OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 96, 27 April 1929, Page 17

OUR PARIS LETTER

AN ANNIVERSARY >

NAPOLEON'S ASHES

(From "The Post's" Representative.) ,-: • V.PARIS, 20th February.

Of tlie..•anniversaries, private and otherwise, .which may be celebrated to- • day, there js one-of an event .which oc- . curred in Paris 88 years ago, and of ■ which the world took, much notice. Thii was the bringing back from St. Helen* of the remains of Napoleon. Louii Philippe was still a popular King, and this act, the translation of the ashes of the great soldier and statesman to the banks of the Seine to repose among th'» people whom he had loved so -well,, endeared him even more to his subjects. All Paris was out of doors on' that day, loth February, 1840, 'to pay : tribute to the memory of the Emperor, and there are still hanging up in the' home, of many families illustrations of the scenes" in the Champs-Elysecs, and, near, the ' Invalides,-as the cortege made its way to the latter place. The remains were accompanied from the far-off island by the King's son, the Prince de Joihville, who shared the popular enthusiasm with his father. ,;. ■'■ ■-; . ' NO INDEMNITY. There is a common'belief in Stance that after a workman, or.emplbyee lias been more than twenty years in oneemploymeif he is entitled in case, of dismissal to an indemnity equivalent to on© month's' salary for every year, of employment. That.' no such legislation exists was made very.plain last night • by,tho "Intransigeant." in an article' in which it pleads for the necessity of ■ legislation, to this end* It instances the case of a man who, at. trie, ago-of 22, joined a, firm in Paris. Tor'4B years the 1< man remained in the same employment, .and then when his,health'declined- and gave way, he was told when he" returned after a prolonged absence,: through' illness, -that there was no place for him. He took his case to the Prud'homines,the Labour Courts , which! exist ia France. They ' ; awarded • him 10,000 francs ■' indemnity on thoc basis of one' week's pay '"pep year, of service, but on the case being takeiv ,to the Civil Tribunal the higher .Courf.held that whatever sympathy'the case."; might inspire there was no law which authorised suet ,an indemnity, and the plaintiff wssnonsuited, with costs;: : : ,' ' •:- •■ • ALONG THE CHAMPS-ELYSEES. ; Among the early morning promenad,ers along tho.!Avenue dcs Champs Elysees, there • may be often ('distinguished the alert- figure "of a man,- just; past middle age, smartly but soberly dressed. His■:.features; bespeak a!;kindly\disposi- V tion,,though the .eyes.are sharp and observant. . Ho, might -pass-for a; retired. professional; man; in reality he is M. Gaston- Doumergue, President Yof- the Republic. lie is recognised' and a : hat is raised, a- salutation which is promptly; responded to by.the chief-, of the State, whether, the greeting, comes from a workman or a person of higher station. /He.is sometimes shadowed from a. distance, by. a. detective—an almost, invisible form of protection, but M. Doumergue cares little about this attention, and not infrequently invents amiable devices to avert it. -He usually rambles from;, the Elysees as far as the Etpile, but now andjagain goos: as. far as the Porte Maillot, and' thea back to the .residence and. to'work. ; FEWER BEARDS.' v ' . Will.Frenchmen in tho .'near future adopt the clean-shaven stylo to the same extent as, for'example,:Britons?, Young men with;beards /were; common enough before, tho war,,. t,hough they^ showed somefalling .oft', in numbers 'compared with the late 'nineties and .a.few,years ' in the next 1 decade. A very big- percentage of French women, in'factppre-". ferred to see a, man wearing- a beard, or at least awell-curled moustache, the clean-shaven face being to .them indicative of the coachman, 1 the. jockey, or the actor. Even' .Kugby footballers used to taken tho field clad with.beaids, sometimes of-rieh proportions: There was nothing, very remarkable- about this in France/ but when they went to play in England the mode/ was" a "matter o£ rather' picturesque 'comment. The beardruled, most perhaps in, political-circles, but'here as elsewhere; it is becoming a., thing of the past. M. Poincare and ona or two other prominent figures- adher« • to the old style, but quite a large number, intruding M. . Doumorgiie, the French President, just wear ,a moustache. ! ; '.. ' ; , HAIR-WAVING FOE, MEN. Pennajient waving to-day is so ordinary:-, and so comparatively-(iheap ; that it has become almost -a" necessit^'so far as. many women are concerned, for they find it" saves time and trouble. - There are quite a number of young men who share their' opinion, apparently, for it is not; at all'unusual for a'hairdresser nowadays to have male clients for hair- ■ waving. In fact, the cult of beautifully coiffured { hair seems to be spreading so rapidly among young men "of from twenty Jo twenty-five s that one can 1 • rarely' enter 'a restaurant to-day without seeing, one or. 4wo. - They are easily recognised by the:= extreme care •with which' they remove their hats, and the anxious way in which they .smooth down their undulating locks before they; .finally- 1, decidei to; consider the imporfant' question' of what they -will seat. " V..V/ ; INGENIOUS. ;■ ■! , Between the old-time cabman and., the modern taxi-cab driver, there are several marked-differences, both as regards character and the nature of their work, but perhaps the most marked'isthe relationship.; existing between the taxi-cab driver: and his fare. Witrh the. old "cabby,?' there was,always a greater possibility of some tie of intimacy during -, • drive.- Of tea enough he took tho initiative to interest his client; in his, personal affairs. But it is doubtful whether one of hiii class ever hit upon so ingenious a means of attracting attention .as that devised by a smart-looking taxi-cab driver now ■on-.the Paris streets.! Written,in a neat hand on a sheet of paper pasted on the front window of his vehicle" is the information that "a young man of good position wishes to meet a woman af good family, aged between 25 and 30, with a view to marriage." A young 1 woman , who.. read -this a ■ day .or ' two ago became curious, and on paying the, fare inquired, for further, details. The driver told her that he himself was the applicant. 'The woman happened to.be 'married, and told him so with'mock gravity. The, driver answered philosophically, "Better luck next time." •