OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 119, 23 May 1925, Page 13

OUR PARIS LETTER

REVOLVING RESTAURANT

NOVELTY AT ARTS EXHIBITION

(FROM 008 OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, Ist April,

One amusing innovation that will be seen when the Exhibition of Decorative Arts opens its doors is a moving restaurant. The restaurant in question is be- I ing organised in one of the big towers that are already a conspicuous featurein the Exhibition landscape from whichever point of view it is seen.; The floor is laid on a turning platform, so that i those seated at the tablos will get a fresh outlook every few minutes, and will, in the course of a lunch or dinner,' make the entire tour of the room without moving from their chairs. The innovation might well be copied in some I of tho restaurants of the beauty spots of France, where such charming vistas are spread out before the traveller. The platform in the Exhibition tower turns with extremely slow pace, so that there is no danger of dizziness for' even the most uneasy .ol travellers. HEART MYSTERY. . A curious sequel to the discovery at tho "Vol da Grace Hospital, Paris, of the heart of Larrey, the celebrated army surgeon whose name is associated with the history of the First Republic and First Empire, is reported from Lyons. Larrey died in that city in 1842, and an insmption on the wall of the chapel of the_ Hospital Desgenettes recorded that his heart was preserved in the building. To solve the mystery, Dr. Roussel, head of the Hospital Desbenettes, caused part of the chapel wall to be removed. A Btone urn was disclosed, and on being opened wag found to contain a dried-up digestive tube. Also in the urn was a certificate, dated 1849, to the effect that Larrey's entrails were enclosed In the urn. The incident shows that even inscriptions carved in stone are not always to bo trusted as to matters of fact. Larrey was buried at Lyons. _ Seven years later hid remains were disinterred and examined, and on this occasion, no doubt, hid heart was removed and 6cnt to Paris.

HOSPITAL SURGEON RESIGNS. A Paris hospital surgeon who accepted a fee of 1600 francs for an operation which he performed on a woman patient in his hospital has handed in his resignation, it having been officially | pointed out to him that ho had comI imtted a breach of the regulations. The j surgeon in question, Dr. Savariaud, states in an interview published by the | "Journal," that in many French towns surgeons are allowed to perform operal tions in public hospitals on their own patients. The prohibition of this practice in Paris is, he considers, much to be regretted, as it is contrary to the interests of middle-class patients, very few of whom can afford to go into a private hospital, and who necessarily act against the interests of the medical profession if they place themselves in' the position of an ordinary hospital patient who is treated free of charge. CARELESS CHAUFFEURS TO LOSE LICENSES. In consequence of the number of street accidents which have lately taken pla«e in. Paris, the Prefect of Police yesterday summoned a special meeting of the committee which deals with motor drivers' licences. It was decided that any driver who is found, after duo inquiry, to be responsible for an accidont will have his license taken away within a week This action will be taken without waiting for the judgment of the Police Court or any other tribunal.. It is also announced that the minimum age for the driver of an omnibus or tram-way-car is raised from twenty to twentyone, and that no license to drive a taxicab will- be granted to anyono under eighteen. According to a member of the committee, most accidents are due to defective brakes. A more frequent arid I rigorous inspection of brakes therefore seems desirable. ...

THE PALAIS ROYAL CANNON.

There are people who would like to hear again the Palais Royal cannon, and the Paris Municipal .Council is being asked to sanction the small amount needed to defray the expense, some 200 or 300 francs a year. Tlie Palais Boyal cannon is fired in principle by the sun, for the gun is fixea so that at noon the sun's rays are focused by a lenso on to a charge of gunpowder. The gun was last fired on Ist August, 1914. After that day go many other guns were to be heard that its voice was not desired, but there are some faithful admirers of the old tradition who would now like to hear it again. As in summer Paris time is no longer regulated by the BUn'B meridian, the ceremony, if re-established, would have to be camouflaged, as, indeed, it often was before the war when the sun refused to shine and-a match had to be used to fire the cannon. The gun • at present stands enclosed in glass near the Victor Hugo Btatu? in tha Palais Boyal" gardens.

AN ARMISTICE COACH. The famous railway coach in which the Armistice was signed by Marshal Foch and the German plenipotentiaries at Bethondes, in the forest of Compiegne, is suffering so much from exposure to the -weather in the courtyard of the Invalides, where it is at present preserved, that the conservator of the Army Museum, General Mariaux, insists that it must be removed to some other place or perish by the hand of Time. The Mayor of Compiegne has offered to undertake the removal of the coach to the actual spot where the Armistice 'was signed, and there to erect a special building for its preservation, but the Ministry of War, so far, has declined to accept this offer. The International Sleeping Car Company, to whom the coach belonged, has looked after the upkeep of its interior fittings, but it is the effect of sun, rain, and snow on the roof and walls that is causing the trouble.

I AKTIST AXV A WHITE FROCK. i A counteEs's beautiful white- frock has caused an unusual Court action. M. Thevenot, a painter, had agreed to make a pastel medallion of the Comtesse d'Hautpoul for 3000 francs. After several sittings' ho expressed f,'ie pleasure which was given him by the elegant white frock and purple nianfle which the countess was wearing. Ho asked her to allow him to make her a fulllength pastel portrait for the same price. Comtesse d'Hautpoul consented and left the frock and mantle at tho painter's studio. Attiring a model in the' frock and mantle, the painter prepared a study which ho exhibited at the Salon dcs laslellistes. Comtesse d'Hautpoul claimed the canvas, and when M The veuot refused to surrender it she sued him for possession. Tho Court had decided that an artist has the right to niako such studies for himself, and found against the countess on this countbut ordered tho painter to pay her one franc carnages for having made use of the countess s propcrty-th e frock and the mantle: