EARLY PARIS RISERS

Waipa Post, Volume 31, Issue 1775, 26 June 1926, Page 6

EARLY PARIS RISERS

HOURS OF LEAPING MEN.

A NEWSPAPER’S TESTS.

Leaders in every branch of Parisian life—more particularly vhose politicians who have been struggling with the task of righting French finances — rise at an early hour of the morning. Bight o'clock at their desks seems to be the rule of most of these men. This salient fact has been gleaned by an ingenious inquiry conducted by a Paris evening paper, iL’lntransigeant, which has telephoned, at exactly 9.30 .a.m., to a long list of prominent men and women for the simple purpose of finding out if they were awake. Of the first 20 people called only four were still sleeping at 9.30, and at one place alone was there no answer. This was the house of Pelletier d’Oisy, the aviator famous in the annals of French aviation for his flight to Tokio, and the French writer simply raised the question that the sportsman might be up and out, or, quite possibly might have failed to get to bed at all.

Of the four sleepers, one was another aviator, Rene Fonck, who had just returned from a trip to the United States; the second was a Avoman, Mme. Marcelle Tinayre, famous authoress, whose maid requested the inquiring reporter to ring again at 11 o’clock; the third was Deputy Maurice de Rothschild, and the fourth was no less a personage than Cardinal Dubois, Avho, according to his valet, Avas still asleep.

ißut, of the rest of the people telephoned, no one admitted being awakened, and most of them said they had been long at their desks. The first on the list was the veteran statesman, M. Olemenceau, who is now' in his “eighties.” He Avas not only up, but had been long up, for it seems that his custom is to rise at midnight or thereabouts, talcing his rest in the afternoon and evening.

The galaxy of financial stars whose habits were so ruthelessly investigated lived up to their reputations. M. Doumer, former Minister of Finance, declared that he had been at his desk since 8 o’clock; M. Loucheur, one-time Finance Minister, laughingly made a similar claim, and Deputy Bolcanowski, bulwark of conservative finance, and able critic of all Government projects, said that he had been up since 7 o’clock.

M. Poincare also was called up by the annoying L’lntransigeant, and, without stating hours, expressed surprise that there should be any question of his not being up at 9.30. A similar ans Aver was given by Andre Tardieu, a new entrant into the pol- - arena. Jean Louis Forain, painter; Alfred, Morain, Prefect of Poli'ce; Lucien Gaudin, fencing champion; and Albert Besnard, director of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, all answered “present,” and, with the exception of M. Forain, who admitted that he was just up, said that .they had been working for an hour and a-half. The conclusion to be drawn is that, despite Paris being Paris, there is such a thing as getting up early in the riiorning at the French capital. It seems to be the rule among Frenchmen in the public eye.