OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 56, 7 March 1930, Page 17

OUR PARIS LETTER

1930S BLACK FRIDAY

ECONOMY IN CALENDARS !

(From "Tho Post's" hepresentatlvo.) %/; : - : ■'' PARIS, 2nd January. 3L930 will be welcomed by the super- ■. stitiously-minded, for it contains only one/.ifriday which falls on the- 13th.of thjjfnionth, while last year contained two> and the year before last three. The ominous day next year will arrive in! June. ■ porkers, on the other hand, will not ia"re;"such occasion to rejoice, for the New Year will bring them very few "points." In contrast to this Armistice Day will be the occasion for one, 'for ths .anniversary falls on a ,Tuesday, arid Assumption Day, which conies on a Friday; will be another, in fact tho only" other.-. As for the other fetes, Ist, January falls on a Wednesday, 14th Jiily on a Monday, All Saints on a Saturday, and Christinas Day on a-Thurs-day. ■-.. '. ■, ' :By the way, those. people who have economical minds may be glad to know thp.t,; owing to the .arrangement of days anftJ months, it is quife possible for the same'calendar to be pressed into service once in every twenty-eight years. APXEEMATH. 'Not' a few- women, writes a fashion correspondent, are regretting the shaved neck fashion which accoinpanied'the boyishly short.hair of some seasons ago. The fact of the matter is -that the fine down on tho neck which was subjected to so much cutting arid shaving has now changed its appearance altogether, and presents y to th&;^dvrld a stiff stubble. Its.refusal to be pliable enough to mingle;'with the curls which now adorn tti«kfashionable nape has called forth a remedy which is painful, but drastioaUy" effective. This is an application ■•of;, a special warm wax which is applied-to the neck and which is guaranteed,'after a course of tho treatment, to'.tiU the hair altogether. . .f A DENTAL PROBLEM. if a': somewhat nervous patient sit-ting-in'a dentist's chair undergoing the painful?proces3 of nerve extraction, happens to swallow the nerve extractor, is it the patient or the dentist who is to blame? Such is the delicate question which a Park Court has been called upon io: decide. Mjne.- Martineau was the patient, bne admitted she was a little nervous during the operation, and just when the dentist had applied the instrument to the : offending molar, she may 'have given a little jump. Anyhow, the inBtrument left the dentist's hand and vanished down. Mme. Martineau's throat, eventually lodging in the duodenum, whence it took two clever^ surgeon? to rescue it. The sequel was that Mme. Maitineau claimed damages from the dentist. For the flentist, the expert argues that it was all the fault' of the patient, for she was nervous and jumped. The Court, however, was not at all of tho same opinion, arguing that, dentists must take precautions against nervous patients, for if every time a dentist's patient jumped, it meant swallowing a pair of forceps or what not, the surgeons would certainly be kept very busy. So Mme. Martineau won her case, and was awarded damages to the tuno of 20,000 ivs, (£160.) i-A PAVEMENT MYSTERY. Mysterious are the ways of tho street hawkey.;:. Particularly is this so in the case 'of that übiquitous type of . the specie^ who suddenly drops a, portmanteau or suit case on the pavement, opens it, and proceeds to display silk or imitation silk mufflers, stockings, socks, ties, belts, and other articles of hosiery and dress. Sometimes it is a young woman who suddenly appears at a busy point of the boulevard, preferably about midday when the midinettes at- out of doors. Generally sho holds up cheap frocks. All, however, have confederates on the look-out for the police, as this form of unlicensed selling is illegal. ■".'■-■ How they become possessed of their bargains—whenever they arc such-i----puzzles most people. It is assumed that they are job lots bought from bank: iupt stocks or wholesale clearance, sales. Maybe such is often the ease, but the hawkor has other resources. '', A few days ago a large emporium on one of the boulevards offered a large stock of men's socks a.t 3frssoc a pair. So rapid was the sale that the supply had- to be quickly replenished several times. Concurrently the socks were being sold by the hawkers at various points of the boulevard, and ©yen inside the ''Metro" stations at Sfrs a pair. When.the emporium placed a notice on ita stall that no more than three-pairs of socks would be sold to one person the origin of the hawkers' activity was made apparent. , CHILDREN OP TO-DAY. Children to;day seem to be much brighter than those of a generation ago. At any rate, they are no longer startled as easily. Paris children are particularly sophisticated. This is just astrue of those who play in. the Champs Elysees as of Poulbot's gavroches in Montmartre. • , The other day a sandwich man advertising a film walked slowly up tho Avenue dcs Champs Elysees. He had a most terrifying green hcadj with a face in front and at back —a head that would have sent children a generation ago scampering: fearfully behind their mothers' sqirts. Not so the youngsters playing nearby.' Some even shook the monster's hand. Evidently amused, the sandwich man towered over one little boy, who backed away. As the terrible head advanced, the boy continued to step back. Finally, more exasperated than afraid, he put up his hand and pushed the weird head with ■ a smile of disdain. A CONCIERGE'S RUSE. In a busy par of tho most populous arrondissement—the 18th—is a block of new flats whose concierge was a martyr. Half of the flats are for sale, and only one of them is inhabited. Tho remainder of the saleable flats do not seem to interest anyone. Th&j concierge's martyrdom was caused by the other flats, about a score, which were to let. Hundreds of flat hunters must have asked the concierge for information about the rents. Hundreds of times the concierge must have murmured the awesome figures that sent inquirers sadly away. In time the concierge, too, became sad. . Then she had an idea. Sho put tho awesome figures on a sheet of cardboard outsido the entrance. And now, from a distance, she can watch the inquirers read, learn, and turn .away. "What is the rent? In English and'in French it is best described, even in these days, as formidable.