OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 8, 10 January 1925, Page 13

OUR PARIS LETTER

TAXI-PHONES , 25CENTIMES SLOT CALLS (»Bok ocr own couuromiar.) I PARIS, 13th November. Pans now has "coin-in-the-slot" puttlio telephones. There are six at -the Gare dv Nord, and one at each of the four "Tube" etations-Opera, Pal.i, Royal, Republic^*, and Saint-Lesare (fcora-Sud). The customer puts a 25 centime piece in a slot, unhook* the receiver, and asks for the number ha When he is told that the con-' nection is made he presses a button and hears th 6 voice at the other end Of th« ■wire. If. there Is no connection, he - presses another button and gets his «oin back. The telephones are workedby • private company, which retains 20 per cent, of the takings, the other 80 per cent, going to lhe p ost Qffice provision of these taxiphones, as they aro called in .French, is -unconnected with the projected installation rfa «nPari, aut£ raatio. telephone service *k f™-. E™n »* the installation of » general automatic service were taken in }? nd..£ t oncf» the system, according to the "Temps," would not become u^fve> sally ..operative before 1940 or-1945. BUDGET PEOBLEMS. • taJ ancin X of the family budget Is a aifficult matter for maVhouJhold. t w^? days of hi Sh Prices, but the estabi^ hmenfc of bj? and . B»JM tute of a great country U'-w infinitely mor 6 delicate and difficult task Although the French Parliament t at. pietfrfL JOJi n? a r? cess ' stat«smeni politicians, and financiers, to say nothing^ the man in the street, are'thinkin! of Prance's Budget for 1925.- A^rdinf to the IntransigeanV'-the Government v determined that the 1925 Budget shall balance itself. Expenditure must be - met hy revenue, and therefore, although the bonus to meet the high cost of liring is to be maintained in favour of State employees, other civil-and milt. tary expenditure is to be cut down rizorously. Nevertheless, it is stated that the recent increase in taxation of 20 per cent., and the business turnover tax will have to be maintained if the coffers of. the national Treasury are to be filled. ' "A HOUSE STOLEN. ~ ' - Some would have thought that aim* had reached ite high point, but a new level is set by the stealing of a-whole house in the-Rue de la Salpetriere-in fans. It even appears that,the trick is not very difficult.' The policemen, who would arrest you if you were to take a .lollipop from a candy store, do not think of asking "question, if you start to run off with a house. Mme. Oabert had one built of wood, and it was almost finished when she was called away to be with a sick relative at Nantes. When she came back, the found the house gone! And that is all she knows. It is suspected that her nusband, from whom she was recently divorced, removed it out of spite,' WOMEN MOTOR DMVBRS. Frenchwomen are unmistakably taking to motor-car driving. In four months, from the middle of April to the njiddS 1 of August, 1711 of them applied. faTto, ' Paris district alone: for 4nvin£Uosß«es. More than haU-WO-peesedTtli fat ■ test, and 373 were luocawral s* the second attempt. Only 86 w«e rejected. At this rate, the ranks of the abuf- ! feurs will increase by 4000 *mty yen, , without counting those who obtain their licenses in the provinces. Mew Pscisf. ennes have taken advantage el their holidays to learn how to manage a ear. An official of the road trafflo department of the Prefecture of Police expressed the opinion that, while- many of them are first-rate drivers, they are more eat than men, as a rule, to lose their' head* , in an emergency, and are less able to pull up quickly. On the other hand, they are more careful than men, and very few accidents have yet been laid at their door. It would thus appear that a larger proportion of women drivers would give.greater safety, to the mass of negligible individuals who go on foot. HEROIC YOUTH REMEMBERED. Trapped at the outbreak of the war within the German lines at Lille, Leoa Marlot', aged thirteen,- vowed that he' would not bow his head before the enemy. ..With ■ all the unconscious bravado of youth, he fearlessly watched all movements .of the Germans, and so came to the notice of various officers., Taken prisoner, on suspicion, v the lad was forced to work in an aviation camp. Young Marlot, undiscouraged, continued' his careful scrutiny of German manoeuvres, continually hoping he might some day escape and- carry information back to his native country. An attempt to evade his gaolers by means of an airplane met with no success, and this time he was thrown into prison. A third occasion promising liberty offered itself, and for an entire night the boy travelled across country. After successfully passing the two near lines of ■ Uerman trenches, he was again captured. This time sentence was final. At the age of seventeen, Leon Marlot stood up before a line of infantry and was shot dead as aspy. Undismayed by .the row of rifle barrel^ he refused to be blindfolded and just before the fatal volley,-he-cried: ■ •'Vive la. France!" .In recognition of fidelity to his country that is without parallel until the pages'of French history are turned back to the Revolution a bust of the brave lad is to bo placed ,' in the halls of the Linne School at Lille, which he was attending' at the opening of the war. The bust is -to be paid for by public subscription. SHOEMAKER'S ZEAL FOR SHOOTING. A striking example of the passion for shooting game, which comes over many excellent citizens at the opening of the season, is supplied by the following notice on the 'shutters of a shoemaker's shop in the Rue Blanche. "The shoemaker is closed in' consequence of the opening. He will not reopen until the end of September.l' No doubt he meant to refer to his premises, and not to him,self, but even on.this supposition,:it is a little difficult to understand why closing should be caused by opening. The worthy man was in such a hurry to set out after game that he had no time t* revise his prose. ' *