OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 117, 13 November 1929, Page 15

OUR PARIS LETTER

FORGOTTEN IDOL

TRIBUTE TO HENRI ROCMEFORT

(From "The. Post's" Representative.)

Arouni a grave surmounted by a f siiuple stone in Montmartre Cemetery; ! there assembled, a couple of. days ago, , some 20 "persons, mostly elderly, men, i and one. of: them laid a wreath on the •' neglected! tomb and gave a brief: ad:- j dress;, in: wMch he complained bitterly ; of human: ingratitude and forgetful- „ ness.. Andi indeed,, one of the younger [' generation, would find it hard tor be- '■' lieve= thai Henri Rbehefort, he; whoso „ remaina lie: beneath, the slab, had once- | Been, the idol of the people, a jour- ,' nalist o£ world-wide reputation, hut ,( one whose; pen, oftener than not, was. ( censorious; and satirical by turns, for ' few public; men- were spared the lash ' of his. castigation: during his long, ' career as: a. newspaper editor and pub- ! Deist. As: a. young man, his writings ■ led hint tta engage in. many a duel and ' also earned! hint a term of imprison.- I ment, and; shortly after the Franco- ':' German war. he spent four years as a .' prisoner mi Hew Caledonia, whence he ' escaped. He: lived in- esile in London I till 1880, and;, being amnestied, re- '■ ceived one; of the greatest popular wel- ' comes ever' accorded by Parisians. ' When he died) 16: years ago, he had ,' lost touch with tha current of life,, and ' his name now: seems: almost a dim memory. He was- of aristocratic birth r though he never used his title of marquis, and was an able art expert. ] WOMEN" MOTOR-CYCLIBTS. ] Cycling is more popular with, women. ;1 in Prance than it has ever been, and ] the large parties of cyclists who may i be seen returning to Paris every Sun- ' day evening include a large number ' of women. But they have forsworn < tfieir skirts and wear instead ser- ' viceable breeches and loose skirts i or. sweaters. : Caps are pulled ' down over their shingled hair, < and occasionally one sees a girl in a i cloth helmet which straps under her s chin. 'Even the aiotor-cyele has its i adherents among women, in Fiance i now, and! they" a'-row as much, coolness i and nerve as the men, as one of itiem ] demonstrated as she ivoupd her way skilfully and speed dy a.vu>ng: the traffic on the bonlavnrds t.he other day. Nor does- tHey motor-cai- hold any mja- i tcry for modern air's, for two of them, < fiiding themseWs ia trouble near the 1 Opera yesterday, pushed their car to ' as parking station in this centre of the < road, and proceeded to do some run- i ning repair?. < AX UIfCONVSJraiOWAL SUIT. ! Much as the average man longs in 1 Sot weather to wear cooler clothes than i his usual conventional attire, he gene- ! rally shudders at the idea of appearing i ia the kind of dress advocated by well- 1 meaning people: who are anxious to see : Sim more comfortably clothed. He < may be perfectly willing to roam- about 5 with bare knees, open collar, and | j sleeves rolled up to the elbow when j he is on holiday, but on his return to 1 town he seta his face sternly against , sneh laxity. A young man seen near : the Opera yesterday, however, was an : exception to this rule. For him pub- j He opinion had no terrors, so he had ■ no hesitation in wearing a suit which resembled so closely a pair of pyjamas that there was practically no difference. His toes peeped, out of a pair df serviceable leather sandals, and his head was bare. Curiously enough, in spite of all this Striving .toward coolMess and comfort, most of his face was effectually hidden beneath a beard •which looked extremely hot. INTERRUPTED JOY RIDE. M. Chiappe, the Police Prefect, has issued an order forbidding cyclists to carry/children on their machines, a practice common enough, but. which, has led to several serious accidents. It was made evident by the prompt action of a policeman in the Boulevard Beaumarchais the other day, that the order is to be carried out not merely to the letter, but in the full spirit. In this case the cyclist was a 16-year-old youth, • and his passenger, who was sitting on the. crossbar with his legs dangling on one side, a cigarette between his lips, was about the same age. The passenger seemed perfectly at home, when the policeman who was on point duty, ordered the cyclist to stop. The young couple seemed much surprised at what they regarded as an infringement ,of their liberty, but the officer took down their names and address and even scanned the machine to note whether it bore the licence plate which cyclists in France are compelled to affix to their bicycles. TAXI-CAB PHILOSOPHERS. Although taxi-cabs are decidedly at a premium at the time the theatre crowds are anxious to get home, some Pans drivers... are hard -put to it to and a "fare" between the hours of 3 and Bin the morning. Thus one often sees them cruising hopefully along the almost deserted streets, pausing diplomatically every now and then when they reach a pieton hurrying home. The scarcity of customers at the Place de 1' Opera early on a recent_ morning gave rise to an amusing incident. Four friends had strolled to the centre of the Place, and Degan an animated discussion. Pour taxi-cabs.arrived one after the other, and drew up to the curb. Several minutes went by, and still the men «iade no sign of parting and going home. For 20 minutes at least the men talked and the cabs waited four monuments of patience. Then the little group broke up, and those who had composed it walked off hurriedly a different directions. Did the drivers use strong language? No. They shrugged their shoulders and started cruising again, with a cheery word to each other. The Paris taxi-cab driver is a philosopher as well as an oportumst. r PAUL SOUDAY DEAD. A sad loss has been sustained by the literary world of Paris by the death of M. Paul Souday, the literary critic of lie Temps," at the comparatively early age of 60. M. Sonday was born at Havre and made bis debut into the world of letters 25 years ago with the Eclair" and the"Gaulois." He became the literary critic of "Le Temps" .before the war, succeeding M. Gaston JJeschamps. M. Souday had very decided views and expressed them with vigour, but his deep sincerity was unquestioned, and thus, while his criticisms involved him in controversy, his opponents were among his warmest admirers. His weekly feuilletons, which appeared in "Le Temps" every Wednesday evening, were read by* thouands, who found in them both instruction and delight. They were M. Souday's special pride. He was an indefatigable worker. It is said he wrote four articles a day and beside found time to write a number of books of literary criticism. He had earned the title of "Prince of Critics." THE CREDULOUS PRIEST. A Spanish priest who came to Paris about a month ago intending to visit the sights of the Capital and study the works of art in the Louvre Museum has just returned home, doubtless grieved at the duplicity of human nature. While drinking coffee on the terrace of one of the Grands Boulevards cafes, he was approached by a well(iressed stranger, who got into conver-j

sation with him. They discussed art and literature, and: finally the conversation touched upon precious stones. The stranger in. a casual manner put his hand into his pocket and produced a large flawless pearl. The priest was struck by its beauty and readily accepted the: invitation of his companion to go. to: a jeweller's shop, and have jit valued.. They went together; and the jeweller offered; tha man 5000 francs for the pearlr-an. offer which was declined. The; two, returned to the cafe, where: tha stranger, produced, a small: •handful of similar jewels, fourteen of which he asked: tha priest to buy for the ridiculous: price of 12,000 francs. The priest did- so. He is now on his way. homo to. Barcelona with, a thirdclass ticket and "near-pearls" to tha value of about 100- francs. j THE GREAT DICTIONARY. ; Those interested In. tnfl growth and: .changes of: ther French language, as of[ftcially determined by the French Acad;omy will; ha specially interestad to learn that, the first volume of the latest revised edition, of-its dictionary will b* published some time next, winter^ ;T.hat authoritative body announces that, the work connected with this volume is completed, and the labours of the- "Immortals." will; shortly be applied to the matter of the* second tome. Some idea of the painstaking research, sifting,, and selecting which have been involved in. the compilation may be had; when it is remembered that it has taken a great part of 50 years to complete, the previous revised edition of the Dictionary having been published in 1878. Discoveries, inventions, and scientific progress generally have, it is announced, added over 3000 words to the language, besides a very large number of new forms of speech. Modern outdoor sports have also contributed new terms, a number of which are- of English origin. MAN'S HIGH-HEELED SHOES. When women periodically borrow ideas from masculine dress, men look on with tolerant amusement and wait until' the craze passes. When a man tries to do the same thing, however, toleration does not usually enter into feminine criticism, which teuds to become more than a little scornful. High heels, for example, look charming only on a woman, so that when a man, who was of the average height, strolled, or rather strutted down the Grand 3 Boulevards the other day wearing shoes with exaggerated Louis XV. heels, even Parisians, used as they are to queer sights, were shocked into pained remarks. Iha women, however, were far more outspoken than the men. Perhaps Ihey looked on it as hreaeh of their prerogative. THE BUB DQYALB—A LINK. A lini between the new Paris and. the old is the Rue Royale. At one end of it is the Place de la Concorde and the entrance to the Champs Elysees with all its new world of light and Granda Boulevards, the parade oi fashion and home of ths pleasures of half a century ago. And perhaps because it is a link, because one must pass down it to get from one world to the other, the Eve Royals remains one of the most popular rendezvous of the Gay City. Nowhere else will one find greater or more cosmopolitan throngs on the cafe terraces at night than in this broad thoroughfare. At this period of the: year it is the favourite haunt of Britlish and American tourists, and in I another sense the Hue Royale becomes j a link, for many a helpful aequain- j taneeship between the Briton and his ; cousin across the Atlantic has been formed on the cafe terraces of the Rue Eoyale. From all of which it may be gathered that the Rue Eoyale- is a very important thoroughfare. j