The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-12-28

liant effort. sparkling with wit and
full OF biting sarcasm, directed by skill
full inuendo at the defenseless head of
the complainant.
In ordinary cases the sentence i'm
posed is from one week to three months
confinement in the prison of Ste Pei
agile, or La Sante. both situated within
the limits of Paris. In executing the
sentence of the court, the authorities
usually consult the wishes of the con-
vlcted one. Upon giving his word Of
honor to the warden to report at the
prison on a certain day and begin the
serving of his sentence, he is allowed
TO depart, perhaps for a holiday in the
country, or to finish some urgent work
IN hand. AS the day agreed upon
draws near. the journalist receives a
| reminder like this:
Monsieur;-You are requested to pre-
sent yourself at the prison de Ste
Pelagie on the LIST of February at s a.
m Accept the salutation of your truly,
JEAN FROCHARD, Director
This is a draft upon his honor. which
the French journalist will break his
neck to meet. Most of the newspaper
delinquents are consigned TO the Prison
de Ste Pelagie, which has section
dubbed the Pavilion deS Princes. re-
served for prisoners of this class. Here
the cells are light and clean, and the
furnish them with such things as they
need for the pursuit of their newspaper
work They are treated with gIeat in
diligence by their jailors, almost as
honored guests. They have the liberty
of the corridors and the Jail yard, and
are permitted to pass their time as they
see fit, being only nominally bound by
a few prison rules If a man has money
he can command for his table all the
delicacies of the Halles Centrales, and
IL 1mpecuniOuS his more fortunate fell
low prisoners will contest for the honor
OF having him guest at dinner.
AT night fall there is an orderly, but
none the less speedy jail delivery from
that section of the Ste Pelagie. One at
time well dressed men with SLOUGH
hats drawn over their eyes may be seen
TO slip out of the prison door, mix with
the crowd in the street. and then drop
down a by-way. They are not escap-
ing, but merely paying a visit to near
by marchand de vim, for a game Of
plquet and a bottle or two. In justi-
fication of themselves for extending
this privilege to the journalists, the
prison authorities naively explain that
men who have been writing all day in
cell need change of scene in the even-
ing The cabaret in which they gather
is one patronized almost exclusively by
the royalty" as the people of the
neighborhood have nicknamed the
denizens of the Pavilion des Princes"
Here
Many a wassail bout
Wears the long winter out;
Often their midnight shout
Sets the cocks growing.
To get leave for these night excur-
sionS the talismanic parole a. honneur
again does service. No especial limit
is set as to the duration of their stay
outside. but there is a tacit understand
ing that they shall be home by 2 a.
m, an eminently seasonable hour, from
the journalistic point of view. There
is no record that any scribe ever vio-
lated his parole by failing TO return
to the prison at some time before the
expiration of his sentence. There have
been some exceedingly close shaves,
though. About a month ago one man
saved the honor of the craft only by
what the turfman might describe as a.
nose. He got back less than ten min
utes previous to the hour at which his
term of Imprisonment came to an end
The situation was a highly dramatic
one, intensified by the emotional gOings
on of the journalists. who, within the
prison, were nearly maddened by tbs
suspense. To them SheridanS 20-mils
ride to the Shenandoah valley wasn't
a circumstance in Importance to their
confrere'S race against time on a BIZ
cycle from the gates of Ste. Pelagis
prison to save the honor of the guild.
He was greeted with cheers as he dis
from his wheel. The massive
doors of the Jail were swung wide open
and he STROBE in between the lines of
his enraptured comrades like a con-
luering hero. He had saved the Jour-
nalistic escutcheon from the stain Of a
broken parolei