The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-08-18
A FRENCH BOHEMIAN.


Ahio1heo lfllnm IN tne JOufnhllSIn or
the Second Empire.
Have you ever heard of "Timothee
Trimm?" asks the Chicago Current.
Very likely you have not, for his was
one Of those ephemeral regulations
which build themselves on the slender
basis Of newspaper article, which set
the town wild to-day and which are for
gotten tomorrow or next week. or the
month after. Like great actors per-
Torrance, the impressions his writings
lett on the mind were agreeable and all
absorbing for the time, but cvanescent.
1t is quite possible that even those read
ers Boosting of rather thorough acquain-
lance with French literature never heard
ofor saw the name aforementioned. Yet
"Iimothee Trimm" was great name in
the journalism fthc second empire, aud
IN popular favor and in the estimation of
the masses, as well rs in the price paid
Tor it, II eclipsed even that of Jules
Janin. 70 read what was written over
that name amounted with the Parisians,
| duling the decade before the Franco
German war, not a iashion-it was q
! regular. Nobody in Paris who had not
read "rimOthee Irimm" i'm the little
boulevard sheet which built up its for
tune and its hundred thousand readers
| through his articles, could walk the
streets, enter cafe or appear at bust
ness with impunity. The superior adj
vantages of those who hid read "TimO-
thee Trimm" were incontinently thrust
into his face. What bOnmots with witty
sayings, what a wealth of genuine Gal
lie esprit was there not in those pithy,
paradoNical, quaint, humorous, elegant,
tender and sarcastic articles of his-fOr
they partook of all those qualities by
| turns, and sometimes they were such as TO
make you laugh in one paragraph, smile
in the next, and weep in the last! Com
mend me for variety of emotions to the
| French feuilletoniste! and "Timothee
! Irlmm," was the king of them all, the
finest flower that ever blossomed in the
garden of Partisan newspaperdOm. But
he was more than that-he was the most
consistent, the ideal Bohemian, such MS
Balzac's pen has depicted so admirably
in his "lllusions Perdues." lie was the
Lucien de Rubenspre, the Lonsteau
and Blondet of the latter
novel rolled into one. As with him
the Partisan feuilletOn reached his high
est perfection, so he also typiiied the
rise, progress and downfall of the Bo-
hemian i'm Partisan journalism. Six
months before the German army locked
beautiful Lutetia into its iron, relentless
embrace everybody read "Timothee
Trlmm." His name was in a great
while in print and never passed the lips
of any one. He was then, i'm that sense
Il victim of the war. More truthfullv
he was mushroom which hourished
/ only in the shade of Comparison. His
splendid success was the result of those
gOrruntp1 morals and tnopIiI tngto.
which lola paints SO truthfully i'm
"L'Assommoir" and "Nana.n The
strong breath of moral and intel
lectual regeneration which set i'm after
the bloody March days of 1871 blew hin
out of the way. "rimuthee Trimm'
was nom de plume. The right nam,
Of the man who signedit was Napoleon
/, or MS he preferred to call himself
Leon Lespes. Like most eminent Par
I lslans, he was not Il native ofthC capital
but hailed from Bouchain, in the de
\ partment du Nord. Several years of hi
, youth were spNnt in England. After hi
, return, at the age of -, he became
soldier in the Fitty-ftth regiment of tn
line, where he displayed some aptitud
| for composing chansons. These wer
! his first literary attempts, and afte
leaving the army he turned his Versatil
, talents To newspaper work. His effort
4 in that line We're crowned with success
, rom the first, and after few year
/, We find him as one of the staiI of tn
[ Petit Moniteur at a regular salary O
/, 100000 frames. IL must be borne il
, mind that Frouch journalism was thcn
4 rs it Is now, radically different From
q either the English or American species
Not newsiness but spice, profuSiOn q
v bright apercus-that is what makes
). French paper popular, prosperous am
:. readable.
( The French system of signing ever
:. article in print, is alike the strength of
n bright paper and of its stan. "rimothe
y Trimm'-for by this pseudonym he wa
$ known to the million, and even to hi
@ collcagues-was journalist of rar
" gifts, and welded \ graceful and bri
?, liant pen. His forte consisted i'm &C
vanciug paradoXes as truths and maiI
II tanning them with always careful
il chosen arguments, which he prosentC
% skilltully aud in their most iavorah
d aspects. He wrote several books, an
d sundry series Of his articles have r
d Gently been published in book form an
N found an apprcci0tivc audience. II
10 articles on Bcranger, his ideal, ha,
ID also been collected and presented to Il
30 public, and, if nothing else, that boo
10 alone will perpetuate his memory.