to be considered. There is, for instance, one is told, a certain boulevard gallant who is wont, ■when taking a fair companion for an airing in a taxicab, to follow a funeral procession. On arrival at the cemetery, he makes a bold show of intending ,to pay the driver. The undertaker, however, usually rushes up to him, praying him to put away his purse. "The family, monsieur," he declares, " have arranged to pay for all those who have followed the procession." All of which goes to show the traffic problem involves some extremely delicate considerations. 400 HUSBANDS. In these days^ when marriageable women are far more numerous than marriageable men, the sudden advent of 400 potential husbands in the marriage market is an event which is. calculated to create no little flutter in the realms of spinsterdom., Such an event in "the French capital, however, has to be recorded. Ihe new recruits to the ranks of marriageable man are members of the Republican Guard. Only a certain percentage of the force are allowed to marry, but. recently the Paris Municipal Council voted a sum of money toward their upkeep, with.the result that an ad' ditional 400 men have now been given permission to enter into matrimony. The Republican Guard is probably one of .the smartest bodies of men in the capital, and love-lorn maidens will doubtless find them more' interesting than ever when they go marching by. • ' A POETICAL HOAX. French 'literary circles are still shaking with laughter at the expense of the population of La Rocheljle, that historic and picturesque port for which Richelieu battled ■so obstinately with the British. Ona day last wqfek the local newspaper received a letter, signed "Comtesse de Noailles,' 1 France's foremost woman poet, enclosing a long poem singing the glories and beauties Of La Roehelle, which, the author explained, she hud recently had occasion to visit' and admire. The paper lost iib time in publishing the poem ml heavy type and on the front page, accompanying it by a dithyrombio article destined to make the wliolp town thrill to the honour and homage thus rendered to it by the great ,

poetess. The literary academy of La Roohelle held an extraordinary meeting, at which the Comtesse was elected honorary member amid delirious enthusiasm, and later sent her an address of thanks illuminated on parchment. -■ What was their dismay when they received *a telgram from the noble and gifted lady, declaring that the verses were not by her at all, and that, moreover, she had nevei set foot in La Rochelle in hei life. However, the good people of La Rochelle are to be compensated for the cruel hoax perpetrated on them by some wag,' who did not fear to awaken the Huguenot memories of the ancient city to the stirring song of a modern ardent Catholic. Mme. de Noailles has promised to make a special journey to. the town, and to recite in public verses composed for the occasion by herself. ANALYSING A SMILE. The kinema in M. Bruneau's system, lends itself to various tricks that are ingeniously turned, to useful account. One film illustrating,the phenomena of laughter, showed first the features of a handsome young man spreading into a smile,* and then "into hearty laughter; the image was then slowly transformed into one of the same face with the muscdes exposed. The bare skull afterwards appeared, the teacher's pencil intervening to mark the muscles brought into play by the emotion. H was uncanny but very vivid and fascinating,, and as the lecturer pointed out, it makes anatomy something more than a mere indigestible list of Latin nameis.