Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-09

in the gay French capital there was al
ways some intelligent 'commissaire or
whatever they call themselves. who could
speak English and who would be glad to
show me the whole town. believe there
are many such. But | did not strike one
of these intelligent individuals when | was
hunting historical places. The guides in
Paris are among the most intelligent men |
have ever met. and they can speak English
But you don want a guide tagging at your
heels every block you walk. 1t makes
man solid with himself To he able to find
things In strange place without the use Of
divning rod. especially when these things
or places are those that have been in the
city for hundreds of years and you could
not miss them in the dark
But that Is not why people going to the
exposition should learn French. When i
was over there last year l started out
cab ride one evening after dinner. The
driver could not understand anything l said
and didn't know thing he told ME. After
driving about for an hour or 80 l COM
menced to recognize the streets. and, hav-
ing notion to walk home. called to the
driver and told him in Baedecker that I
was going to alight. Whether the tone Of
my voice the gestures l used did the
trick l don't know. AT any rate. the cab
stopped and got out.
Il asked the man how much owed him
and he jabbered something that sounded
like sautern, only he swallowed as he said
it and lost the beauty of the pronuncia-
ton. l handed him francs and he shook
his head. l gave another franc and he
shook his head again. Then / told him to
tell me how much it was again. With
that the Frenchman started to jabberng
about mile a minute. l tried to ask him
what the right amount was. but he would
not let up and We both got pretty hot. After
about five minutes of conversation he mo-
toned me to get in the cab. which l did.
l thought probably he would take me back
to where started and get the man at the
hotel to adjust matters. But he didn't. He
drove me straight to a police station. and
/ was locked up for two hours before /
could persuade those French coppers that
] was not trying to beat the cabby out Of
his fare.
Matters We're finally adjusted and I was
released. l owed the man five francs and
had to pay him two more for taking me to
the station house. Therefore l advise all
| travellers to learn something of French If
they do not want to get into just such an
other scrape."
Mr. W. c. Brown of New York is at the
Ebbitt. Mr.. Browns home town is Canton.
Ohio, and he is an intimate friend of Pres
ident Mckinley and his family. He told
The Star reporter that he did not see any
reason why the President should not be re-
| elected. The fears that have been expressed
| as to the possibility of New York going
| democratic next fall are groundless, he
said
English justice is peculiar institution"
| Sstlu MI l-ulHeF ~ IetelSoti VI -hiSiiitoo'A
| at the Raleigh last night. II have seen a
number of cases tried in this country in
my capacity as attorney-at-law. but I
| never saw such a parody justice as is
| the article dealt out in the English police
courts. 1 was over there last winter and.
| Of course, 1 took occasion to visit all the
courts l could obtain admission to. A man
| in England can beat his wife with inn
punity and come off with a fine of ten shil-
| lings. But let a poacher be caught and II
| he gets less than Flo fine he Is doing
| well.
There seems to be but one idea among
| the justices-'soak the poacher.' And 1t Is
| the easiest thing to be adjudged a poacher.
too 1 saw a man convicted in one Of the
| country courts who had accidentally killed
| a bird on a great mobiles preserves He was
| hauled up by the gamekeeper and sent to
! Jail in default of rs fine. l was told.
however, that game is scarce over there
| that they have to take heroic measures to
| protect 1t. 1t struck me as rather strange,
| as 1t has not been SO very long that boun-
| ties were paid in my part of the country
| for the scalp of a rabbit. and saw young
| man fined very heavily for killing one in
England. But that Is the way things are
distributed in this world.
Another peculiar thing about the man.
| ner in which fines are imposed for minor
| offenses is the lack of system. or apparent
lack. A man might get lineu d Sinai
| amount for offense one day and another
| man made to pay five times as large fine
! for the same thing at the next meeting of
| the court For instance: While l was over
| there ] witnessed two trials for wife beat
| ing in the same court on the same day.
Wife beating. by the way, Is favorite lux
ury among the poorer classes. One of the
defendants struck his spouse with stick
and caused an ugly wound He was fined
| a few pence over ten shilling. about 81. Is.
The other defendant had to pay IA and
costs.