OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 146, 21 June 1924, Page 13

OUR PARIS LETTER

ANATOLE FRANCE 80

GREAT FRENCH WRITER STILL

AT WORK

C/EOH 001 l OWH CORRESPOKDEST.)

PARIS, 30th April,

Tha great French writer, Anatole Franco, poet, novelist, and critic, is eighty to-day, and yet his intimates say he la working harder than he has ever werked In a busy life, ' Only a few menths ago life health was giving his {fiends cause for anxiety, but now he has reeuperatad, and avary day hi» fa* cfle pen is inditing in elegant language the thoughts of his ever-fertile brain. What leisure ha permits himself Is do^ voted to the interests ef hia.ecnratry 63' tate, To learn that his pigs are thriv= ing and tliafc his fruit trees are in flower1 brightens his smile and quickens his thoughts as he labours at his desk in the Villa Said, where he has his Paris home. His real name is Anatale Francois Thibaulfe, and he is Parisian born, All |Fr A :e and hosts of people abroad whose ' adnuratioa he has earned by his works will wish him many happy returns in j spirit, and his post bag to-day will be : a heavy one, Literary circles are to signalise to-day's anniversary by a special ceremony, and deputations represent tative of other spheres of pnbuo life I will wait on him with their good wishes, HOUSING THE OLYMPIC OROWB, The combined efforts of tha Prefeo^ of Police, the Paris hoteikeepers and ! the French Olympio Committee have borne fruit, says the "Matin." Since it began to function the "official service of accommodation" of the Olympio Committee has received more than 20,000 offers of accommodation from hotels, i boarding houses, etc., and it is said that ; these offers will ■ provide shelter for 100,000 visitors during the Olympio Games. The tariff of charges has been drawn up with a strict regard for the pockets of these visitors, and it should i ensure freedom from profiteering. All ! the premises on the list have been visit-: ed and approved by one of the twentyfive inspectors employed for this purpose by the Olympio Committee, and the applications lor accommodation which arrive daily at the offices of the Services |dv Logement are speedily dealt with. '' NO BELIEF WITH RISE IN THE 1 FRANC. | Though the franco has improved wonderfully its purchasing power has not increased in the same proportion^ and in the markets of Paris housekeepers are at their wits' end to get together a, menu that is wholesome and economical. Butter, which until Ist June cannot be exported, remains obstinately at winter prices, and in other departments of the markets there is no improvement to be i discerned. Tims rabbits are offered as I 9frs 25c the kilo (2.21b), which is probI ably a record price, and chickens are ! quoted at anything between 14fre and |21fra the kilo. There are plovers' eggs to be had, bnt they are marked 4frs each, and the first morils, the delicate 'golden mushrooms, the first of the season, are at 35frs the kilo. Ag for vegetables, a cabbage may cost gfrs and is scarce at that, spinach is 2frs or 2frs 50c the kilo in the Central Markets, and cauliflowers are still at 2frs each or more. CHANGED HIS MIND. After a quarrel with his wife. Jacques Desbois, who lives in the Eve Basfroi, felt that his cup of bitterness was everflowing. As he was so little appreciated at home he thought he might just as well go and drown himself. Full of this desperate design, and talking excitedly to himself, he reached the Pont Notre Dame, and exclaiming, "J'en ai maare," a colloquial and up-to-dafe way of saying that one is "fed up," he climbed over the parapet. His movements, however, had attracted the attention sf two passers-by. They rushed forward, and one of them grabbed him by the leg and the other by the seat of his trousers just as he was plunging to a watery grave. They hauled him up and deposited him on the pavement. His anger having melted away, the love of life reasserted itself, and he warmly thanked his rescuers. EMPRESS ENGENIE'S FORTUNE. The French Chamber of Deputies has approved an agreement concluded between the State and the heirs of "Eu-genic-Marie de Guzman, Comtesse de Teba, widow of Charles-Louis Napoleon III;, better known as ex-Empress Eiigenie," to quote the official report. The agreement relates to the fortune possessed in France by the exiled Empress. The value of this estate is nine million francs, in which sum is included 4,592,000 francs, which the State was condemned '? .pay as tne balance of the Imperial civil list. Against the "estate is a claim by tlio inland "revenue authorities for 7,593,CC0 francs taxation, nnd the Chamber has agreed to the settlement of the estate on this basis, that is, taking account of both claims. Other credits voted by the Chamber include 2,700,C00 francs far the participation of the State School of Fine Arts in next year's Decorative Arts Exhibition in Paris, and 487.000 francs for the needs of the technical schools which will be represented there. FATE'S CRUEL JOKE, Misery and destitution are not easily associated with one's conception of Paris. But they exist, though the spectre hovers over other great cities mere ayiduously. In the Levallois-Perrot district, at the gates of Paris, says the "In. transient," there lives an old man who has dragged out his weary life to its 84th year by selling erode little statuettea, which he carves in wood and ivory. Illness has now pinned him to his ragged mattress, and, wasted by hunger, ceaseless labour, ami the penalties of n stubborn pride, he is nearlntj the grave, with a row ef half-finished IMe models grinning grotesquely at him from his bench. His only guardian is a weakly daughter, who wrings Her hands in despair as sho watches her father's life flickering out. And his name is Gagnepain, No longer can he win his bread. Hia name is just a cruel joke now for Fate to laugh over. CATCHING YOUR EYE. Enterprise and ingenuity are being displayed in recent French advertising methods. Some of the latest ideas are on a plane with those standing to the credit of the publicity experts of America, the recognised home of novelty in this art. The French postal authorities, with commendable business acumen set to work recently to decrease the working deficit _by bespattering telegraph form with intimations about the merits of motor-cars, the jucinesa of certain jams, the sovereign virtues of something-or-other for sciatica, and so on. Then activities were extended to the covers of books of postage stamps, and to the stamps themselves, or rathsr the edging of gummy paper which is sold with them" Neat and telling publicity now runs along this white border, and the P.T.T. deficit is steadily shrinking. One of the latest examples of cunning which germinate in t!io brains of advertising experts is seen when you receive a. letter in one of those double envelopes, which urp1 in almost general use in France. Xav. &vU-act Uw letter <m 4 Ui&u your

eye catches something you have lift in the envelope. You tear it out, and find it is the inner sheath printed with a clarion call from some firm, which is anxious to do business with you.

BOULEVARD GUIDES CON-

TROLLED,

Tha guides who wait on visitors to Paris and proffer their assistance in showing thorn round the sights aro to be controlled. The Prefect of Polico conaidors this step necessary m the best a way that any wisitor may be euro he aims at organising tha fraternity in such a way that any visit may be sure h» is in reliable and capable hands when he engages the services of a guide. In future, only men of ETonch. nationality who have fulfilled their military obligations, have satisfied tha pelico as to character, and have passed a professional examination before a special police commission will he allowed to act as guides. Successful applicants will be licensed and given a badge, and they will be assigned a ''beat,"