OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 131, 4 June 1924, Page 9

OUR PARIS LETTER

A LITTLE TOO NORMAN

EX-MINISTER'S BANQUET.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT)

PARIS, 9th APRIL.

'. Although no longer able to meet rouad a green cloth, the Ministers and under-secietaries who. were in the first I'oincare Cabinet and are but of the second decided to assemble round a white one, or, iii other words, to lunch together. M. Henry Cheron, who until recently ' .represented Agriculture, was appropriately / entrusted with the arrangements, and the luncheon, which took place at a well-known restaurant, was a great success. The only fault found with the organiser was that, being a native of Normandy, he made the menu a little too Norman. It included a matelotte ' normande, a canaton de Rouen au sang, and of course, the trou normand-a glass of Calvadis or some other spirit taken in the middle of the meal. The whole company was full of that delightful feeling of relief that comes with the knowledge that one's responsibilities have ceased. The conversation was light-hearted, the speeches were witty, and everyone, we are told; respected the undertaking to abstain from talking politics. WHO INVENTED THE MOTOR- • " • CAR? While the discussion still rages.round the' question, of the inventor of ' the cinema, it may be asked : Who invented the'motor-car? Tho inventor is usually ascribed to Daimler, who applied on 27th December, 1886..f0r a patent for a carriage furnished with a petrol engine. This,' according to / the Documentation ■1< manciere, is a mistake, for 14 months earlier a similar patent had been applied for, on 23rd October; 1885, by a man named Belmont, and in his case the carriage already existed and was running about the roads and even climbing gentla -slopes "in August of that year. Belmont's carriage was built of wood, with a bronze engine showing all the features of the modern motor, notably the carburettor. A platinum lamp heated, to incandescence this engine. Belmont, like ma"hy other inventors, was none -the richer "for his carriage. For 15 years he worked on his model, applying for fresh patents at'intervals, but never reaching fame or wealth. Yet his model, modified-and perfected, was the foundation of the motor-car industry of today and the base of many a fortune. FRENCH ACADEMY'S WORD ; TEST. A It is almost as difficult for a new word to get into the French Academy dictionary as it is for an eld reputation to enter the Academy.itself." The candidates are put through' sevf.rc. tests. To begin with, they have no chance at all unless they happen to satisfy M. Rebelliau, who is a sort of semi-o'fficial registrar of verbal births.' He putSy them down in alphabetical order and presents them from time to time to the five Academicians who: form the dictionary committee. When this -body meets,' each of the five has before'him a copybook having a sheet of the last edition of the dictionary- stuck on the left-hand page and the new words inscribed "on the right, under a large point of interrogation... ; The claims of. the. candidates are fully discussed, andyif admitted, are referred to the next meeting- of the whole Academy. In this way it wa's decided, that, "football"' had earn-.-d its place s in the French language, but that "basketball" could wait; that is. in the sport signification which came in during the war, is pukka, but that the much older Word beca.ie (bicycle) is not. The derivation of this la=t word may be worth relating to those who dj not know it. During the bicycle crazo a quarter of a century ago a manufacturer, on one of his visits to his factory, had a bad cold, which caused him to transform the word mecanicien into becanicien. From that day onward, every skilled .workman in the factory was a becanicien, and ,it was natural to narrow down the new j word so as to signify the article they manufactured. ■ A RISKY CALLING. Detectives run more lisks .than ordinary citizens. They may be shot or stabbed while trying to arrest dangerous malefactors.. They have to travel in all sorts of speedy conveyances when thev would rather stay at home, and they have been known to. catoh bad : colds while lurking in draughty places to catch criminals. Jealously must no-v be added to their list of professional perils, On Monday a detective named Gorrier was questioning the 23-year-old wife of the concierge of a house ir. the Faubourg Saint-Denis whet; the concierge himself, livid with rage, burst into the lodge. Taking him for a madman, the detective jumped out of the window, into the-courtyard, and was immediately shot in the leg by the infuriated janitor. The victim" of duty was led, limping, to the nearest chemist, who bandaged his leg and sent him to hosp.ital. The concierge was arrested. THE CONCIERGE'S CHAMPIONS. : The over-busy Rue Lepic, which winds up steeply to : the top'of Montmartre hin, was more than usually animated yesterday morning. According to the "Prosso," the commotion was the result of an attempt to turn a concierge 'out of her home. The prorrietor of the house gave the conciergt notice to. quit, but she refused to go, and the 'andlord decided to take !egal\ steps to enforce his.wishes. The Federation oE Tenants however, took up the caso of the concierge, and called a meeting of its members yesterday on (he seen? of the dispute. A bailiff, accompanied by a police commissary, was to have carried out the eviction yesterday, 'but late in the day the concierge was still in' poses- i sion, with an imposing guard of members of the federation, the "acreiary of which has declared that the concierge's logo will be strenuo isly defended against all comers. "The' concierge is without means," he says, '"and has a family who must be assure i of a shelter. FATE OF A VOTING MACHINE. The history of an ingenious voting machine, which at one time promised to brinw fame, and fortune to its inventor, M. ltousso, a Rumanian engineer, is told by Excelsior. It was first, tried two years ago at one of the Paris mairies, and although the results were not considered quite satisfactory, it was taken to the Chamber of Deputies and installed in one of the committee-rooms. The inventor was the recipient of a good deal of official encouragement, and was granted a subvention of 2000frs bv the Minister of the Interior. Fresh trials were to be made and a report drawn up and it was generally anticipated that the ingenious machine would be adopt-' ed. Months and months passed, however, and nothing was dore. Meanwhile tho machine collected a thick coatiiio-. of dust and was forgottei until the other day, when M. Roussy was convoked to the Chamber. His hopes that the reward of his inventive genius was at hand, however, were disappointed The convocation was foe the purpose of asking him to fake his machine awav

FEAR OF BLINDNESS DHASIA., Slephan Fortorp, a Rumanian stonecutter, was arrested under siugular cir-

cumstances in the Rue d'Amstcrdanvori Tuesday. Some months ago, while he was at work, a small piece o't stone injured his left eye so badly that it was found necessary to remove the 'Jrga'iii Since then he has bten possessed"witli the idea that the sight of his remaining eye was giving.Way, and that lieWould become-blind As he auriounee-d his intention of killing the furgeon who performed the operation, he was watched by detectives, who arrested him just, as he was entering the house in .which the suigeon lived. Fortbrp, who appears to be insane, is detained in an infirmary. 14-YEAR OLD ASTRONOMER,. ' A fourteen-year-old boy has iu;t astonished the French Astronomical Society. With a small' terrestrial sr-hei a and a heterogenous collection of. objects from his toy box, lie s ronftructed an apparatus which won the admiration of the learned assembly. An electiic lamp represents the sun, and ml a semi-dark-enedroom it gives all the effects of the lighting of. the earth's regions. A small motor keeps the ,-phere revolving on its axis, and at the same time drives it on its course round the sun • - ' ; ■-■